The Nonlinear Relationship between Oil Prices and the Number of Tankers’ Port Calls: Evidence from AIS Data

Abstract

Tanker is the most important conveyance in oil transportation by virtue of its low transportation cost, large capacity and flexible routes. Crude oil price, which is the reflection of the demand and supply of oil market changes the oil shipping market. This paper examines the impact of oil prices on the tankers’ port call activity in the context of the economic environment, which aims to explore the micro-structure of crude oil transportation market. The number of tankers’ port-calls is achieved from the AIS (Automatic Identification System). The impact of oil prices on the tankers’ shipping activities is investigated by the threshold regression, which can examine the structural change of the impact. The empirical analysis indicates there is a threshold in the oil prices which alters the impact of oil price changes on global tankers’ port call activity.