Oil Market News

India's Reliance Industries, operator of the world's biggest refining complex, will not buy Russian oil loaded on tankers operated by shipping company Sovcomflot (SCF) after recent U.S. sanctions, according to two sources familiar with the matter.The development adds to oil export problems for Russia as its oil firms may face difficulties finding ships to sell surplus oil after recent Ukrainian drone attacks on the state's refineries. Russian companies are already struggling to collect payments for oil exports due to banking restrictions.The U.S.

“The winds of change are blowing wild and free.” – Bob DylanIn the U.S. offshore wind industry, developments over recent months have placed an exclamation point on the word “wild”. Yes, the wind still blows “free”, but mounting challenges have proven that harnessing its power offshore is anything but. In fact, far from it, as rising materials costs, high interest rates, labor shortages and supply chain delays, among other issues, have delivered heavy blows to the commercial viability of several projects.

Istanbul-based tanker operator Palmali has become the top shipper for Ukraine's Black Sea-borne sunflower oil exports, one of the country's key export products, and plans to expand further, its chairman Mubariz Mansimov said.Azeri-born Mansimov said Palmali was the most active operator in the increasingly dangerous Black Sea, and plans to expand its presence in Ukraine by placing an order for 10 more cargo carriers and starting trading operations early next year. Since pulling out of the U.N.-brokered deal that guaranteed safe shipment of Ukrainian food products in July…

A very active Atlantic hurricane season so far this year has not sent storms across U.S. oil and natural gas fields in the northern Gulf of Mexico, sparing energy companies billions of dollars of losses and consumers higher fuel costs.The 2023 Atlantic hurricane season has been another in a string with above average activity producing three major hurricanes with winds above 111 mph (179 kph) out of six hurricanes among 20 named tropical storms.So far this year, only one storm, Tropical Storm Harold, on Aug.

Russia's oil exports via its western sea ports in November may fall by some 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) after ample supplies in September-October as domestic refineries are expected to raise runs as seasonal maintenance ends, three sources familiar with the plans said.Urals, Siberian light and KEBCO crude oil exports from Primorsk, Ust-luga and Novorossiisk ports are set to decline by some 300,000 bpd from October to slightly above 2 million bpd, according to the sources familiar…

Iran's oil output and exports jumped in August despite U.S. sanctions, according to consultants and companies that track tanker shipments, as Tehran sells to buyers including China.Analysts said the higher exports appear to be the result of Iran's success in evading U.S. sanctions and Washington's discretion in enforcing them as the two countries seek better relations.The United States has sought to limit Iran's oil exports since Donald Trump exited a 2015 nuclear accord in 2018 and re-imposed sanctions aimed at curbing revenues to Iran's government.

Russia is shipping a naphtha cargo via the North Sea Route (NSR) as Moscow seeks to increase supplies using the route to major trade partner China, cutting its way through European waters, traders said and Refinitiv data showed.SCF Irtysh is loaded with with 37,000 tonnes of naphtha onboard, loaded at Ust-Luga port on August 5, 2023, for delivery to China. It is the first such loading since at least the late 2000s, according to two traders.The supplier of the cargo was Gazprom Neft, the traders said.

Russia's seaborne oil exports from Primorsk, Ust-Luga and Novorossiisk hit 4-year record of 2.4 million barrels per day (bpd) in May as domestic refineries maintenance season freed up extra barrels, Refinitiv Eikon data showed on Monday.Russia's oil exports have been growing steadily over the last couple of months even though the state pledged additional cuts in line with OPEC+ members. Saudi Arabia has recently announced a deep cut to its output in July on top of a broader OPEC+ deal.Russian refineries cut runs in May amid major seasonal maintenance on most plants…

Chinese customs authorities are stepping up inspection checks on cargoes of heavy crude oil after uncovering several Iranian shipments that were mislabelled as diluted bitumen in an effort to bypass import quotas.The checks, begun a month ago, are delaying oil discharges into the eastern refining hub of Shandong province.They are also adding to uncertainty over the risk of disruption to shipments from Iran and Venezuela, while cutting into refining operations just as fuel demand recovers.

Norwegian energy company Equinor announced it has entered into an agreement to sell its oil terminal in the Bahamas to Estonian logistics and investment business Liwathon. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.The South Riding Point oil terminal at the Grand Bahama Island, commissioned in 1973 was purchased by Equinor in 2009 to enable the company to trade oil primarily originating from the American markets. The facility comprises 10 large storage tanks with a capacity of 6.8 million barrels (1…

European Union governments tentatively agreed on Thursday on a $60 a barrel price cap on Russian seaborne oil - an idea of the Group of Seven (G7) nations - with an adjustment mechanism to keep the cap at 5% below the market price, according to diplomats and a document seen by Reuters.The agreement still needs approval from all EU governments in a written procedure by Friday. Poland, which had pushed for the cap to be as low as possible, had as of Thursday evening not confirmed if it would support the deal…

Brazilian state-controlled oil company Petrobras has bought its first cargo of Guyanese crude for refining domestically, the company told Reuters, as South America's newest producer expands its market reach.With the start of a second floating production facility in February, Guyana now sells two light and sweet oil grades with plans to pump up to 360,000 barrels per day (bpd) this year. The sales are helping the tiny nation rapidly boost its revenue."Petrobras constantly monitors the international oil market looking for different suppliers and new production worldwide," a company spokesperson said in a statement.The 1-million-barrel cargo of crude loaded last week from the Liza Destiny and departed on Monday onboard the Bahamas-flagged tanker Cascade Spirit.

Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) declared force majeure at the Brega oil port on Tuesday, saying it was unable to fulfil its commitments towards the oil market."At a time when oil prices are witnessing a significant recovery due to the increase in global demand... Libyan crude is subjected to a wave of illegal closures," the state-owned company said in a statement.(Reuters - Reporting by Ahmed ElumamiWriting by Ahmad ElhamyEditing by Louise Heavens)

Oil prices rose on Tuesday, recovering some of the previous session's losses as Kazakhstan's supplies continued to be disrupted and major producers showed no sign of being in a hurry to boost output significantly.Brent crude LCOc1 rose $1.54, or 1.4%, to $114.02 a barrel by 1110 GMT, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 was up $1.34, or 1.3%, at $107.30. Both benchmarks had lost about 7% on Monday."There was an overreaction on Monday and the market is re-considering it," UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said.

Russian and Kazakhstan oil exports via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) from the Black Sea may fall by up to 1 million barrels per day (bpd), or 1% of global oil production, due to storm-damaged berths, a Russian official said on Tuesday.Pavel Sorokin, a deputy energy minister, said the second berth could also turn out to be damaged after initial information about one of the three being damaged by a storm.Sorokin said the maintenance could take up to two months, which could…

The global oil market was thrown into chaos on Thursday after Russia invaded Ukraine, with top buyers of Russian oil struggling to secure guarantees at Western banks or find ships to take crude from one of the world's largest producers.At least three major buyers of Russian oil have been unable to open letters of credit from Western banks to cover purchases on Thursday, four trading sources said, citing market uncertainty after the Russian invasion.Russia produces every 10th barrel in the world and oil prices jumped to above $105 per barrel on Thursday, their highest since 2014, due to fears of disruptions.In the Black Sea, a Turkish-owned ship was hit by a bomb off the coast of Ukraine's port city Odessa…

Oil prices surged to seven-year highs on Friday, extending their rally into a seventh week on ongoing worries about supply disruptions fueled by frigid U.S. weather and ongoing political turmoil among major world producers.Brent crude rose $2.16, or 2.4%, to settle at $93.27 a barrel having earlier touched its highest since October 2014 at $93.70.U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude ended $2.04, or 2.3%, higher at $92.31 a barrel after trading as high as $93.17, its highest since September 2014.Brent ended the week 3.6% higher…

The Signal Group offers an exhaustive overview of the trends in the dry bulk and tanker markets that both defined 2021, and offer a glimpse as to what might be in store for 2022 and beyond. The report is excerpted in short below; to see the full report CLICK HERE.Using Signal Ocean data, give the insight to analyze the trends and changes across the major vessel sizes in the dry and tanker freight market for 2021. This time last year, Signal Group analyzed the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on commercial shipping with a focus on dirty tankers - VLCC…

U.S. crude oil production fell 3.5% in September after Hurricane Ida temporarily halted most crude production in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico, according to a monthly report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Tuesday.Crude output dropped 380,000 barrels per day to 10.809 mln bpd from a revised 11.189 mln bpd in August, the report said. The decline came as production in the offshore Gulf of Mexico fell by 464,000 bpd, offsetting onshore gains.Ida disrupted Gulf of Mexico production as it passed through the Gulf at the end of August.

The Fujairah Oil Terminal is investing an estimated $45 million to upgrade the infrastructure at its storage facilities, betting on a surge in crude trading and storage demand at the United Arab Emirates oil hub, the company's chairman told Reuters.FOT's expansion, financed by a new $280 million debt facility, will connect its terminal to the Port of Fujairah's very large crude carrier (VLCC) loading facility and the Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline (ADCOP) pipeline, said Steve Bickerton…

Iran could quickly export millions of barrels of oil it is holding in storage if it reaches a deal with the United States on its nuclear program and has been moving oil into place to prepare for an eventual restart, four traders and industrial sources said.The U.S. and Iran began in mid-June their sixth round of indirect talks on reviving a 2015 nuclear deal that former U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of in 2018. Trump reimposed sanctions on Iran’s energy sector, leading…

Traders provisionally booked at least six tankers to ship gasoline from Europe to U.S. destinations following a cyber attack that shut the United States' top fuel pipeline network, Refinitiv Eikon data showed on Monday.The attack forced the Colonial Pipeline to shut down its entire system on Friday, stoking expectations of gasoline shortages along the U.S. East Coast.Some smaller lines were restarted Sunday, but Colonial has given no timeline for the restart of its main pipelines.Two…

In January, Occidental Petroleum announced it had accomplished something no oil company had done before: It sold a shipload of crude that it said was 100% carbon-neutral.While the two-million-barrel cargo to India was destined to produce more than a million tons of planet-warming carbon over its lifecycle, from well to tailpipe, the Texas-based driller said it had completely offset that impact by purchasing carbon credits under a U.N.-sponsored program called CORSIA.Carbon credits…