It’s been a strong first half of the year for tanker. The operational inefficiencies caused by the Houthie rebels has meant that sailing distances I have dramatically increased. While our crude oil demand grew by 2.2% year on year in June, in reality this would be closer to 8 or 9% given the extra sailing distances. The difficulty will come when this eventually unwinds itself.
The IEA estimate that demand increase will be 1.1 million barrels per day for 2024 which translates to roughly 1 to 2% increase in actual demand. The oil price has also been very stable through the first half of 2024, when compared to historic movement. This is also important as the world battles the economic headwinds.
Oil products are also doing well around an 8.5% growth YoY in June. LNG and LPG have 8.5% and 5.4% growth respectively, while chemicals and vegetables oils have remained relatively flat.