Volatile oil prices prompted by supply and demand pressures has created record-breaking growth in tanker derivatives - an estimated $6 billion market based on predicting ship transport costs.

Now the potentially huge risk protection benefits and profit-making opportunities are to be explored in the inaugural Tanker Derivatives conference in London on November 9-10.
Uncertainty over the cost of moving a tanker from A to B has been heightened by rising fuel prices on the back of a worldwide increase in oil demand, political instability in some oil producing regions and a looming supply bottleneck as newbuilding deliveries fail to keep pace. 
Added to other variables - anything from port and toll charges to crew costs and weather conditions - such market conditions have increased the risk of owners and charterers being exposed to major losses on transit costs.
The Tanker Derivatives conference will examine the impact of this scenario from two main perspectives - hedging, where operators ‘bet’ on future costs and receive a payout if the forecast level is exceeded; and speculative trading.