Oil Crisis News

Sailing cargo ships are making a genuine comeback.Japanese bulk carrier MOL is operating a wind-assisted ship. American food giant Cargill is working with Olympic sailor Ben Ainslie to deploy WindWings on its routes. Swedish shipping company Wallenius is aiming for Oceanbird to cut emissions by up to 90%. The French start-up Zephyr & Borée has built the Canopée, which will transport parts of European Space Agency’s Ariane 6 rocket this year.I researched the decarbonisation of the shipping industry.

Wind power pioneer Henrik Stiesdal built his first wind turbine in 1978. It was one of Denmark’s first step towards becoming a wind energy powerhouse, with Stiesdal regularly at the helm. He’s now got wider climate initiatives in his sights, including industrializing floating offshore wind. He reflected with OE’s Elaine Maslin.By 2021, a total of 35 GW of offshore wind had been installed across the world. To meet global climate targets, the International Energy Agency (IEA) says that another 80 GW of it needs to be built per year by 2030.

Malaysian offshore vessel operator TAS Offshore has canceled shipbuilding contracts for 16 offshore support vessels.The company had signed the contracts in the 2013-2015 period with two Chinese shipbuilders Guangzhou Hangtong Shipbuilding and Shipping Co. Ltd. (“HangTong”) and Jiangmen Hangtong Shipbuilding Co.The contracts were for 16 offshore support vessels with values ranging from $10.38 million to $39.38 million per vessel.The vessels had initially been slated for delivery between 2014 to 2017…

OPEC, Russia and other allies outlined plans on Thursday to cut their oil output by more than a fifth and said they expected the United States and other producers to join in their effort to prop up prices hammered by the coronavirus crisis.But the group, known as OPEC+, said a final agreement was dependent on Mexico signing up to the pact after it balked at the production cuts it was asked to make. Discussions among top global energy ministers will resume on Friday.The planned output curbs by OPEC+ amount to 10 million barrels per day (bpd) or 10% of global supplies…

Hedge fund managers sensed oil prices were nearing a turning point last week, and for the first time in more than two months started to add long positions in anticipation prices would bounce from an unsustainable low.Overall, hedge funds and other money managers were still net sellers of 19 million barrels of petroleum in the six most important futures and options contracts in the week ending on March 31.But they initiated 40 million barrels of new purchases as well as 59 million barrels of fresh sales, according to position records published by ICE Futures Europe and the U.S.

Bourbon Corporation CEO Gael Bodénès & his team plot a bold new course for this offshore industry stalwart.Your career with Bourbon has traversed many industry fluctuations. Looking back to when you joined the company, how is Bourbon today most the same, and most different?Bourbon has transformed from a small regional company to a world recognized leader in offshore marine services. It has seen its teams grow from a 3,000 to more than 8,000 employees of 88 nationalities, the fleet has grown to more than 500 units…

Maritime Reporter & Engineering News visited Koichi Fujiwara, the newly installed Chairman and President of ClassNK, in his Tokyo headquarters for his insights on the global maritime market at large as well as the future direction and mandate of class. With the global maritime market in the grips of a collective slump, the likes of which have not been seen since the energy crisis and resulting economic malaise of the mid 1970s, Koichi Fujiwara takes the mantle of leadership at ClassNK, one of the world’s largest and most influential classification societies.

Bulkcarrier investors are generally an optimistic lot, with little time for pessimistic analysts, says a research report by Clarksons. They know that however gloomy the forecasts, some time they will make a nice profit. After all, the ships last 30 years, especially small bulkers and a lot can happen in that time. But occasionally even they get gloomy and that seems to have happened today. It’s easy to see why. The Baltic Dry Index has hit all-time lows and Capesizes, which were supposed to be gold-plated investments in a world dominated by China, are looking decidedly tarnished. Nearly new ships have been chartering for well under $10,000/day and it’s been going on for a long time.

