Light Products News

Multiple agencies are responding to prevent any potential environmental damages after a tug partially sank at its moorings on the Kinnickinnic River in Port Milwaukee.The Coast Guard said its watchstanders at Sector Lake Michigan were notified by the National Response Center at 11:27 a.m. on Monday that the vessel Michigan, part of an articulated tug and barge (ATB) unit, began taking on water and partially sank in 26 feet of water.Photos shared by the Coast Guard earlier this week show the stern of the 115-foot-long tug submerged while its bow remains above the waterline…

At SK Energy's largest refinery in South Korea, engineers are rushing to complete a new processing unit ahead of schedule as the firm looks to boost sales of low-emission fuels before new marine fuel standards take effect in just one month.In Japan, the country's second-biggest refiner Idemitsu Kosan Co is taking a more cautious stance, increasing capacity for low sulphur fuel oil (LSFO), but also relying on blending to produce IMO 2020 compliant bunker fuel.The different approaches…

Abadan, Arvandankar and Choabdeh ports experienced an increase of 56% in 2018, says Iran's Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO).Abadan ports and maritime management announced that the export of goods from the three ports of Abadan in the past year has shown a  growing trend.According to the information system, the exports from these ports increased by 39.471 tons in the same period last year which shows a growth of 56.3% in exports, it said.Agricultural products, meat and meat products, household appliances and light products, machinery and vehicles, raw materials and chemical compounds, construction materials, petrochemical, parts and accessories…

Iran's Director of Ports and Maritime Affairs of Abada, Reza Safari,  announced a 47% increase in exports from Abadan, Arvandkenar and Chouebdeh Ports.During the last 10 months of this year, exports of goods and commodities from Abadan ports has increased by 47%, Reza said.The export volume of goods and commodities in the last 10 months of this year was 27 thousand 735 tons more than in the same period last year.Agricultural products, household appliances and light products, meat and meat products are among the most exported items from the three ports of Abadan, Arvandkenar and Chouebdeh. The destinations of exports from ports of Abadan are Gulf countries including Iraq and Kuwait.Meanwhile…

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.

Until 2020, global refining will move toward lower utilization and margins as capacity growth exceeds demand, according to energy industry data and analytics specialist McKinsey Energy Insights (MEI). Post-2020, however, market conditions are expected to improve with higher demand for distillates due to marine pollution (MARPOL) regulations. MEI’s latest Global Downstream Outlook notes the last two years have seen major shifts as a result of falling crude price, a subsequent rise in global product demand and the fuel / oil balance.

Brazil stays in the spotlight - Tanker Research & Consulting department at Poten & Partners takes a look at the tanker market in the country. The Rio Olympics were successfully concluded on August 21. Ten days later, on Wednesday, August 31, Brazil’s Senate voted 61-20 to remove Dilma Rousseff as president of the most populous country in Latin America. Ms. Rousseff was accused of using illegal bookkeeping maneuvers to cover up a growing budget deficit. Interim president (and former vice president) Michel Temer will finish out her term, which runs through the end of 2018. Brazil remains the oil powerhouse of Latin America, but the problems facing Petrobras have already had a profound impact on both their upstream and downstream oil industry and could influence the tanker market as well.

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.

Petchem producers unlikely to buy due to impurities in oil. Big middle distillates yield, less naphtha, LPG; wide variance in API gravities in assays, samples. Tests on samples of the same type of U.S. condensate now heading to South Korea and Japan have raised questions about the ultra-light crude's suitability for use in Asia, sources said, making some potential buyers wary about taking the oil. The uncertainty could delay a rapid build-up in the flow of U.S. condensate to Asia after the arrival of the first exports of U.S. crude in 40 years. Asian refiners and chemical producers will have to first determine the best use for the ultra-light oil before starting to buy in large volumes.

Traders Mercuria, Trafigura and SOCAR cut gasoline desks; new refining capacity slashes traditional profitability. U.S. refining boom weighs on global light products. Trading houses are shrinking their gasoline desks in response to a slump in activity, particularly in Europe, where overseas competition and rising global supplies have limited opportunities to make money. New and highly competitive refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast, in Asia and the Middle East have increased global supplies of the motor fuel. That has made the most active and lucrative trading routes, such as the transatlantic arbitrage between Europe and the U.S. East Coast, less and less profitable for traders. "After a decent beginning to the year, the arbitrage to the U.S.

With the aim of giving a better service to its customers, CEPSA Marine Fuels, S.A. has put into place a new barge in Algeciras Bay, providing service for the ports of the Strait. The double hull barge is the Monte Anaga, which is new building and holds the most advanced technology. It has been specially designed to supply marine products in terms of manoeuvres, pumping rates, automatic blenders, radar soundings and meters. It segregates up to four different products, two for heavy products and two for lighter ones, providing a great versatility in everyday operations. The Monte Anaga is 4.335 MT DWT with a pumping rate of 4x250 m3/h for heavy and 2x100 for light products, and with capacity of 3.300 MT for heavy products and 550 MT for lighter ones.

The rise and fall of the Brazilian shipbuilding market is well-known, having plummeted from the top of the world list in the early 1980s to the bottom by 1999. Today, Brazil is storming back, an amazing revival of the nearly defunct shipbuilding industry driven by the sudden influx of orders from major offshore oil & gas players, namely Petrobras. Today the shipbuilding market in Brazil has in excess of 100 firm orders for ships in a variety of shapes and sizes, in addition to a large number of drill rigs and production unit orders. In addition, companies from around the globe are flocking to Brazil to set-up shop and engage in the industry’s renaissance.