Robert Campbell News

After being very much on the margins of the offshore wind industry, floating offshore wind now appears to be ready to hit the mainstream. With gigawatt scale developments already on the horizon, what will the infrastructure needed to build and support them look like? Over the past 12 months, the floating offshore wind sector appears to have had a major dose of adrenaline. While the largest development, to date, is the relatively small-scale 50MW Kincardine project off northeast Scotland (which will be outdone by the 88MW Tampen project in Norway later next year [2022])…

BP has provisionally chartered a 60,000 tonne tanker to store jet fuel at sea starting this week, trading sources said on Wednesday, after a collapse in demand from the aviation sector due to the coronavirus pandemic led to a huge glut.Asian jet fuel refining margins and European jet fuel prices dropped this week to record lows as several airlines drastically cut their flights schedules.BP has provisionally booked Stena Polaris to store jet fuel for 40 to 60 days starting March 20 to March 22 at a rate of $25,500 a day, according to shipping and trading sources.A BP spokesman declined to comme

Tankers carrying diesel from Asia and Europe, including a giant 200,000 tonne cargo, are sailing towards New York where fuel supplies have dropped to a three-year low in recent weeks.The very large crude carrier (VLCC) Maran Aphrodite changed its destination on Friday to New York from its previous port of Rotterdam, according to Reuters ship tracking data.The vessel, which traders said was chartered by Total, left Singapore earlier this month.Several tankers have also been booked to go from Europe and the Baltics to the port of New York, a relatively rare route. Those include the 60,000 tonne cargo on board the Torm Sofia, chartered by Glencore.Two other cargoes, Vukovar and Aligote were provisionally booked out of the Baltics with options to sail to the U.S.

Gasoline stored in ships off Europe's coast has ballooned to more than 400,000 tonnes, putting pressure on the continent's traders to compete for buyers once summer demand starts. Several vessels have joined the three initially booked to store fuel off Europe's ports in mid-March, and brokers said even barges have held cargoes of gasoline for three to four weeks as the volumes traded in Europe hit record levels last month. The tankers Torm Tevere, Ridgebury John B and STI Clapham are now parked off Europe's Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp hub…

A tanker of gasoline en route to New York Harbor from Europe has been diverted to a Caribbean storage hub because a narrow window of opportunity for shipping profitably to the U.S. East Coast appears to have shut, traders said. At least 16 tankers carrying some 600,000 tonnes of gasoline blending components were booked early in April to send fuel from Europe to the East Coast. Since, a Long-Range 2 (LR2) vessel AMOREA, floating offshore carrying summer-grade RBOB gasoline, known as F2-grade, set sail to New York. An LR2 going to New York was uncommon to begin with, but the recent closing of the arb, or the window, caused the vessel to be diverted to the BORCO storage hub in the Caribbean, according to Reuters vessel tracking data and three sources with knowledge of the matter.

Traders prep rare East Coast gasoline exports; cargoes already sailing with exported distillates. Traders are preparing to export cargoes of coveted gasoline from the U.S. East Coast after months of heavy importing and local production swamped the region. At least two cargoes of gasoline are lined up to sail to West Africa, according to three market sources, with others eyeing their own shipments. The United States consumed more than 9 million barrels per day of gasoline in 2016, accounting for nearly 10 percent of global oil demand. The East Coast accounts for over a third of the national consumption. The exports underscore the record stocks of motor fuel on the East Coast, which were overshadowed by an unexpected draw down across the nation as a whole.

U.S. Gulf Coast refiners are cashing in on rising fuel demand from Mexico, shipping record volumes to a southern neighbor that has failed to expand its refining network to supply a fast-growing economy. The fuel trade could top a million barrels per day (bpd) at times in 2017 as Mexico becomes increasingly dependent on the United States for strategic energy supplies and providing business worth more than $15 billion a year to refiners such as Valero, Marathon Petroleum and Citgo Petroleum. The rise in Mexico's fuel imports reflects an economy that, after expanding for 27 quarters in a row even amid a public austerity plan, has been unable to increase its refining output to satisfy the consistent growth of its energy demand.

Glencore books the STI Grace tanker to store fuel at sea-traders. This has not been the summer many oil traders had expected after last year's bumper profits. Banking on more of the same, the world's refineries have churned out more diesel, gasoline and jet fuel than eager drivers and holiday makers have been able to consume even over the summer travel season. Fuel inventories in the United States, Europe and Asia are brimming despite the height of peak summer driving. European traders are now moving to store diesel on tankers at sea as on shore storage tests its limits yet again. At least one vessel, the 90,000 tonne STI Grace has dropped anchor off the chic holiday town of Southwold on England's east coast in what traders said was floating storage. The vessel was chartered by Glencore.