30%That’s the minimum level of capital expenditure cuts facing owners and operators of offshore rigs, vessels and various support services, as they scramble to keep equipment working and their heads above water during one of the worst oil downturns in 30 years. From a high of $108 per barrel in June of last year, prices plummeted roughly 60% as supply surpassed weakening demand, crashing in November to around $44 a barrel. The pricing collapse caught all sectors of the industry and financial markets by surprise, pulling down with it market valuations, quarterly earnings and day rates.

A House of Representatives panel will hold a hearing on Dec. 11 to explore whether a decades-old law that prohibits the export of crude oil makes sense in an era of domestic energy abundance. The House subcommittee on energy and power, chaired by Representative Ed Whitfield, will hone in on the 1975 Energy Policy and Conservation Act, drafted in response to the 1973 oil crisis. The law prohibited the export of most crude oil, created the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and Corporate Average Fuel Economy rules for cars and trucks, also known as CAFE standards.

Rising oil exports from Libya after months of disruption helped push Mediterranean tanker rates to the highest levels in nearly six months on Wednesday, and shipping players expected more gains in earnings as shipments from the OPEC member step up. Aframax tankers on the Mediterranean route, which transport the majority of Libya's crude oil, normally carry loads of up to 600,000-700,000 barrels. Rates have been depressed in recent months due in part to slower exports from Libya. Cross Mediterranean rates for aframax tankers rose on Wednesday to W126.70 in the worldscale measure of freight rates, or $32,080 a day when translated into average earnings, their highest level since late January, Baltic Exchange data showed.

Libya will not be able to export oil through its two largest eastern ports before August, due to safety checks after a near year-long closure, a senior oil official said on Wednesday. The latest twist in a spiral of violence also casts a shadow over the vital deal two weeks ago to end the eastern blockade by federalist protesters of the last two facilities they held. Until April, the rebels were holding four out of five eastern ports, cutting off over half of Libya's export capacity. But an oil export return is proving slow and a full ramp up is already facing new obstacles with a fresh protest by oil guards at the port of Brega. At least 15 people have been killed in the capital and the eastern city of Benghazi since Sunday.

President Barack Obama announced steps on Friday to increase the use of solar panels, boost energy efficiency in federal buildings and train more people to work in the renewable energy field. "It's the right thing to do for the planet," Obama said, standing in the outdoor lighting display section of a WalMart store that features roof-top solar panels and a charging station for electric vehicles, among other energy-saving retrofits. The president used the stop to show how major corporations have committed to increasing the generation of solar power at their facilities. Wal-Mart Stores Inc, Apple Inc , Yahoo Inc, Google Inc and Ikea were among the companies that have made such commitments.

Windward Ltd. has taken advances in satellite communications at sea plus the massive amounts of new data available from ships, and created a satellite based maritime analytics system that provides information and insight on unusual vessel movements globally. Co-founder and CEO Ami Daniel explains. Until now. In 2010 this pair of naval officers founded Windward Ltd., a maritime analytics company that brings the power of smart analytics to the oceans. “With the advent of satellite technology…

Using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), new insights can be obtained into the working principles of Energy Saving Devices (ESDs), which all serve to increase the fuel efficiency of a ship. The advantages of using ReFRESCO to study ESDs are explored in this article. The capability of simulating different moving objects, and their interaction in on calculation (applying the so-called Sliding Interfaces Technique) has increased the range of applications of the viscousflow CFD code ReFRESCO.

The International Energy Agency<http://www.iea.org/> (IEA) will undertake a comprehensive analytical study of Iraq as part of the 2012 edition of its flagship publication, the World Energy Outlook (WEO). "Iraq's energy sector is both central to the reconstruction and development of the Iraqi economy and of huge importance to the global outlook," said IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven. "The focus on Iraq in this year's World Energy Outlook will illuminate a central issue for the future of global energy, and we are very pleased to be working with the strong support of the Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq, Dr. Speaking to the IEA Governing Board on 15 February, the Ambassador of Iraq to France, H.E. Dr. Fareed Yasseen, outlined Iraq's expectations for the IEA work.

