1. With the oil futures market currently in contango, there has been significant discussion regarding chartering large tankers for oil storage. In January there have been several long-term tanker timecharter fixtures reportedly completed by oil majors and commodity trading companies; several of the vessels fixed are expected to be used for storage. The increased level of VLCC timecharter activity has supported the one year VLCC timecharter rate increasing to $52,500/day towards the end of January. 2. In December, the guideline one year timecharter rates for all featured vessels rose m-o-m. For example, the VLCC timecharter rate averaged $36,500/day in December, up from an average of $32,315/day in November. This increase supported the 2014 average VLCC one year timecharter rate rising 42% y-o-y to $28,115/day. Meanwhile, the 2014 average one year LR1 timecharter rate rose 6% y-o-y to $15,880/day, the highest annual average since 2010. 3. In terms of timecharter fixtures Saudi Arabia-based ATC chartered two 2011-built LR1s, the "SCF PIONEER" and "SCF PROVIDER" for one year at $17,650/day. Elsewhere, BP fixed the 2000-built, 298,543 dwt "PATRIS" at a rate of $33,000/day for one year. Meanwhile, the 2010-built, 309,887 dwt "NAVE SYNERGY" which was chartered by commodities trader Trafigura for one year at $35,000/day. Elsewhere, Glovis fixed the 2003-built, 298,827 dwt "NAVE NEUTRINO" for an initial nine months at a rate linked to the TD3 index.
展开▼
