Crude Oil Shipments News

The economic incentive to import oil from the U.S. Gulf Coast to Asia has closed as the cost of booking supertankers on the route has surged amid a jump in bookings for the vessels, traders said this week.With the arbitrage for U.S. shipments closed, Asian refiners may make up some of the difference with similar Middle Eastern crude oil after top regional producer Saudi Arabia cut their sales prices for February, which is expected to carry over to other regional crudes. The spur…

The U.S. trade deficit unexpectedly narrowed in November as imports of consumer goods fell to a one-year low amid slowing domestic demand, a trend that, if it persists in December, could result in trade having no impact on economic growth in the fourth quarter.The report from the Commerce Department on Tuesday also showed exports declined in November amid cooling demand overseas. Demand is slowing both in the United States and abroad following hefty interest rate increases by global central banks since 2022 to tackle rampant inflation.The Federal Reserve's rate hiking cycle has likely ended…

Russian oil revenues are falling due to the price cap that Western countries imposed on its crude oil shipments and, ahead of further caps on Russia's oil products, Europe is well positioned to manage any price pressures, a U.S. Treasury official said on Wednesday.The Group of Seven countries, Australia and the European Union will extend sanctions on Russia for its war in Ukraine by putting a price cap on its oil products, such as gasoline and diesel, on Feb. 5. The coalition…

The Port of Corpus Christi reports it set another tonnage record in the third quarter of 2022, driven in large part by record exports of crude oil.The new quarterly tonnage record of 48.3 million tons surpassed the previous tonnage record set in the second quarter of 2022 of 46.4 million tons, a 4% increase on overall tonnage. The growth primarily was a result of strong exports of United States produced crude oil to Western European buyers who have moved away from Russian crude imports. The U.S.

The Port of Corpus Christi reports it experienced double-digit volume growth in the first four months of 2022, establishing new records for tonnage and revenues. Through the end of April its customers moved 59.2 million tons of cargo through the Port of Corpus Christi, representing a 10.4% increase over the prior record set in 2020. These new tonnage records were a result of a 56.2% increase in liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports (5.4 million tons), a 17.8% increase in refined product exports (10.6 million tons)…

Signal Group's artificial-intelligence (AI) driven forecasting algorithm, Carrier Path Prediction Based On Dynamic Input Data, has been awarded a US patent, as it aims to deliver an advanced prediction model for the maritime community. "Receiving our first U.S patent is a tremendous milestone for the Signal Group," said Ioannis Martinos, CEO, Signal Group. "The patent powers our sophisticated voyage forecasting capabilities."Signal, with offices in London and Athens, is developing AI software for the maritime transport and commodities trading sectors…

Iran has asked Indonesia to provide details about the seizure of an Iranian-flagged vessel, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday, a day after Jakarta said it had seized Iran and Panama-flagged tankers in its waters.Indonesia said on Sunday its coast guard had seized the Iranian-flagged MT Horse and the Panamanian-flagged MT Freya vessels over suspected illegal oil transfer in the country’s waters.Khatibzadeh said that the seizure was over a “a technical issue and it happens in shipping field”.“Our Ports Organisation and the ship owner company are looking to find the cause of the issue and resolve it,” Khatibzadeh told a televised weekly news conference.Coast guard spokesman Wisnu Pramandita said the tankers…

Iran accused the United States on Friday of acting like the "Pirates of the Caribbean" after Washington said it had sold off Iranian crude oil shipments that it seized on their way to Venezuela.Washington said on Thursday it had sold 1.1 million barrels of previously seized Iranian oil that was bound for Venezuela, in the Trump administration's latest move to increase pressure on Tehran less than a week before the November 3 U.S. presidential election."The Pirates of the Caribbean openly boasting abt(about) their booty... No one civilized brags abt stealing," Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Twitter.Iranian officials have said the seized crude oil shipments belonged to shippers and not Iran. But according to an unsealed U.S.

U.S. crude oil shipments to China will rise sharply in coming weeks, U.S. traders and shipbrokers and Chinese importers said, as the world’s top economies gear up to review a January deal after a prolonged trade war.Chinese state-owned oil firms have tentatively booked tankers to carry at least 20 million barrels of U.S. crude for August and September, the people said, moves that may ease U.S. concerns that China’s purchases are trending well short of purchase commitments under the Phase 1 of the trade deal.China had emerged as a top U.S.

U.S. crude oil shipments to China have "totally stopped", the President of China Merchants Energy Shipping Co (CMES) said on Wednesday, as the trade war between the world's two biggest economies takes its toll on what was a fast growing businesses.Washington and Beijing have slapped steep import tariffs on hundreds of goods in the past months. And although U.S. crude oil exports to China, which only started in 2016, have not yet been included, Chinese oil importers have shied away from new orders recently."We are one of the major carriers for crude oil from the U.S. to China.

China's threat to impose duties on U.S. oil imports will hit a business that has soared in the last two years, and which is now worth almost $1 billion per month.In an escalating spat over the United States' trade deficit with most of its major trading partners, including China, U.S. President Donald Trump said last week he was pushing ahead with hefty tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese imports, starting on July 6.China said Friday it would retaliate by slapping duties on several American commodities, including oil.Investors expect the spat to come at the expense of U.S.

South Korea said on Wednesday it would seek U.S. exemptions to buy Iranian oil, a path many big oil consumers are likely to follow in the wake of new U.S. sanctions on Tehran, which will tighten world oil markets and push up prices.Iran is the third-largest oil producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and a key supplier, especially to refiners in Asia.The United States plans to impose new unilateral sanctions after abandoning an agreement reached in late 2015 which limited Iran's nuclear ambitions in exchange for removing joint U.S.-Europe sanctions…

When marine safety collides with environmental advocacy and non-maritime business interests, the discussion can be contentious, confusing and cumbersome. In June 2016, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) opened a public comment period regarding new anchorage zones in the Hudson River; usually a rather low-key set of issues. This proved different. Opponents jumped on the proposal – initially suggested by three maritime organizations – as a backdoor way to facilitate a huge expansion in crude oil shipments on the Hudson.

