Petro News

If nothing else, building vessels in the U.S. is a complicated business.In a session on the domestic shipbuilding marketplace, at Marine Money’s late-November 2023 conference held in New Orleans, Ben Bordelon, president and CEO of Bollinger Shipyards (with more than a dozen facilities, in Mississippi and Louisiana), described his company’s architecture as a “three-legged stool approach: commercial newbuilds, government newbuilds and repair/conversion capabilities”.On the same panel…

Yang Ming Marine Transport is adopting sustainable biofuel for its fleet, starting at Hong Kong and Singapore, and will now incorporate biofuel into its annual fuel consumption on an on-going basis.The adoption of biofuel began with Yang Ming’s 1,805 TEU class container ship, YM Inception, and 6,600 TEU class container ship, YM Masculinity. These vessels are currently deployed on the Japan to/from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Thailand service and the Far East to/from Middle East service…

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunker barge Clean Canaveral completed its first barge-to-ship bunkering of a cargo vessel at Port Canaveral’s South Cargo Berth 4. JAX LNG, along with Polaris New Energy, handled the LNG refueling of the Damia Desgagnés on the ship’s inaugural call to Port Canaveral. The asphalt/bitumen tanker Damia Desgagnés completed her discharge of cargo and then JAX LNG proceeded with Desgagnés’s first barge-to-ship bunkering of LNG. The seafarers safely transferred approximately 400 cubic meters of LNG from North America’s largest LNG bunker barge…

The World Court on Thursday rejected a lawsuit by Nicaragua seeking to define and expand its deep sea economic rights beyond those previously established in a long-running maritime border dispute over a trio of Caribbean islands with Colombia.Judges at the United Nations-linked World Court, or International Court of Justice, found that Nicaragua's offshore rights to 200 nautical miles (370 km) had previously been established, and rejected its call to extend the boundaries."Irrespective of any scientific and technical considerations…

U.S. offshore vessel owner Hornbeck Offshore Services, best known for its offshore oil and gas support vessel services, is looking at business opportunities in the growing U.S. offshore wind sector as well as in offshore accommodation services in the oil and gas area.For that, Covington, La. based Hornbeck Offshore said Wednesday it had contracted Eastern Shipbuilding Group to convert one of its recently acquired 280-foot offshore supply vessels (OSV) to a service operation vessel (SOV) to meet the growing demand of the U.S.

Valero Energy Corp, the second-largest U.S. oil refiner, is seeking Washington's permission to import Venezuelan crude, according to four people close to the matter, hoping for a repeat of the approval granted to Chevron Corp in November after a four-year ban.President Joe Biden's administration has eased some U.S. sanctions on the OPEC-member nation in an effort to encourage a political dialogue with the country's opposition. That has led to further pressure from U.S., European and Asian energy firms…

Markey Machine said it recently won an order for a set of split mooring winches and an anchor windlass to be installed on board one of Crowley’s ATB barges Oliver Leavitt. The winches replaced a set of electric mooring winches.The ATB, including tug Aveogan, was constructed at the Bollinger Marine Fabricators facility in Amelia, La., and delivered to Crowley in 2020. Crowley operates the ATB under a long-term charter for Alaska-based Petro Star Inc.The decision in Markey’s favor was “operations-based: tied to historic performance,” Crowley reported.

Iranian oil exports hit new highs in the last two months of 2022 and are making a strong start to 2023 despite U.S. sanctions, according to companies that track the flows, on higher shipments to China and Venezuela.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.Exports have risen during the term of his successor President Joe Biden, who had sought to revive the nuclear deal, and hit the highest since 2019 on some estimates.

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.

Venezuela's oil exports increased for the second consecutive month to 713,097 barrels per day (bpd) in July, as state-run PDVSA offset loading delays at its main port by boosting ship-to-ship transfers, according to tracking data and documents.That was Venezuela's highest level of oil exports since February, according to the data.A growing number of mostly unknown clients with no record in oil trading have helped PDVSA increase shipments, most of which now goes to Asia. Its traditional…

Oil hit an 11-month high just below $57 a barrel on Tuesday, bolstered by Saudi Arabia's plans to limit supply, offsetting worries that rising coronavirus cases globally would curtail fuel demand.Brent crude settled up 92 cents, or 1.7%, at $56.58 a barrel by after touching its highest level since last February at $56.75. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained 96 cents, or 1.8%, to $53.28.Saudi Arabia plans to cut output by an extra 1 million barrels per day (bpd) in February…

This year, despite innumerable challenges and setbacks, a great number of new U.S.-flagged vessels made their way into service. In addition to Maid of the Mist's new electric tour boats James V. Glynn and Nikola Tesla featured Wednesday, the newbuilds highlighted below are some of the most noteworthy to come out of U.S. shipyards in 2020.DredgerU.S. dredging contractors have been adding tonnage in a big way. This Spring, Callan Marine added a significant piece to the U.S. fleet with its new Jones Act cutterhead suction dredge (CSD) General MacArthur.

This article will focus on “noncomprehensive sanctions,” which target “Specially Designated Nationals” (SDNs), but otherwise do not prohibit most trade between the U.S. and the target country (if any). While there are multiple noncomprehensive sanctions programs, we will focus on three: Venezuela (which can be thought of as quasi-comprehensive), Global Magnitsky (human rights) and Hong Kong. Russia also has a substantial noncomprehensive sanctions program, which we will address in a later article.NONCOMPREHENSIVE SANCTIONS PROGRAMS: IN GENERALThe U.S.

