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Lisa Von Ahn News

20 Jun 2017

Oil Traders Brace for US Gulf Coast Storm

Oil traders from Texas to Louisiana braced on Tuesday for supply disruptions as Tropical Storm Cindy, formed in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, threatened to hit refining and production centers with wind and rain later this week. Cindy was located about 265 miles (430 km) south of Morgan City, Louisiana with maximum sustained winds of 45 miles (75 km) per hour. It is expected to approach the coast of southwest Louisiana late Wednesday or Wednesday night, and move inland over western Louisiana and eastern Texas on Thursday, the NHC said. The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, the largest privately owned crude storage terminal in the United States…

16 Nov 2016

US Post-election Shipping Rally Raises Interest, Questions

File photo: Diana Containerships

Shares of U.S. shipping companies shot higher again on Wednesday, causing volatility halts in a number of stocks and raising questions among investors and analysts over the extent of their sharp post-election rally. The jump in share prices and unusually heavy trading volume even surprised analysts who follow the stocks, although some said the gains appeared to result in part from optimism that commodity demand would increase under President-elect Donald Trump. At the center of the rally has been DryShips Inc…

05 Oct 2016

PIRA Expects $50-60/barrel Oil from OPEC Deal

The Organization of Oil Exporting Countries' decision to embrace production cuts will help move crude prices toward a target of $50 to $60 per barrel, Gary Ross, chairman of consultancy PIRA Energy Group, told reporters on Wednesday. OPEC's policy has shifted as Saudi Arabia is targeting that price range and Iran has become more willing to accept an agreement. Ross said at a news conference that U.S. shale producers were likely to hedge future output more selectively after OPEC decided to limit output. Shale producers and oil-consuming companies were under-hedged, he said, adding that industrial and airline buying would support prices. The surplus in oil supply has been eroding since the second quarter and will be "gone" by the second half of 2017, Ross said.

17 Jul 2016

PDVSA seeks to Securitize Oil Services Debts

Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA is in talks with oil services companies to turn unpaid bills into financial instruments, a process known as securitization, its president, Eulogio del Pino, said in a statement on Saturday. Several oil services companies suspended or slowed operations this year due to difficulties in obtaining payment from PDVSA, which is struggling because of low oil prices and a decaying socialist economy. Del Pino last month said PDVSA signed financing agreements with Weatherford International Plc and Halliburton Co and was close to a deal that would allow Schlumberger to boost its presence in the OPEC nation. "We trade commercial debt for financial debt…

14 Apr 2016

Six Years after BP Spill, US Sets New Offshore Oil Safety Rules

Gas from the damaged Deepwater Horizon wellhead is burned by the drillship Discoverer Enterprise in May 2010, in a process known as flaring. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Patrick Kelley)

The Obama administration on Thursday unveiled new oil well control rules to prevent the kind of blowout that happened six years ago on a BP Plc rig in the Gulf of Mexico. The Interior Department's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement announced the finalized regulations, which include more stringent design requirements and operational procedures for offshore U.S. oil and gas operations. The new standards come nearly six years after a deadly explosion and fire on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig off the cost of Louisiana, which led to the worst oil spill of all time.

16 Feb 2016

US Coast Guard Hearing Probes El Faro Sinking in Hurricane

El Faro file photo: Tote

The captain of the U.S. cargo ship that sank off the Bahamas in a hurricane last fall, killing all 33 people on board, was responsible for decisions that put the vessel in the path of the storm, a shipping company executive testified on Tuesday. Captain Michael Davidson, a veteran mariner from Maine, was at the helm of the 790-foot (241-meter) El Faro for its doomed cargo run between Florida and Puerto Rico. The ship disappeared on Oct. 1 after he reported losing propulsion and taking on water. U.S.

30 Sep 2015

Nicaragua Canal Project Fraught with Risks

Nicaragua's planned $50 billion canal project is "fraught with risks and uncertainties," and could cause more harm than good unless the government and its Chinese builder fund a host of mitigation measures, an environmental consultancy said. The 172-mile (278 km), Chinese-backed project to rival the Panama Canal is one of the world's most ambitious infrastructure schemes, but it has been met with widespread incredulity, especially over its source of funding and planned 2020 completion deadline. The social and environmental impact study by the consultancy, Environmental Resources Management Ltd, echoed many of the same concerns. It urged Nicaragua's government to verify project builder and operator…

28 Aug 2015

Tropical Storm Erika Heads for Florida

Image: U.S. National Hurricane Center

Tropical Storm Erika lashed Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands with heavy rain and fierce winds on Friday, moving across the Caribbean and apparently heading for the Dominican Republic, northern Haiti and eventually South Florida, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Due to some likely weakening over the Dominican Republic, Erika was no longer forecast to make U.S. landfall as a hurricane. It could still smack the Miami area with sustained winds of 60 miles per hour (97 kph) on Monday, however, before sweeping northward up the Florida peninsula, affecting Orlando's popular theme parks.

