Unintended Consequences

27 January 2023

European trade flow changes boost tanker demand

During 2022, despite the economic and geopolitical uncertainty created by the war in Ukraine, European oil demand continued its post-Covid recovery.  After the Russian invasion of Ukraine and leading up to the December 5 EU ban of seaborne Russian crude oil imports, Europe started to diversify its sources of crude oil.  This has led to a major reshuffling of trade flows, which also had a considerable impact on the utilization of the global tanker fleet.  In this Weekly Opinion, we will review these changes and look into the future to see if these new trade patterns are likely to stay in 2023.

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