Gunvor News

Subsea services provider OMS Group has signed contracts with Ulstein for the design and construction of two cable laying vessels (CLVs).The vessels will be designed by Ulstein Design & Solutions and constructed at Ulstein Verft, with delivery planned for 2028. Each vessel will be about 130 meters long and 22 meters wide, with cable capacity of up to 6,500 tonnes and accommodation for 75 people.The design includes two large cable tanks, two spare-cable tanks, an enclosed cable deck hangar, and an open deck above the hangar for remotely operated vehicles and containers.

Russia's Lukoil is selling its international assets after the U.S. imposed sanctions on the company.Washington refused to approve the sale of assets to Swiss commodity trader Gunvor, throwing Lukoil's operations in disarray and leading to a scramble of potential buyers.The U.S. Treasury cleared potential buyers to talk to Lukoil until December 13. They will need separate approval for specific deals. U.S. oil major Chevron is studying options to buy some global assets of Lukoil, sources have said. U.S.

Oil prices edged higher on Monday as investors assessed moves aimed at ending the U.S. government shutdown while concerns around oversupply in the crude market persisted.Brent crude futures rose 43 cents, or around 0.7%, to $64.06 a barrel by 1409 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $60.18 a barrel, also up about 43 cents or 0.7%.The U.S. Senate on Sunday moved forward on a measure aimed at reopening the federal government and ending a now 40-day shutdown that has sidelined federal workers, delayed food aid and snarled air travel.RISK APPETITE RETURNSU.S.

Lukoil declared force majeure at its Iraqi oil field, sources told Reuters on Monday, and Bulgaria was poised to seize its Burgas refinery, as the Russian company's international operations buckled under the strain of U.S. sanctions.The force majeure at the West Qurna-2 field in Iraq marks the biggest fallout yet from the sanctions imposed on Russian oil majors Lukoil and Rosneft last month as part of U.S. President Donald Trump's push to end the war in Ukraine.Four sources with…

Russian oil major Lukoil is struggling to keep operations running at its sprawling foreign businesses as Western sanctions disrupt oil loadings in Iraq, pump stations in Finland and trading in Switzerland, sources said.The United States and the United Kingdom last month imposed sanctions on Russia's second-largest oil company, complicating how it carries out its normal operations.The U.S. Treasury Department issued a licence giving companies until November 21. to wind down any…

Bulgaria's parliament temporarily banned on Friday exports of some fuels, mainly diesel and aviation fuel, to EU member states to ensure the stability of the local market following U.S. sanctions on Russia's Lukoil, which runs the country's biggest oil refinery.Last week, Bulgaria announced it would take measures to secure uninterrupted supplies of oil and oil derivatives after the U.S.

The maritime industry is charting a new course toward decarbonization, yet this time round it is not only traditional shipowners at the helm. Major energy and commodity traders, whose shipping operations often carry large carbon footprints, are now investing in cleaner and more efficient shipping. With the International Maritime Organization (IMO) calling for a 40% reduction in shipping’s carbon intensity by 2030 from 2008 levels, these players are now deploying new methods to cut emissions at sea.

The European Union's ban on re-exporting Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) via EU ports, which aims to reduce Moscow's revenues after its invasion of Ukraine, came into effect this week.The ban, which prohibits the reloading of Russian cargoes at EU ports for export to third countries, was imposed in June 2024, with a moratorium until March 26, 2025 for contracts signed before June 25 last year.Gas market experts say the measure would have little impact as trans-shipments via EU ports to Asia represent less than 10% of total Russian LNG exports…

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.

Big energy merchants trading oil cargoes that form the basis of the Brent benchmark have used an obscure clause to reroute U.S. shipments from Europe, in a practice that raises doubts over whether reforms to the crude price marker have succeeded.Brent, the most significant benchmark across commodity markets, is used to price more than 60% of globally traded crude and underpins oil futures. Its value affects fuel prices paid by consumers and businesses.The 2023 addition of U.S.

Trader Gunvor and French major TotalEnergies have stored North Sea crude in at least four tankers in the past month as on-water stockpiling of the grades hits a 2-1/2 year high, a fresh sign of weak appetite for oil from refiners.At least 2.6 million barrels of North Sea crude grades Forties and Gullfaks have been put in floating storage in Europe, the highest volume since January 2022, according to data from analytics firm Vortexa.Physical oil markets have weakened globally in recent weeks…

Rising oil tanker chartering rates due to global shipping disruption are forcing oil shippers to take on longer-term shipping charters, executives said this week at an energy conference in Houston.The global oil tanker fleet must now travel further to get crude to refineries and fuel to consumers. European sanctions have forced Russian exporters to send oil to Asia that would have otherwise gone to Europe. Attacks on vessels in the Red Sea have forced some shippers to sail around…

In a well-timed decision given the current situation in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, the UK Supreme Court recently handed down judgment in Herculito Maritime Ltd v Gunvor International BV [2024] UKSC 2, a decision that arose from seizure of a ship by Somali pirates.Key factsThe vessel MT Polar was chartered to carry a cargo of fuel oil from St Petersburg to Singapore. The most direct route would be via the Suez Canal and Gulf of Aden.The Gulf of Aden was within the “high risk area” for piracy when the charter was agreed.

