The tanker sector refuses to follow its script. Rates were supposed to keep on sinking into the summer. They didn’t. Rates for very large crude carriers (VLCCs; tankers that carry 2 million barrels of crude oil) have jumped well above recent lows. They’re now nearly double last year’s rate. VLCC spot rates have not been this high at this time of year since 2015. And yet, crude-tanker stocks continue to languish.

Rates on the rise: According to Clarksons Platou Securities, VLCC spot rates averaged $35,500 per day on Thursday, up almost 50% week-on-week. Some individual VLCC spot fixtures in recent days are even higher, near $50,000 a day. Rates for Suezmaxes – tankers that carry 1 million barrels of crude – averaged $14,400 per day, up 32% week-on-week…