Oil Terminal News

The stop-start shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz underscores the profound uncertainty hanging over the world’s most critical oil and gas chokepoint. But one thing is already clear: even if the guns fall silent, flows through the narrow waterway will take months – and possibly years – to recover to pre-war levels.Iran said on Saturday that it was tightening control over the strait in response to a U.S. blockade on Iranian tankers, firing at several vessels and warning mariners that the strait was closed.

Rosneft is diverting oil supplies to the Tuapse refinery from the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk after the terminal, which handles roughly 14% of Russia's crude exports, was heavily damaged in a drone attack, three sources said on Monday.A Ukrainian drone attack sparked a large fire at the Sheskharis oil terminal in the Novorossiysk port last week, damaging two of its main berths and forcing oil exports from the port to halt, according to the sources, who were familiar with the…

The Port of Los Angeles said it has secured about $70 million in federal funding for harbor maintenance and infrastructure upgrades, marking its largest allocation to date.The funding, provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, will support projects including dredging, seismic upgrades and navigational safety improvements.The San Pedro Bay port complex, which includes Los Angeles and Long Beach, received a combined $131.8 million allocation.The trust fund is financed through a cargo tax paid by U.S.

Russia on Monday said that Ukrainian drones attacked the Caspian Pipeline Consortium's Black Sea terminal, which handles 1.5% of global oil supply, damaging the single point mooring (SPM), loading infrastructure and four vast storage tanks.Separately, the Ukrainian military said it had struck oil loading facilities at the nearby Sheskharis oil terminal in Novorossiysk.The strikes could be among the most significant on Russia's Black Sea export facilities during the more than four-year-old war with Ukraine…

Russia's Baltic Ust-Luga port, one of its largest petroleum export hubs, was damaged again on Sunday by a Ukrainian drone attack which sparked a blaze later brought under control, Russian officials said.It followed several Ukrainian drone strikes last week on Russia’s western energy corridor when facilities at the ports of Ust-Luga and Primorsk came under fire, igniting storage tanks and forcing a suspension of oil and oil product loadings.The regional governor of Leningrad said…

Russia has been unable to capitalize on this week's surge in global crude prices, as days of Ukrainian drone attacks and harsh winter storms have sharply curtailed its capacity to export oil, industry sources said.Russia's Sheskharis oil terminal in Novorossiysk port suspended oil loadings on Monday after a Ukrainian drone attack left a fuel terminal ablaze and damaged dozens of buildings, Russian and Ukrainian officials and three trade sources said.Crude oil benchmarks rose about 8% on Tuesday…

Trading houses and buyers of Venezuelan oil have chartered the first very large crude carriers (VLCCs) to export from the South American country since a Caracas-Washington supply deal began, which is set to speed up shipments starting in March while boosting deliveries to India, according to four sources and data.Trading firms Vitol and Trafigura have been exporting Venezuelan crude and fuel since January as part of a $2 billion deal between the U.S. and Venezuela after the capture of President Nicolas Maduro by U.S.

The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has released its investigation report into the collision between the crude oil tanker Apache and the stern trawler Serinah (GH 116) in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland on 25 April 2024.At about 1503 on 25 April 2024, the crude oil tanker Apache and the stern trawler Serinah collided in the Firth of Clyde resulting in Serinah sinking rapidly. All three of the fishing vessel’s crew were able to abandon ship to the liferaft and were uninjured.When the collision happened Serinah was fishing a seabed depression in the middle of the Firth of Clyde…

Oil companies aiming to participate in new exports of Venezuelan crude to the U.S. following the ouster of President Nicolas Maduro are in hasty discussions to find tankers and put together operations to transfer the crude safely from vessels and dilapidated Venezuelan ports, four sources familiar with the operations said.Trading houses and oil companies, including Chevron, Vitol and Trafigura, are competing for U.S. government deals to export crude from Venezuela, sources said…

Ukrainian naval drones hit two sanctioned tankers in the Black Sea as they headed to a Russian port to load up with oil destined for foreign markets, an official said on Saturday, as Kyiv tries to pile pressure on Russia's vast oil industry.The two oil tankers, identified as the Kairos and Virat, were empty and sailing to Novorossiysk, a major Russian Black Sea oil terminal, the official at the Security Service of Ukraine told Reuters.Naval drones could be seen speeding towards hulking tankers followed by powerful explosions that caused fires on the vessels…

A Ukrainian drone attack struck one of Russia's main Black Sea oil ports on Sunday, causing a fire and damaging at least one ship, as Kyiv tries to undermine Russia's war effort by targeting its energy infrastructure.Ukraine has for several months been striking Russian oil refineries, depots and pipelines in a bid to undermine the Russian economy.Footage on Russian and Ukrainian Telegram news channels appeared to show a terminal and one tanker ablaze at night. Reuters was not…

The latest U.S. sanctions on a major Chinese crude oil terminal have forced refining group Sinopec to divert a supertanker and ask some plants to cut crude processing rates, according to ship tracking data and Chinese consultancies.A supertanker carrying oil to the Chinese port of Rizhao in Shandong province changed its destination over the weekend after the U.S. imposed sanctions on an import terminal at the port on Friday, LSEG data showed.Shortly after the U.S. announcement…

