Oil Infrastructure News

A Liberia-flagged oil tanker chartered by Chevron Corp had a minor collision with another vessel, the Bueno, in Venezuelan waters on Sunday, according to sources and a shipping report seen by Reuters on Monday. The Bueno has not navigated international waters since the U.S. Treasury Department last year imposed sanctions on it and four other vessels for alleged involvement in moving Iranian-origin shipments, which led to the loss of its Djibouti flag.Chevron-chartered tanker Kerala, which is scheduled to load about 240,000 barrels of Venezuelan heavy oil at the Bajo Grande terminal at Lake Maracaibo this week, was near the Amuay ship-to-ship transfer area on Sunday night when it collided with the Bueno.Incidents involving vessels…

The Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies (MITAGS) announced that Mark Heward has joined its team as Director. Heward came aboard with MITAGS in October 2022, after retiring from a 22-year active service career in the Royal Navy.“We are thrilled to welcome Mark Heward aboard as the Director of MITAGS. Mark’s underway time, leadership, management and training experience together with being fully STCW qualified and his continuing education experience are a rare combination,” said Eric Friend, MITAGS Executive Director.

The Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies (MITAGS) said Friday that Mark Heward had joined as Director of MITAGS.Heward came aboard with MITAGS in October 2022, after retiring from a 22-year active service career in the Royal Navy.Eric Friend, MITAGS Executive Director, said: "We are thrilled to welcome Heward Heward aboard as the Director of MITAGS. Mark’s underway time, leadership, management, and training experience, together with being fully STCW qualified…

One of President Vladimir Putin's top allies said on Wednesday that the sabotage of the Nord Stream offshore gas pipelines resembled the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency-backed attacks on oil infrastructure in Nicaragua in 1983.Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 offshore gas pipelines, which run from Russia to Germany on the bed of the Baltic Sea, were ruptured last month in what Moscow said was an act of "international terrorism".President Vladimir Putin on Friday blamed the United States and its allies for blowing up the undersea Nord Stream pipelines, allegations rejected by Washington.

Widespread flooding from Hurricane Ida and power outages slowed efforts on Tuesday by energy firms to assess damages at oil production facilities, ports, and refineries.Nearly all of Louisiana lost electrical power on Monday after one of the most powerful hurricanes to hit the region downed transmission lines and flooded communities. Coastal areas were swamped by a storm surge so great it reversed the flow of the Mississippi River.Analysts said it could take two to three weeks to restart producing platforms and fully resume output at Louisiana refineries.

An explosion damaged a Greek-managed tanker at a Saudi Arabian terminal on the Red Sea just north of the Yemeni border, the ship's manager said on Wednesday, in an attack confirmed by Saudi Arabia.In a statement published by state media, the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen said a commercial vessel suffered minor damage from shrapnel in what it described as a foiled terrorist attack.Athens-based TMS Tankers said the Maltese-flagged vessel it managed was "attacked by an unknown source" while at berth in Shuqaiq in Saudi Arabia after it had completed discharging and was preparing to depart."The Agrari was struck about one meter above the waterline and has suffered a breach…

Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) lifted force majeure on all oil exports on Friday as a first tanker loaded at Es Sider after a half-year blockade by eastern forces, but said technical problems caused by the shutdown would keep output low."The increase in production will take a long time due to the significant damage to reservoirs and infrastructure caused by the illegal blockade imposed on January 17," NOC said in a statement.A first cargo of 650,000 barrels will be shipped by the Kriti Bastion Aframax tanker, chartered by Vitol, which two sources at Es Sider port said had docked and started loading on Friday morning.The blockade…

Pirates attacked an Italy-flagged offshore supply vessel in the southern Gulf of Mexico, injuring two crew members, the Mexican Navy said on Tuesday, in the latest outbreak of robbery and piracy to hit oil platforms and infrastructure in the area.One of the crew members of the vessel, Remas, received a bullet wound, and the other suffered a concussion, and both were transferred to a nearby hospital, the Navy said in a statement.Owned by Italian offshore contractor Micoperi, Remas…

Iran on Monday urged regional powers to use diplomacy to reduce tensions including Yemen's war, but cautioned that an Iranian tanker damaged in the Red Sea last week had been hit by rockets and there would have to be consequences.Addressing a news conference, President Hassan Rouhani reiterated policy towards the Trump administration, ruling out bilateral talks unless Washington returns to a landmark nuclear deal and lifts crippling U.S. economic sanctions.Tensions in the Gulf have risen to new highs since May 2018, when the administration of President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 accord with Tehran that put limits on its nuclear programme in exchange for the easing of sanctions.

