VOL. XLVI

No 8

24-February-2003

GENERAL

Tanker Rates Boosted By Low US Stocks And Iraq, Says Poten

VLCC charter rates have been boosted this year by falling US crude oil inventories and by expectation that the US will declare war against Iraq, according to Poten and Partners, New York. In the report A Valentines Day Present, published on 14 February, Poten says that worldscale rates for VLCCs rose from a low of W28 ($6,400/day) in April 2002, which is less than operating costs, to a high of W165...