Petroleum Oil News

RSC Bio Solutions, a provider of high performance Environmentally Acceptable Lubricants (EALs) - hydraulic fluids, gear oils and greases - and industrial cleaners and solvents, said it has received OEM approvals for use in Kawasaki Heavy Industries’ Controllable Pitch Propellers (CPP) and side thrusters. The RSC EnviroLogic HF 68 HP was approved for use in Kawasaki Controllable Pitch Propellers (CPP). RSC EnviroLogic HF 68 HP is a high performance, readily biodegradable, synthetic ISO 68 grade hydraulic fluid. Intended for use in severe conditions, including extreme high temperatures (250°F / 121°C), low temperatures (-40°F / -40°C) and high pressure (5000+ psi / 34…

Indian port sector players will continue to experience healthy growth in cargo in the near term, PTI reported quoting rating agency Icra. Traction in Inland Waterway projects will open up several business opportunities for the port sector players. "Over the medium to long term, cargo growth is expected to gain further traction driven by domestic requirements of coal for power and other sectors, crude oil, for meeting domestic petroleum requirements and containers, given the cost and logistical advantages associated with containerisation." Icra said in a statement. "Port sector players will continue to experience healthy growth in cargo in the near term…

Euronav's joint venture with International Seaways (INSW) has signed a contract for five years for the FSO Africa and FSO Asia in direct continuation of the current contractual service. The contract was signed with North Oil Company (NOC), the future operator of the Al-Shaheen oil field, whose shareholders are Qatar Petroleum Oil & Gas Limited and Total E&P Golfe Limited. The new contracts for these custom-made 3 million barrels capacity units which have been significantly converted and that have been serving the Al-Shaheen field without interruption since 2010 will have a duration of five years starting at the expiry of the existing contracts with Maersk Oil Qatar. The existing contracts will remain in force until expiry in the third quarter of 2017.

United States District Court Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi accepted the guilty plea of Doorae Shipping Co., LTD, a South Korean maritime operations company, and sentenced the company to pay a fine of $275,000, and a term of three years of probation for the failure to maintain an accurate oil record book, in violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships. According to the Information to which Doorae pled guilty, the operation of a marine vessel, such as the B. Pacific, a petroleum oil tank ship registered under the flag administration of the Marshall Islands, and operated by Doorae, generates large quantities of waste oil and oil-contaminated waste water. International and U.S. law requires that these vessels use pollution prevention equipment to preclude the discharge of these materials.

Among five major ports on the east coast Paradip Port topped the list with 28.65 million tonnes of cargo for the first four months, followed by Chennai Port 17.42 million tonnes, V.O.C Port 13.07 million tonnes, Krishnapatnam Port 11.57 million tonnes and Kamarajar Port close to 9 million tonnes. The five ports have collectively handled about 80 million tonnes of cargo during the first four months of the current fiscal year, fuelled by imports of coal and petroleum, oil and lubricant (POL) products. Paradip Port handled a record throughput of 8.06 MMT in a single month - July,2016 - surpassing the earlier highest record handling of 7.61 MMT cargo in the month of March, 2016.

absorbents,  announced that its EnviroLogic 3032 readily biodegradable hydraulic fluid and EnviroLogic 802 multipurpose, lithium-complex biodegradable grease have been approved for use in Becker Marine Systems rudders. According to its developer, EnviroLogic 3032 hydraulic fluid is a high performance, readily biodegradable, synthetic ISO 32 grade hydraulic fluid. It is intended for severe service, extreme high temperature (250°F), low temperature (-40°F) and high pressure (5,000+ psi) applications. EnviroLogic 3032 can directly replace petroleum oil based hydraulic fluids of the same viscosity, yet has reduced environmental impact in the event of a leak or spill, as it is readily biodegradable and non-sheening.

Dennis de Bruin, Marine Director at BMT Surveys, explains the current issues and new regulations concerning the on-board blending of fuels. Fuel oils are mainly a blend of oils and other components, for example; aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzene, toluene and xylene. Gasoline, for instance, is a refined product of petroleum, consisting of a mixture of hydrocarbons, additives and blending agents. Its composition varies widely depending on the crude oils used, the refinery processes, the type of product demanded and its specifications.

There’s a lot of conflicting information related to readily biodegradable lubricants and fluids. What’s the real story? The U.S. EPA’s 2013 Vessel General Permit (VGP) requirements are now in place requiring the use of environmentally acceptable lubricants (EALs) in oil to water interfaces for vessels over 79 feet. The VGP revision also requires any above water line hull cleaning or deck washdowns resulting in discharge to be conducted with appropriate cleaners and detergents.

