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Lars Barstad

Chief Executive Officer, Frontline

Search every verified Lars Barstad interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Lars Barstad, CEO of Frontline, has been active in media appearances in late 2024 and throughout 2025, discussing the tanker market, Frontline’s strategy, and broader energy trends. Barstad described the current tanker market as an "old school bull market" driven by supply constraints rather than demand, citing an aging fleet and a lack of investment in new vessels due to ESG-related capital restrictions. He stated that vessels over 20 years old are largely excluded from the compliant market, which he said will lead to limited fleet growth and a shortage of tonnage in the coming years. Barstad characterized Frontline’s approach as "shareholder driven" rather than management driven, noting that the company aims to return cash to shareholders and maintain a spot-exposed fleet. Barstad also commented on geopolitical and market dynamics, describing 2025 as a year of increased policy changes following the U.S. presidential inauguration. He said that a low oil price driven by high supply is beneficial for Frontline, as it reduces fuel costs, while a low oil price due to weak demand is negative. Regarding the failed merger with Euronav, Barstad stated that the deal was "definitively not a smooth and efficient deal" and was terminated because the companies could not be effectively combined. He compared the current market cycle to a long dinner party, saying "we haven't even sat down for dinner yet." Barstad also noted that U.S. oil production has been stronger than anticipated, attributing this to efficiency gains rather than new drilling.

Recent appearances

Notable quotes

“if you put into your model that tankers actually don't trade in the in in any market really, well, at least in the compliant market after they're 20 years old, we're going to have a very limited growth, fleet growth for the for the next two, three years... then we're going to be short tonnage. We're not going to be short oil as we just discovered. We're not going to be, you know, kind of the the the product is going ”

“since ever since kind of the, you know, ESG came into fashion and nonsustainable businesses and so forth were targeted and looked upon us as a bad investment. we've had this kind of vacuum of investing in in the industry that we represent... we are kind of still to this day underinvested in transportation and particularly so for oil.”

“If you look at IEA, EIA, OPEC, all the reporting agencies and the smart banks, they're looking at us to build tremendous inventory for the next year, to the tune of two and a half to three million barrels per day for 2026. But with that, the oil pricing curve is not showing any signs of that at all. We should have had a contango structure. We should have had cheap crude in the front which gradually with the price inc”

“I think what surprised most people is that because when I saw DNV's first kind of 2050 vision, their energy road map, I was surprised on kind of how quickly the renewables was going to come into the market and how quickly adoption of renewable was going to be and it looked really bearish actually. But what has actually happened is the energy demand globally has increased at such a tremendous pace that oil's relative ”

“if you if you put into your model that tankers actually don't trade in the in in any market really, well, at least in the compliant market after they're 20 years old, we're going to have a very limited growth, fleet growth for the for the next two, three years. We've actually had a period of negative growth. If you look at vessels, the population of vessels below 20 years, that has been negative for VCC since 2021. F”

“A low oil price because demand is not good for us. A low oil price because supply is high. That's very good for us. You know, the largest cost we carry, you know, as running shipping operation is the bunk of fuel. And of course, fuel prices are correlated highly correlated with with the crude prices. And if crude prices are low, our cost is low. So, so, uh, so we, you know, so you could actually put that in a in a, y”

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