Unipec News

The latest U.S. sanctions on a major Chinese crude oil terminal have forced refining group Sinopec to divert a supertanker and ask some plants to cut crude processing rates, according to ship tracking data and Chinese consultancies.A supertanker carrying oil to the Chinese port of Rizhao in Shandong province changed its destination over the weekend after the U.S. imposed sanctions on an import terminal at the port on Friday, LSEG data showed.Shortly after the U.S. announcement…

At least two supertankers made U-turns near the Strait of Hormuz following U.S. military strikes on Iran, shiptracking data shows, as more than a week of violence in the region prompts vessels to speed, pause, or alter their journeys.Washington's decision to join Israel's attacks on Iran has stoked fears that Iran could retaliate by closing the strait between Iran and Oman through which around 20% of global oil and gas demand flows.That has spurred forecasts of oil surging to $100 a barrel.

At least two supertankers made U-turns near the Strait of Hormuz following U.S. military strikes on Iran, shiptracking data shows, as more than a week of violence in the region prompts vessels to speed, pause, or alter their journeys.Washington's decision to join Israel's attacks on Iran has stoked fears that Iran could retaliate by closing the strait between Iran and Oman through which around 20% of global oil and gas demand flows.That has spurred forecasts of oil surging to $100 a barrel.

Oil and gas traders are likely to seek waivers from Beijing over tariffs that the Chinese government plans to impose on U.S. crude and liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports from February 10, trade sources said on Thursday.Shortly after tariffs on China imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump took effect on Tuesday, China's Finance Ministry said it would impose levies of 15% on imports of U.S. coal and LNG and 10% for crude oil as well as on farm equipment and some autos, starting on February 10.Four tankers, carrying 6 million barrels of U.S.

Supertanker freight rates jumped after the U.S. expanded sanctions on Russia's oil industry, sending traders rushing to book vessels to ship supply from other countries to China and India, shipbrokers and traders said.Chinese and Indian refiners are seeking alternative fuel supplies as they adapt to severe new U.S. sanctions on Russian producers and tankers designed to curb the world No. 2 oil exporter's revenue due to its war in Ukraine.Many of the newly-targeted vessels, part of a so-called shadow fleet that seeks to avoid Western restrictions…

Venture Global LNG said on Sunday it would acquire a fleet of nine liquefied natural gas (LNG) transport vessels, expanding its ability to sell and ship its own cargoes.Venture Global LNG has exported hundreds of cargoes since it started liquefying gas for export in 2022 from the first of its three planned facilities in Louisiana. The vessels it used were owned by other companies and leased.The nine vessels in Venture Global's future fleet will be built in South Korea with the first to be delivered later this year…

Chinese refiners are paying for Russian crude oil using cash transfers to maintain imports from Russia’s Fast East, as banks shy away from financing the oil because of sanctions, sources with knowledge of the matter said.Global oil prices have soared to their highest in a decade as banks halted financing Russian oil after the United States and other countries ramped up sanctions on Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine.Spot crude premiums and freight rates also spiked, piling on buyers’ costs.Several European and U.S.

Europe last month remained the top destination for shipments of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG), according to Refinitiv data, outpacing exports to Asia for the second month in a row.About two-thirds of U.S. LNG volumes went to Europe last month, compared to around 61% in December when sky-high European prices and demand drove U.S. LNG exports to a record, Refinitiv data showed.In both months, a lack of supply drove demand and led to cargoes being re-routed from other destinations.

Chinese oil giant Sinopec has signed a 20-year liquified natural gas contract with U.S. LNG producer and exporter Venture Global LNG on November 4, 2021, to purchase 4 million tons of LNG a year. Venture Global will supply the LNG from its plant in Plaquemines, Louisiana. Also, China International United Petroleum & Chemicals ("UNIPEC"), a subsidiary of Sinopec, will buy LNG resources totaling 3.8 million tons from Venture Global's Calcasieu Pass project.Ma Yongsheng, president of Sinopec…

Petroleum facilities guards at Libya's eastern Hariga oil terminal have delayed the loading of a one million-barrel cargo as they press salary demands, the port's manager said on Wednesday.The guards at Hariga, where Mesla and Sarir grades are loaded, have been staging a sit-in, which continued on Wednesday morning, according to one of the guards and port manager Rajab Sahnoun.They say they will block crude exports until their demands over unpaid salaries are met.Trader Unipec's Olympic Fighter was due to load the one million barrel cargo, according to a local shipping agent.There was no immediate comment from the National Oil Corporation, which manages production and exports across Libya.Libya's oil production staged a rapid recovery late last year after an eight-month blockade of ports a

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…

Royal Dutch Shell has provisionally booked a tanker to load a crude cargo at Libya's Zueitina terminal on Oct. 3, potentially the first since January at the recently reopened port.The Amoureux tanker is expected to load a 1 million barrel cargo and then discharge in Singapore on Oct. 22, Refinitiv Eikon shipping data showed.Shell declined to comment on the booking.Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) lifted force majeure on crude loadings at the port on Sept. 22.The north African country has seen an uptick in export activity this week following the easing of the blockade imposed by eastern forces in January, which the NOC said cost the country around $10 billion in lost revenue.The Delta Hellas oil tanker loaded a 1 million barrel crude cargo for Unipec…

