Outpacing Energy Demand

With the need to transport crude oil growing yearly, tanker owners have correspondingly expanded their VLCC fleets. But the growth rate of the VLCC fleet appears to be running ahead of crude oil’s production growth rate. Between 2002 and 2006, crude oil production increased by 2.6 percent per year whereas the number of VLCC’s grew by a bristling 3.2 percent per year. The faster pace of fleet growth over the last few years is now reflected in today’s spot rates.