It also reminds me of the news earlier this year about an oil glut and how much of it is stored in tankers--they were running out of places to store it.
Here we go:
Oil Stored On Tankers Is Up 71% Since April
Reuters | Jun. 4, 2009, 12:21 PM
Read more:
http://www.businessinsider.com/oil-stored-on-tankers-is-up-71-since-april-2009-6#ixzz0pMgi9SGJAlso:
Oil traders seek tankers to keep crude stored
Bloomberg News
Jan. 7, 2009, 6:16AM
Oil traders are seeking as many as 10 supertankers to store crude, potentially taking the amount hoarded at sea to almost five days of European Union demand, according to Frontline Ltd., the largest owner of the vessels.
About 25 of the carriers, each able to hold about 2 million barrels of crude, were already hired for storage. There are enquiries for 5 to 10 more, Jens Martin Jensen, Singapore-based interim chief executive officer of the company’s management unit, said by phone today. Traders are storing crude to take advantage of higher prices for supply in the future.
Thirty-five supertankers represent about 7 percent of the global fleet of very large crude carriers, according to data from London-based Drewry Shipping Consultants Ltd. Storing oil in tankers may buoy rental rates that fell by a record 78 percent last year as slower economic growth sapped demand for energy.
“I’ve never before seen storage demand on this scale,” said Didier Labat, a Paris-based shipbroker at Barry Rogliano Salles who has worked in tanker markets for about 20 years.