Oil and fuel tanker traffic in the Red Sea was stable in December, even though many container ships have rerouted due to attacks by Iran-aligned Houthi militants, a Reuters analysis of vessel tracking data showed.The attacks have driven up shipping costs sharply along with insurance premiums, but have had less impact than feared on oil flows, with shippers continuing to use the key East-West passage. The Houthis, who have said they are targeting Israel-bound vessels, have largely…

Norwegian shipbuilder Ulstein Verft has signed contracts with J.P. Morgan Asset Management for offshore wind Construction Service Operation Vessel (CSOV) newbuilds.In 2023, Bernhard Schulte Offshore ordered the design and construction of two such vessels from Ulstein under a contract which included options for two plus two vessels.These options have been transferred to institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management, who declared the first two.The CSOVs will be…

Several liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessels have changed their courses in recent days to avoid the Red Sea region amid maritime attacks by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis on the world's main East-West trade route.The Red Sea is linked to the Mediterranean by the Suez Canal, creating the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia, and is connected to the Gulf of Aden by the Bab-el-Mandeb strait between Yemen and Djibouti. About 12% of world shipping traffic transits the canal.But attacks in recent days on ships along the route have led companies such as oil major BP…

Ulstein Group CEO, Cathrine Kristiseter Marti, has decided to take on a new opportunity outside the Group, and former CEO, Gunvor Ulstein, has been appointed CEO from November 29, 2023.Ulstein had previously been CEO of Ulstein Group for nearly 22 years and represents the third generation of the family-owned group. When stepping down in 2020, she did so to continue her engagement through Ulstein Group board positions and as Chair of the Board of Ulsmo (majority owner of Ulstein Group)."We wish to thank Cathrine for her commitment to Ulstein Group for nine years…

A Liberian-flagged oil tanker set sail in May from Russia's Ust-Luga port carrying crude on behalf of a little-known trading company based in Hong Kong. Before the ship had even reached its destination in India, the cargo changed hands.The new owner of the 100,000 tonnes of Urals crude carried on the Leopard I was a similarly low-profile outfit, Guron Trading, also based in Hong Kong, according to two trading sources.The number of little-known trading firms relied on by Moscow to export large volumes of crude exports to Asia has mushroomed in recent months…

A tanker containing liquefied natural gas (LNG) that originated from a Russia supplier and was loaded onto a Gunvor Group-chartered vessel off the coast of France was turned away this week by Argentine energy firm Enarsa, according to officials.The tanker Flex Artemis was in the South Atlantic and heading northeast on Thursday, according to Refinitiv vessel tracking. It had carried LNG from Yamal in Russia, according to a trader familiar with the matter, and had arrived in Argentine waters about July 14.The rejection is one more sign of the energy market upheavals since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year and of a growing wariness of buyers involving even authorized deals with Russia-originated fuels.

Shipowner Celsius Tankers announced it has ordered four new liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers from shipbuilder China Merchants Heavy Industry (Jiangsu) (CMHI) for scheduled delivery in 2026 and 2027.Celsius has formed a joint venture with an affiliate of ArcLight Capital Partners (ArcLight), a middle-market infrastructure investor, to fund two of the LNG carriers. Commodities trading house Gunvor Group Ltd will have a significant equity interest in the other two newbuildings, the first for any independent LNG trading company, demonstrating the strength of Gunvor's global position in the LNG market. All four vessels will enter long…

At least three proposed U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants have likely found enough customers to receive financial approvals this year, according to Reuters calculations, developments that would make the country the world's largest LNG exporter for years to come.After a dearth of plant approvals last decade, developers have secured dozens of long-term contracts to finance new multibillion-dollar LNG plants. The pace of approvals has accelerated as Europe has shifted…

Global energy trader Gunvor Group reported a net profit of $726 million for 2021, the highest since 2015, buoyed by its natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) divisions, the company said on Tuesday.The profit was the highest since 2015 when net profit was boosted by the sale of most of its Russian assets and was up on the $320 million the Geneva-based company made in 2020 when refining impairments took the shine off its record gross profit.Gunvor's rivals have seen record profits on higher oil volatility and skyrocketing natural gas prices in the second half of 2021.

The global oil market was thrown into chaos on Thursday after Russia invaded Ukraine, with top buyers of Russian oil struggling to secure guarantees at Western banks or find ships to take crude from one of the world's largest producers.At least three major buyers of Russian oil have been unable to open letters of credit from Western banks to cover purchases on Thursday, four trading sources said, citing market uncertainty after the Russian invasion.Russia produces every 10th barrel in the world and oil prices jumped to above $105 per barrel on Thursday, their highest since 2014, due to fears of disruptions.In the Black Sea, a Turkish-owned ship was hit by a bomb off the coast of Ukraine's port city Odessa…