Company: TEN-PE
Filing Date: 2025-04-11
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0001193125-25-079101
Chunk: 101

Company: TSAKOS ENERGY NAVIGATION LTD
Filing Date: 2025-04-11
Form: 20-F
Item: Item 5
Chunk 101
---
 petroleum cargoes.

The sanctions put in place by the West, and others, to penalize the activities of the Russian government, unintentionally gave all tanker operators a positive thrust and created structural changes that could be long-standing, as Europe, the major client of Russian oil over the years, replaced “nearby” Russian oil with barrels from the USA, Guyana, West Africa, and the Middle East, creating therefore a positive ton-mile effect on global tanker demand and ultimately charter rates.

In addition, the instability in the Middle East which impacted shipping markets since October 2023, culminating in attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea by the Houthi rebels remained prevalent during 2024, even though somewhat subsided after the temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in January 2025, still remain in a fragile state. Many ship owners and charterers are still avoiding the region and seek alternate routes -through the Cape of Good Hope- that inevitably increase ton-mileage. While it is impossible to predict how geopolitical events, particularly those involving Russia and China, will unfold especially with a new Administration in the US, and on whether the current ceasefire in the Middle East will hold, we expect that the rerouting of cargos will remain, in some capacity, for the foreseeable future, and continue to support the supply side of the tanker sector, at least in the near term.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), global oil demand reached a record 102.2mbpd in 2023 and is expected to have increased by 1.0mb/d to a new record of 103.2mb/d, in 2024. The estimates for 2025 remain in line for another record year, to 104.2mb/d, another 1.0mb/d increase. With the post-Covid rebound now complete, global oil demand continues to expand despite the ongoing energy transition debate for renewables and alternative fuels. The world appears to realize that, for the time being, it will need to be reliant on oil and LNG for longer periods from what originally anticipated, possibly at least until 2050.

Non-OECD countries dominate the growth outlook, with forecast demand set to increase by 1.2mb/d in 2025 to 58.9mb/d. By contrast, consumption in the OECD is expected to increase by only 0.7mb/d to 32.5mb/d instead. China continues to play a significant part in global oil dynamics having captured 16.6% of