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Hellenic Petroleum News

22 Dec 2018

Snam, Enagás, Fluxys Complete DESFA Acquisition

The consortium consisting Italy’s Snam, Spain’s Enagás and Belgium’s Fluxys has completed the acquisition of a 66 percent stake in Greek natural gas operator DESFA.According to a joint release, the purchase valued at €535 million ($613.9 million) has been completed with the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF) and Hellenic Petroleum.The consortium, which won the tender for the privatisation of DESFA in April 2018, has closed the purchase through the new company Senfluga Energy Infrastructure Holdings. The consortium has obtained financing without recourse for more than 10 years, corresponding to approximately 65% of the value of the company.DESFA owns and operates…

03 Aug 2017

Flurry of Vessels Booked After Dutch Refinery Outage

At least 10 tankers booked from Mideast to Europe; freight rate for clean tankers up 11 percent from Monday. Oil traders are rushing to secure vessels to ship refined fuel from the Middle East to Europe after a Dutch refinery outage made the route profitable, pushing freight rates to multi-month highs, traders and shipbrokers said on Thursday. At least 10 long-range tankers able to carry 55,000 to 75,000 tonnes of jet fuel and diesel have been provisionally booked to head to Europe, with at least four of them taken by Royal Dutch Shell, two shipbrokers said. In contrast, there was not much activity on this route early in July, when traders were exploring shipping middle distillate cargoes on a reverse arbitrage from Europe to Asia.

09 Jun 2017

Iran Raises Oil Exports to West, Almost on Par with Asia

© Evren Kalinbacak / Adobe Stock

Iran's oil exports to the West surged in May to their highest level since the lifting of sanctions in early 2016 and almost caught up with volumes exported to Asia, a source familiar with Iranian oil exports said. Iran, which used to be OPEC's second biggest oil exporter, has been raising output since 2016 to recoup market share lost to regional rivals including Saudi Arabia and Iraq. While many Asian nations continued to purchase oil from Iran during sanctions, Western nations halted imports, halving Iran's overall exports to as little as one million barrels per day (bpd).

25 Aug 2016

Hellenic Petroleum Profits Rise on Higher Exports

Hellenic Petroleum, Greece's biggest oil refiner, posted a 20 percent rise in second-quarter core profit on Thursday, with higher exports offseting lower refining margins. The company, which exports diesel and gasoline to markets in the southeastern Mediterranean and the Balkans, saw refining margins fall as much as 35 percent from $7.3 per barrel and a marginal decline of demand in the domestic market, it said. Exports of diesel and gas doubled to a record high of 2.300 metric tonnes, which contributed to 60 percent of total sales, the company said in a statement. Total sales stood at 4,006 metric tonnes from 2,950 metric tonnes in the second quarter of 2015.

13 May 2016

Greece to Evaluate Deep-sea O&G Exploration Bids

Greece will conclude the evaluation of deep-sea oil and gas exploration bids in the coming weeks and will name the preferred bidders soon after, its energy minister said on Friday, as the country seeks to tap into its limited oil reserves. Plunging crude oil prices have cut spending on oil projects around the world but cash-strapped Greece is pushing ahead with investment in the industry in a bid to reduce dependence on oil imports and boost public finances. "We are evaluating three bids made by oil companies whose financial strength, experience and infrastructure ensure they are in a position to successfully perform gas and oil exploration and production," Energy Minister Panos Skourletis said.

09 Mar 2016

Iran Plays Hardball with European Oil Buyers, Slowing Exports

Iran has managed to sell only modest volumes of oil to Europe since the lifting of sanctions seven weeks ago and several former buyers are staying away, citing legal complications and Tehran's reluctance to sweeten terms to win back customers. Tehran had been unable to sell crude to European firms since 2012 when the EU imposed sanctions over its nuclear programme, depriving it of a market that accounted for over a third of its exports and leaving it relying completely on Asian buyers. Since the restrictions were lifted in January, Iran has sold four tankers - 4 million barrels - to Europe, including to France's Total, Spain's Cepsa and Russia's Litasco, according to Iranian officials and ship-tracking data.

