2

There was another post about this but oil is going for -32 dollars a barrel. What if I acquired A million barrels of oil. I’d be sitting on 32 million with which I could theoretically use to buy an oil tanker, hire a subcontractor that would provide the crew and still have some money left over. That or I could buy warehouses.

I know this is ridiculous but I just don’t see what’s stopping someone from doing this. Do you need proof that you can safely store the oil before you buy it?

People are saying it costs more to store than its worth but from my research (however uninformed it was) I'm not sure it does.

Rodrigo de Azevedo
  • 1,114
  • 9
  • 22
Mark
  • 29
  • 2

1 Answers1

12

A million barrels of oil would be a high end tanker, and second hand prices seem to be about $60 to $100 million dollars, so there is a bit of a hole in the budget before you start thinking about running costs. Then there is the issue of finding a suitable deepwater port in Oklahoma.

Also, there is the cash flow problem. You need to have the cash to get the facilities in place, and you probably won't get paid until the goods are delivered. Then you have to think about insurance, and complying with all the EPA and OSHA rules.

Finally the oil price isn't likely to be high any time soon, you are likely to be stuck holding it for some time, whilst all the other storage facilities are full. That's likely to eat into your margin. Finally, as crude, there are a limited number of places you can offload it - you can't sell it retail.

richardb
  • 1,950
  • 2
  • 13
  • 12