Iran's oil exports have sunk to a record low as the coronavirus crisis compounds the impact of U.S. sanctions already limiting shipments, underlining the diminishing oil clout of what was OPEC's second-largest producer.Exports averaged 70,000 barrels per day in April, down from 287,000 bpd in March according to Kpler, which tracks the flows. The difficulty assessing volumes means the total may be revised higher and Kpler told Reuters that could possibly be to as much as around 200…

UK-based HydroWing and Dutch tidal energy developer Tocardo are working on a solution that will convert tidal energy into hydrogen, store it and offload it - similar to an FPSO in the oil and gas industry - to overcome the intermittency as well as the transportation issues.The concept called the THyPSO (Tidal Hydrogen Production, Storage and Offloading) includes a floating platform housing 1 – 6 conventional bi-directional tidal turbines converting the tidal flows into electricity…

Crowley Fuels took delivery Tuesday of its new Alaska Class 100,000-barrel, articulated tug-barge (ATB), which will be used to transport petroleum products for the Alaska market, from Bollinger Shipyards.Crowley will operate the 483-foot ATB for Alaska-based Petro Star Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC) under a long-term charter. Crowley Shipping’s petroleum services group will operate the ATB on behalf of Crowley Fuels.The ATB is the first in Crowley’s fleet to be dedicated to the Alaska market.

The Asian liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) market stood at over $81.4 billion in 2018 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of over 5% to cross $109 billion by 2024, as increasing demand for LPG  as a fuel for power generation in remote and off-grid locations in comparison to its less environment-friendly alternatives like coal, diesel and fuel oil.Increasing demand for LPG used to run vehicles (Autogas)  is being witnessed as it is a comparatively cheaper automotive fuel and can be used in vast applications related to transportation, said a report by ResearchAndMarkets.Of the overall LPG consumed across the globe, nearly 87% is used for residential/consumer use.By source, the Asian LPG market has been categorized into Refinery, Associated Gases & Non-Associated Gases.

India and Saudi Arabia have decided to expand its ‘energy relationship’ into next phase to include Saudi partnership in building additional crude oil storage reserves in India, a new refinery on the west coast of India and investment in retail sector in petroleum.Saudi Arabia is its second-biggest supplier of crude oil after Iraq. It sold 40.33 million tonnes of crude oil to India in 2018-19 fiscal, when the country had imported 207.3 million tonnes of oil.India imports around 18 per cent of its crude oil from the Kingdom, making it the second-largest source of crude oil for the country, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.PM Modi…

Crowley Fuels has signed construction contracts to build a 55,000-barrel, articulated tug-barge (ATB) that is specifically designed to serve the Western Alaska market with delivery of clean fuel products.The 410-foot ATB will have enhanced performance features for the demanding river and sea conditions of Western Alaska, an area that depends on safe and reliable marine delivery services during the short open-water season. An ATB consists of a tugboat and barge that are connected from the bow of the tug to a notch in the stern of the barge by a hinged connection system…

Ammonia, the same pungent solution used in fertilizers and cleaning agents, may one day be the key to transporting renewable energy around the world. There are currently a number of government and corporate projects assessing the feasibility of converting excess renewable energy from sources like wind, solar, tidal and nuclear into ammonia and then back into usable energy.In its purist form, ammonia or NH3 is composed of one nitrogen and three hydrogen atoms making it an ideal candidate to chemically bind excess renewable energy. Like several other chemical compounds, ammonia can be transported by chemical tanker in liquid form to end-users. Based on its near ambient liquification point, it may be more appealing to transport ammonia over longer distances than hydrogen.

China’s COSCO Shipping Lines has signed a low sulfur fuel oil (LSFO) supply agreement with Double Rich Limited, a subsidiary of China Marine Bunker (Petro China).According to the agreement, Double Rich limited will provide fuel oil with sulfur content not exceeding 0.5% m/m conforming to the regulation of International Maritime Organization (IMO) for COSCO Shipping Lines in order to assist the fleets of COSCO Shipping Lines to better fulfill the amendment of ANNEX VI in International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), which has been adopted by IMO.By keeping promoting and applying diverse and advanced emission reduction technology and optimizing management pattern…

Canada’s marine services provider McKeil Marine Limited has acquired Topaz, an IMO 2, ice class 1A chemical tanker.With this newest addition to its diversified fleet of tugs, barges, workboats and vessels, including bulkers, cement carriers, and tankers, McKeil expands its offering and is poised for additional growth.The Panamanian-flagged Topaz built in 2009, measures 137 metres by 20 metres, with a DWT of 13,965 metric tonnes. The vessel was acquired to service the needs of McKeil’s customer Petro-Canada Lubricants Inc. (PCLI).Her journey originated in Singapore and continued to Malaysia where she loaded a cargo for delivery to the Mediterranean.

Chinese state-owned Shipping and logistics services supplier company COSCO Shipping Lines has signed a low sulfur fuel oil (LSFO) supply agreement with Double Rich Limited, a subsidiary of China Marine Bunker (Petro China).According to the agreement, Double Rich limited will provide the Shipping line with ‘fuel oil with sulphur content not exceeding 0.5% m/m’ conforming to the regulation of International Maritime Organization (IMO).By keeping promoting and applying diverse and advanced emission reduction technology and optimizing management pattern, COSCO Shipping Lines will try their best to push forward to realize GREEN Shipping."Signing the LSFO supply agreement is an important measure of COSCO Shipping Lines actively fulfilling MARPOL of IMO…