Lloyd’s List: Crude tankers firing on all cylinders as oil in transit soars

October 21, 2025 If prompt oil prices fall relative to future prices and a steep contango develops, encouraging storage in 2026, “the oil will continue to flow and this may even lead to floating storage”, said Erik Broekhuizen, head of marine research and consulting at Poten & Partners, in his latest report. “This would give a boost to the large tanker market along the lines of what happened when Covid hit in 2020. “On the other hand, if lower prices lead to production cutbacks by non-Opec — for example, US shale — and/or Opec, the tanker market will suffer from a drop in tonne-mile demand,” said Broekhuizen.

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