30 May 2015

World Refugee Crisis to Worsen with Climate Change

A historic 52 million people are fleeing conflict worldwide, a trend that will intensify over the next two decades because of climate change, International Rescue Committee chief David Miliband said on Friday. "One of the drivers of displacement and potential conflict over the next 10 to 20 years will be climate (change) - resource scarcity," said Miliband, a former United Kingdom foreign minister. Miliband said there were 16 million refugees and 36 million people displaced in their own countries, typically by civil war. That is the largest number of people fleeing persecution since World War Two, he said during a Reuters Newsmaker event in New York. "Do I think the current level is a blip or a trend?" Miliband said.

27 May 2015

US Forecaster Predicts Below-average Atlantic Hurricane Season

The Atlantic Ocean will see a below-average number of hurricanes this season due to cooler seas and a strong El Niño effect, the U.S. government weather forecaster announced on Wednesday.   The forecast calls for six to 11 tropical storms this year, with three to six reaching hurricane status, including possibly two major hurricanes with winds reaching at least 111 miles-per-hour (178 kph), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said at a press conference in New Orleans.     (Reporting by David Adams; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

24 Apr 2015

Four Petrobras Platforms Halt Output Due to Oil Leak

Four Petrobras oil platforms off the northeast coast of Brazil have halted production after a leak of about 7,000 liters of oil was detected coming from a pipeline linking them, a local oil workers union head said on Friday. Brazil's oil regulator, ANP, confirmed the leak in the Camorim field, 16 kilometers (10 miles) off the coast of the city of Aracajú, and said it had already been contained by Petrobras. The director of the Sindipetro oil workers union for Alagoas/Sergipe Basin, Stoessel Chagas, said the leak was detected coming from a pipeline linking the PCM-5 and PCM-6 production platforms of Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as Petrobras is officially known. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

08 Apr 2015

Blocked Entrance to Santos Port to Open Overnight

Trucks will be able to access a blocked entrance at Santos, Brazil's largest port, at night while firefighters finish extinguishing a blaze at a nearby fuel-storage facility, city and port authorities said. The more flexible rules will provide some relief for grain exports that have slowed since Monday, when authorities restricted truck access to terminals on one side of the port while flames are extinguished. The firefighters' office in Sao Paulo state said via Twitter that one of six fuel tanks at the facility operated by Ultracargo, a unit of Brazilian chemical and fuel-distribution company Grupo Ultra, was still on fire. Highway police are escorting truck convoys past the blocked entrances, and 750 passed through in a convey on Tuesday.

07 Apr 2015

Access to Brazil's Largest Port Restricted after Fire

Trucks delivering grains and other goods to Brazil's largest port of Santos will be restricted through at least Wednesday, the port authority said on Tuesday, as a nearby fuel-storage facility burned for a sixth day. Three confirmed days of restricted arrivals will likely slow exports from the port responsible for moving one third of Brazil's soybeans, two sources with operations at the port told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Brazil, the world's No. 2 soybean producer, is finalizing the harvest of a record crop. Trucks heading to the right side of the port through the city of Santos on the Anchieta Highway were prevented from entering from midnight (0400 GMT) on Monday.

25 Feb 2015

Enterprise: Clients Must Pay for Dock Work

Enterprise Products Partners LP said on Wednesday that companies using its crude oil storage facility in the Houston Ship Channel must pay extra for dock services, brushing off complaints from client BP Plc . "We believe if you want a service, you pay for it," Enterprise Chief Operating Officer Jim Teague told analysts when asked about concerns, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, that the company's strong position in Gulf Coast storage gives it too much pricing power. Britain's BP has reportedly told the U.S. Federal Trade Commission that Enterprise, a major midstream company, has started charging $1 a barrel in dock fees for crude it handles at the Houston site, on top of storage fees. Since Houston is the top U.S. petrochemicals port, the dock fees could add up to big revenue.

16 Dec 2014

White House Takes Aim at Illegal Seafood Trade

Photo: NOAA

A White House task force on Tuesday issued proposals to tighten the grip on the illegal global seafood trade, which the group said causes billions of dollars in losses to the legal fishing industry annually. Under the plan, the United States would create a program to trace seafood entering its ports from the source to the shelves, to prevent illegal products from getting into the domestic market. The recommendations would compel Congress to grant several federal agencies the authority to search, inspect and seize illegal seafood at U.S. U.S.

