Sokol News

Russia remained China's top oil supplier in March, data showed on Saturday, as refiners snapped up stranded Sokol shipments.China's imports from Russia, including supplies via pipelines and sea-borne shipments, jumped 12.5% on the year to 10.81 million metric tons, or 2.55 million barrels per day (bpd) last month, according to data from the General Administration of Customs.That was quite close to the previous monthly record of 2.56 million bpd in June 2023.Seven Russian tankers under sanctions offloaded Sokol cargoes in Chinese ports in March…

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 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.

India's shipping ministry will follow foreign ministry advice when deciding whether to allow a ship carrying Russian oil that has been placed under U.S. sanctions to berth at an Indian port, the country's shipping regulator said.The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on three maritime companies and three vessels owned by them for shipping Russian oil sold above a price cap imposed by the Group of Seven nations, as Washington seeks to close loopholes in the mechanism designed…

Singapore authorities detained one of the oil tankers from Gatik Ship Management's fleet, a major carrier of Russian oil to India, for three days last month over safety issues, according to port state control data from Tokyo MoU.The Gabon-flagged tanker Lefkada was detained on May 11 after several deficiencies were found, the report from the leading port body showed.They included maintenance of the ship and equipment, fire protection system and life-saving gear.The ship was released on May 13 after the safety issues were rectified, a source familiar with the matter said.The source added the inspection was part of random checks on ships.

Asset manager Atlas Corp said on Thursday it received a takeover offer from consortium group Poseidon Acquisition Corp in an all-cash deal for $3.64 billion.Poseidon, which comprises Atlas' board chairman David Sokol, affiliates of Canadian investment company Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd, the Washington Family, and Japanese shipping company Ocean Network Express Pte Ltd, has made an offer to the asset manager for $14.45 cash per common share.The offer represents a 24.9% premium to Atlas' closing price of $11.57 on Thursday at the New York Stock Exchange, as per Refinitiv data.The board will

India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) is struggling to find a vessel to ship 700,000 barrels of crude from Russia's Far East, in a growing sign that complex trades involving one of Moscow's biggest partners are being interrupted by Western sanctions, sources say.Several Indian companies including ONGC have stakes in Russian oil and gas assets, and India has been buying more Russian crude since Moscow invaded Ukraine, snapping up the popular Urals crude grade, while other buyers…

Oil benchmarks are hitting multiple price and spread milestones across several key markets as the fallout from severe sanctions on key exporter Russia sows confusion and panic among global crude oil traders, shipping firms and importers.The oil industry has been gripped by acute risk aversion in the finance and shipping sectors after several nations including the United States sanctioned multiple Russian entities following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, though Washington has explicitly exempted energy products from the Russian measures.

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Monday that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline would be halted if Russia invades Ukraine and stressed unity with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz as the West rallies to avert a war in Europe.At a White House press conference with the new German leader, Biden, a longtime opponent of the decade-old pipeline project to Germany from Russia, said Russian forces crossing into Ukraine would trigger a shutdown."If Russia invades, that means tanks or troops crossing the ... border of Ukraine again, then there will be ... no longer a Nord Stream 2.

China, the global oil market's lifeline this year, has stepped up purchases from exporters like Russia, the United States and Angola in recent weeks, while buyers elsewhere pare orders as coronavirus infections surge and fresh lockdowns are put in place.China, the world's largest importer of crude, is the only major buyer expected to see increased oil demand this year as the pandemic destroyed consumption globally.With China's imports expected to reach 12 million barrels per day (bpd) next year…

Singapore-based offshore contractor Swiber has signed a $200 million deal with box ship player Seaspan Corporation, just days after it announced the expiry of a term sheet for a share swop arrangement with Australian power generation firm, Interlink Power & Energy Holdings.In a stock exchange announcement, the offshore construction and services group said that it has signed with Seaspan a binding term sheet on October 3, 2018, which is subject to definitive agreements being entered into on mutually agreed terms. Under the terms, Seaspan proposes to invest up to $200 million in two stages.The first stage is an initial $20 million in cash for new ordinary shares in Swiber which will give it control of 80 percent of Swiber’s enlarged share capital…

Containership owner operator Seaspan Corporation has announced that Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited, through certain subsidiaries, has entered into a definitive agreement to invest an additional $500 million of equity in Seaspan through the exercise of two tranches of warrants, increasing Fairfax’s total investment in Seaspan to $1 billion. "Building on our acquisition of Greater China Intermodal Investments and existing partnership with Prem Watsa and Fairfax, the cumulative investment of $1 billion from Fairfax will also significantly strengthen Seaspan’s balance sheet, significantly improve access to capital and accelerate our progress toward achieving an investment grade credit rating," he added.

Seaspan Corporation, the world's largest independent containership owner operator, has announced that Mark Chu has notified the company that he plans to step down from his roles as General Counsel and Chief Operating Officer to pursue other opportunities. Chu will remain in his current roles through August 31st, 2018 to help facilitate a seamless transition. Bing Chen, President and Chief Executive Officer of Seaspan said, "I would like to thank Mark for his many contributions to Seaspan over the years. David Sokol, Chairman of Seaspan's Board of Directors, said, "Mark has been a true professional in all aspects of his roles at Seaspan. I cannot thank him enough for his efforts since I joined the Board and through the transition over the past nine months.

Oil major buys various grades from Qatar, UAE, Russia; re-sells Qatar Marine and Sokol. Royal Dutch Shell has snapped up more than 8 million barrels of Middle East and Russian crude oil loading in June and resold some cargoes at higher premiums as it profits from robust demand in Asia, five trading sources said on Friday. The region's pull on Middle East and Russian grades, priced off Middle East crude benchmark Dubai, has strengthened this month as a widening of Brent's premium to Dubai has made competing Atlantic Basin supplies more expensive. Asia's crude demand is also set to rise in the third quarter as refiners return from maintenance to ramp up output to meet peak summer oil consumption.

