Oil Supplier News

Russia remained China's top oil supplier in March, data showed on Saturday, as refiners snapped up stranded Sokol shipments.China's imports from Russia, including supplies via pipelines and sea-borne shipments, jumped 12.5% on the year to 10.81 million metric tons, or 2.55 million barrels per day (bpd) last month, according to data from the General Administration of Customs.That was quite close to the previous monthly record of 2.56 million bpd in June 2023.Seven Russian tankers under sanctions offloaded Sokol cargoes in Chinese ports in March…

Chinese shipments to and from Russia accelerated in August compared with a month earlier, contrasting with slower flows elsewhere amid weak global demand.Chinese shipments to Russia, which has been hit by Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, rose 26.5% from a year earlier in dollar terms, up from a 22.2% gain in July, Reuters calculations based on Chinese customs data on Wednesday showed.Imports from Russia jumped 59.3% versus a 49.3% increase in July.Russia is a major source of oil…

Russian and Kazakh oil exports via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium's (CPC) Black Sea terminal face at least one month's disruption each once repairs begin on two of its three single point moorins (SPMs), CPC confirmed on Tuesday.Oil exports via the two SPMs have been suspended due to equipment damaged by bad winter weather, CPC said on Monday, confirming a Reuters report on Saturday.CPC added that a planned inspection of the third SPM at the Yuzhnaya Ozereyevka terminal would require it to be temporarily shut for a matter of hours.

The European Commission has proposed new sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, including a ban on buying Russian coal and on Russian ships entering EU ports. Yet the EU faces an uphill slog to wean itself of energy imports from its Eastern neighbor.Following is a summary of key facts about the EU's use of Russian oil:How much Russian oil does the EU import?Europe is the destination for nearly half of Russia's crude and petroleum product exports, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA)…

China and Russia have grown increasingly close in recent years, including as trading partners, a relationship that brings both opportunities and risks as Russia reels from tough new sanctions led by the West in response to its invasion of Ukraine.Total trade between China and Russia jumped 35.9% last year to a record $146.9 billion, according to Chinese customs data, with Russia serving as a major source of oil, gas, coal and agriculture commodities, running a trade surplus with China.Since sanctions were imposed in 2014 after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea…

U.S. crude exports are gaining traction in Europe as even Ukraine turns into a significant consumer of American barrels at the expense of Russian supplies amid heightened U.S. political pressure on Moscow and problems over contaminated Russian oil.Ukraine this month received its first ever barrels from the United States, according to Refinitiv Eikon flows data, as the tanker Wisdom Venture unloaded 80,000 tonnes of Bakken crude in Odessa on July 6 for the Kremenchug refinery,…

American Refining Group Inc. (ARG) announced its new partnership with veteran-owned small business Sea Ready Marine Petroleum, as ARG has designated Sea Ready as its global distributor of its refinery’s marine lubricants.Already the largest zinc-free (ZF) railroad-engine oil supplier east of the Mississippi River, ARG is taking its marine line of Specialty Lubricants to sea. The full line includes formulations customers have relied upon and trusted for decades, particularly its…

Amendments to the bunker delivery note relating to the supply of marine fuel oil to ships which have fitted alternative mechanisms to address sulphur emission requirements entered into force on 1 January 2019.According to a press release from International Maritime Organization (IMO), the amendment enters into force as the shipping industry counts down to 1 January 2020, when the limit for sulphur in fuel oil will be reduced to 0.50% m/m outside emission control areas (ECAs), from 3.5% currently.The new limit under IMO's MARPOL treaty will have significant benefits for the environment and human health.In ECAS, the limit will remain at…

A Danish court on Wednesday sentenced the former manager of OW Bunker's Singapore subsidiary to 18 months in prison after he was found guilty of granting credit outside his mandate, contributing to the bankruptcy of the marine fuel oil supplier.The 2014 bankruptcy of OW Bunker, then the world's leading supplier of marine fuel oil with a 7 percent market share, sent shockwaves through the global shipping industry and left investors and business partners scrambling to cover their losses.The city court of Aalborg said it found Lars Moller…

United States taking share from OPEC nations in Asia, Europe, as China’s biggest U.S. crude buyer to double imports. In the two years since Washington lifted a 40-year ban on oil exports, tankers filled with U.S. crude have landed in more than 30 countries, ranging from massive economies like China and India to tiny Togo. The repeal has unleashed a flood of U.S. shale oil, undercutting global crude prices, eroding the clout of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and seizing market share from many of its member countries. In 2005, before the shale revolution, the United States had net imports of 12.5 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude and fuels - compared to just 4 million bpd today. U.S.

