Excess Oil News

Oil prices slumped again on Wednesday, with Brent falling to the lowest since 1999, as the market struggled with a massive crude glut amid a collapse in demand for everything from gasoline to jet fuel caused by the coronavirus outbreak.Brent crude, which fell 24% in the previous session, touched $15.98 a barrel, its lowest since June 1999. It was trading down $2.37, or 12%, at $16.96 at 0511 GMT.West Texas Intermediate was down 51 cents, or 4.4%, at $11.06 a barrel.The falls follow two of the wildest days in the history of oil trading…

U.S. crude oil futures collapsed below $0 on Monday for the first time in history, amid a coronavirus-induced supply glut, ending the day at a stunning minus $37.63 a barrel as desperate traders paid to get rid of oil.Brent crude, the international benchmark, also slumped, but that contract was nowhere near as weak because more storage is available worldwide.While U.S. oil prices are trading in negative territory for the first time ever, it is unclear whether that will trickle down to consumers…

Global oil producers and refiners are struggling with a series of unprecedented dislocations as the simultaneous epidemic and volume war between Saudi Arabia and Russia rip through every element of the supply chain.Some idea of the extraordinary speed and scale of the disruptions was evident in the "Weekly Petroleum Status Report" published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday.The United States is the world's largest oil consumer and producer, though it is…

MidEast, West Africa rates hit 11-month low. Freight rates for very large crude carriers (VLCCs), which hit an 11-month low this week, could slide further next week amid a seasonal slowdown exacerbated by strong vessel supply, shipping executives said. "I'm not sure we've seen the worst yet," an European supertanker broker said on Friday. "Refineries are slowing down. Oil markets are clogged up by large inventories of products and crude," the broker said. Excess oil supply has been exacerbated by surplus tonnage from new supertanker deliveries, vessels returning to service from repair and ships rejoining the active trading fleet after being used as floating storage.

Damen Shipyards Sharjah has delivered two barges, a Crane Barge 4920 and an Anti-Pollution Barge 2405, to BINCO, a contractor in the Middle East with over 30 years of experience and active in various sectors such as Marine, Pipeline and Oil Tanks, Light and Heavy Vehicle Contracting and Industrial Services. The contract marks another milestone in the established relationship between BINCO and Damen and aims to strengthen services towards Saudi Arabian Chevron, Khafji Joint Operations and other business partners. Having previously acquired two Damen Stan Tugs 1605 and one Damen Stan Tug 3509, BINCO’s choice to return to Damen was a combination of the wide range of products on offer as well as Damen’s capacity as a complete package supplier in the region.

Marine fuel prices are set to fall further after plunging to their lowest since late 2013, with traders in Singapore, the world's largest ship refuelling hub, saying they are looking to sell quickly in the face of a global supply glut. End users of marine fuels, also known as bunkers, typically pay a premium over the cost of larger cargoes to account for logistics costs, but that flipped to a discount from early June. "The market is flooded with oil and everyone is desperate to sell quickly, so you have a price war," said a Singapore-based trader. The 380-cst marine fuel grade traded at a discount of $1.95 a tonne below the prices of large cargoes on Monday, after hitting a discount as wide as $5.38 a tonne late last week.

An interview with NOIA’s Randall Luthi provides unique perspective on where the offshore energy business has been, where it is now, and where it could be headed next. It is a predictable but at the same time, an important anniversary to examine: five years beyond the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which began on 20 April 2010 on the BP-owned, Transocean-operated Macondo Prospect in the Gulf of Mexico. Widely considered to be the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the energy industry, oil flowed from the sea floor for 87 days until capped in mid-July. The environmental impact is well documented, the ultimate impact of the incident on the offshore and oil industries today has been profound, lasting and without a doubt, it made the offshore business safer.

Vessels are stacked as Gulf oil operators retrench and day rates fall. In the Gulf of Mexico, vessels serving offshore oil-and-gas exploration and production are being stacked or idled as the rig count there declines. Oil companies are retrenching while crude prices remain weak, with smaller operators and the shallow-water sector scaling back the most. As the situation unfolds, MarineNews asked David Barousse, general manager at Fleet Operators, Inc., a marine transportation firm in Morgan City, La., for his take on today’s predicament and what the future holds.

Under a settlement agreement with the United States, ATP Infrastructure Partners, LP (ATP-IP) will pay a $1 million civil penalty and perform corrective measures to resolve claims by the U.S. under the Clean Water Act and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) of unauthorized discharges of oil and chemicals from an oil platform into the Gulf of Mexico, announced the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Justice, and the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE). This is the first joint judicial enforcement action involving EPA and BSEE claims in response to alleged violations of both the Clean Water Act and OCSLA. The United States’ complaint, which was filed in February 2013, in the U.S.

Excess oil industry stockpiles are likely to disappear entirely in October or November as winter demand overwhelms supply constrained by OPEC export curbs, analysts said. Inventory statistics, always key to the international oil market, have assumed an even greater significance over the past week as OPEC officials singled out the indicator as the leading factor for judging when to ease supply limits. Now, even the most cautious of analysts expect OPEC's target of shrinking stockpiles to pre-1998 levels to be achieved before the end of the year - at least three months before an agreement on output cuts expires. "With no schedule for another quota review before March 2000…