Seatrade Maritime News: Bullish secondhand tanker market sets new records

September 7, 2026 Recent analysis by New York broker, Poten & Partners, noted the recent decline in OPEC’s influence over tanker trades. Recent hostilities in the Middle East have created a powerful incentive for growth in non-OPEC production, the firm said. Crude oil output in Canada, the US, and South America – Guyana, Brazil, Argentina – has expanded dramatically over the last decade. The US remains a key exporter – Canada’s Trans Mountain trade is underpinning new trans-Pacific business, Guyana is commissioning one FPSO after another, and offshore output is expanding in Brazil. Much of the new production is destined for export markets, Poten notes, either because of saturated domestic markets in the US and Canada, or limited domestic demand in Guyana and Suriname. Most of the incremental oil is destined for markets in Asia, benefiting the large tanker sector. In the longer term, Poten believes that the relentless rise of the Americas is a potential headache for OPEC. Recapturing market share after the Middle East conflicts will be challenging as Asian buyers seek to diversify away from the region to more stable geographies in the Atlantic Basin.

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