Scorpio Tankers acquires 4.9% stake in crude carrier owner DHT, citing strong market fundamentals

Donald Trump’s pending return to the White House as the 47th President of the US stunned markets last week, as the Republicans also won the Senate and are on track to win the House of Representatives. The returning President-elect was an ardent oil market supporter on his campaign trail, often ringing out his catch-phrase “drill-baby-drill”. Markets anticipate easier to attain drilling permits under Trump supporting accelerated crude production and export growth.

Some uncertainty remains regarding the exact impact of a Trump Presidency on tanker markets, with the potential to significantly shake up geopolitics, however, analysts are largely optimistic. A sentiment shared by product tanker owner Scorpio Tankers who announced in connection with its Q3 2024 earnings that it has acquired a 4.9% ownership in crude tanker owner DHL. The position cost Scorpio Tankers around USD 90m to accumulate, with the CEO saying “For a few years now, the VLCC market has underperformed itself… We see for the first time that this winter is lining up to be a very strong winter for the crude side”.

Shipbroker Intermodal focused on Canada last week, stating that the TMX pipeline expansion is set to reshape the North American oil landscape, as the TMX pipeline nearly tripled its capacity following project completion, increasing access to international markets for Canadian producers. In October 2024, flows from the TMX pipeline reached 11.3 million barrels per month, a significant increase when considering that prior to June the previous record was 1.5 million barrels.