At least two refined product tankers that were due to load at Saudi Arabia's Jubail port in mid to late September have been diverted, data from analytics firm Vortexa showed.The moves come after attacks on Saudi Arabia's oil infrastructure on Saturday that cut the country's crude output by more than half and reduced its refinery runs by an unknown amount.Saudi Arabia is typically a net exporter of diesel but Aramco Trading Co, the trading arm of state oil producer Saudi Aramco, has been looking to buy several cargoes of the fuel.The Polar Cod tanker changed its destination on Sunday from Jubail to the port of Ruwais in the United Arab Emirates.

Global consulting firm AlixPartners, in a new paper entitled, “Too many ships, too few rigs: why recovery is still a distant dream for the OSV sector,” warns that companies counting on a quick return to stability in the OSV sector are in for a rude awakening.The September report goes on to say that OSV companies continue to face pressure due to a radically changed oil industry and must take quick and decisive action in order to survive in what should be considered the ‘new normal.’Separately, VesselsValue.com’s Head of Offshore, Charlie Hockless told MarineNews, “I would agree that there are murmurs of a potential market recovery brewing…

Libyan naval forces captured two vessels suspected of smuggling oil from the North African country after gun battles lasting several hours west of the capital Tripoli, a spokesman for the service said on Friday. Libyan forces frequently capture vessels smuggling oil and arms off the coast and the North African state has become a haven for migrant smugglers who take advantage of the country's turmoil to ship people across to Europe. Ayoub Qassem, a spokesman for the Libyan naval forces, said Ukraine-flagged tanker Routa and a vessel with an unspecified African nation's flag named Stark were captured early Friday. "Clashes lasted for three hours, but the two tankers were successfully seized," Qassem said. The incident occurred in the Sidi Said area west of Tripoli.

Oil prices were little changed on Monday, with little news to influence a market waiting to see whether U.S. production from shale fields will grow enough to offset planned output cuts by OPEC, Russia and other producers next year. Brent futures for February delivery were down 24 cents, or 0.4 percent, at $54.97 a barrel by 11:43 a.m. EST (1643 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for January rose 6 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $51.96 per barrel on its last day as the front-month. "Implied U.S. output increases...will offset a significant portion of the planned OPEC production cuts especially since we don't anticipate sustained strong compliance," Jim Ritterbusch, president of Chicago-based energy advisory firm Ritterbusch & Associates, said in a note.

Nigeria’s crude oil production and exports have been hit by severe outages as a result of attacks on oil infrastructure by rebel fighters in the Niger River Delta. Various sources report that Qua Iboe Terminal has shut down operations until further notice. All tanks on the facility were emptied of crude, operations have ceased completely and all personnel have been evacuated from the terminal, which is operated by ExxonMobil. Qua Iboe is Nigeria’s largest crude oil stream and exports usually more than 300,000 barrels per day (b/d). Exports of Nigeria’s other large crude oil grades, like Forcados, Bonny Light and Escravos have also been restricted, primarily due to sabotage and attacks on pipelines. As a result of the outages Nigeria’s oil production has dropped below 1.5 mb/d.

Russian media reports that a Russian diesel-electric submarine operating submerged in the Mediterranean Sea on Tuesday launched Kalibr cruise missiles at  Islamic State terrorists’ (ISIL) vital facilities for first time in Syria. Agence France-Presse, citing Russian news agencies, reported that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the military had launched strikes in Syria for the first time from a submarine stationed in the Mediterranean. The 3M-54 Kalibr missiles were launched from the Kilo-class diesel-electric submarine “Rostov-on-Don”, Defense Minister told President Vladimir Putin. Russia’s warships based in the Caspian and Mediterranean seas launched similar missiles targeting ISIL Takfiri group (so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Levant) positions in late November.

