Matt Smith News

Oil and fuel tanker traffic in the Red Sea was stable in December, even though many container ships have rerouted due to attacks by Iran-aligned Houthi militants, a Reuters analysis of vessel tracking data showed.The attacks have driven up shipping costs sharply along with insurance premiums, but have had less impact than feared on oil flows, with shippers continuing to use the key East-West passage. The Houthis, who have said they are targeting Israel-bound vessels, have largely…

Oil is flooding out of Texas in the final weeks of 2023, as traders find outlets abroad for record U.S. production and dodge a hefty year-end tax bill on their inventories.U.S. crude exports, nearly all of which leave from the U.S. Gulf coast, averaged about 4 million barrels per day (bpd) so far this year, according to U.S. government data, about 500,000 more than last year's record as oil production climbed to 13.2 million barrels per day.U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude's wider discount to the global benchmark Brent , currently at about $4.50 per barrel, is making U.S.

As low water level continue to plaque the Panama Canal, shipowners and managers are paying the price in the form of longer hauls and higher fuel (and emissions) costs to deliver product to market.In one example, oil tanker Cururo is taking the long way from Houston to Chile: sailing the length of South America's Atlantic coast, across the Strait of Magellan and heading up the Pacific coast before discharging.The voyage could take 32 days and travel more than 10,000 nautical miles (18…

Harland & Wolff announced the completion of the first barge at its shipyard in Methil, Fife, since 1856.The barge, which has been built for waste management and recycling business Cory, will launch from Methil and be taken by sea to Cory’s lighterage site on the banks of the River Thames. It will join Cory’s existing fleet of tugs and barges, which are used to transport recyclable and non-recyclable waste via a series of river-based transfer stations across London.Matt Smith, General Manager of Harland & Wolff (Methil)…

U.S. and Canadian refiners have turned to North Sea "Forties" crude oil for the first time in seven years in the latest sign of changing global oil flows from Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Nearly 2.6 million barrels of the crude are set to arrive at U.S. East Coast ports since February, according to Customs data on Refinitiv Eikon. Some of the oil is likely headed to Canada via pipeline. The light, low-sulfur Forties crudes are blended with others to replace Russian crudes that have been barred from the U.S. and Canada. Prior to the ban, about 50% of all crude from Russian ports that landed in the U.S. went to East Coast refineries, the customs data showed. The tanker Sea Turtle in February discharged 770,000 barrels of Forties and Forties blend crudes in Maine, destined for Suncor Energy.

U.S. crude exports to Europe have hit a record 2.1 million barrels per day on average so far this month, spurred by wide discounts to the global benchmark and weaker oil demand by U.S. refineries.Record exports to Europe and China this month reflect the rise of United States in crude oil trade and solidifies its role supplying Europe following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.A holiday freeze knocked out operations at a dozen U.S. refineries, increasing scheduled plant maintenance and reducing crude oil demand that widened U.S.

U.S. crude shippers are exporting huge amounts of oil to meet strong demand from Europe following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and subsequent sanctions against Moscow. In coming years U.S. oil may find even more buyers overseas, but that could test the capabilities of U.S. export infrastructure.How much crude does the United States typically export?U.S. crude exports averaged 3.7 million barrels per day (bpd) over the four weeks through late May, their highest since March 2020, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Crude exports from the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) are hitting a record high even as U.S. crude exports have fallen as the coronavirus pandemic has chopped worldwide fuel demand.Oil majors Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc are the main winners from rising LOOP exports, because they pump most of the mid-sour crude exported from the terminal.LOOP largely ships out Mars crude, a medium-sour grade of oil produced from the Mars platform, a joint venture of majority-owner Shell and BP, located about 130 miles (210 km) off the coast of New Orleans.

One million barrels of Alaskan crude is due in China next week, the first such shipment in almost a year, according to data from Refinitiv Eikon and vessel-tracking firm Kpler.China's imports of U.S. crude have fallen amid the two countries' trade dispute to 41,600 barrels per day (bpd) in the six months ended February, from 377,000 bpd in the first half of 2018, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.Tanker Sonangol Cabinda departed last week from Alaska's Valdez terminal carrying Alaska North Slope (ANS) crude and is projected to arrive June 6 in Qingdao, a hub of independent refiners in east China, the data showed.It could not be immediately learned who sold the crude.

Beijing surprised oil markets with threats to levy tariffs on imports of U.S. crude oil, natural gas and other energy products on Friday, just as China has risen to the top of the list of importers of oil from the United States.China responded to $50 billion in tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump with a similar amount of levies on a variety of U.S. goods. But China also said it would impose tariffs on U.S. energy products, which analysts considered a surprise as previous tariff threats had centered on agricultural goods and automobiles."This is a big deal.

The biggest divergence between U.S. and Asian gas prices in a year has created an opportunity for tankers delivering liquefied natural gas, with most departures from a key Louisiana terminal in the last month-and-a-half heading toward East Asia, shipping data released on Wednesday show. The facility, Sabine Pass, owned by Cheniere Energy Inc, opened last year as the first LNG export terminal in the U.S. Lower 48 states. The United States has been exporting gas out of Alaska since 1969. U.S.

The bullish view for Suncor Energy Inc (SU.TO), Cenovus Energy Inc (CVE.TO) and other Canadian energy producers calls for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by next month to approve a major pipeline expansion to the west coast, boosting sales of land-locked oil sands crude to Asia. But a growing number of shipping brokers and physical oil traders warn that any new influx of oil will hit a bottleneck in Vancouver, because of the port's inability to accept the megaships that dominate oil trade globally. This bottleneck marks one of the more under appreciated hurdles facing Canadian oil sands crude being shipped from its busiest port of Vancouver, these shipping brokers say. Middle Eastern producers already ship oil ship to Asia far more cheaply, thanks to the bigger vessels they employ. And U.S.

