U.S. Shipping Sanctions Give Boost to EU Refiners
U.S. sanctions imposed last month on subsidiaries of vast Chinese shipping fleet Cosco have given an unexpected boost to European refiners as less crude oil from the North Sea and West Africa heads east, traders and analysts said.Freight rates have soared as oil producers scramble for non-blacklisted vessels, discouraging longer-distance voyages.Complex refining margins for advanced facilities capable of extracting even more valuable products like diesel and gasoline, have been especially strong in Europe, industry sources said.The U.S.
Port of Rotterdam Freight Throughput Falls in 1Q
In the first quarter of 2018, 1.2% less freight passed through the Port of Rotterdam than in the same period last year. In total, 117.8 million tonnes were handled against 119.3 million tonnes in the same period in 2017. The fall mainly concerned the throughput of coal, iron ore, scrap and crude oil. In contrast, the growth in container throughput continued to increase significantly (+6.1% in TEU, +4.6% in tonnes). The throughput of mineral oil products increased, particularly distribution. The throughput of biomass and LNG increased spectacularly. Allard Castelein, CEO Port of Rotterdam Authority: “The continued growth in container…
Refineries Revolution Spurs Product Supertankers
The rapid growth of mega refineries is prompting a new class of oil products supertankers, mirroring an earlier revolution in crude oil shipping, as traders look for scale that was previously not economically viable. In the early 1970s, ships capable of carrying 2 million barrels of crude oil were built to mitigate disruptions from the closure of the Suez Canal and to meet growing global demand. Now, the products trade is spurring similar innovation. As the Middle East and U.S. Gulf Coast transform into refining hubs, traders require ever-larger tankers to move oil products such as gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel to Europe, Asia and Latin America.
Rotterdam port's throughput almost stable
The Port of Rotterdam’s throughput in the first quarter of 2014, at 109 million tonnes, was 0.2% below the level for the corresponding period last year.Split up by goods type, less crude oil (-2%), mineral oil products (-14%) and other liquid bulk cargo (-14%) were transferred. On the positive side, iron ore and scrap (+5%), coal (+15%), agribulk (+69%), other dry bulk cargo (+13%), containers (+1%), roll on/roll off (+9%) and other mixed cargo (+9%) did better. CEO Allard Castelein of the Port of Rotterdam Authority said, “The falling tendency of the second half of 2013 continued initially, but thanks to a strong month in March, the throughput in the first three months nonetheless stayed almost the same.
When Up Is Down
U.S. commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) rose by 1.5 million barrels last week. Total commercial petroleum inventories increased by 5.0 million barrels. So how do these increases actually represent a declining inventory situation? It is by looking at the shrinking surplus to year-ago levels. Even with these increases, the petroleum inventory surplus that has existed in the United States for over a year is shrinking fast. U.S. crude oil inventories, which were about 40 million barrels above year-ago levels as recently as the week ending March 1, stand at just 3.9 million barrels above year ago levels for the week ending April 19.
