Lloyd’s List: Asia set to Deliver Tanker Salvation

“The truth about today’s tanker recession is that it is scaring almost no one. Owners are universally looking east to as they wait for deliverance. Chinese and Indian reserves are tiny even at current consumption levels. If per capita consumption increases greatly — and it will — both nations will have an even greater reliance on imports than they do today. . . . The effect of the Libyan shortage is felt most keenly in Asia. According to Poten & Partners, spot fixture data shows that around 70% of the oil imported to the east of Suez comes from Opec nations. The shortage is changing the character of the oil trades to Asia.”