The Knife Edge

In the past week the spot tanker market experienced a sizeable upward swing. Spot VLCC rates increased significantly creating some momentum to put the fourth quarter in motion. With strong crude oil demand prevailing worldwide, the total volume of VLCC fixture activity has seen a significant increase in 2007 to date. The chart below shows total worldwide reported fixture activity on a weekly basis for 2006 and 2007, as well as the high and low range of activity since 2001. This week’s 56 fixtures represented the maximum amount of reported spot VLCC fixtures worldwide since 2001.