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Jan 24th, 2025:Underlying oil supply/demand drivers seem supportive In recent years, the narrative in the oil and tanker markets has focused mostly on geopolitical events. The conflicts in Europe and the Middle East have upended global trade flows. Furthermore, the proliferation of sanctions against Russia and other rogue regimes (including Iran and Venezuela) has accelerated the growth of the “dark fleet”, which operates outside the mainstream tanker markets. These geopolitical developments have been an important driver of oil prices and freight rates. With the election of Donald Trump and his ambitious plans to reshape the domestic and global energy landscape and address the conflicts in the world, there is no reason to suspect that the importance of geopolitics will diminish in the near term. However, we should not underestimate the importance of the underlying supply/demand fundamentals in the oil market. Ultimately, these will be just as important (or even more) in driving our markets in the long term. In today’s Tanker Opinion we will focus on the fundamentals and try to separate the signal from the noise. Please fill in below form to continue read.