Supertankers are making a mint while idling as de facto floating storage units off the coast of Singapore's oil trading hub
Dozens of oil supertankers have dropped anchor off the coast of Singapore with no clear timetable for when they may offload millions of barrels of unwanted oil they have been chartered to carry.
The Asian oil-trading hub’s onshore storage facilities are at capacity, leaving tankers of varying sizes crowding the seas to serve as floating storage vessels.
To be sure, Singapore isn’t alone in struggling to store surplus barrels. Global demand for oil has plummeted by as much as 30% this year, equal to around 30 million barrels per day, as Covid-19 lockdowns bring much of the global economy to a halt.
An unprecedented supply glut is simultaneously overwhelming global storage facilities as oil producers, refiners and traders hunt for space to store their crude until demand returns and supplies can be sold.
When West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures contracts for May tumbled into negative territory on April 20, a historic first, the price collapse was attributed to market worries about fast-dwindling storage capacity.
Dozens of oil supertankers have dropped anchor off the coast of Singapore with no clear timetable for when they may offload millions of barrels of unwanted oil they have been chartered to carry.
The Asian oil-trading hub’s onshore storage facilities are at capacity, leaving tankers of varying sizes crowding the seas to serve as floating storage vessels.
To be sure, Singapore isn’t alone in struggling to store surplus barrels. Global demand for oil has plummeted by as much as 30% this year, equal to around 30 million barrels per day, as Covid-19 lockdowns bring much of the global economy to a halt.
An unprecedented supply glut is simultaneously overwhelming global storage facilities as oil producers, refiners and traders hunt for space to store their crude until demand returns and supplies can be sold.
When West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures contracts for May tumbled into negative territory on April 20, a historic first, the price collapse was attributed to market worries about fast-dwindling storage capacity.
Read the full story at Asia Times.
Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.