The Southeast United States is expected to be hit with fuel shortages in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, as the storm barrels toward one of the largest energy-consuming regions in the country. Some states are already experiencing supply constraints as motorists fill up tanks as an emergency precaution. The region is not known for energy production, but there are significant storage facilities directly in the path of the storm that have already been evacuated. Roads in Florida…

Qatar Gas Transport Co (Nakilat), one of the world's largest shippers of liquefied natural gas, posted a 7.9 percent rise in first-quarter net profit on Tuesday.   The company made a net profit of 240 million riyals ($65.91 million) in the three months ending March 31, it said in a statement.   This was up from a profit of 222.4 million riyals in the same period a year earlier.   One analyst polled by Reuters had forecast Nakilat's first quarter net profit would be 234.2 million riyals.   ($1 = 3.6413 Qatar riyals) (Reporting By Tom Arnold; editing by Matt Smith)

Dubai's DP World has appointed chairman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem as permanent chief executive with immediate effect, the port operator said on Monday, two weeks after he took interim charge following the retirement of the former CEO. Sulayem will hold both roles simultaneously, DP World said in a bourse statement. On Jan. 27, the company announced long-serving chief executive Mohammed Sharaf had retired. Reporting by Matt Smith

A traffic jam of oil tankers has emerged along the U.S. Texas coast this month, a snarl that some traders see as the latest sign of an unyielding global supply glut. More than 50 commercial vessels were anchored outside ports in the Houston area at the end of last week, of which 41 were tankers, according to the Houston Pilots, an organization that assists in the navigation of larger vessels in and around port areas. Normally there are between 30 to 40 vessels anchored offshore, of which two-thirds are tankers, according to the pilots. Although the channel has been shut intermittently due to fog or flooding in recent weeks, pilots said those issues were not significant enough to create the backlog.

National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri), the exclusive oil-shipper for Saudi Aramco, reported a 501 percent increase in third-quarter net profit on Tuesday. The company made a net profit of 510.3 million riyals ($136.10 million) in the three months to Sept. 30, up from 84.85 million riyals in the same period a year earlier, it said in a bourse statement. Bahri attributed its profit increase to higher revenues following its merger with Vela Marine International, higher profits at affiliate Petredec Ltd and lower bunker costs. Bahri did not state its quarterly revenue. Albilad Capital forecast Bahri would make a third-quarter profit of 300 million riyals.

Dubai's Topaz Energy and Marine, a unit of Muscat-listed Renaissance Services, has bought two ships from Norwegian boat yard Vard Brattvaag for about $115 million, the Omani parent firm said on Sunday. The two vessels will be delivered in the second half of 2017, a statement to Muscat's bourse said. The chief executive of the Dubai-based oil services firm told Reuters in June it was in negotiations to acquire two subsea vessels as Topaz aimed to expand the division in the Atlantic basin over the next two years. Vard Brattvaag shipyard is part of Singapore-listed Vard Holding, which is ultimately majority-owned by Italy's Fincantieri. (Reporting by Matt Smith; Editing by David French)

Djibouti said it had started legal action against DP World, seeking to rescind the Dubai-owned port operator's concession in Africa's largest container terminal in a row over how the contract was awarded. "The resulting agreement unfairly favoured DP World," the government said in a statement, which questioned payments made in winning the concession in 2000. DP World said it rejected Djibouti's allegations. "We categorically reject the accusations and will vigorously defend our position during arbitration," a company spokesperson told Reuters by email.

Oman's Al Batinah Power Co and Al Suwadi Power Co, which launched twin initial public share offers on Sunday and are owned by the same consortium, will double their profits from 2014 to 2018 as they pay off start-up costs, a top executive said. The firms, whose owners aim to raise a combined 62.7 million rials ($163 million) through the sale of 35 percent of each company, together provide just over a quarter of the electricity for Oman's main power grid - around the capital, Muscat. The companies were required to go public and list on the sultanate's bourse under the terms of their licences, having launched operations in April 2013.

Qatar Gas Transport Co (Nakilat), the Middle East's largest shipper of liquefied natural gas, reported a 16.6 percent rise in first-quarter profit on Sunday. The firm made a profit of 206.3 million riyals ($56.66 million) in the three months to March 31, up from 177 million riyals in the year-earlier period, according to a statement to Doha's bourse. QNB Financial Services had forecast Nakilat would make a quarterly profit of 205.6 million riyals. (Reporting by Matt Smith; editing by Olzhas Auyezov) ($1 = 3.6407 Qatar Riyals)

Reuters - Qatar Gas Transport Co (Nakilat), one of the world's largest shippers of liquefied natural gas, posted a 13 percent drop in fourth-quarter net profit on Tuesday. The company made a fourth-quarter profit of 176.5 million Qatar riyals ($48.5 million), down from 203.3 million riyals a year earlier, according to Reuters calculations based on its financial statements. QNB Financial Services had forecast Nakilat would make a quarterly profit of 201 million riyals. Nakilat posted a 2013 net profit of 729 million riyals, compared with a profit of 765.5 million riyals in 2012, it said.

In the 1880s it was possible to cruise your way around London by an electric ferry on the River Thames. At its height, the river carried 13 launches, each measuring 28 ft. long. They glided along at five knots and had a range of about 60 miles. Each launch carried one ton of storage batteries hidden underneath the passenger seats. Charging stations were even placed along the river so these electric launches could continue up and down unhindered. An article in Scientific American…