India's oil imports rose by about 1.8 percent in 2017 to a record 4.37 million barrels per day (bpd) as the country boosted purchases to feed its expanded refining capacity, ship-tracking data obtained from sources and data compiled by Thomson Reuters Oil Research & Forecasts showed. To meet its growing fuel demand India, the world's third-biggest oil consumer, raised its refining capacity in the second half of 2017. India's capacity expansion to about 5 million bpd was aided by Reliance Industries…

Port Corpus Christi officials are confident that the agreement signed between Cheniere Energy of Houston and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) will bring increased traffic to the port, according to the San Antonio Business Journal. Officials from Cheniere accompanies President Trump on his tour to China and signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Chinese company. CNPC is the largest gas and oil supplier and producer in China and is also one of the largest providers of oilfied services.

A group of 24 Danish institutional investors in OW Bunker has decided to issue a writ against Carnegie and Morgan Stanley, accusing them of misleading investors ahead of the 2014 listing of the now bankrupt marine fuel oil supplier.   The investors, which include two of the largest pension funds in Denmark, ATP and PFA, claim they have suffered a loss of 767 million crowns ($123 million) following investment in OW Bunker shares "on the basis of a prospectus which was insufficient in material aspects".   Morgan Stanley declined to comment, while Carnegie said it did not know the details of the alleged claim.   Reporting by Stine Jacobsen

Institutional investors to sue Morgan Stanley, Carnegie. A group of institutional investors in OW Bunker said they plan to sue Morgan Stanley and Carnegie for about $80 million, accusing the two investment banks of misleading them ahead of the 2014 listing of the now bankrupt marine fuel oil supplier. Denmark's OW Bunker was valued at $1 billion when it floated in March 2014, but the company filed for bankruptcy in November that year after suffering hedging losses of almost $300 million, sending shockwaves through the global shipping and oil trading industry. "We are planning a lawsuit against the two investment banks involved in the OW Bunker IPO," Erik Bomans, partner in Deminor Recovery Services representing 30 institutional investors, told Reuters on Thursday.

India's Iran oil imports jumped to a record high in 2016/17 topping half-a-million barrels per day (bpd) as refiners boosted purchases after lifting of some Western sanctions against Tehran last year. India, Iran's biggest oil buyer after China, was among a handful of countries that continued to deal with Tehran despite Western sanctions over its nuclear programme. Refiners shipped in about 541,000 bpd of Iranian oil in the fiscal year to March, a growth of about 115 percent over the previous year, ship tracking data obtained from sources and data compiled by Thomson Reuters Oil Research & Forecasts showed. Iran was India's second biggest oil supplier - a position now belonging to Iraq - before economic sanctions aimed at Iran's nuclear programme hampered its trade relations…

Freight rates for very large crude carriers (VLCCs), which fell to a near six-month low on Thursday, will remain weak until the Asian refinery maintenance season gets completed, starting April-end. "I haven't seen a collapse in rates like this for some time. People are taking insane rates," said Ashok Sharma, managing director of ship broker BRS Baxi in Singapore. Output cuts by oil producers, refinery maintenance in Asia and the reactivation of older vessels previously used as…

Libya is resuming oil exports from some of its main ports which forces loyal to eastern commander Khalifa Haftar seized in recent days and has lifted related "force majeuere" contractual clauses, the National Oil Corporation said on Thursday. The north African nation is highly dependent on hydrocarbon revenues and needs oil exports to resume to save its economy from collapse. Conflict since Libya's 2011 uprising has reduced its oil output to a fraction of the 1.6 million barrels per day the OPEC member once produced. "Exports will resume immediately from Zueitina and Ras Lanuf, and will continue at Brega ... exports will resume from Es Sider as soon as possible," NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanalla said.