Diesel fuel exports from the U.S. Gulf Coast declined sharply since December as increasing output from refiners in South American markets and brimming stocks in Europe squeezed key outlets, Thomson Reuters data show. As a result, distillate inventories in the region have risen 27 percent since October to more than 50.8 million barrels, the highest since September 2011. That level, 90 percent of the region's 26-year high of 55.9 million barrels reached in February 2011, has pressured cash ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) differentials in the U.S. Gulf Coast market in recent weeks. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said last week that distillate exports made up an average of 1.19 million barrels per day of the 4.3 million bpd of U.S. refined product exports last year.

Big slate of refinery maintenance in U.S., Canada; export rush bucks long-term trend. A late-year rush for gasoline in the United States is creating unexpected demand for imported cargoes and giving struggling European refineries a welcome autumn boost. An extensive slate of refinery maintenance on the U.S. Gulf Coast and in Canada has sapped gasoline availability, leading to a 70-percent increase in cargoes sailing west from Europe this month over levels in August - usually the time of peak demand. "What we're seeing now is not normal," one trader said. "The strength in the United States is dramatic. Traders said the U.S. shortage could get worse as demand in West Africa and the Middle East is also now attracting European cargoes. The pull bucks a trend of lower U.S.

European diesel barge swaps weakened in the week to Monday as huge product inflows from the United States and Russia continue to put heavy pressure on prices. Diesel imports from the U.S. Gulf Coast were expected to exceed 2 million tonnes in June for the second month in a row as U.S. refineries increase production following maintenance. Demand in Europe is nevertheless lukewarm, resulting in ample supplies in the region, traders said. "While there are early signs of refinery runs being cut, particularly in Asia where Urals (crude oil) prices are weakening despite lower Russian exports, all signs point to a prolonged period of weakness in global distillates prices," said Robert Campbell, analyst at Energy Aspects consultancy.

Marathon Petroleum Corp is poised to expand its growing Midwest and Gulf Coast fuel trading operation to the East Coast with Thursday's deal to buy Hess Corp's retail network and transport contracts. The purchase will give Marathon control of Hess's gasoline stations and access to pipelines, including the capacity to ship approximately 40,000 barrels per day on the sought-after Colonial Pipeline from the Gulf Coast to the East Coast, according to the companies. The $2.9 billion deal is expected to close late in the third quarter. That likely means opening up new trading opportunities. Marathon's nearest refinery is nearly 500 miles east of New York City in Canton, Ohio, with few major pipelines in between.

Somali nationals Ahmed Muse Salad, a/k/a “Afmagalo,” 27, Abukar Osman Beyle, 33, and Shani Nurani Shiekh Abrar, 31, who were previously found guilty of piracy, murder within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, violence against maritime navigation, conspiracy to commit violence against maritime navigation resulting in death, kidnapping resulting in death, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, hostage taking resulting in death, conspiracy to commit hostage taking resulting in death and multiple firearms offenses, were sentenced this week. Salad, Beyle and Abrar were all sentenced to 21 life sentences, 19 consecutive life sentences and two concurrent life sentences…

Somali nationals Ahmed Muse Salad, a/k/a “Afmagalo,” 25, Abukar Osman Beyle, 20, and Shani Nurani Shiekh Abrar, 29, who were previously found guilty by jury of all 26 counts charged to include piracy, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, hostage taking resulting in death, kidnapping resulting in death and multiple firearms offenses, were sentenced today by a federal jury. The three defendants were sentenced to life-in-prison for their roles in the February 22, 2011 murder of four Americans aboard the sailing vessel Quest.

Somalis Sentenced to Life in Prison on Charges Relating to Piracy of the S/V Quest. Mohamud Hirs Issa Ali, a/k/a Sanadaaq, 32, and Jilani Abdiali, a/k/a Ilkasse, 20, both of Somalia, were sentenced today in Norfolk federal court to life in prison for their acts of piracy against the S/V Quest, which resulted in the murder of United States citizens Scott Underwood Adam, Jean Savage Adam, Phyllis Patricia Macay and Robert Campbell Riggle. Neil H. MacBride, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Janice K.

Two Somalis Sentenced to Life in Prison for Acts of Piracy Against the S/V Quest. Muhidin Salad Omar, a/k/a  “Muhiyaden Salad,” a/k/a “Gurdan,” a/k/a “Gardan,” a/k/a “Gurden,” a/k/a “Muhdin,”  a/k/a “Dudan,” 30, and Mahdi Jama Mohamed, a/k/a “Mahdi,” age estimated to be 23 to 24, both of Somalia, were sentenced today in Norfolk federal court for acts of piracy against the S/V Quest, which resulted in the murder of United States citizens Scott Underwood Adam, Jean Savage Adam, Phyllis Patricia Macay and Robert Campbell Riggle.