Oil traders storing crude for profit as contango takes hold

Oil traders have begun fixing tankers to take North Sea, West African and Arab crudes to South Africa for storage, hoping for a repeat of the multi-million dollar bonanza they reaped in 2008-2009. Shipping fixtures show that in late July and August, BP, Mercuria, Total and Chevron all booked suezmaxes to deliver crude to South Africa, with traders saying that a good number of these barrels will go into storage.