Freight rates likely to remain elevated for dirty tankers
Crude tanker market outlook remains strong
Ukraine fallout continues to elevate tanker demand while restricting vessel availability
Freight rates are likely to remain elevated this year for dirty tankers—those vessels primarily used to transport crude—despite wider economic headwinds. The Ukraine invasion forced a shift to longer, less-efficient movement of oil around the world, a pattern that will persist and might become more pronounced. And at the same time, slow fleet growth and illicit activity are also likely to limit tanker availability in 2023 and support freight rates. Last year saw a significant rerouting and reshuffling of global crude flows in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in what Saad Rahim, chief economist at trading house Trafigura, recently termed a “rewiring of the oil markets”. Large volumes
Also in this section
28 April 2026
Oil traders warning of $200/bl oil are wrong, and the market should be wary of proclamations that the impact of the oil shortage has only begun to be felt and a that a ‘harsh adjustment’ is coming—even for industrialised nations
28 April 2026
Restoring supply from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Iraq involves complexities far beyond simply adjusting operational controls
28 April 2026
Datacentres will guzzle power at a ferocious rate, but the impact on wider energy markets will be far more complex than previously thought
28 April 2026
The key energy player faces balancing regional routes, political complexities, and creating a clear strategic vision for energy security
