Seatrade Maritime News: OPEC meeting set to determine direction of VLCC market

18 June 2018: “In a recent weekly report, New York tanker broker Poten & Partners summed up the situation for tanker owners. “A meaningful increase in long-haul flows from some of the key OPEC exporters would go a long way in turning the crude tanker market around, especially since it will impact the physical market as well as provide a boost to the all-important market psychology.”

““The best-case scenario for the tanker market would be a decision by OPEC to boost output, mainly from producers in the Middle East. Combined with Iranian sanctions, more floating storage, this could reverse the decline in OPEC-related tonne-mile demand that resulted from the production cuts of 2017”, the broker said.”

“The worst case for tanker owners would be for OPEC members to keep production curbs in place, Poten said, because this would not generate any additional shipping demand and, combined with increasing geopolitical tensions, could push oil prices up to new levels which could affect global demand.”

To read full article, click here.