BP Plc (LON: BP) has placed an order for 13 oil tankers, making it the largest such order for the year just past.
Of the thirteen, three are Suezmax tankers with 1 million barrels of crude capacity each, and ten are smaller Aframaxes (650,000 barrels capacity). BP may also put in orders for eight more oil tankers at some point in the near future.
What makes the December contract the largest for the past year is that the total capacity comes to 1.58 million deadweight tons.
BP placed the orders with STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co. (KRX: 067250) for ships worth about $630 million, based on current price estimates for the tanker types.
Per Bloomberg, Clarkson Plc’s data indicates that 2012 saw tanker orders total 270, with Kuwait Oil Tanker Co. coming in second in terms of buying ships. The company ordered tankers with a total capacity of 1.56 million tons.