Trafigura hires five VLCCs to store oil; short-term storage a profitable play. Freight rates for very large crude carriers (VLCCs) could creep higher as more ships are chartered for floating storage and crude oil shipments increase ahead of the northern winter, brokers said. "There might be a slow creep up towards 60 (on the Worldscale measure)," said Ashok Sharma, managing director of ship broker BRS Baxi in Singapore on Friday. "W60 is at least on the horizon. Rates from West Africa to China are already at W56," he added. That came as VLCC rates from the Middle East to Asia gained around 3 Worldscale points since last Thursday, buoyed by growing interest from traders seeking to charter vessels to store oil for one to three months. "The storage play has gained traction.

Strong container traffic, newly introduced segments and the Expanded Canal all contribute to the 330.7 million tons of goods welcomed through the Canal in FY16, the third highest amount ever recorded. Panama City, Panama, October 20, 2016 – At the close of the 2016 fiscal year (FY16), the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) recorded the third-highest annual tonnage in its history, welcoming 330.7 million Panama Canal tons (PC/UMS). A total of 13,114 vessels transited the Panama Canal during the fiscal period from October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016. Of these, 238 were Neopanamax vessels that took advantage of the newly opened Expanded Canal during the first three months of its operation, accounting for 18.2 million PC/UMS.

Libya will resume oil shipments from the port of Marsa El Hariga after an agreement was reached at talks in Vienna between rival oil officials representing the east and west of the country, Libyan oil sources told Reuters. Exports from the port have been blocked since early this month due to a standoff between the rival eastern and western National Oil Corporations (NOC). Early signs of rapprochement between the two could help Libya quickly increase its oil production back towards the more than 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) it was before the blockade more than halved output from two major eastern oil fields. The NOC in Benghazi, which is loyal to Libya's eastern government…

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett is set to be a chief beneficiary of a bid by Senate Republicans to weaken new regulations to improve train safety in the $2.8 billion crude-by-rail industry, a key cog in the development of the vast North American shale oil fields. A series of oil train accidents, including the July 2013 explosion of a train carrying crude in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, that killed 47 people, led U.S. and Canadian regulators to announce sweeping safety rules in May. Among other things, U.S. oil trains are required to install new electronically controlled pneumatic (ECP) brakes. But in late June, the Republican-controlled Senate Commerce Committee approved a measure to drop that requirement, and order years of new research to confirm the safety benefits of ECP brakes.

The U.S. Coast Guard Commandant addresses a packed Passenger Vessel Association meeting and outlines both the challenges and opportunities facing his organization. Long Beach, CA: Less than 12 hours after the New England Patriots’ late game heroics stunned the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Paul Zukunft found himself facing a standing room only audience of Passenger Vessel Association (PVA) delegates, all thirsting to hear what the Coast Guard and the government’s regulatory sector had in store for them in the coming months and years. Clearly, and despite some late night celebrations (or tearful regrets), few, if any delegates slept in on Monday morning.

Global crude prices fell more than $1 a barrel on Thursday, retreating from a short-covering charged rally as traders bet the market had not shaken off a six-month long rout on oversupply concerns.   Traders also cited a Bloomberg report that a port workers' union in Nigeria had ended its strike, potentially allowing crude oil shipments to resume out of the country.   (Reporting By Barani Krishnan; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

"I would like to report our business results for the first quarter of fiscal year (FY) 2014 (April 1, 2014 to June 30, 2014). During the first three months of FY2014, while geopolitical risks such as political strife in Ukraine and Iraq raised concerns of a spike in crude oil prices, moderate recoveries in the United States and Europe drove global economic growth. Looking at maritime shipping markets, a continuing surplus of dry bulk vessels kept that sector weak overall. The very large crude oil carrier (VLCC) market slumped mainly as a result of a decline in demand for crude oil shipments due to scheduled periodic maintenance at East Asian refineries. On the other hand, the LPG carrier market was strong.

Oil and gas—and also mining—are the drivers today propelling Arctic maritime operations and the construction of new vessels able to operate in extreme latitudes. While the gas and oil resources can be recovered in the Arctic or far north and shipped to markets by sea or pipeline, the cost of doing must be balanced upon the global market price for those commodities. Ships and marine structures able to operate in the harsh conditions of the extreme latitudes require special designs and construction techniques.

According to a report from Reuters, many oil tankers in Libya's state-owned fleet remain anchored and unable to trade because of cash flow issues. Crude oil shipments from Libya, once Africa's third largest producer, have been at a virtual standstill for months as leader Muammar Gaddafi has faced international pressure and sanctions.   Source: Reuters

Mexico's Pajaritos oil export terminal and Dos Bocas port, which also handles oil tankers, were both closed to shipping, the Transport Ministry said in a routine report. Pajaritos, a Gulf port located in the Coatzacoalcos complex in the southern state of Veracruz, closed at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, according to a port official. He said weather conditions on Wednesday included winds of 19-25 mph (30-40 km per hour), and 8-foot (2.5-meter) waves. Dos Bocas, also on the Gulf of Mexico in the southeastern state of Tabasco has been closed since 4:40 p.m. on Tuesday, the port official added. Weather conditions at the port on Wednesday were waves of 10-12 ft. (3-3.5 meters), and winds of 25 mph (40 km per hour).