03 Mar 2016

Iran Hopes to Raise March Oil Exports

Iran, OPEC's No. 3 producer, is expected to raise its oil exports in March to around 1.65 million barrels per day from 1.5 million bpd a month earlier on the back of higher crude shipments to Europe, two industry sources told Reuters on Thursday. State-run National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC) is expected to ship around 250,000-300,000 bpd to Europe this month after it finalised term deals with France's Total and Spanish refiner Cepsa, effective from March 1, said the sources, who are familiar with Iran's exports. The French oil major has a contract to buy about 200,000 bpd, while Cepsa's deal was for about 35,000 bpd, one source said. Total is expected to lift at least 5 million barrels in March, the source added.

26 Jan 2016

Insurance Snags May Impede Iran Oil Exports

Efforts by Iran to start exporting oil to Europe are being held up as foreign tanker owners are still struggling to secure insurance for cargoes, leading shipping players said on Tuesday. A nuclear deal between world powers and Iran earlier this month led to the removal of curbs on Tehran's banking, insurance and shipping sectors. Since then, Iran has ordered a 500,000 barrel per day (bpd) increase in oil output, of which 200,000 bpd will go to Europe. But many foreign firms remain wary of violating other sanctions that were imposed by the United States and have not been lifted. Measures still in place from Washington prohibit most business between U.S. persons, U.S. companies and Iran as well as no dollar trades.

22 Jan 2016

Greece to Restart Crude Oil Purchases from Iran

Greece's biggest oil refiner Hellenic Petroleum agreed on Friday to buy crude oil from the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), the first European refiner to restart trade relations with Iran after the lifting of international sanctions. Hellenic Petroleum was a major buyer of Iranian crude, which accounted for about 20 percent of the southeast European country's annual crude oil imports before sanctions were imposed on Tehran in 2011. The agreement came after Iran's Deputy Oil Minister Amir Hossein Zamaninia and his Greek counterpart Panos Skourletis met in Athens on Friday. The two ministers also attended talks between executives from Hellenic Petroleum and NIOC, a meeting reported by Reuters on Jan. 18.

15 Jan 2016

Iran's Tankers Target India, EU

Iran wants to up exports to India by 200,000 bpd within 6 months. With Iran ready to resume business as usual with the world under a historic nuclear deal, Tehran will target India, Asia's fastest-growing major oil market, and old partners in Europe with hundreds of thousands of barrels of its crude. Iran expects the United Nations nuclear watchdog to confirm on Friday it has curtailed its nuclear programme, paving the way for the unfreezing of billions of dollars of assets and an end to bans that have crippled its oil exports. Tehran plans to lift exports by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) post-sanctions and gradually raise shipments by the same amount again…

25 Jun 2014

Greece to Launch Major Oil Quest in July

Greece will invite major oil companies next month to conduct offshore test drillings, the government said on Wednesday, launching the debt-laden country's most ambitious attempt so far to develop its untapped hydrocarbon potential. Athens has made several fruitless attempts over the past decades to find big reserves of oil or natural gas. Exploration interest revived during its debt crisis, with the cash-strapped country keen to reduce its big fuel import bill. Several blocks covering a combined area of more than 200,000 square kilometres in the Ionian Sea and south of the island of Crete are expected to go under the hammer. Greece has been encouraged in its quest by big offshore natural gas finds in Israel and Cyprus, nearby in the Eastern Mediterranean.

22 Apr 2014

Enel Applies To Explore For Oil And Gas In Greece

Italy's Enel has sought permission to explore for oil and gas in Greece, the Greek government said on Tuesday. Enel has expressed interest in three onshore areas in the western part of the country, Greece's energy ministry said, adding it would duly decide on the Italian company's application. If permission is granted, Athens will give other oil firms at least 90 days time to submit rival offers for the same areas. Back in 2001, oil companies including Hungary's MOL and Greece's Hellenic Petroleum searched in vain for oil in two of the blocs Enel is currently considering. "Enel Group's decision ... is a vote of confidence in our great national effort to exploit our mineral wealth," Energy Minister Yannis Maniatis said in a statement.

27 Feb 2012

Iran Refrains from Oil Delivery to Greece

Greek Tanker Eagle Otome. Credit Iran Official News Agency FARS

TEHRAN (FNA) - A Greek tanker returned home unloaded after Iran refrained from supplying crude oil to the crisis hit European state, FNA learned on Sunday. According to FNA dispatches, Iran refrained from supplying the 500,000-barrel cargo to the Greek tanker which was due to deliver it to Hellenic Petroleum refinery. The development came days after Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qassemi called on the European countries to make a final decision on oil imports from Iran, warning that they will be sanctioned by Tehran otherwise.