Stayin’ Afloat With the LPGees – US Waterborne LPG Exports Part 3 - Freight Rates
At our School of Energy International LPG session earlier this month, Kelly Van Hull presented RBN’s outlook for global liquified petroleum gases (LPG) production – showing the US poised to become the world’s top exporter of LPGs within the next year or two - displacing Qatar. While most U.S. LPG exports go to Latin America today, a growing portion will move to Europe and Asia in the future. The limited fleet of very large gas carriers (VLGCs) used to ship LPG is growing rapidly with a record new build order book of 72 ships – 45 percent of today’s fleet of 161 vessels. Spot freight rates assessed daily by London’s Baltic Exchange are also at record levels of $82/MT this week. Today we take a closer look at international LPG ship chartering.
