Freight rates likely to remain elevated for dirty tankers
Crude tanker market outlook remains strong
Ukraine fallout continues to elevate tanker demand while restricting vessel availability
Freight rates are likely to remain elevated this year for dirty tankers—those vessels primarily used to transport crude—despite wider economic headwinds. The Ukraine invasion forced a shift to longer, less-efficient movement of oil around the world, a pattern that will persist and might become more pronounced. And at the same time, slow fleet growth and illicit activity are also likely to limit tanker availability in 2023 and support freight rates. Last year saw a significant rerouting and reshuffling of global crude flows in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in what Saad Rahim, chief economist at trading house Trafigura, recently termed a “rewiring of the oil markets”. Large volumes
Also in this section
27 February 2026
LNG would serve as a backup supply source as domestic gas declines and the country’s energy system comes under stress during periods of low hydropower output and high energy demand
27 February 2026
The assumption that oil markets will re-route and work around sanctions is being tested, and it is the physical infrastructure that is acting as the constraint
27 February 2026
The 25th WPC Energy Congress to take place in tandem as part of a coordinated week of high-level ministerial, institutional and industry engagements
27 February 2026
The deepwater sector must be brave by fast-tracking projects and making progress to seize huge offshore opportunities and not become bogged down by capacity constraints and consolidation
