Tanker investments up, thanks to surge in US fuel exports

[LONDON] Blackstone Group, the world's largest manager of alternative assets, as well as billionaires Wilbur Ross and John Fredriksen, are amassing tanker fleets to tap America's surging fuel exports.

Blackstone's Tactical Opportunities Fund has invested "several hundred million dollars" of equity in ship assets in the past two years, its New York-based principal, Jasvinder Khaira, said on Oct 31.

The venture, which acquired stakes in nine tankers hauling petrol and other fuels last year, is also financing an expansion by Eletson Gas, the second-largest owner of mid-size liquefied petroleum gas carriers. Other Blackstone funds own a company hauling fuel between US ports.