Caribbean outbound Aframax rates down 32%
The cost to transport crude from the Caribbean on Aframax tankers fell 32 per cent last week as the number of ships outweighed light demand for voyages.
The market had a 'quiet week for the long list of ships in the region seeking spot employment', broker Galbraith's, based in London, said in a note.
US stockpiles of crude oil are at their highest level since July 2007 and refineries cut production 1.9 percentage points the week before, an Energy Department report last Wednesday showed.
Ships were hired last Friday for an average rate of Worldscale 75, unchanged from the day before, according to Houston's Lone Star, RS Platou, Galbraith's and New York-based Poten & Partners. WS 75 is about US$15,167 a day after expenses.
The decline in rates last week erased the prior week's 33 per cent rise.
When rates last dropped to WS 75, shipowners took vessels off the market, forcing higher lease levels, Bruce Kahler, a broker at Lone Star, said on Jan 30.
'Trades remain slow and low,' Pareto Bassoe Shipbrokers, based in Oslo, said in a note.
Trafigura AG chartered an Aframax to transit from the Caribbean to the US East Coast and the US Gulf Coast, Lone Star said.
Novoship's NS Challenger was due in Puerto de la Cruz, Venezuela, last Saturday, and its NS Concept was scheduled to arrive in Aruba yesterday, according to Bloomberg data.
According to Bloomberg data, Saudi Arabia's Phoenix Star, a Suezmax-class ship, was due at the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, the biggest US oil-import terminal, last week.
More than 40 per cent of US crude imports come from nearby countries, according to EA Gibson Shipbrokers. The US consumes about one-quarter of the world's crude.
Worldscale points are a percentage of a nominal rate, or flat rate, for tanker shipments on various routes. Flat rates, quoted in US dollars a ton, are revised annually by the Worldscale Association in London to reflect changing costs.
The Caribbean is the world's third-largest Aframax-tanker market, after the Mediterranean and South-east Asia. An Aframax is the most common tanker used to move oil in the region.
The market had a 'quiet week for the long list of ships in the region seeking spot employment', broker Galbraith's, based in London, said in a note.
US stockpiles of crude oil are at their highest level since July 2007 and refineries cut production 1.9 percentage points the week before, an Energy Department report last Wednesday showed.
Ships were hired last Friday for an average rate of Worldscale 75, unchanged from the day before, according to Houston's Lone Star, RS Platou, Galbraith's and New York-based Poten & Partners. WS 75 is about US$15,167 a day after expenses.
The decline in rates last week erased the prior week's 33 per cent rise.
When rates last dropped to WS 75, shipowners took vessels off the market, forcing higher lease levels, Bruce Kahler, a broker at Lone Star, said on Jan 30.
'Trades remain slow and low,' Pareto Bassoe Shipbrokers, based in Oslo, said in a note.
Trafigura AG chartered an Aframax to transit from the Caribbean to the US East Coast and the US Gulf Coast, Lone Star said.
Novoship's NS Challenger was due in Puerto de la Cruz, Venezuela, last Saturday, and its NS Concept was scheduled to arrive in Aruba yesterday, according to Bloomberg data.
According to Bloomberg data, Saudi Arabia's Phoenix Star, a Suezmax-class ship, was due at the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, the biggest US oil-import terminal, last week.
More than 40 per cent of US crude imports come from nearby countries, according to EA Gibson Shipbrokers. The US consumes about one-quarter of the world's crude.
Worldscale points are a percentage of a nominal rate, or flat rate, for tanker shipments on various routes. Flat rates, quoted in US dollars a ton, are revised annually by the Worldscale Association in London to reflect changing costs.
The Caribbean is the world's third-largest Aframax-tanker market, after the Mediterranean and South-east Asia. An Aframax is the most common tanker used to move oil in the region.