‘Oil storage at 25 year high’

Norway’s Frontline, one of the world’s biggest oil tanker owners, said today oil companies were storing “about” 80 million barrels of crude oil at sea, possibly the highest in a quarter of a century.

“We think it’s about 80 million barrels…but we are not 100% certain,” the acting chief executive officer Martin Jensen told Reuters.


He said some 30 to 35 very large crude carriers capable of carrying two million barrels each and 10 Suezmaxes with a capacity of a million barrels each were being used by oil companies for floating storage in the last few months.

The figures include oil tankers owned by oil companies which were being used to stockpile oil.

Jensen said most of the supertankers being used for “floating storage” were anchored in the US Gulf, with others laid up in Asia and the Middle East Gulf.

“The Iranians have some and others are around Fujairah,” he said.

Upstreamonline