Crude tanker owners could be set for a boost if reports of Opec producers suspending Russia from an Opec+ production deal prove correct.
The Wall Street Journal cited Opec delegates as saying members are considering halting Russia’s participation in quotas as sanctions and bans hit its ability to increase output.
This could pave the way for Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and others to pump more crude in a move sure to please the US and European nations after big rises in the price of a barrel of oil.
There is currently no formal push for these increases, but some members in the Persian Gulf have reportedly begun planning for them.
“If this comes to fruition, it will undoubtedly benefit crude tankers,” Norwegian investment bank Clarksons Platou Securities said in a note on Wednesday.
Russia is one of the world’s three largest oil producers and is part of a 2021 deal with Opec and nine other non-Opec members to increase production by 420,000 barrels per day.
But Russia’s actual output is tipped to fall about 8% this year following the invasion of Ukraine.
It is not clear whether Russia would agree to an exemption from the deal’s production targets.
A spokeswoman for Russia’s energy ministry said she would not comment until the Opec+ meeting on Thursday.
Six years of harmony
Russia has coordinated oil production with the export group since 2016.
The coalition controls more than half of the world’s crude output.
Opec delegates said they began discussing an exemption for Russia before the European Union agreed to ban Russian seaborne oil exports.
VLCC rates have remained relatively steady over the last 24 hours, with Clarksons Platou assessing eco-vessel earnings at $7,100 per day.
