Replies to post #739 on Nordic American Tankers Ltd (NAT)

[conix]

I would not be surprised to see more communication from the company to allude to a dividend increase after the first of the year, when the company has had more time to charter more of their fleet of Suezmaxes at the much higher daily rates.

I suspect that they will announce these charters as they are signed...giving further positive fodder for investors.

If the rates are up 400% in one month--depending on how many ships they get chartered--I would not think that a $0.05 dividend declaration would be out of the question.

[conix]

Nordic American Tankers extends gains as BTIG upgrades

Oct. 8, 2019 1:07 PM ET|About: Nordic American Tankers Lim... (NAT)|By: Carl Surran, SA News Editor

Nordic American Tankers (NAT +10.4%) adds to recent strong gains on heavy volume as BTIG Research upgrades shares to Buy from Neutral with a $4 price target, as Suezmax prices have spiked past $70K/day from $30K/day just last month and $16K/day from 2017 through this year's H1.

Tanker rates suffered a "nuclear winter" over the past two years, BTIG's Gregory Lewis writes, but are finally showing tangible signs of recovery, driven by disruptions from the attacks on Saudi Arabia and the sanctioning of some Chinese shipping entities, but the analyst still sees the net cash being generated by higher prices as "real."

NAT shares recently hit a YTD high; its average Sell Side Rating is Hold.

[conix]

Oil shipping costs surge to 11-year highs

Oct. 10, 2019 3:28 PM ET|
About: Frontline Ltd. (FRO)|
By: Carl Surran, SA News Editor

The cost of shipping crude oil continues to climb and has now hit an 11-year high amid a capacity squeeze following the U.S. blacklisting of Cosco, one of the world's largest tanker owners and a major carrier for China's oil needs.

WSJ reports the average earnings for supertankers picking up cargoes from around the world hit $94,124/day, up from $18,284 on Sept. 25, when the U.S. blacklisted the Cosco fleet, and a Singapore broker said rates for some Very Large Crude Carrier cargoes on sailings from the U.S. Gulf Coast to the Far East topped $120K today.

"The market has gone bonkers," says George Lazaridis, head of research and valuations at Allied Shipbroking. "It's a bubble that could get bigger because of geopolitics before it bursts."

U.S. oil exports to Europe, which usually move in smaller tankers, reportedly hit a record 1.8M bbl/day for the week ending Oct. 7, double the 924K bbl/day in the previous week, but shipments to Asia, which are typically done on VLCCs, were nearly cut in half to 508K bbl/day.

The Chinese delegation to the U.S.-China trade talks are expected to raise the issue.

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