1. Towards the start of September interest picked up in chartering VLCCs for storage of crude oil, to take advantage of the contango in the crude price. Whilst there have not been widespread reports of such fixtures, it has been widely reported that charterers have generally been looking to fix VLCCs on deals of six months or less, with options for storage. However, the contango in the oil price futures curve has not caused the flurry of interest in fixing VLCCs for the storage of crude oil that was seen at the start of the year, partially due to the firm charter rates (with the guideline VLCC one year timecharter rate averaging $50,375/day in August). In terms of timecharter rates, all featured one year rates, except for VLCCs, increased m-o-m in August, with the guideline Suezmax one year timecharter rate rising to an average of $40,875/day in August, the highest level since January 2009. Meanwhile, the average three year timecharter rate for an LR1 rose m-o-m to $22,500/day, the highest level since February 2009.
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