Jbc Energy News

Ship owners accelerated installations of engine emissions cleaning systems this year ahead of stringent new rules in 2020 which sharply reduce the amount of sulphur ships can emit from the 3.5 percent in current bunker fuel to 0.5 percent, according to a report.Vessel operators can either switch to cleaner, but more expensive, marine gasoil or install scrubbers to filter sulphur from dirtier fuel oil.The looming change in International Maritime Organization (IMO) rules has impacted…

Owing to its booming shale industry, the United States is likely to become an important supplier of low-sulphur marine fuels ahead of major new emissions regulations in 2020, Vienna-based consultancy JBC Energy said on Monday."The (United States) is likely to emerge as a strong supplier of compliant fuels in the coming quarters in the context of the IMO sulphur spec switch," said JBC.The U.N. International Maritime Organization (IMO) is introducing new rules on marine fuels from 2020…

Demand for high sulphur marine fuels is likely to see a smaller drop than previously expected by 2020, said consultancy FGE, as changing attitudes to sulphur-stripping technologies from large shippers alter the outlook for use of the fuels.More than 2,100 vessels are now expected to be equipped with exhaust gas cleaning systems, known as scrubbers, by 2020, up from 1,500 ships previously, said Thomas Olney, energy consultant at FGE in Singapore.Adding to the improved demand outlook is "a much greater skew towards installing scrubbers on larger vessels that burn higher quantities of fuel…

An increase in the number of ships adding cleaning systems to their smokestacks will mean vessels will continue to burn a sizable amount of fuel oil once new sulphur regulations for the fuel go into effect, Vienna-based consultancy JBC Energy said on Tuesday.Ships installed with exhaust gas cleaning systems, known as scrubbers, are expected to burn 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) of high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) in 2020 when the new rules from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) start…

U.S. supplies to Europe set for all-time high in April; on course to overtake Russia, Saudi. As OPEC's efforts to balance the oil market bear fruit, U.S. producers are reaping the benefits - and flooding Europe with a record amount of crude. Russia paired with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries last year in cutting oil output jointly by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd), a deal they say has largely rebalanced the market and one that has helped elevate benchmark Brent prices close to four-year highs.

Switching to liquefied natural gas (LNG) to fuel ocean-going vessels may not be enough for shippers to comply with long-term emissions regulations and they will have to find additional ways of reducing emissions, JBC Energy said on Tuesday. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) on Friday reached an agreement to cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by at least 50 percent by 2050 compared with 2008 levels. Shipping accounts for 2.2 percent of world CO2 emissions, according to the IMO, the United Nations agency responsible for regulating the shipping industry. Even if the entire global shipping fleet were to switch to LNG from the fuel oil and gasoil that currently power the fleet, the industry would still be short of its CO2 reduction targets by 350 million tonnes, said JBC.

Russia plans to sharply increase fuel exports and carve out a larger share of the European market following an extensive $55 billion modernisation of its refineries, companies' plans and analysts' reports show. Russia embarked on a modernisation of its biggest refineries in 2011 following a fuel shortage crisis. It also changed its tax system to favour production of cleaner and higher-quality fuel. The modernisation, which has not been completed yet, led to a surge in output of light products and exports, which has hurt European refineries' margins.

U.S. energy firms did not add any oil rigs this week as Hurricane Harvey barrelled into the nation's energy heartland, forcing drillers to halt production and refiners to shut plants. The total oil rig count for the week ended Friday stayed at 759, General Electric Co's Baker Hughes energy services firm said in its report on Friday. That compares with 407 active oil rigs during the same week a year ago. Drillers have added rigs in 56 of the past 67 weeks since the start of June 2016. The rig count is an early indicator of future output.

Group of Arab states cuts all ties with Qatar; tankers going to/from Qatar barred from Fujairah port. Oil prices slipped further below $50 a barrel on Tuesday on concerns that a diplomatic rift between Qatar and several Arab states including Saudi Arabia could undermine efforts by OPEC to tighten the market. Benchmark Brent crude oil was 10 cents a barrel lower at $49.37 by 1110 GMT, down around 8 percent from the open of futures trading on May 25, when an OPEC-led policy to cut oil output was extended into the first quarter of 2018. U.S. light crude was down 10 cents at $47.30. Leading Arab powers including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates cut ties with Qatar on Monday, accusing it of support for Islamist militants and Iran.