Seaspan Corporation announced that it entered into a letter of intent (LoI) pursuant to which Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited, through certain subsidiaries, will make an investment of US$250 million in Seaspan in exchange for the issuance by Seaspan of 5.5% interest bearing unsecured debentures and Class A Common Share purchase warrants. Seaspan intends to use the proceeds from this US$250 million investment to fund future growth initiatives, debt repayment and for general corporate purposes. Fairfax has agreed to subscribe on a private placement basis, and subject to certain conditions, for Debentures in a maximum aggregate amount of US$250 million.

Seaspan Corporation announced that Bing Chen will be joining the Company as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and appointed to the Board of Directors in January, 2018. Gerry Wang will be retiring as CEO and Director of Seaspan effective November 3. Upon Wang’s retirement, Peter Curtis, executive vice president and chief operating officer, will also serve as Seaspan’s interim chief executive officer until Chen’s arrival, after which he will continue in his current role. David Sokol, Chairman of Seaspan’s Board of Directors, stated, "We are pleased to have reached a very successful conclusion to our CEO search, and to have a seasoned professional like Mr. Chen join our executive team. Mr.

Seaspan Corporation announced that Gerry Wang, its Chief Executive Officer, Co-Chairman and Co-Founder, will retire from Seaspan effective December 31, 2017 to focus on family business investments and his ongoing charitable efforts. In order to facilitate an orderly transition, Wang will continue in his current role as CEO until the earlier of when a permanent CEO is identified or December 31, 2017, and will continue to serve on Seaspan's Board until the end of the year. Seaspan has commenced a search process to identify a new Chief Executive Officer. The Board of Directors has appointed David Sokol, a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of Seaspan, as Chairman of the Board.

The Asian Aframax market has been strengthening steadily, with rates for the Indo/Japan route up by w25 points w-o-w at w135. The Baltic Exchange’s benchmark TD14 route reached w127.50 Tuesday, jumping by w29 points w-o-w. This is partly due to underlying seasonality as refiners in the region typically raise utilization rates during Q4 in order to meet winter demand. An early and colder-than-usual winter in North Asia has led to increased heating fuel demand, lending further support to refinery runs.

Cargotec’s Kalmar business area has been awarded a five-year equipment servicing and maintenance contract by the Durres Port Authority (DPA) in Albania. The contract was signed between the Director of the Durres Port Authority, Eduard Ndreu and Wolfgang Stöven, Vice President, Kalmar Service at Cargotec, and Jürgen Würzer, Managing Director of Kalmar Austria. The Minister of Public Works, Transportation and Telecommunication, Sokol Olldashi, and a number of government, port and company officials also attended the signing ceremony. Following the ceremony, Eduard Ndreu from DPA expressed his appreciation by saying that the contract will secure a high level of maintenance services in the Port of Durres in compliance with best European practice.

Rosneft commenced shipment of crude oil extracted at the Northern Tip of Chayvo license off the coast of Sakhalin, with the first tanker carrying Sokol-grade crude leaving port on November 21. The tanker was loaded at the Sokol single-point oil terminal located 5.7 km east of DeKastri Terminal, Khabarovsk Krai. DeKastri is the first terminal in Russia to ship crude oil year round amid the harsh environment of the Arctic. Another export batch is scheduled to ship before the year’s end. A fleet of purpose-built oil tankers will carry the hydrocarbons, each 100,000 tonnes in deadweight, escorted by icebreakers. The tankers are reinforced ice class, double hull type to safely transport the cargo even in heavy ice conditions.

Mideast crude freight to Japan highest since 2010. North Asian refiners have snapped up Russian crude oil loading in the last two months of this year to meet peak winter demand as Middle East and West African grades have become more costly after freight rates hit multi-year highs, traders said on Thursday. The freight rate for chartering Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC) plying the key Middle East to Japan route <DFRT-ME-JAP> and the West Africa to China route are at the highest in more than five years, prompting refiners to look at crude within Asia and from nearby sources such as Russia. "The spike in freight rates pushed up the regional crude market," said a Singapore-based trader.

Russian Urals crude differentials continued to slide in the Baltic on Thursday amid a flurry of activity with softer refining margins, pushed down by higher oil prices, still keeping buyers at bay. In the Platts window, Statoil bought a 100,000-tonne cargo from Glencore for loadings on Oct. 18-22 in the Baltic at dated Brent minus $2 a barrel, some 20 cents weaker than on Wednesday, traders said. Litasco, Total and Vitol have found no buyers with offers of minus $1.80, $1.75 and $1.85 to dated Brent correspondingly. In the south, Litasco increased its bids for 80,000 and 140,000 cargoes to minus 95 cents and minus $1.20 to dated Brent respectively, without success. The were no deals with both Azeri and CPC Blend in the Platts window.

The Asia-Pacific crude market weakened on Monday with differentials for Russian Sokol depressed by slow demand during peak maintenance season, but a recovery in the naphtha market offset some of the losses. India's ONGC sold 700,000 barrels of light sweet Sokol crude for May 1-4 loading to Glencore at $7.50 per barrel above Oman/Dubai quotes on a cost and freight (CFR) basis, traders said. The company last sold Sokol for April loading at a premium of $8.50 per barrel. Sentiment in the crude market has weakened with many regional refiners undergoing maintenance, however, slight gains in the naphtha and middle distillate markets were supportive. Brent-Dubai Exchange of Futures for Swaps (EFS) <DUB-EFS-1M>, or Brent's premium to Dubai swaps, widened 11 cents to $4.01 per barrel.