Oil Tanker Traffic

Introduction

Fig. 1: The side view of an Ultra-Large Crude Carrier, the largest crude oil ship with a capacity of over 320,000 dead-weight tons. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Crude oil is a natural resource that contains a high density of long-chained hydrocarbons. It is found deep underground in reservoirs, where they have to be drilled for using rigs and other heavy machinery. Crude oil forms as a result of millions of years of organic matter decomposing under intense pressure. Its formation is dependent on certain environmental conditions. Thus, large reservoirs of crude oil are only present in certain areas of the world, making certain countries larger oil producers than others. The three largest crude-oil-producing countries are the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Russia. [1] In 2021, approximately 30.9 trillion barrels of crude oil was produced globally. [1] Those three countries mentioned before produced 42% of that oil. While most of that, especially in the US, is consumed domestically by the respective countries that produce them, much of it is traded to other countries that do not have the means to produce the oil to meet their energy needs. Often times, countries have to import crude oil internationally, bearing the costs of shipping, in order to satisfy their demand. Of the amount that was produced globally, about 12.5 trillion barrels were shipped internationally via the sea. [2] These shipments were completed using oil tankers that travel all over the world, constantly moving across the oceans. The constant stream of crude oil being shipped proves how dependent the world is on this valuable resource. This dependency on oil trade leads to many interesting economic and political dynamics.

Maritime Trade

The dependency on maritime trade is evident by the fact that about 40% of the crude oil produced in the world is traded via oil tankers. Perhaps more outstandingly, crude oil trade accounted for about 16% of all of the world's maritime trade in 2021. Other forms of maritime trade include shipment of goods such as food and material resources. [2] As is with any market, buyers and sellers are constantly in negotiations over the product. The oil industry's market spans oceans with countries constantly in communication over price, quality, etc. Table 2 below shows trade relationships between several developed countries, or regions, that produce a majority of the world's crude oil. A relationship of note is between the United States and Saudi Arabia. The US imported about 130 million barrels of crude oil from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Despite historic tensions between the Middle East and the United States, there remains this connection that is centered around energy resources. Furthermore, the United States exported 85.8 million barrels of crude oil to China. Seen as an energy competitor mineral resources, renewable energy, and technology, there remains a connection between the two countries made from the fibers of fossil fuels. Despite these two countries investing billions of dollars in renewable energy, they host and support the oil industry as well. Clearly, there is still a need, or a dependency, on crude oil. This fact defines a lot of relationships between countries across the globe, transcending social boundaries and political tensions, keeping competition of fuels alive.

Oil Tankers

According to the tanker company Scorpio Tankers Inc. ($STNG), there are about 2,346 total crude oil tankers as of February 2023. [3] There are several different types of crude oil ships: ultra-large crude carrier (ULCC), very-large crude carrier (VLCC), Suezmax crude tanker, Aframax crude tanker, and Panamax crude tanker. The capacity of all these tankers is just about 457 million dead-weight tons. [3] Table 2 below shows the deadweight ton capacity of these tankers, as well as the number of vessels per type. Fig. 1 shows what the ULCC looks like in the water. Converting the total capacity into the equivalent energy value yields numbers comparable to the yearly energy consumption of several countries. Most notably, the energy in all that crude oil is 87% of the combined energy consumption of France and Germany in 2021; 21% of the total energy consumed in the US in 2021. [1] The dependency on energy from crude oil is completely evident. Even as electric vehicles (EVs) grow and consumers demand cleaner vehicles, oil is still very crucial to the function of today's world. The energy density, meaning the amount of energy per unit of mass, makes it an ideal form of fuel for many needs, especially transportation. Moreover, the constant demand for plastic materials, which are refined from oil, will increase as more countries develop and grow their economies. The essence of oil is becoming increasingly controversial as people hope to transition into a "greener" world. Needless to say, this task seems difficult and seemingly improbable until all of this energy (countries-worth) is replaced.

Traffic

In 2021, the median time at port for liquid bulk containers was 0.98 days. [2] Liquid bulk containers, according to the UNCTAD, are defined as tankers that carry wet bulk cargo such as crude oil, refined oil products, and other types of liquid cargo. With 518,130 port calls, the number of days lost due to time at the port is approximately 507,767 days for the total number of liquid bulk containers. Currently, the total number of oil tankers in the world is 5,541 meaning the number of days spent at port per oil-based tanker is about 92 days. [2] Given that each tanker spends approximately 92 days at port and the rest is at sea, about 342 million DWT of the world's crude oil fleet capacity is asea at any given moment. That is around 14.4 million terajoules of energy traveling through the sea. This high demand for oil is another evidence of how reliant societies are on gasoline. Moreover, constant trading means countries, organizations, and workers are constantly in communication. The inter-human dynamics that take place are non-trivial. International policies are constantly in discussion. Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries have slowed down the production of crude oil to manipulate prices and maintain competitiveness. However, regardless of what is happening behind the scenes, there is constantly a flux of crude oil being shipped across oceans to provide countries, cities, and families with a reliable source of energy.

© Michael Nazari. The author warrants that the work is the author's own and that Stanford University provided no input other than typesetting and referencing guidelines. The author grants permission to copy, distribute, and display this work in unaltered form, with attribution to the author, for noncommercial purposes only. All other rights, including commercial rights, are reserved to the author.

References

[1] "BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2022," British Petroleum, June 2022.

[2] "Review of Maritime Transport 2022," United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, November 2022.

[3] "Scorpio Tankers 2022 Annual Report, Scorpio Tankers Inc., 2022.