The biggest change in shipping fuel for decades is three years away, but shipping and refining companies need to be taking action now to ensure the world will have the millions of barrels of cleaner fuel it will need. The problem, according to participants at the Platts Middle Distillates conference in Antwerp, is that very few are, raising concerns about volatile prices and potential shortages. "It's going to be chaotic," said Andrew Laven, regional manager for Middle East and Africa with Bomin, a marine fuel supplier. More than three months ago, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) finalised rules requiring ships worldwide to cut their sulphur emissions to 0.5 percent by 2020, from 3.5 percent now.

Robust Asian demand for West African crude is fueling a worldwide surge in shipping rates for the largest oil tankers that is being felt from Houston to Singapore. Chartering rates for Suezmaxes and very large crude carriers (VLCCs) have recovered rapidly in recent weeks after plunging to their lowest in more than year this summer. The spike in rates comes as Asian refiners return to the market after a seasonal turnaround period, and as several key streams of West African crude are finally loading for export after supplies were constrained because of pipeline disruptions in Nigeria. The higher rates, which imply fewer imports into the United States, could support benchmark oil prices in coming weeks.

Swiss-based trader and miner Glencore has sold 100,000 tonnes of Urals for loadings from Primorsk on Jan. 16-17 to Chevron for delivery to the US Gulf Coast, traders said, making a return to the United States after a four-year hiatus. Glencore originally bought the cargo from Russia's Rosneft under a five-year pre-finance agreement, according to the traders. Rosneft declined to comment. Glencore does not typically comment on its trading deals. The cargo had been loaded from the Baltic Sea port of Primorsk on the vessel called Sparto, port agents' data shows. Sparto was heading to Skagen in Denmark, where it would be re-loaded onto another tanker for shipment to the United States, traders said.

U.S. imports of light crude from across the Atlantic are set to jump this month to their highest in more than two years, according to market sources and trade data that indicate global oil flows are being scrambled by the lowest prices in years and the end of the 1970s era U.S. export ban. Shipments totaling some 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) are booked or underway from producers including Norway and Nigeria, a surprisingly rapid revival of flows that had dwindled to nearly nothing in 2014-2015, after the U.S. shale oil revolution got in full swing. The arbitrage has opened as a result of an inversion in the spread between benchmark U.S. crude oil prices and global Brent. After five years at a discount due to the eruption of domestic production, U.S.

U.S. imports of light crude from across the Atlantic are set to jump this month to their highest in more than two years, according to market sources and trade data that indicate global oil flows are being scrambled by the lowest prices in years and the end of the 1970s era U.S. export ban. Shipments totaling some 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) are booked or underway from producers including Norway and Nigeria, a surprisingly rapid revival of flows that had dwindled to nearly nothing in 2014-2015, after the U.S. shale oil revolution got in full swing. The arbitrage has opened as a result of an inversion in the spread between benchmark U.S. crude oil prices and global Brent. After five years at a discount due to the eruption of domestic production, U.S.

Europe diesel stocks reach fresh record high; huge imports from Asia, Middle East weigh on supplies. Oil traders are preparing to store diesel in giant tankers off the coasts of northern Europe and New York as land storage tanks are nearly full, traders said on Friday. Tank capacity levels are above 70 percent in some cases, levels considered near maximum, according to traders. While the recent glut in global crude oil supplies appears to ease, boosting oil prices, diesel supplies around the world are set to rise sharply in the coming months, according to analysts. Benchmark diesel barge values in northwest Europe dropped over the past week as huge volumes of the driving fuel reach the region from around the world.

Nigeria's latest effort to combat theft could imperil its oil income lifeline, compounding the damage the crude price fall has done to its finances, access to dollars and imports. Oil traders and shipping brokers said a newly implemented "letter of comfort" requirement under which vessel owners must sign a guarantee that their ships will not be used for theft has made it more difficult and expensive to load Nigerian crude, putting some buyers off. A copy of the letter draft seen by Reuters asked vessel owners to "guarantee to indemnify" the government and national oil company NNPC against any illicit use of their vessel, which led some owners to reject pending bookings. Traders say others are refusing future requests for now.