The latest U.S. sanctions on Iranian petroleum exports deal a blow to Chinese refining giant Sinopec by targeting a terminal through which the state major handles one-fifth of its crude oil imports, industry executives and analysts said.The sanctions announced on Thursday further complicate U.S.-China relations, coming ahead of planned talks between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping later this month.The move follows China's decision to tighten controls on rare earth exports…

The U.S. imposed sanctions on about 100 individuals, entities and vessels, including a Chinese independent refinery and terminal, that helped Iran's oil and petrochemicals trade, the administration of President Donald Trump said on Thursday.The Treasury Department sanctioned the Shandong Jincheng Petrochemical Group, which it said is an independent teapot refinery in Shandong Province that has purchased millions of barrels of Iranian oil since 2023.It also sanctioned China-based Rizhao Shihua Crude Oil Terminal, which operates a terminal at Lanshan Port.

Terminal operators in a major oil port in east China's Shandong province are set to introduce measures to ban shadow fleet vessels and curb visits by other old tankers, according to an official notice seen by Reuters and a tanker tracker.The measures, to take effect from November 1, would ban vessels using fake IMO numbers and ships of 31 years or older, which traders said would target what is known as the shadow fleet that transports oil under Western sanctions.Four terminal operators at Huangdao Port last week issued the notice…

Terminal operators in a major oil port in east China's Shandong province are set to introduce measures to ban shadow fleet vessels and curb visits by other old tankers, according to an official notice seen by Reuters and a tanker tracker.The measures, to take effect from November 1, would ban vessels using fake International Maritime Organization numbers and ships of 31 years or older, which traders said would target what is known as the shadow fleet that transports oil under Western sanctions.Four terminal operators at Huangdao Port last week issued the notice…

Russia's oil pipeline monopoly Transneft has warned producers they may have to cut output following Ukraine's drone attacks on critical export ports and refineries, three industry sources said on Tuesday.Kyiv has stepped up attacks on Russian energy assets since August in a bid to impede Moscow's war effort in Ukraine and reduce the Kremlin's revenues as attempts to secure an end to the conflict through peace talks have stalled.Oil and gas revenues have accounted for between a third and half of Russia's total federal budget proceeds over the past decade…

Rapid falls in the level of the Caspian Sea are affecting ports and oil shipments and threatening to inflict catastrophic damage on sturgeon and seal populations, according to Azerbaijani officials.The Caspian, the world's largest salt lake, holds significant offshore oil reserves and is bordered by five countries that are all major producers of oil or gas or both: Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan.Azerbaijan's Deputy Ecology Minister Rauf Hajiyev told Reuters that the sea had been getting shallower for decades…

A Liberian-flagged oil tanker that had been detained by Iraq's navy has been released and is en route to the United Arab Emirates, two sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.The vessel, which had been identified by authorities and shipping sources as the Liliana tanker, was carrying 93,000 metric tons of fuel oil when it was intercepted last week, 26 nautical miles from Iraq's coast near Basra's oil terminal.The ship was released after a court order, according to one of the sources and a court order, seen by Reuters, which stated it had committed no breaches.Smuggling is common in Gu

Iraq's navy has detained a Liberian-flagged oil tanker in its territorial waters as part of a crackdown on fuel smuggling at sea, sources with the navy and oil and transport ministries said on Friday.Smuggling is common in Gulf waters, where heavily subsidised fuel from some countries is sold on the black market to buyers across the region, though it has been relatively rare until recently for Iraqi authorities to seize ships.The vessel - identified by both the authorities and shipping sources as the Liliana tanker - was carrying 93…

The contained move in oil prices during the Israel-Iran war highlights the increasing efficiency of energy markets and fundamental changes to global crude supply, suggesting that Middle East politics will no longer be the dominant force in oil markets they once were.The jump in oil prices following Israel's surprise attack on Iran was meaningful but relatively modest considering the high stakes involved in the conflict between the Middle East rivals.Benchmark Brent crude prices…

Russia's seaborne fuel oil and vacuum gasoil exports rose 8.5% in April from the previous month to around 4.0 million metric tons on rising production, trade and shipping data showed.Russia's offline primary oil refining capacity totalled 2.91 million tons last month, down 21% from March, leading to increasing fuel supplies.Since the European Union's full embargo on Russian oil products went into effect in February 2023, Asian countries became the main destination for Russia's fuel oil and VGO supplies.Saudi Arabia more than doubled Russian fuel oil imports in April to 0.7 million tons ahead o

The U.S. on Thursday issued new Iran-related sanctions, targeting entities including for the first time a Chinese "teapot", or independent refinery, and vessels that supplied crude oil to such processing plants.It was Washington's fourth round of sanctions on Iran's oil sales since President Donald Trump said in February he was re-imposing a "maximum pressure" campaign including efforts to drive down the country's exports to zero. Trump aims to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear…