Clarksons Platou Securities has pointed to a positive message from history as owners hope for a boost to tanker rates.

Frode Morkedal, the investment bank's managing director of research, said that in late 2002, Opec raised output by 1.5m barrels per day (bpd).

This was enough to lift VLCC earnings from $16,000 per day in the first three quarters of 2002 to $60,000 per day by the first three months of 2003.