Trinity Offshore, LLC announced that they have signed a contract to build one 56-ft by 14-ft MKII Very Shallow Multi-System Skimmer (VSMSS) with Clean Gulf Associates of New Orleans, La. Clean Gulf Associates, one of the largest oil spill response cooperative in North America, will operate the vessel to provide marine service and environmental clean up along the Gulf Coast to its member companies. Designed by Trinity’s in house engineering department, this revolutionary multi-purpose shallow draft skimmer is designed to travel at speeds exceeding 25 MPH, carry two three-ft wide bow mounted belt skimmer systems and store up to 249 BBLs of recovered product. Upon delivery she will be USCG certified to carry Grade D cargo.

SeaArk Marine, Inc, of Monticello, Ark. has announced immediate plans to expand their production capacity to better meet the needs of the Gulf Oil Crisis. “Unfortunately, it appears this catastrophe is going to be around for some time” said Ken McFalls, Vice President of Sales. “We already have the manpower and overflow facilities to handle emergency situations such as this. It’s just simple matter of putting these resources to use. SeaArk Marine, formerly MonArk Boat Company, has been serving the Gulf coast oil industry for over 50 years. Products range in size from 17 to 65 feet and include specialty vessels for the deployment of boom and dispersants, skimmer platforms, shallow water sampling and high speed drop ramp cargo barges.

The Wärtsilä 32 engine reached an important milestone in March as the 6000th engine rolled out of the Wärtsilä factory in Vaasa, Finland. This engine is efficient, has low emissions, and is able to run on various liquid fuels. The engine still attracts new customers worldwide both in the marine and energy industries. Moreover, most of the engines built 30 years ago are still in use. In March, the 6000th Wärtsilä 32 engine began its landmark journey from the Wärtsilä factory in Vaasa to a power plant site in Brazil.

On the occasion of its 125th anniversary, Mitsui O.S.K. “It is my great pleasure to commemorate MOL’s 125th anniversary, together with all of you from the MOL group companies. “While the average company’s lifespan is commonly said to be around 30 years, MOL has grown and evolved over a period four times greater. The world economy is currently in what has been called a once-in-a-century crisis, but in its lifetime MOL has overcome many serious ordeals and difficulties – the Great Depression of the early thirties, World War II, the oil crisis of the seventies, the sharp appreciation of the Japanese yen after the Plaza Accord in 1985, and others. Yet, here we are today celebrating the 125th anniversary of the company’s founding.

Turkish and Egyptian foreign ministers agreed to set up delegations to discuss an Egyptian-Greek Cypriot deal that paves the way for oil and gas exploration by Greek Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean, diplomatic sources said yesterday. The agreement came during a meeting between FM Abdullah Gül and his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Abdul Gheit. In 2005, Egypt signed a deal with Greek Cyprus to delineate their undersea borders in the Mediterranean and the limits of Greek Cyprus' continental shelf. Greek Cyprus signed a similar accord with Lebanon earlier this year. Turkey, which opposes the Greek Cypriot oil and gas exploration plans, warned the two countries to stop the agreements…

Concurrent with marine industry consolidation on the ship owning, building and supply fronts, increasingly innovative vessels concepts are originating from in-house design teams sitting with the major equipment manufacturers. Single-source supplier is today’s mantra on the commercial and military fronts, with companies such as Wärtsilä leading the way. The company recently published details of an innovative new LNG carrier concept, the Wärtsilä DF-electric propulsion concept for liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, bringing together two technologies: electric propulsion and dual-fuel engines. The Wärtsilä DF-electric LNG carrier concept is designed for a single-screw vessel with four cargo tanks and a capacity of about 138,000 cu.

Faster and cheaper and more efficient. Nearly everyone agrees that the rapid change from break-bulk cargo handling to the containership has been revolutionary. It is perhaps the most startling development since the shift from sail to steam. In the world of shipping, the change has been so profound that we can readily refer to it as paradigm shift. How do we explain the change? Professional historians are often reluctant to attribute major cultural changes to a single individual. Many factors, large and small, play into the making of any major change so that historians typically try to avoid "the great man" explanation. For example, the American Merchant Seamen's Manual (Sixth Edition,) edited by William B.