Oil is referred to as the blood of industry and is crucial in both human production and daily life.

However, there is a significant spatial mismatch between the distribution and demand for this "black gold."

Many regions rich in oil have limited demand for crude, while areas with substantial oil demand have meager reserves and production.

Therefore, like other commodities or resources, oil requires transportation to address the spatial imbalance and improve the efficiency of resource allocation.

The difference is that, as a special product, the transportation of oil requires consideration of many factors.

For example, how to reduce transportation costs, how to prevent leaks and pollution during transportation, how to solve the problem of transporting large quantities, and how to store during transportation, etc.

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Currently, the main modes of oil transportation include maritime tanker transport, pipeline transport, river transport, railway transport, and road transport.

Among them, maritime tanker transport is favored by many oil buyers and sellers due to its large capacity and low freight costs, making it the most common method of crude oil transportation.

The cargo ships that transport crude oil are called tankers.

Of course, there are many differences between tankers and other cargo ships, making it challenging for companies to make money in tanker transportation.

However, despite this, some companies can still grow and become strong in this field, becoming big players in the business world.

Interestingly, the top five tanker companies in the world come from countries that are not the ones we subconsciously consider as strong nations, but rather "out-of-the-way countries" that no one would guess.

Today, let's take a closer look at the rankings, with revenue as the primary indicator, and net profit, market value (closing value as of December 31, 2023), and one-year total return rate as auxiliary indicators.

The data is collected from January 1, 2023, to December 31, 2023, and the main sources are YCharts and the financial reports of the companies.

5.

SFL Corporation Ltd (SFL) was established on October 10, 2003.

Although it belongs to the Norwegian shipping magnate's industry, the company's headquarters is in Hamilton, Bermuda.

The company is an international ship ownership and leasing enterprise with subsidiaries, partners, and branches in Bermuda, Cyprus, Malta, Liberia, Norway, Singapore, the UK, and the Marshall Islands.

SFL Corporation Ltd owns 14 crude oil, refined oil, and chemical tankers, two offshore drilling ships, and dozens of car carriers, container ships, and bulk carriers.

The company's tankers are all in a state of being overbooked, with many transportation orders already scheduled for a year later.

4.

Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd was established in 1993 and is headquartered in Greece.

It owns a fleet of 66 crude oil, refined oil, liquefied natural gas, and shuttle tankers.

Its main business includes time charters, bareboat charters, voyage charters, contracts of affreightment, and joint ventures.

Due to the overwhelming orders and tight shipyard capacity, the company's order volume has continued beyond 2027.

Because of this, the company is considering upgrading some of its tankers to more modern ships while continuing to expand into specialized tanker fields, such as shuttle tankers.

3.

Teekay, headquartered in Canada, was established in 1973 and has two main business areas: offshore services and conventional tankers.

The specific business scope includes oil production, storage, and unloading services.

The company's customers include not only oil companies but also government agencies.

Many countries' strategic reserve oil transportation is carried out through Teekay, although the freight profit for this part of the business is relatively cheap, which also lowers the company's market return rate.

However, the advantage is that the scale is large enough to allow for the establishment of two independent listed subsidiaries: Teekay Tankers Ltd. (TNK) and Teekay LNG Partners LP (TGP).

2.

Frontline Shipping was established in 1985 and is headquartered in Limassol, Cyprus.

It owns 69 Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs), 57 Suezmax tankers, and 20 Aframax tankers.

Frontline started from a small and medium-sized enterprise and has gradually become one of the leading companies in the industry today.

The company's development path is a vivid textbook of mergers and acquisitions, especially after the official merger with Euronav in December 2022, which immediately pushed it to the position of the industry leader.

1.

Scorpio Tankers (STNG) has developed very quickly.

This company, headquartered in Monaco, was registered in the Republic of the Marshall Islands on July 1, 2009, and went public successfully in October 2009 and 2010.

Currently, Scorpio Tankers has three ship transportation and operation subsidiaries, with a fleet of 14 Handymax, 60 MR-type, and 39 LR2-type tankers.

More impressively, among these hundred-plus tankers, apart from 13 long-term charters, the other 100 are all owned by the company—a level of ownership that other tanker companies cannot reach.