Islamic State militants attacked forces guarding one of Libya's main oil ports on Thursday with a gun assault and an attempted car bomb in an escalation of their campaign in the North African state, a local security official said. Islamic State has gained ground in Libya where two rival governments -- one internationally recognized and the other self-declared -- are battling for control, leaving a security vacuum four years after the uprising toppled Muammar Gaddafi. Militants attacked guards at a gate near Es Sider port, which is under the control of forces allied with the recognized government, the security official said. The terminal has been closed since December because of fighting with other rival armed factions and problems at supply oilfields.

The United States will spend $585 billion on its armed forces in 2015 — the biggest military budget in the world by far. That’s just the Defense Department budget and doesn’t include the tens of billions of dollars that Washington spends on veterans, the purview of the Veterans Administration, or nuclear-weapons development, which falls under the Department of Energy. There’s tremendous pressure in Congress to spend less. Though the Pentagon argues vehemently that budget cuts will harm national security…

The licensees in the Johan Castberg and Snorre 2040 licences have decided to spend more time on the projects. “Castberg and Snorre 2040 are two major and important projects in our portfolio, and it is important that we find sound and robust development solutions for them,” says Ivar Aasheim, Statoil’s senior vice president for field development on the NCS. Statoil and its partners have put in an extensive effort to develop cost-effective solutions for the projects. “We see that our efforts have yielded results, and we are focused on reaping the full benefits of this in a way that ensures a sustainable and profitable utilisation of the resources in the Snorre and Johan Castberg fields. The recent decline in oil prices emphasises this,” Aasheim says.

A pirate attack that killed a supertanker crewman off the coast of Nigeria this week has highlighted a growing threat off oil-rich West Africa, as vessels carrying millions of barrels of crude traverse a region that has become known as "pirate alley". The 2 million barrel Kalamos Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) was heading to Nigeria's main oil terminal when it was attacked late on Monday, leaving the ship's Greek deputy captain dead and three crew members taken hostage. Security experts say the waters off Nigeria are now the deadliest on earth…

Libya's recognized government has released a tanker forced to dock at a port under its control after originally banning it from delivering fuel to its rival administration, a port official said on Tuesday. War planes forced the tanker Anwaar Afriqya to sail to Tobruk after it had originally approached the port of Misrata, the air force commander for the recognized Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni said on Monday. Libya's recognized government has worked from a headquarters in the east of the country since the summer when rival forces under the banner Libya Dawn took over the capital Tripoli and installed their own self-proclaimed government.

Libya's recognized government said it forced a tanker from delivering fuel to its rival administration, diverting the vessel to its own territory by threatening an air attack on it. The tanker Anwaar Afriqya was approaching the port of Misrata, but diverted to Tobruk, a port official at the latter said on Monday. "Our planes are forcing an oil tanker to sail to Tobruk after it had been on the way first to Misrata," Saqer al-Joroushi, air force commander for recognized Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni, told state news agency Lana. Libya's recognized government works from a headquarters in the east of the country since the summer when rival forces under the banner Libya Dawn took over the capital Tripoli and installed their own self-proclaimed government.

Clashes in Libya spread from Tripoli to the western town of Zawiya near Tunisia's border, where a large oil port is located, killing four people over the last two days, local town council officials said on Thursday. Foreign governments have mostly closed their embassies and evacuated staff after three weeks of clashes turned Libya's two main cities - Tripoli and Benghazi - into warzones in the worst fighting since the NATO-backed war against Muammar Gaddafi. Three years after Gaddafi's fall…

Asia to buy nearly 60 percent of Iraq's Basra Lt exports. Export facilities upgrade, new fields to boost volume in second half, but Buyers remain wary of quality issues, loading delays. Iraq's rush to pump more oil to Asia has coincided with complaints from some buyers about the quality of its crude, casting doubt on whether Baghdad can increase the volumes of its key Basra Light grade to the region by a third in 2014. The Gulf producer has managed to smooth out kinks in its supply chain that curbed Basra Light exports from southern oil terminals last year. The higher output has helped cap oil prices pushed up by recent geopolitical tensions and supply disruptions in Libya, Iraq's own north and elsewhere.