今年海上石油储存的强劲需求将持续

据路透社5月7日伦敦报道，油轮运营商欧航公司(Euronav)周四公布了创纪录的第一季度业绩，并预计2020年海上石油储存的强劲需求将持续，推动其股价上涨8.5%。

由于疫情导致的需求下降，即使在主要产油国减产之后，全世界仍在与石油过剩作斗争。供应过剩促使人们争先恐后地寻找陆上和海上的储存选择。

比利时欧航集团首席执行官Hugo De Stoop表示，浮动存储“增加的可能性大于减少的可能性”。

他对路透表示：“目前我们仍处于石油供应过剩的世界，陆上储存已经达到极限，石油必须去别的地方。”

欧航公司的船队目前包括42艘超大型油轮，每艘可装载200万桶石油，以及25艘较小的苏伊士型油轮，每艘可装载100万桶石油。公司还有两艘巨型油轮，每艘油轮最大储存容量为300万桶原油。

De Stoop表示，全球有65艘超大型油轮在海上至少停留了15天，这表明它们可能在储存石油，另有38艘苏伊士型油轮也在海上储存石油。

这意味着有近1.7亿桶原油储存在海面上，创历史新高。

De Stoop称，油轮停泊在世界各地的枢纽，特别是美国海湾、中东、新加坡和南非等地，并称欧航的五艘超大型油轮正在签订储存合同。

原油市场一直存在所谓的期货溢价，即远期价格高于当前价格。这种市场结构鼓励交易员将石油储存起来，希望在未来出售石油获得利润。

De Stoop称，"第一阶段"的储存兴趣是由交易商希望从期货溢价中获利而推动的。

他说:“今天，我们收到的要求大不相同，不是来自贸易商，而是来自那些正在寻找可以储存已生产石油空间的人。”

该公司表示，现在还无法量化疫情对其结果的长期影响，该公司公布第一季度未计利息、税项、折旧及摊销前利润(EBITDA)为3.299亿美元，高于上年同期的1.253亿美元。

格林尼治时间10点39分，该公司股价上涨8.5%。

KBC证券表示，欧航公司第二季度的业绩很可能“不错”。

裘寅 编译自 路透社

原文如下：

Euronav's prospects lifted by floating storage demand

Leading tanker operator Euronav (EUAV.BR) posted record high first-quarter results on Thursday and expects strong demand for oil storage at sea to continue in 2020, driving its shares up 8.5%.

The world is still struggling with an oil glut due to a drop in demand caused by the coronavirus even after top oil producing countries have cut output. The glut has prompted a scramble to find storage options on land and sea.

Hugo De Stoop, chief executive of Belgian group Euronav, said floating storage was “more likely to increase than to decrease”.

“At the moment we continue to be in a world that is oversupplied with oil and the oil has to go somewhere and the land storage is full,” he told Reuters.

Euronav’s fleet currently includes 42 very large crude carriers (VLCCs) - each of which can carry 2 million barrels of oil - as well as 25 smaller suezmax tankers which can each carry 1 million barrels. It also has two megatankers each with a maximum capacity of 3 million barrels.

De Stoop said 65 VLCCs around the world had been stationary for at least 15 days, indicating they were likely to be storing oil, with a further 38 suezmaxes also holding oil at sea.

That would indicate nearly 170 million barrels of crude were held on the water, which is a record high.

De Stoop said tankers were being parked in hubs around the world especially around the U.S. Gulf, the Middle East, Singapore and South Africa, adding that five of Euronav’s VLCCs were on contracts with storage options.

The crude market has been trading in what is known as contango, where forward prices are higher than immediate prices. This market structure encourages traders to park barrels in storage in the hopes of selling them for a profit later.

De Stoop said “the first phase” of storage interest was driven by traders looking to benefit from the contango.

“Today, the requests that we are receiving are very different - it’s not from traders, it is from people who are looking for space to store the oil that has been produced,” he said.

The company said it was too early to quantify the long-term impact of the coronavirus on its results after it reported first-quarter earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $327.9 million, up from $125.3 million in the same period a year ago.

The company’s shares were up 8.5% at 1039 GMT.

KBC Securities said Euronav was well set up for a “great” second-quarter.