There are many on the extreme left who call him that for various reasons, but imho that label just doesn't fit w/ someone who was an editor for Newsweek and a CNN contributor while supporting Obamacare.
World’s Largest Traders Use Offshore Supertankers to Store Oil
By Sarah Kent and Georgi Kantchev
Jan. 19, 2015 12:49 p.m. ET
The supertanker TI Oceania was built to ferry vast quantities of oil across oceans but for the next year it is expected to remain firmly anchored off the coast of Singapore, storing millions of barrels of oil for giant trading house Vitol SA.
According to shipbrokers and analysts, the 3-million-barrel megaship—one of the largest in the world—is just one example of a growing trend that sees traders seeking ways to turn a profit in the slumping global oil market. The strategy is simple: buy and store oil at cheap prices now and sell futures contracts to lock in the higher oil prices expected later.
According to data gathered from ship brokers and analysts, major traders including Vitol SA, Gunvor SA, Trafigura Beheer BV and Koch Supply & Trading Co. Ltd have chartered supertankers capable of storing a combined total of more than 30 million barrels of oil—many of them in the past few weeks. Vitol, Gunvor and Trafigura declined to comment. Koch didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The opportunity to stockpile oil in such large quantities has come from the dramatic shift in the commodity’s market in recent months. Since June, prices have collapsed, tumbling by more than 50% amid soaring production from the U.S. and unwavering output from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, at a time when global economic growth and weak demand is slowing.
The oversupply has given rise to contango—when the current price of a commodity is lower than prices for delivery in the future. That makes it attractive for buyers to purchase oil now at the cheaper rates, store it and strike sales agreements at a higher price in the future, locking in profits.