Crude Oil Contango, And Not A Tanker To Be Found

Crude oil is currently in contango as futures are trading at a significant premium to spot prices (see WSJ article). As of yesterday's close, spot prices were around $43 a barrel as May futures were trading near $50 a barrel. Unfortunately, to profit from the difference, you need to store the crude somewhere, yet the number of available tankers is decreasing fast. In fact, demand is causing shipping prices to rise nearly 50 percent recently, causing a increase in the Baltic Dirty Tanker Index.