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Oil

Norwegian billionaire to buy 10 oil tankers: report

AFP
AFP - [email protected]
Norwegian billionaire to buy 10 oil tankers: report
Photo: Heiko Junge/Scanpix (File)

Norwegian-born shipping tycoon John Fredriksen plans to spend millions of dollars to buy 10 oil tankers, hoping that their fuel capacity will give him an edge in a market facing severe overcapacity, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

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Fredriksen plans to buy the medium range oil carriers from an as yet undisclosed builder for Frontline 2012, which was created last year as part of a massive restructuring of Frontline, one of the world's leading oil tanker shipping companies, the British financial daily reported.

The plan of adding more new tankers to a market already facing a significant glut might "seem crazy to most people," Fredriksen acknowledged to the paper.

But he insisted that "at today's bunker prices, we'll save $10,000 a day" due to the new vessels' high fuel capacity, and pointing out he had been offered prices down to $85 million per vessel compared to the peak price of $180 million.

Fredriksen, who lives in London and has become a citizen of Cyprus for taxation reasons, owns 52 percent of Frontline 2012.

Last year, Fredriksen ranked 72nd on Forbes' list of world billionaires, with a personal net worth of $10.7 billion.

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