Surgut News

Russian exporters will start shipping supplies of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to Bulgaria via Georgia's Black Sea port of Poti in July as traditional export routes remain closed, according to traders and Refinitiv Eikon statistics.Russia stopped supplying LPG to Ukraine on Feb. 24, when Russia sent troops into the country in what Moscow calls a "special military operation", and has also stopped LPG rail transit to Romania, Hungary and Moldova via Ukraine, obliging exporters look for new routes.Finland…

An tanker picked up seven crew embers from a sinking fishing vessel in the Gulf of Finland.While en-route from the Port of Ust-Luga to Copenhagen on February 6, the tanker SСF Angara received a distress signal from the Russian fishing trawler Pongoma, which was sinking on the traverse of Tallinn, 26 nautical miles offshore, SCF Group said on Monday.The tanker and her crew, under the leadership of master Alexey Maksimovsky, responded to the request for help, and following the instructions received from the rescue center in Tallinn, diverted to assist the ship in distress.During a rescue operation, all seven members of Pongoma’s crew were brought aboard the tanker. Two fishermen in need of urgent medical care were then evacuated by helicopter to Helsinki.

Russian oil quality from the Baltic port of Ust-Luga was improving on Thursday but still not good enough for refiners in Europe, with required standards expected only by May 11, trading sources said.The oil has been contaminated with organic chlorides, which can destroy refining equipment.

Russian Urals crude weakened in the Mediterranean and in the Baltic on Friday, while trading activity was limited ahead of a long holiday weekend in Britain, traders said. In the Platts window, Vitol sold an 80,000-tonne cargo of Urals from Novorossiisk on Sept. 13-17 to Exxon at dated Brent minus $0.85 a barrel on a DES basis, traders said. That was 15 cents below the latest price estimates for the grade. Before the window Vitol offered a very prompt Aframax of Urals crude for loading Sept. 3-4 down to dated Brent minus $1 a barrel, but found no buyer and withdrew its offer. There were no bids or offers for Urals from Primorsk and Ust-Luga.

Russian Urals crude weakened further on Monday in the Mediterranean and the Baltic under pressure from abundant supplies and as oil firms began to tender fresh September supplies. In the Platts window, Tenergy sold a cross-month Urals cargo in the Mediterranean to Eni at dated Brent minus $1 per barrel, some 20 cents weaker than previous price estimates, traders said. In the Baltic, Glencore offered a cross-month cargo at dated Brent minus $1.60, some 10 cents weaker than previous price estimates, but found no buyers, traders said. Azeri was also under pressure as a cargo was heard having changed hands at levels weaker than dated Brent plus $2 per barrel. "Supplies are plentiful.

Russia's third-largest oil producer Surgutneftegaz has awarded Glencore the right to lift 1.2 million tonnes of crude oil from Russian Baltic Sea ports, traders said on Thursday. The cargoes, 200,000 tonnes a month, can be lifted between July and December this year. (Reporting by Gleb Gorodyankin; writing by Vladimir Soldatkin)

Russian Urals crude price differentials strengthened in the Baltic in a spot tender on Tuesday after loading schedules confirmed scarce export volumes for May. There was no deals in the Platts window, traders said while adding that trader Talmay won spot tenders by oil firm Surgut to lift two cargoes of Urals loading at the Baltic port of Ust-Luga. The price for cargoes loading on May 15-16 and 21-22 was pegged at around dated Brent minus 85-90 cents a barrel, when adding freight to the original FOB-basis price, some 20-25 cents stronger than previous price estimates. Talmay was believed to have resold barrels to China's Unipec, traders added. On Monday, a loading schedule for Russian Baltic Sea ports showed the total number of cargoes dropping to 53 in May from 62 in April.

Surgut to transport diesel by rail from its Kirishi refinery; Main diesel terminal in Primorsk reaches full capacity. Surgutneftegas will start exporting diesel from the Baltic port of Ust Luga next month after extensive modernising upgrades to Russian refineries have created a surplus of higher grade fuels, traders said. Russian refiners are struggling to find new ports to cope, with the Baltic's Primorsk already at full capacity. Surgut, Russia's third-largest oil producer, plans to transport diesel by rail from its 420,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) Kirishi refinery in northwest Russia to Ust Luga. From there it will be exported from the Sibur-Portenergo terminal owned by Sibur, Russia's top petrochemical company, the trading sources said.

Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: IRDM) and H2OSatellite provided critical satellite communications for Beluga Shipping’s successful pioneering transit of the challenging Northeast Passage this summer. The Beluga ships relied on Iridium OpenPort high-bandwidth marine satellite systems supplied by H2OSatellite for voice and data links throughout their voyage through the extreme Northern waterways, most of which are not reliably covered by any other long-range communication service. The exact position the two Beluga Shipping heavy lift project carriers stated in an e-mail to the Russian administration was 70° 16.7’ North – 057° 33.4’ East as they completed the historic voyage.