Teekay Tankers Ltd. (TNK): Oil Tankers Aren’t Sinking Anymore

While Suezmax ships tend to rely on business in the Atlantic basin for the most part, the addition of a third lane to the Panama Canal — completion scheduled for 2015 — should open up many more lines of trade for Suezmax tankers. Most don’t believe this will have a significant impact, but there are a few scenarios in which it could. These scenarios largely depend on oil prices and the availability of different ship classes.

One segment of energy transportation on the high seas that has shown investors that tankers can still deliver on Wall Street has been liquefied natural gas, LNG, tankers. Teekay LNG Partners L.P. (NYSE:TGP) and Golar LNG Partners LP (NASDAQ:GMLP) have both churned out returns north of 15% in the past year along with paying investors more than 6% in distributions just for owning shares. As LNG exporting becomes a bigger part of global energy trade both of these companies stand to benefit. While there has only been approval for two LNG exporting facilities in the U.S., there are many others with applications submitted. Combined with countless other plans around the world, the prospects look rather bright.

The article Oil Tankers Aren’t Sinking Anymore originally appeared on Fool.com.

Taylor Muckerman has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned.

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