An oil tanker is expected to load crude at Libya’s Marsa el-Hariga terminal this week, the first since a blockade by eastern forces in January slashed the OPEC member’s oil production to a trickle.The Delta Hellas tanker will enter Libya’s Hariga port on Wednesday and load 1 million barrels of oil from the port’s storage, the Arabian Gulf Oil Co which operates the port said in a statement.Eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar said last week his forces would lift their eight-month blockade of oil exports, which depressed the OPEC member’s production down to around 100,000 barrel per day (bpd).Trading arm of China’s Sinopec , Unipec- which prior to the blockade was one of the main lifters of Mesla and Sarir crude grades from the terminal- booked the tanker, two trading sources said.Unipec

The Marlin Shikoku oil tanker is making its way to Libya's Marsa El Hariga terminal, according to Refinitiv Eikon shipping data.Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) on Saturday lifted force majeure on what it deemed secure oil ports and facilities.NOC is yet to specify the ports and oilfields where it is lifting force majeure, but restart procedures are underway at some locations following a blockade that began in January which crippled the OPEC member's oil production."We are waiting for NOC to give a schedule of tankers and we are ready to export," an oil engineer at Hariga told Reuters.The Marlin Shikoku, a Suezmax tanker capable of carrying around 1 million barrels of crude…

The Kriti Bastion oil tanker is making its way to Libya’s recently re-opened Es Sider oil port, two shipping sources said and ship tracking data showed on Thursday.The Aframax ship is the second vessel to head to the port, following Unipec’s Delta Ocean which is awaiting permission to load. The tanker was chartered by Vitol, two trading sources said.Libya’s state-owned National Oil Corp on Wednesday lifted force majeure on crude loadings from Es Sider after a six-month closure, but local guards have prevented loadings from resuming.(Reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar and Julia Payne; editing by Jason Neely)

Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) said on Wednesday that it is ready to lift force majeure at Es Sider oil port, allowing a tanker on standby to load crude from storage.The state oil company urged all Libyan parties to support it and called on what it described as "foreign mercenaries and armed groups" to leave the oil port immediately.The Delta Ocean Suezmax tanker arrived at the port on July 5 and has been waiting since then, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.The tanker was chartered by trader Unipec, according to a shipping and a trading source.

Chinese oil companies may soon decline to charter any tanker that has visited Venezuela in the past year to avoid disruption to operations if the United States blacklists more ships for trading with Caracas, four shipping sources told Reuters on Tuesday.The U.S. government is seeking to choke Venezuelan oil exports to starve the government of socialist President Nicolas Maduro of its main source of revenue. Existing sanctions have cut Venezuelan exports sharply, but Maduro has held on.Washington may tighten sanctions by adding dozens more tankers to an existing blacklist, U.S.

Freight rates for supertankers on the Mideast Gulf and U.S. Gulf routes to Asia have fallen to their lowest since mid-September as the coronavirus outbreak hit Chinese oil demand, ship brokers told Reuters.China's Sinopec Corp, Asia's largest refiner, and so-called "teapot" independent refineries have reined in operations in the face of plunging consumption."The market has gone back to what it was before the COSCO sanctions came in," one ship broker said, referring to U.S. sanctions on subsidiaries of the state-owned Chinese shipping company."All the other variables have gone away…

A flotilla of oil tankers is sailing empty from Europe and the Mediterranean toward the U.S. Gulf Coast to take advantage of surging shipping rates, according to shipping sources and Refinitiv Eikon data on Monday.Eight tankers, an unusually high number, are in the Atlantic and steaming to the United States, with capacity of up to 5.6 million barrels of oil combined, the people said. Freight rates for Aframax vessels out of the U.S. Gulf coast hit record levels last month, drawing more vessels to the region.The United States exported a record 4.46 million barrels of crude oil per day (bpd) in the week ended Dec. 27, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, as shale producers continued to deliver more oil than U.S.

China's Unipec has resumed using tankers owned by COSCO weeks after it suspended bookings due to U.S. sanctions on some of the Chinese shipping company's subsidiaries, trade sources said on Tuesday.Refinitiv data showed one COSCO owned tanker - belonging to a subsidiary not affected by the U.S. sanctions - was sailing to Asia with a cargo of oil chartered by Unipec, the trading arm of Asia's top oil refiner, Sinopec.Sinopec officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment after business hours.In one of the biggest sanctions actions taken by the U.S.

Nearly 300 oil tankers globally have been placed off limits as companies fear violating U.S. sanctions against Iran and Venezuela, driving freight rates to new highs, industry sources said.The move has taken roughly 3% of the global oil tanker fleet out of the market, according to industry sources and data on Refinitiv Eikon, sending rates soaring to secure tankers to ship oil, particularly to Asia."Freight rates are going through the roof and people are getting very nervous with the cost of shipping…

Sellers returned to the window on Monday to entice buyers spooked by high freight rates due to Washington's sanctions on subsidiaries of a major Chinese shipping firm at the end of September.Long-haul rates to Asia have risen sharply prompting refiners to shed some cargoes.China's Unipec offered four cargoes in the window for a third session all November loading on a fob basis. These were Angolan Saturno at dated Brent plus 35 cents, Dalia at dated Brent plus $1.90, Mostarda at…

China's Unipec has made replacement bookings for four oil shipments from the Middle East Gulf after the United States imposed sanctions on the tanker subsidiaries of China's COSCO, three shipping sources said on Thursday.The sources said Unipec, the trading arm of Asia's top oil refiner Sinopec, had switched to other tanker owners including China Merchants-owned AMCL after the designation by Washington on Wednesday of two of state-owned COSCO's subsidiaries.Sinopec declined to comment. AMCL's Hong Kong office could not be reached for comment after office hours.