The cost of transporting two million-barrel consignments of crude oil to Asia from the Middle East, little changed in more than a week, may decline because of spare vessel capacity.
Lunar New Year holidays this week in China, the world's second-biggest energy user, and oil-supply cuts by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) are hindering demand for tankers, according to Nikolaos Varvaropoulos of Optima Shipbrokers in Athens.
Freight rates for oil supertankers on the benchmark route from the Middle East to Japan were assessed at 58.5 Worldscale points on Monday by the London-based Baltic Exchange. One tanker, more expensive because it has a second layer around its cargo tanks, was hired at WS 67.5 by South Korea's SK Shipping Co Ltd, Paris-based brokers Barry Rogliano Salles said in a report.
'Without cargoes, the prospects don't look good for owners,' Mr Varvaropoulos said in an e-mail. Limited supplies of double-hulled carriers, of the kind booked by SK Shipping, in the first two weeks of March may force charterers to increase their bids, he said.
Tankers with double-hulls are typically more expensive because they pose a reduced risk of spillage during an accident than those with one.
As many as 85 oil tankers can reach the Middle East by March 20, according to Barry Rogliano Salles. There are 90 bookings outstanding for the whole of next month, based on the number of February loadings, the broker said in a report.
Opec, which pumps 40 per cent of the world's oil, pledged last year to cut output by 1.7 million barrels a day in two phases, with the second beginning by Feb 1, to stop crude prices from falling.
Worldscale points are a percentage of a nominal rate, or flat rate, for a specific route. Flat rates, quoted in US dollars a tonne, are revised annually by the Worldscale Association in London to reflect changing fuel costs, port tariffs and exchange rates.
At 67.5 Worldscale points, owners of modern, double-hulled Very Large Crude Carriers, or VLCCs, can earn about US$46,105 a day on a 24-day round trip from Saudi Arabia to Singapore.
Lunar New Year holidays this week in China, the world's second-biggest energy user, and oil-supply cuts by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) are hindering demand for tankers, according to Nikolaos Varvaropoulos of Optima Shipbrokers in Athens.
Freight rates for oil supertankers on the benchmark route from the Middle East to Japan were assessed at 58.5 Worldscale points on Monday by the London-based Baltic Exchange. One tanker, more expensive because it has a second layer around its cargo tanks, was hired at WS 67.5 by South Korea's SK Shipping Co Ltd, Paris-based brokers Barry Rogliano Salles said in a report.
'Without cargoes, the prospects don't look good for owners,' Mr Varvaropoulos said in an e-mail. Limited supplies of double-hulled carriers, of the kind booked by SK Shipping, in the first two weeks of March may force charterers to increase their bids, he said.
Tankers with double-hulls are typically more expensive because they pose a reduced risk of spillage during an accident than those with one.
As many as 85 oil tankers can reach the Middle East by March 20, according to Barry Rogliano Salles. There are 90 bookings outstanding for the whole of next month, based on the number of February loadings, the broker said in a report.
Opec, which pumps 40 per cent of the world's oil, pledged last year to cut output by 1.7 million barrels a day in two phases, with the second beginning by Feb 1, to stop crude prices from falling.
Worldscale points are a percentage of a nominal rate, or flat rate, for a specific route. Flat rates, quoted in US dollars a tonne, are revised annually by the Worldscale Association in London to reflect changing fuel costs, port tariffs and exchange rates.
At 67.5 Worldscale points, owners of modern, double-hulled Very Large Crude Carriers, or VLCCs, can earn about US$46,105 a day on a 24-day round trip from Saudi Arabia to Singapore.