By L. Karageorgos
A decision by crude oil producers – mostly OPEC members – to raise production has already positively affected the tanker sector, with the share price of companies owning and operating such vessels also picking up over the recent period despite the fact that rates fell.
Among the Greek-owned companies that have benefited is Tsakos Energy Navigation (TEN).
According to Morgan Stanley analyst Fotis Yiannakoulis, the OPEC decision returns production to previous rates, namely, 32.88 million barrels of crude oil produced daily – one million barrels more than in May 2018.
The production hike means increased transport demand equaling an additional 30 to 35 VLCCs, or roughly 5 percent of the current fleet.
In terms of listed shipping companies’ shares, tanker-holding firms witnessed an overall increase of 15.5 percent; 8.3 percent for container ship operators, 3 percent for LNG carriers and 1.4 percent for bulkers.
Tsakos shares, for instance, were up by 12 percent last week; a noteworthy 29.7 percent for Teekay Tankers’ (TNK) shares and 19.9 percent for DHT Holdings’ shares.
