Oil Sales News

U.S. sanctions are limiting tanker activity for Russia's top shipping group, Sovcomflot, the company's head said on Tuesday, as Washington tightens the screws on Moscow.The U.S. imposed sanctions on Sovcomflot on Feb. 23 as Washington seeks to reduce Russia's revenues from oil sales that it can use to support its military actions in Ukraine.Sanctions have impacted the company's operations, "limiting our geography and commercial prospects", Sovcomflot CEO Igor Tonkovidov told reporters.He added that as sanctions are a relatively new instrument to the shipping market…

Russian tanker Krymsk, hit by sanctions, docked on Wednesday at the Chinese port of Dongying in eastern Shandong province, home of independent refiners, to discharge 700,000 barrels of Russian Sokol crude, LSEG and Kpler shipping data showed.This is the second Russian oil tanker, hit by sanctions, to dock at Chinese ports this month. Last week, tanker Liteyny Prospect discharged its 700,000-barrel Sokol crude cargo at the Chinese port of Huanghua near Cangzhou city in Hebei province.The Dongying port authority declined comment when contacted by Reuters.

The United States has asked Panama to ban Iranian vessels sanctioned by Washington from using its flag, U.S. State Department special envoy Abram Paley said on Wednesday.Paley said the request aims to prevent ships from being used for illegal actions such as supporting groups designated as Iranian terrorist organizations with oil sales.In January 2023, Panama's maritime authority said it had withdrawn its flag from 136 ships linked to Iran's state oil company in the last four years.

The Russian tanker Liteyny Prospect, hit by sanctions, has docked at the Chinese port of Huanghua to discharge its 700,000-barrel Russian Sokol crude cargo, two sources familiar with the matter said, clearing part of a backlog of cargoes disrupted by sanctions on Moscow's oil trade.The tanker is one of six ships carrying Sokol crude, which India has not been able to import due to payment issues. The six ships had been sailing to China but five of them are floating at sea early this week, shipping data showed, following fresh U.S.

The U.S. Treasury said on Fridayit has imposed sanctions on Russia's leading tanker group Sovcomflot FLOT.MM, as Washington seeks to reduce Russia's revenues from oil sales that it can use to support its invasion of Ukraine.The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Asset Control also designated 14 crude oil tankers vessels as property in which Sovcomflot has an interest. It issued a general license allowing the offloading of crude oil, or other cargoes, from the vessels for 45 days."Sovcomflot as a whole…

Indian refiners have resumed Venezuelan oil purchases through intermediaries, with Reliance RELI.NS set to meet executives from state firm PDVSA next week to discuss direct sales following the easing of U.S. sanctions on the South American country, people familiar with the matter said.Trade resumed between the OPEC producer and the second largest destination for its oil after Washington in October temporarily lifted sanctions banning Venezuelan oil exports, prompting a flurry of spot sales of crude and fuel through middlemen and traders…

U.S. senators from both parties are readying legislation to help the federal government enforce oil sanctions on Iran, the office of Senator Joni Ernst, a Republican, told Reuters on Thursday.Ernst is spear-heading the bill slated for release on Monday to create a $150 million Iranian sanctions enforcement fund for the Department of Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) office, with a priority on Iranian petroleum sanctions. The bill will be co-led by Senator Richard Blumenthal…

Russia's leading tanker group Sovcomflot has transferred dozens of ships into a new Dubai based management company aiming to boost trade through this entity amid growing pressure from financial restrictions, according to maritime industry data and shipping industry sources.State-owned Sovcomflot (SCF) is subject to sanctions and other restrictions by the UK and the European Union, while Washington has restricted its financial activities. Sovcomflot - whose fleet in the region of 80 vessels including crude, oil products and liquefied natural gas tankers - has had to deal with these capital restrictions over the past year. It has also had to rebase its overseas operations from Cyprus to Dubai.Since July…

The Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) found carbon emissions fell 83% using a vegetable oil biofuel blend compared with marine gasoil in a trial for a dual-fuel liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carrier, the center said on Tuesday.This was the third of five supply chain bunkering trials that the GCMD has undertaken as part of an $18 million project to test different biofuel blends to reduce carbon emissions. The trials are key to helping the fuel and shipping industries…

Russia resumed oil exports to North Korea in December, United Nations data shows, the first such shipments reported since 2020 as the two countries deepen ties and the United States flags the risk of arms supplies to Moscow.North Korea has been seeking closer relations with the Kremlin and backed Moscow after it invaded Ukraine last year, blaming what it called the "hegemonic policy" of the United States and the West.Russia had exported 67,300 barrels of refined petroleum to North Korea by April, the first deliveries reported to the U.N.