Oil imports from Iran at 220,000 bpd in year to March 31. U.S. pressured India not to raise annual Iran oil imports. India halted oil imports from Iran for the first time in at least a decade in March as New Delhi responded to U.S. pressure to keep its shipments from Tehran within sanction limits during the last month of negotiations on a preliminary nuclear deal. Iran and six world powers have ramped up the pace of negotiations this week ahead of the Tuesday deadline for reaching an initial accord on a final nuclear agreement. Both sides have warned it was crucial to overcome differences that could still wreck any chance at a deal.

Brent premium over U.S. crude widens to $12; China's implied oil demand set to grow 3 percent this year. Crude oil futures rebounded on Friday and Brent headed for its first monthly gain since July, helped by strong investor inflows, an improving demand outlook and supply outages. At 1148 GMT, Brent crude futures were up 92 cents at $60.97 a barrel, off an earlier high of $61.75. U.S. crude was up 78 cents at $48.95 a barrel. Both contracts tumbled on Thursday, with U.S. crude falling hardest. Brent is trading at a premium of about $12 to U.S. crude, which remains hamstrung by massive inventory builds. This is the widest spread since January 2014. "The main event this week has been the widening of the spread between Brent and WTI (U.S.

Enterprise bumps up exports through annual contracts; signs 2015 contracts with PDS, Vitol; seeks one more term buyer. U.S. exports of condensate have been given an important boost after pipeline company Enterprise Products Partners LP agreed annual contracts with at least two major trading companies to sell the light crude, trade sources said. Oil producers have been pressing to lift a 40-year-old U.S. ban on crude exports and the Department of Commerce broke its year-long silence in December and began approving a backlog of requests to sell processed light oil abroad. Enterprise is selling 40,000 barrels per day (bpd) under the contracts, which should give it a headstart before other firms get the nod to export condensate produced from shale operations.

Oil prices fell on Wednesday as concerns about demand for fuel kept worries about a global supply glut intact. Both Brent and U.S. crude significantly pared losses just before government data showed U.S. crude oil inventories fell 1.8 million barrels last week, a bigger drop than analyst expectations for a 100,000-barrel dip in stocks. After initially paring more losses, crude futures pushed lower. U.S. gasoline stocks rose 3.0 million barrels and distillate stocks were up 1.9 million barrels last week, data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed, as refiners lifted capacity utilization 0.9 percentage point to 94.4 percent. The EIA data followed American Petroleum Institute data released on Tuesday that showed an increase in U.S. stockpiles.

Saudi Arabia cuts oil prices for U.S. customers; Brent and WTI touch respective 4-year and 3-year lows. Brent crude oil fell more than 3 percent to its lowest in over four years near $82 a barrel on Tuesday, after top oil exporter Saudi Arabia cut sales prices to the United States. Front-month Brent touched a low of $82.08, its weakest since October 2010, and was down $2.60 at $82.18 a barrel by 1305 GMT. U.S. light crude was down $2.40 at $76.38 a barrel. It touched a session low of $75.84, its weakest since October 2011, as its discount to Brent hovered around $6. Top global exporter Saudi Arabia increased its December official selling prices (OSPs), relative to benchmarks, to Asia and Europe on Monday, but lowered prices to the United States, a smaller export market.

Brent crude fell towards $102 a barrel on Tuesday on concerns of slowing oil demand growth due to weak economic recoveries in China and Europe, although new unrest in OPEC oil producer Libya kept losses in check. Euro zone manufacturing growth slowed slightly more than initially thought in August, while growth in China's factory sector slipped to a three-month low last month, adding to concerns about oil demand. Brent prices have trended higher since mid-August as speculators have come back into the market following a drop of nearly $15 to around $101 a barrel over the previous two months. "Still, the economic recovery in Europe and especially in China is not strong, and we've seen no supply shortages in Iraq," said Ken Hasegawa, a commodity sales manager at Newedge Japan.

Britain imported more oil products than it exported last year for the first time in 30 years, an official report shows, and analysts say the country is likely to stay dependent on overseas oil as its refineries close. Britain exported 26.2 million tonnes of products such as diesel, kerosene and jet fuel from its refineries last year, but imported 28.2 million tonnes, due to the closure of two major oil processing plants. "The U.K. was a net importer of petroleum products in 2013 for the first time since 1984, the year of the miners' strike," the UK's Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said in its annual report. Coryton oil…