Clean tankers face extended weakness amid refinery outages, diesel hike

Refinery outages from the cold snap on the US Gulf Coast Feb. 15-19 put even more bearish pressure on the already weak Americas clean tanker market, and heightened diesel prices in the USGC.

With petroleum product demand still low globally, the Americas clean tanker market continues to move along the freight floor as typical arbitrages to Europe and Latin America remain closed. Heightened diesel prices and ever-drawing stocks in the USGC have reversed the typical arbitrage to Europe, exacerbating the already low cargo supply for clean tankers looking to carry USGC product exports to other regions.

Marieke Alsguth and Troy Duffie of the Americas shipping team sit down with Maha Husseini from the clean oil products team in Houston to discuss immediate impacts from the mid-February cold snap refinery outages and potential outlooks for petroleum product demand in the Americas as the vaccine effort rolls out.