2.    chemical tankers intending to carry biofuel blends of gasoline and ethyl alcohol cargoes containing more than 1% but less than 75% of petroleum oil to use alcohol-resistant foam or multi-purpose foam concentrates in their cargo deck fire-fighting systems. Resolution MEPC.240(65) requires oil tankers that are carrying biofuel blended cargoes containing 75% or more of petroleum oil on or after the January 1, 2016, and are fitted with an ODM system (Marpol Annex I, Regulation 31), to have the system approved and tested for the individual biofuel blend.

U.S. The latest statistical roundup of the U.S. flag fleet (2012) shows some interesting trends. We know that the U.S. blue water, deep draft fleet continues to dwindle in size and numbers – albeit some exciting recent orders for tankers and containerships. But virtually 99 percent of our commercial fleet is now represented by inland and coastal pushboats, barges and offshore service vessels. Or, in other words, the demographic represented by the readership of MarineNews magazine. What else do we know?

GAC UK & GAC Seaforth overcome challenges to deliver cargo to LakeTanganyika, Burundi, for Surestream Petroleum oil exploration. Independent oil exploration company Surestream Petroleum Ltd, headquartered in Reading, UK, contacted energy sector specialists GAC UK for help with shipping 60 tons of cargo to their seismic operations base on Lake Tanganyika, located to the west of Tanzania and also bordered by Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia. The shipment comprised fabricated steel sections, stores, tools, chemicals, high value seismic equipment and a 10m chase boat. GAC was also appointed as the main agent to air-freight stores to Burundi and for a high-priority task to andfrom Malawi.

AMP to Testify on Administration’s Failure to Comply With Federal Law During 2011 SPR Draw Down; Will Stress How to Avoid a Repeat During Future Draw Downs. Thomas Allegretti will testify on behalf of the American Maritime Partnership regarding the Administration’s failure to comply with federal law during the summer 2011 draw down of the Strategic Petroleum Oil Reserve (SPR) before House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation. Allegretti will discuss how the Administration can be in compliance with the federal law during future SPR draw downs.

The primary focus of last year’s annual update, which appeared in the April 2011 issue, was U.S. efforts to tighten economic sanctions against Iran. Over the past year, U.S. pressure on Iran has intensified. Syria also has been a target of new U.S. sanctions, while the sanctions against Libya imposed in early 2011 have been eliminated for all practical purposes by a series of general licenses. Our 2012 update concentrates on these key U.S. developments, but readers should be aware that these were not the only recent changes to U.S. and international sanctions programs.

Statutory alert: Changes to the requirements for the carriage of blends of petroleum oil and bio-fuels. The 62nd session of the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 62) agreed that from September 1, 2011, bio-fuel/petroleum oil blends should be carried in accordance with new Guidelines for the Carriage of Blends of Petroleum Oil and Bio-fuel. These are contained in IMO Circular MEPC.1/Circ.761. The Guidelines define bio-fuels as: ethyl alcohol (ethanol), fatty acid methyl esters (FAME), vegetable oils (triglycerides) and alkanes (C10-26), linear and branched with flashpoint of either 60ºC or less or more than 60ºC. Further bio-fuels identified as falling under the scope of the Guidelines will be listed in a new Annex 11 of the MEPC.2/Circular.

The Coast Guard, along with commercial tug vessels, and the California Department of Fish and Game responded to a vessel, which lost propulsion on Jan. 27, just outside the Golden Gate Bridge. At 5:24 p.m., the Petroleum Oil Tank Ship Overseas Cleliamar lost power shortly after transiting under the Golden Gate Bridge while outbound from San Francisco enroute to its next port of call in Ecuador. Within ten minutes, the crew was able to drop the starboard anchor to stabilize the vessel's position, restored power and backed down under its own power. The vessel had previously discharged its cargo during its port call at Martinez and was carrying no cargo at the time of the incident.

A Coast Guard aircrew medevaced a 55-year-old-man from a foreign-flagged tanker ship transiting 225 miles southeast of Nantucket Tuesday night after the vessel's captain reported the man was suffering from cardiac complications. A Jayhawk rescue helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Cod arrived on scene shortly after 9 p.m. and hoisted 55-year-old Flavio Simonini from the motor tanker Venice, a 768-foot petroleum oil tanker from Malta. The Jayhawk aircrew, including a Coast Guard flight surgeon, took Simonini, in stable condition, to Hyannis Airport for further transport to Cape Cod Hospital. Simonini's current condition is not known.

The U.S. Coast Guard recently issued interim guidance for the development and review of oil spill response plans for nontank vessels. Since 1993, tank vessels have carried oil spill response plans. A recent legislative change will soon mandate similar response plans for most other ships. The problem is that the legislation requires nontank vessels to have the response plans sooner than the Coast Guard can promulgate regulations in accordance with standard procedures. Thus, the agency is unofficially advising stakeholders on how to comply with the legislation. Stakeholders will ignore the unofficial advice at their peril. The legislation has real teeth.