OREANDA-NEWS. February 14, 2012. China is the biggest recipient of oil hauled on the largest tankers, said Braemar Seascope Ltd.

Forty percent of very large crude carriers booked for single voyages discharged their cargoes in China last month, twice as many as in 2005, the London-based shipbroker said in an e-mailed report. Braemar included Taiwan in its calculations with China, the world’s second-largest consumer of crude after the U.S.

“As Chinese refiners will probably add over 6 million barrels a day of domestic refinery capacity in the next five years, their presence in the VLCC spot market is likely to increase further as China makes efforts to secure its energy supplies,” Braemar Seascope research director Mark Williams said in the report.