Nigeria’s crude oil production and exports have been hit by severe outages as a result of attacks on oil infrastructure by rebel fighters in the Niger River Delta. Various sources report that Qua Iboe Terminal has shut down operations until further notice. All tanks on the facility were emptied of crude, operations have ceased completely and all personnel have been evacuated from the terminal, which is operated by ExxonMobil. Qua Iboe is Nigeria’s largest crude oil stream and exports usually more than 300,000 barrels per day (b/d). Exports of Nigeria’s other large crude oil grades, like Forcados, Bonny Light and Escravos have also been restricted, primarily due to sabotage and attacks on pipelines. As a result of the outages Nigeria’s oil production has dropped below 1.5 mb/d.

U.S. is the world's largest producer of oil in 2013, according to data presented at PIRA Energy Group's recent Retainer Client Seminar held in New York City recently. The U.S. has surged to be the world's lead oil supplier because of growth in shale oil. Shale crude and condensate production at 2.5 MMB/D in 2013 is now slightly over one-third of total U.S. crude production, and shale NGL at 1.2 MMB/D is almost half of total Natural Gas Liquids (NGL's). U.S. total supply for 2013 is expected to average 12.1 MMB/D. In 2012 the U.S. overtook Russia to become the second largest supplier of oil and was just behind Saudi Arabia. Both the U.S. and Saudi Arabia increased their supply in 2013, though production in the U.S. grew at a faster pace. U.S.

Castrol Marine said it has welcomed new guidance from Wärtsilä that undermines claims that mid-range base number (BN) oils represent a single cylinder oil solution for marine two-stroke engines. The advice confirms Castrol’s long-held concerns that using mid-range BN cylinder oils with higher sulphur fuels when slow steaming could lead to cold corrosion. The engine major has withdrawn approval for mid-range (50-60BN) cylinder oils when used with many marine engines running on Heavy Fuel Oil of above 2.5% sulphur content. New ‘letters of no objection’ to suppliers limit use of mid-range BN oils on all “Wärtsilä RTA, RT-fl ex and W-X engines as well as Sulzer two-stroke engines” to HFO whose sulphur content is “in the range 0.5<S<2.5 mass %”.

Saudi Arabia is far ahead of the pack as the top crude oil supplier to the U.S. market in March, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said. Saudi Arabia exported 1.474 million bpd of crude to the U.S. in March, up 246,000 bpd from the month before and 107,000 bpd above last year's average, based on EIA data. Mexico jumped two spots to second place with oil exports of 1.246 million bpd, pushing Canada and Venezuela down to tie for third place with shipments of 1.209 million bpd each. Iraqi oil imports dropped by more than one-third in March to 468,000 bpd from 719,000 bpd the month before, while Nigerian oil imports soared 55 percent to 994,000 bpd from 642,000 bpd in February. Total U.S.

Petroleos Mexicanos, the third- biggest oil supplier to the U.S., may begin production by 2013 or 2014 at the natural-gas field Lakach in the Gulf of Mexico, Bloomberg reported. Production at Lakach, discovered last year in waters almost a kilometer deep, will take longer than at Pemex's shallow-water fields, which require two to three years before they deliver gas, said Vinicio Suro, managing director of planning and evaluation at Pemex's exploration and production unit, on a conference call. Pemex also plans to increase drilling in Chicontepec, a field located across four southern states characterized by small pockets of oil that require thousands of wells to exploit.

Reliability and availability are of paramount importance to all users of internal combustion engines. Inherent engine design reliability must be complemented by a suitable periphery and the appropriate choice and treatment of working media such as lubricants and fuel. CIMAC Working Groups have a long tradition of preparing recommendations and guidelines for the internal combustion engine industry and its users. In performing this work, CIMAC takes advantage of its wide and competent international membership; Working Group -"Lubricant" is truly worldwide, with active members from Japan, U.S. and all round Europe/Scandinavia. Specialists from all relevant background - Equipment/Engine Manufacturers…