The oil markets are poised to end 2021 on a relatively high note, as concerns of Omicron impacting global demand in the same way that Delta did turned out to be overblown. Chart of the Week – Global tanker markets are expected to see an upswing from the past two years’ volatile rise as demand stabilizes, however shippers profitability will be far from ideal. – Despite container freight indexes quintupling this year, tanker freights has been essentially stagnant for the past 18 months, pressured by high bunker prices and surplus tankers. – Analysts anticipate that 2022 tanker demand will increase some 5% year-on-year, helping push spot earnings into profitable territory ($21,800 in Q1 2022 vs -$600 in Q3 2021 for a VLCC). – This being said, slow vessel demolition rates and the anticipation of another 70-80 tankers hitting the market will inevitably bring about tonnage overcapacity, putting a lid […]