After selling the four old vessels Næss liquidated "Nortuna Shipping" and concentrated on "Norness Shipping", and after a dull start he started using "Contracts of Affreightment" in a 1954 agreement with "American Independent Oil Company", of San Francisco. The contract stipulated that a given amount of oil was to be transported to Houston, Texas from the Persian Gulf. The form of the contract gave Næss room to arrange the best possible conditions for transporting the oil, both for him and the oil company. The terms of the contract created a small sensation and Næss was summoned for a lunch in the Petroleum Club of Houston.