Supertankers offer storage solution

Dubai: US oil traders Koch and Royal Dutch Shell have booked supertankers to store millions of barrels of crude, prompted by falling demand.

US crude has fallen over $90 from its July peak above $147 a barrel as the slowing economy hurts global oil demand. Sliding demand and poor refinery profit margins have left sellers facing the choice of offering deep discounts or risk paying for storage to sell later.

"All this oil has to go somewhere, especially if the refiners aren't running at capacity," a Singapore-based crude oil trader said.

Koch has booked the Dubai Titan, a VLCC (very large crude carrier), for storage in the US Gulf Coast, ship brokers said yesterday. The vessel can hold over two million barrels

Koch has already taken two other VLCCs for storage in the US Gulf, they said.

The company was not immediately available to comment.

Oil major Royal Dutch Shell has booked a second supertanker to be used for storage, ship brokers said yesterday.

Shell booked the Front Crown to load North Sea crude in the second week of December. The vessel will travel east to Indonesia, where oil is often transferred from supertankers to smaller vessels for delivery.

Shell booked another supertanker last week to take North Sea oil for storage in the US Gulf.