06 Nov 2014

Testing US Oil Export Ban Carries Risks

Companies eager to export U.S. oil face fines and other risks if they stray from government-approved practices, trade lawyers said this week, but the challenge is figuring out what the government allows because its rulings have so far been private. As the drilling boom floods the Gulf Coast with light oil that local refineries cannot easily process, energy companies are under pressure to sell the petroleum to global markets, despite a 40-year ban on crude exports. A 20 percent drop in oil prices this fall has also made them anxious to find new buyers. The Obama administration this summer put a hold on more than 20 new applications for exports of minimally processed light oil called condensate after issuing two approvals for the fuel.

12 Sep 2014

Vale, Cosco to Cooperate on Iron Ore Shipping

Brazilian miner Vale SA reached a deal with China Ocean Shipping Co (Cosco) for transporting iron ore, a move that could help the Brazilian miner resolve a costly two-year ban on docking its mega-ships at Chinese ports. Vale said in a statement that it would transfer ownership of four very large iron ore carriers of 400,000 deadweight tons to Cosco. It would then lease them back from Cosco, the state-owned parent of top Chinese dry bulk shipper China Cosco , for 25 years. The deal is part of a continuing effort by Vale to move away from owning its own vessels so it can focus on mining and shore up its balance sheet. But this agreement could also pave the way for more productive negotiations with China over docking Vale's mega-bulk carrier known as the Valemax.

24 Jun 2014

Container Shipper Nautilus Files for Bankruptcy

Nautilus Holdings Ltd, a Bermuda-chartered company that leases containerships, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York, becoming the latest victim of a depressed shipping industry. The company has about $770 million in debt, according to papers filed late Monday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. International shipping rates have fallen in recent years as large new vessels entered service at the same time that a sluggish global economy was curbing trade. Nautilus said it had some profitable charter contracts and believed it was well-positioned to restructure its obligations, but it filed for bankruptcy protection to bring creditors into a single forum for negotiations.

14 Jul 2014

Panama Canal Cost Dispute Headed to Miami Court

Photo: Panama Canal Authority

A $180 million claim involving the Panama Canal's disputed $1.6 billion cost overrun is headed to arbitration court in Miami next week, canal officials said on Monday. The $180 million claim by the consortium working on the massive canal expansion project is the first of several disputed construction costs that could end up in the hands of the Miami arbitrators. The cost overrun temporarily halted work on the massive expansion project in February, and the Panama Canal Authority now says the project is on track to open in January 2016.

20 Jul 2014

China lends Argentina $7.5 bln for Power, Rail Projects

Argentina signed deals on Friday to borrow $7.5 billion from China at a time when the Latin American country cannot tap global capital markets because of disputes over unpaid debt. Among the deals signed, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez and her Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, agreed on a loan for $4.7 billion from the China Development Bank for the construction of two hydroelectric dams in Patagonia. China Gezhouba Group Corp and Argentina's Electroingenieria SA  won contracts last year to build the two dams, which will have a combined generating capacity of 1,740 megawatts. The Chinese bank also granted a $2.1 billion loan to help finance a long-delayed railway project that would make it more efficient to transport grains from Argentina's agricultural plains to its ports.

07 Aug 2014

North Sea Tiffany Platform to Restart Mid-August

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd said on Thursday its Tiffany production platform in the North Sea was expected to restart in mid-August after a shutdown. On a second-quarter earnings call, CNRL Chief Executive Officer Steve Laut said international production had decreased to 25,800 barrels per day in the quarter. That was mainly due to the production shutdown at Tiffany, which accounted for 4,500 bpd. (Reporting by Nia Williams; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

06 Sep 2014

KNOC Sells Aging Newfoundland Refinery to SilverRange

Korea National Oil Corp said on Friday that it would sell its 115,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Come by Chance, Newfoundland, to SilverRange Financial Partners LLC for an undisclosed price following a months-long search to find a buyer. KNOC's Harvest Operations Corp unit is selling the aging refinery, as well as 53 gas stations and convenience stores, to SilverRange. The New York-based merchant bank has entered into a multiyear refining deal with an unspecified global oil company, Harvest Operations and SilverRange said in a release. "(The refinery) is strategically located along Atlantic crude oil shipping routes and provides access to petroleum markets in Europe and the U.S. Eastern seaboard," SilverRange official Harsh Rameshwar said in the release.

07 Sep 2014

U.S. Merchant Bank Buys Aging Newfoundland Refinery

A New York-based commodities merchant bank run by veteran energy traders, Neal Shear and Kaushik Amin, announced on Friday plans to buy the aging Come by Chance refinery in Newfoundland from South Korea's state-run oil company. Korea National Oil Corp said it will sell the 115,000-barrel-per-day refinery to SilverRange Financial Partners LLC for an undisclosed price following a months-long search to find a buyer. The deal also includes 53 gas stations and convenience stores. SilverRange is a New York-based merchant bank focused on energy and natural resources owned by SilverPeak Partners, a real estate fund with over $12 billion in assets under management, according to its website.