Brent Crude Tops $112. Tanker Owners "Are Having a Ball"
Oil benchmarks are hitting multiple price and spread milestones across several key markets as the fallout from severe sanctions on key exporter Russia sows confusion and panic among global crude oil traders, shipping firms and importers.The oil industry has been gripped by acute risk aversion in the finance and shipping sectors after several nations including the United States sanctioned multiple Russian entities following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, though Washington has explicitly exempted energy products from the Russian measures.
Japan Oil Industry Braces for Higher Middle East P&I Costs
The costs of buying crude oil from the Middle East could rise as war insurance for ships travelling in the region will be expanded to include vessels travelling off the United Arab Emirates and Oman, the head of Japan Petroleum Association said on Friday.Japan is the world's fourth-largest oil importer and imports 90% of its crude from the Middle East, government data showed.Asian shippers and refiners had put ships heading to the Middle East on alert and were expecting a possible rise in marine insurance premiums following attacks on Saudi oil tankers and pipeline facilities earlier in May.Ta
Iran Raises Oil Exports to West, Almost on Par with Asia
Iran's oil exports to the West surged in May to their highest level since the lifting of sanctions in early 2016 and almost caught up with volumes exported to Asia, a source familiar with Iranian oil exports said. Iran, which used to be OPEC's second biggest oil exporter, has been raising output since 2016 to recoup market share lost to regional rivals including Saudi Arabia and Iraq. While many Asian nations continued to purchase oil from Iran during sanctions, Western nations halted imports, halving Iran's overall exports to as little as one million barrels per day (bpd).
53 Hanjin Vessels Denied Port Access
The problems that collapsed South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping could be just the tip of the iceberg. Its fleet is either stuck in ports or unable to dock, with port authorities fretting that the company will not be able to pay its bills. According to Business Korea, the company’s 53 vessels – 48 container ships and 5 bulk carriers – were stranded indefinitely or blocked from ports at home and abroad. One vessel was seized by the ship owner. Hanjin Shipping’s 47 containers ships and three bulk carriers are denied access to ports in Sri Lanka and Vietnam, following the U.S., China, Japan and Spain, while two other bulk carriers are stranded on the East Sea and the Mediterranean.
Drilling Activity Resurgance on UK Continental Shelf
Increased UK drilling and deal activity leads the way back to health in North West Europe says new report. A broader range of tax allowances and a sustained high oil price boosted drilling activity on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) by one third in 2012, according to a new report by Deloitte, the business advisory firm. The report, compiled by DeloitteÂ’s petroleum services group (PSG), which documents drilling and licensing activity across North West Europe for the whole of last year, shows 65 exploration and appraisal wells were drilled on the UKCS in 2012, marking a 33% increase on last yearÂ’s total of 49. This compares to lower drilling activity levels reported in Norway in 2012, down by 19% when compared to the previous year.
