O&G firms booking fewer tankers

LONDON: Oil companies booked the fewest tankers since November 2010 to load two million-barrel cargoes of crude from ports in the Persian Gulf following the longest round of Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) production cuts in four years.

Charters plunged to 103 in February from 123 last month, according to data from Marex Spectron Group, a London- based commodities brokerage. The International Energy Agency cut its daily supply forecast for Opec this quarter by 0.3 per cent to 29.7 million barrels recorded on February 13.

Daily earnings for the supertankers, known in the industry as very large crude carriers, plunged 62 per cent to US$11,412 (RM35,300) in the past year, according to Clarkson.

They were US$7,518 in the week ended February 15, the lowest since September 2011. Frontline Ltd, the VLCC operator led by billionaire John Fredriksen, said February 22 it needs daily returns of US$24,200 to break even. Bloomberg