"Unexpected carnage" in the third quarter has seen Clarksons Platou Securities to pull down its crude tanker estimates.

Analysts at the finance house took a red pen to their VLCC, suezmax and aframax numbers given rising fleet growth and a changing demand picture in the face of OPEC cuts.

“The next 12-18 months will be challenging for owners with fleet growth nearing 5% , while high oil inventories deter trade growth,” wrote analysts Herman Hildan and Frode Morkedal in the company’s latest quarterly report.