2002 - OPEC

in 2002. Thus, OPEC’s percentage share of total world conversion-to-distillate capacity increased by
26.37m b/d, rising from 6.8 per cent to 7.2 per cent at the end of 2002.
Foreign refining capacity
The equity ownership of OPEC Member Countries in refineries outside their national borders declined
to 3.06m b/d in 2002 (see Table 10, page 24). The slight downward revision in refining capacity was
due to the correction of data pertaining to equity ownership of Iran in the Madras refinery, together
with the revision of data for Kuwaiti refinery assets. Overall, the share of OPEC Member Countries’
foreign refining capacity declined in each of the major consuming areas to 5.8 per cent.
On a regional level, similar to last year, supply agreements with the US and the Caribbean topped the
list with 1.66m b/d, followed by the Asian/Far Eastern region with total commitments of 935,000 b/d,
and Western Europe received 715,000 b/d. However, OPEC Member Countries’ share of crude supply
to total refinery intakes in major consuming regions fell to 3.31m b/d, or 7.2 per cent, by year’s end,
which was just 0.3 per cent lower than the previous year’s level.
Tanker market
The volume of international oil trade by tankers fell by 0.5 per cent from 2,020 million tonnes (m t)
in 2001 to about 1,990m t in 2002. This decline was attributed to the hefty fall of 10.8 per cent in
OPEC oil production and 2.5 per cent in worldwide crude oil production.
The considerable decline, especially in the long-haul trade, affected very large crude carrier (VLCC) rates
for cargoes from the Middle East Gulf to all routes in the first nine months of 2002. The yearly average
of Worldscale (WS) 54 for the Middle East/Far East route was about 13 per cent lower than the previous
year. The declining trend was prevalent in all routes, ranging from 12 per cent within the Mediterranean
basin to 39 per cent in the Caribbean area. This trend, however, was reversed in the fourth quarter of
the year with a substantial rise in VLCC rates, especially from the Middle East Gulf. The uncertainty over
supply due to the impending Iraq/US conflict, forced buyers to secure vessels for their future cargoes,
exerting heavy pressure on the availability of tonnage supply, which pushed spot freight rates up to WS
115 in December, nearly four times higher than the lows reached in April 2002.
Clean product tanker freight rates showed even bigger declines than crude oil during 2002. The
estimated worldwide trade in clean products also fell during the year, reaching 422m t. This was about
0.7 per cent lower than that registered in 2001. The downturn in freight rates for clean product tankers
varied according to the trade situation on the respective routes. The sharp decline in Venezuelan exports
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