Close to 150 million barrels oil, products stored at sea

TOKYO (Reuters) – Oil companies are storing close to 150 million barrels of crude oil and petroleum products at sea, a leading shipbroker said on Thursday.

An oil market structure known as contango — when oil for prompt delivery is cheaper than oil for later delivery — has made it profitable to buy oil for storage.

“Our view is that there is something like just over 100 million barrels of crude oil and probably something like 30 to 40 million barrels of (petroleum) products,” said Steve Christy, head of research at E A Gibson Shipbrokers.

The forecast for refined products was above some other industry estimates.

Reuters