Monday, June 13, 2022
Dear Shareholders and Investors,
Our business is constantly shaped by news. As we approach the fifth month of the crisis between Russia and Ukraine, we can better see how this situation is reshaping the flow of energy itself.
A key element in this new reality is sea transportation. The NAT fleet of suezmax tankers is more important than ever in meeting the challenges of this new energy landscape. The loading capacity of our tankers is one million barrels each.
Two weeks ago, OPEC and Saudi Arabia agreed to a larger increase in their oil production than the already-scheduled 400,000 barrels. The new increase now will be 648,000 barrels in July and again in August. This translates to more oil on the water and higher demand for the NAT suezmax tankers.
EU also agreed on a ban of Russian Oil. Europe imported about one third of its oil from Russia before the events in Ukraine unfolded.
Going forward, Europe can be expected to source a large part of this oil from other suppliers further away, such as West Africa, Middle East and Americas. This translates to longer distances and more need for our suezmax tankers.
Last time Nordic American had Russian oil on board our tankers was in April 2021.
There is a strong pressure on oil producing countries to increase their production. Oil is needed to create welfare – this is an established fact for decades.
The low supply of new oil tankers joining the global fleet in the coming years is positive for NAT. Major Asian shipyards report there is limited yard capacity to deliver large oil tankers before 2026, creating favorable supply/demand dynamics for our fleet of versatile suezmax tankers.
For contacts, please see at the end of this communication.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides safe harbor protections for forward-looking statements in order to encourage companies to provide prospective information about their business. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than statements of historical facts.
The Company desires to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this cautionary statement in connection with this safe harbor legislation. The words “believe,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “estimate,” “forecast,” “project,” “plan,” “potential,” “will,” “may,” “should,” “expect,” “pending” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements.
The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without limitation, our management’s examination of historical operating trends, data contained in our records and other data available from third parties. Although we believe that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond our control, we cannot assure you that we will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Important factors that, in our view, could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include the strength of world economies and currencies, general market conditions, including fluctuations in charter rates and vessel values, changes in demand in the tanker market, as a result of changes in OPEC’s petroleum production levels and worldwide oil consumption and storage, changes in our operating expenses, including bunker prices, drydocking and insurance costs, the market for our vessels, availability of financing and refinancing, changes in governmental rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities, potential liability from pending or future litigation, general domestic and international political conditions, potential disruption of shipping routes due to accidents or political events, vessels breakdowns and instances of off-hires and other important factors described from time to time in the reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the prospectus and related prospectus supplement, our Annual Report on Form 20-F, and our reports on Form 6-K.
NAT is a Bermuda based company.
Contacts:
Bjørn Giæver, CFO
Nordic American Tankers Ltd
Tel: +1 888 755 8391
Herbjørn Hansson, Founder, Chairman & CEO
Nordic American Tankers Ltd
Tel: +1 866 805 9504
www.nat.bm
