Economics
Oil Traders Aren't Dancing the Crude Contango This Time Around
- Few tankers storing barrels at sea to profit from price curve
- Rout driven by ever-expanding glut, not 2008-09 demand shock
A Topsy-Turvy Year for Crude Oil Spreads
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Back when the global recession trashed oil demand and prices, the likes of BP Plc and Vitol Group found a novel way to profit: They stashed crude on tankers. With a slump of similar magnitude now, traders are seldom finding the same opportunities.
Here’s why. What defined both periods is something the industry calls contango, meaning oil for next month is cheaper than, say, for April. There were moments in the depths of the 2008-09 recession when a standard 2 million barrel cargo might fetch $14 million more for later delivery than it did in the spot market. That made for an easy trade: Find a ship for less than that. The same economics have seldom worked this year.