With U.S. Help, Oil on the Water Reaches New Heights

November 22, 2022--Researched by Daniel Graeber for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The amount of crude oil considered in floating storage is at its highest level since May, and it's the U.S. that's doing much of the heavy lifting, analysis finds.

Domestic inventories of crude oil and refined petroleum products are at their lowest levels since 2004--but this, in turn, results in a dramatic increase in onboard oil, known as "floating storage." Many of those vessels could be headed to Europe as the continental economies prepare for a moratorium on waterborne crude oil from Russia.

"In our view, this build-up has been driven by higher crude exports from OPEC countries and by U.S. SPR sales, which have boosted U.S. crude exports," according to a note written by two UBS strategists.