Thursday, April 14, 2016

Global Oil Glut Leaves Supertankers In A Huge 'Traffic' Jam

Shipping vessels and oil tankers line up on the eastern coast of Singapore in this July 22, 2015 file photo. REUTERS/Edgar Su/Files

Reuters: Band plays on, as global oil glut leaves supertankers in a huge jam

It may be the world's biggest traffic jam.

As ports struggle to cope with a global oil glut, huge queues of supertankers have formed in some of the world's busiest sea lanes, where some 200 million barrels of crude lies waiting to be loaded or delivered.

The vessels, filled with oil worth around $7.5 billion at current market prices, would stretch for almost 40 km (25 miles) if formed up in one straight line.

One captain with more than 20 years at sea told Reuters his tanker had been anchored off Qingdao in northeastern China since late March and was unlikely to dock before the end of this week, a frustrating delay of more than three weeks.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: For the moment it looks like the bottom has been reached with prices now rising and the glut ending .... Brent hovers just below $45, hits five-month high on reports of oil output freeze deal (Reuters). But this can also change very quickly if this report is true .... Saudi Arabia is on a drilling binge—and looks likely to again dominate global oil (Quartz).

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