Oil Refiners News

Chinese officials have asked their Iranian counterparts to help rein in attacks on ships in the Red Sea by the Iran-backed Houthis, or risk harming business relations with Beijing, four Iranian sources and a diplomat familiar with the matter said.The discussions about the attacks and trade between China and Iran took place at several recent meetings in Beijing and Tehran, the Iranian sources said, declining to provide details about when they took place or who attended."Basically, China says: 'If our interests are harmed in any way, it will impact our business with Tehran.

Russia remained China's second-largest source of crude oil in 2022, following repeat top supplier Saudi Arabia, as Chinese refiners snapped up low-cost Russian barrels while Western countries shunned them after the Ukraine crisis.China's crude oil imports from Russia jumped 8% in 2022 from a year earlier to 86.25 million tonnes, equivalent to 1.72 million barrels per day (bpd), data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Friday.Russian crude has been trading in widening discounts to global oil benchmarks following Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine…

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.

Top U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil producer Shell said on Thursday it halted production at three U.S. Gulf of Mexico deepwater platforms after a leak shut two pipelines connecting the platforms, adding it expected pipeline service to resume on Friday.A failure at an onshore pipeline junction in Louisiana leaked about two barrels of oil, said Chett Chiasson, executive director of Greater Lafourche Port Commission. A fix is expected to take about a day, he added.A Shell spokesperson said the leak…

China's crude oil imports plunged in October to the lowest since September 2018, as large state-owned refiners withheld purchases because of rising prices while independent refiners were restrained by limited quotas to import.The world's biggest crude oil importer brought in 37.8 million tonnes last month, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Sunday, equivalent to 8.9 million barrels per day (bpd).That is down from 9.99 million bpd in September and 10.02 million bpd in the same period last year.Over the January-October period, crude arrivals totaled 425.06 million tonnes,

Shell said on Friday it had restarted production at its offshore Mars and Ursa in the Gulf of Mexico and began exporting oil and gas through a transfer facility, which was shut due to damage from Hurricane Ida.The oil major was the hardest-hit producer from Ida, which tore through the Gulf of Mexico in August and removed 28 million barrels from the market.Shell's West Delta-143 offshore facility, which transfers oil and gas from three major fields for processing at onshore terminals…

Shell said on Friday it expects an offshore transfer facility, which was shut due to damage from Hurricane Ida, to be operational in the first half of November, restarting production of a popular Gulf of Mexico crude grade earlier than expected.The oil major was the hardest-hit producer from Ida, which tore through the Gulf of Mexico in August and removed 28 million barrels from the market.Shell previously said it expected its West Delta-143 offshore facility, which transfers oil and gas from three major fields for processing at onshore terminals…

Hurricane Nicholas on Tuesday took another swipe at U.S. Gulf Coast energy facilities, cutting offshore oil and gas output gradually recovering from the last storm and disrupting power to onshore pipeline, gas and chemical plants.Royal Dutch Shell halted production its Perdido offshore oil platform due to heavy winds, and U.S. liquefied natural gas producer Freeport LNG said processing at its Texas coast facility was halted, likely due to a power outage.Power losses briefly cut Colonial Pipeline's main gasoline and diesel lines out of Houston…

The marine fuel market is undergoing significant change. Following the implementation and impact of IMO 2020, we’re now seeing the focus shift to low and zero carbon fuels, and an expansion of other marine fuel options, predominantly driven by the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) impending 2030 and 2050 decarbonization targets. With heavy fuel oil (HFO) the dominant fuel type in the maritime sector since the 1960s, there is no question that such incredible change to…

U.S. refiners are scaling back on hiring ships for longer periods to save on costs in another sign of uncertainty over when global oil demand will return to pre-COVID levels, shipping and trade sources say.The global rollout of coronavirus vaccines and the expectation that government-offered stimulus packages will boost the world economy has raised expectations of a recovery in oil consumption. But fuel demand remains sluggish, keeping oil refiners under pressure and looking for ways to limit further losses.The International Energy Agency…

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…

What will COVID-19 mean for the offshore wind industry? An industry not yet spinning on its own.Epitomized by the roller coaster ride that defined the stock market over the last few weeks, unpredictability has emerged as one of the few certainties of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis. Every industry has seen the effects of the pandemic, from hospitality, to travel, and even to the renewable energy sector. Indeed, even though the US offshore wind industry is not yet fully established…

Leaders of the major shipping industry trade associations - international shipping associations representing shipowners BIMCO, International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), International Association of Dry Cargo Shipowners (INTERCARGO) and International Association of Independent Tanker Owners  (INTERTANKO) met in London yesterday (September 13) to consider the transformational issues affecting the sector.Top of the agenda were the preparations for the implementation of the 2020 Global Sulfur Limit. With less than four months to go until the introduction of the new limits on sulfur emissions from shipping, there is still significant uncertainty…

Key Middle East oil terminal bans open-loop scrubbersFujairah in the United Arab Emirates has become the latest major port to ban a type of fuel exhaust cleaning system to comply with a coming tightening in rules regarding global sulphur emissions, mirroring similar moves in Singapore and China.Under International Maritime Organization (IMO) rules that come into effect from 2020, ships will have to reduce the sulphur content in their fuel to less than 0.5 percent, compared with 3.5 percent now, forcing huge changes upon global shippers and also oil refiners.Fujairah's harbour master said in a faxed document seen by Reuters that the port "has decided to ban the use of open-loop scrubbers in its waters ...