Venezuela's state oil firm PDVSA is toughening terms for buyers after a month-long halt to most exports of crude and fuel, demanding prepayment ahead of loadings in either cash, goods or services, company documents showed.PDVSA's new Chief Executive Pedro Tellechea put the move in place this month. It reinforces measures implemented last year after several buyers skipped out on payments for oil, which provides most of the South American country's income.After taking the helm, Tellechea launched an extensive audit of supply contracts…

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 U.S. Treasury Department said late on Wednesday that shipments facing the G7's upcoming price cap on oil products such as diesel and gasoline from Russia will have a grace period to arrive at their destination.G7 democracies and Australia are planning to cap prices on two oil products from Russia from Feb. 5 as part of their effort to reduce Moscow's export revenues as it wages war in Ukraine. The move will follow the G7's cap on Russia's seaborne crude oil exports that went into effect on Dec. 5.The measures seek to limit Russia's revenues gradually.

Turkey emerged as a critical stumbling block to a complex international plan to deprive Russia of wartime oil revenues as the number of tankers waiting to exit the Black Sea through Turkish straits continued to rise on Friday.Ankara has declined to scrap a new insurance inspection rule it implemented at the beginning of the month despite days of pressure from Western officials frustrated by the policy.A total of 28 oil tankers are in a queue seeking to leave the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, the Tribeca shipping agency said on Friday.G7 wealthy countries, the European Union and Australia agreed to bar providers of shipping services…

Chevron Corp on Saturday received a U.S. license allowing the second-largest U.S. oil company to expand its production in Venezuela and bring the South American country's crude oil to the United States.The decision grants broader rights for the last big U.S. oil company still operating in U.S.-sanctioned Venezuela. However, it restricts any cash payments to Venezuela, which could reduce the oil available to export.License terms are designed to prevent state-run oil firm Petróleos de Venezuela, known as PDVSA PDVSA.UL, from receiving proceeds from Chevron's petroleum sales, U.S. officials said.

The head of Libya's National Oil Corp (NOC) on Wednesday rejected the prime minister's authority to sack him, raising the prospect of an open struggle for control of the state energy producer.In a furious televised speech, Mustafa Sanalla said Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah's mandate to govern had expired and warned him not to touch NOC.An armed force deployed outside the NOC building later in the day, three witnesses said. One of them said the force was aligned with Dbeibah.

Iranian oil exports have risen to more than 1 million barrels per day for the first time in almost three years, based on estimates from companies that track the flows, reflecting increased shipments to China.Tehran's oil exports have been limited since former U.S. President Donald Trump in 2018 exited a 2015 nuclear accord and reimposed sanctions aimed at curbing oil exports and the associated revenue to Iran's government.Iran has kept some exports flowing despite sanctions as intermediaries find ways to disguise the origin of the imports.

A project to expand parts of the Suez Canal is expected to be completed after two years of work in July 2023, the chairman of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said on Sunday.The SCA announced accelerated plans to extend a second channel of the canal and to enlarge an existing channel after the Ever Given container ship ran aground and blocked the waterway for six days last year."The project will be completed in 24 months. We started in July 2021 and God willing we will finish in July 2023…

Japan's JGC has been awarded the Pre-Front End Engineering and Design (Pre-FEED) contract for an FLNG facility project in Nigeria.The project is being run by UTM Offshore Limited, a Nigerian private company engaged primarily in crude oil sales and construction equipment leasing, and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.This project calls for the Pre-FEED of an FLNG facility with a production capacity of 1,200,000 tons annually using gas from the Yoho gas field owned by ExxonMobil and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

An Iranian-flagged tanker seized by Indonesia in January over the suspected illegal transfer of oil has been released, an Indonesian official and Iranian state media said on Saturday.Wisnu Pramandita, a spokesman for the Indonesian coastguard, said the Iranian-flagged tanker, the MT Horse, was released on Friday after a court decision earlier in the week.The court ruled the vessel could leave Indonesia, while the captain would be subject to a two-year probation without any fine…

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…

The Iranian and Panamanian-flagged vessels seized by Indonesian authorities for suspected illegal oil transfers are making their way to dock at Batam island in the country’s Riau Islands Province for further investigation, a Indonesia coast guard spokesman told Reuters.The two supertankers, with crew members from Iran and China, were seized on Sunday in Indonesian waters near Kalimantan island. The MT Horse, owned by the National Iranian Tanker Company and MT Freya, managed by Shanghai Future Ship Management Co, had a total of 61 crew members onboard.“The ships will arrive in Batam at around 3pm (0600GMT) to 4pm later today,” Wisnu Pramandita…

China said on Wednesday it was seeking details about 25 of its nationals who were among 61 crew on two supertankers seized by Indonesia on suspicion of illegally transferring oil.Indonesia said on Sunday it had seized the vessels after they were detected making the transfer from Iranian-flagged MT Horse to Panamanian-flagged MT Freya, causing an oil spill.The Indonesian authorities said the seizure was not related to U.S. sanctions, which Washington imposed in a bid to shut off Iran’s oil exports in a dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program.The MT Horse, owned by the National Iranian Tanker Company, and MT Freya, managed by Shanghai Future Ship Management Co…