Divided We Fall

In an industry where not a little finger-pointing goes on, an evolving response to today’s environment of spill liability and oversupply has probably neared its fullness, with oil majors, tanker owners, class societies and even trade associations in their respective mudslinging corners.

The oil transportation industry has undergone a transformation in the last five years since the US passed the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA). Companies like Texaco and Amoco have followed Exxon and Arco out of the tanker-owning business. Shell, BP and Mobil seem to cut their core fleets almost monthly. And, traditionally stalwart industry associations like the American Petroleum Institute (API) have been abandoned in the heat of battles like the US Certificates of Financial Responsibility. API even canceled its tanker conference scheduled for Hilton Head in 1996.

At the same time, the tanker market is expected to remain flat in 1995, with moderate improvement anticipated for 1996-97. Future expectations, however, are clouded by an overhang of capacity which threatens to entice owners beyond what they can bear in terms of newbuilding prices offered below cost.

This is only an excerpt of Divided We Fall

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