U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods came into effect Friday; China retaliates, duty on U.S. crude possible. Asian oil refiners are racing to secure crude supplies in anticipation of an escalating trade war between the United States and China, and as Washington plans tough sanctions against Iran aimed at shutting the country out of oil markets. As part of a wave of retaliation for Friday's U.S. tariffs, China has threatened a 25 percent duty on imports of U.S. crude. Meanwhile, Washington's new sanctions against Tehran are due to kick in from November. That double whammy is prompting Asian refiners to move swiftly, with South Korea leading the way.

The shipping industry - as represented by its international trade associations (BIMCO, ICS, INTERCARGO, INTERTANKO and WSC) - calls on the Member States of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to make progress on key challenges around the global sulphur cap to avoid compromising safety or unfairly penalising individual ships. The trade associations have co-sponsored a number of submissions to IMO to help smooth the implementation of the global 0.5 percent sulphur in fuel cap, in advance of the critical meeting that will be held in London during the second week of July. The industry is fully committed to successful implementation of the global sulphur cap on 1 January 2020…

South Korea said on Wednesday it would seek U.S. exemptions to buy Iranian oil, a path many big oil consumers are likely to follow in the wake of new U.S. sanctions on Tehran, which will tighten world oil markets and push up prices.Iran is the third-largest oil producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and a key supplier, especially to refiners in Asia.The United States plans to impose new unilateral sanctions after abandoning an agreement reached in late 2015 which limited Iran's nuclear ambitions in exchange for removing joint U.S.-Europe sanctions…

“Time is fast running out” for implementation by IMO Member States of the 0.5% global sulphur in fuel cap by 1 January 2020, says Esben Poulsson, Chairman of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS). The IMO global sulphur cap for marine fuel is expected to see shipping’s bunker prices increase significantly. “While ICS fully supports the objectives of the IMO cap, the overnight introduction of this regulatory game-changer will have enormous implications for ship operations. In the absence of agreed standards for new fuels including blends, that will be compliant with the 0.5% sulphur limit but which may differ in their composition from port to port, ICS is very concerned this could lead to serious compatibility and mechanical problems.

Global shipping fleet must cut sulfur emissions by 2020. Wartsila received record orders for sulfur scrubbers last year. Shipping industry hopes that so-called sulfur scrubbers are a quick-fix solution to compliance with drastic emissions reduction demanded by 2020 are somewhat misguided, one of the world's biggest manufacturers of the equipment told Reuters. The International Maritime Organization's (IMO) cut to the amount of sulfur the world's fleet can emit will have massive implications for shippers, oil refiners and even crude oil producers.

Essar UK, one of Britain's biggest oil refiners, will buy more U.S. crude this year after testing it last year, showing how rising output from the United States is squeezing out traditional European suppliers from the North Sea and Africa. Essar took at least three cargoes U.S. crude in 2017 for its 200,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Stanlow oil refinery. "We will continue to take U.S. cargoes because we find value in them," Chief Executive Officer Srinivasalu Thangapandian told Reuters at a Platts middle distillates conference in Antwerp.

The Netherlands has given provisional approval to Gunvor to add a fuel upgrading unit at its Rotterdam refinery, according to a document seen by Reuters, as the international oil trader prepares for tough new environmental rules on shipping fuels. The rules from the International Maritime Organization (IMO), due to come into effect in 2020, aim to cut sulphur emissions produced by ships, creating a challenge for shipping companies and oil refiners. Refiners have to decide whether to invest in new capacity to convert the old-style bunker shipping fuel - known as high-sulphur fuel oil - into higher quality products such as diesel. The Dutch authorities…

Three refiners to spend more than $5 bln to upgrade or add units. South Korean refiners are planning to spend over $5 billion on plant upgrades in response to tighter rules on shipping fuel, boosting production of low-sulphur fuel oil as well as other high-end products. The refiners hope the investment, which comes ahead of the 2020 introduction of the new rules, will make them one of the biggest beneficiaries of the new regulations, with many competitors still waiting to commit to new spending. "Not many refiners are doing so. Korean refiners are investing proactively," said Hwang Yu-sik, an analyst at NH Investment & Securities. In 2016…

Even if the diesel engine's scandal-driven fall from grace pushes it out of the world's passenger cars, an increasing need for it on ships, in trucks and heavy industry could save the refineries that invested heavily in producing the fuel. The unfolding crisis that kicked off when Volkswagen falsified U.S. car emissions has spurred a litany of changes at vehicle manufacturers, which are now putting their cash behind electric cars, or back to gasoline engines. "I'm not concerned for refineries," said Steve Sawyer, head of refining with consultants FGE. Although oil refiners disagree over how quickly the global market will turn its back on fossil-fuel-powered cars, the shipping industry is set to turn to low-sulphur diesel in droves due to new regulations.