Marine Link
Thursday, March 28, 2024
SUBSCRIBE

Unipec News

17 Mar 2024

Venture Global LNG to Buy Fleet of LNG Vessels

© Andriy Sharpilo / Adobe Stock

Venture Global LNG said on Sunday it would acquire a fleet of nine liquefied natural gas (LNG) transport vessels, expanding its ability to sell and ship its own cargoes.Venture Global LNG has exported hundreds of cargoes since it started liquefying gas for export in 2022 from the first of its three planned facilities in Louisiana. The vessels it used were owned by other companies and leased.The nine vessels in Venture Global's future fleet will be built in South Korea with the first to be delivered later this year


04 Mar 2022

China Taps Alternative Payments to Keep Russian Oil Flowing

© Igor Groshev / Adobe Stock

Chinese refiners are paying for Russian crude oil using cash transfers to maintain imports from Russia’s Fast East, as banks shy away from financing the oil because of sanctions, sources with knowledge of the matter said.Global oil prices have soared to their highest in a decade as banks halted financing Russian oil after the United States and other countries ramped up sanctions on Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine.Spot crude premiums and freight rates also spiked, piling on buyers’ costs.Several European and U.S.

02 Feb 2022

Europe Remains Top Destination for US LNG

© nikkytok / Adobe Stock

Europe last month remained the top destination for shipments of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG), according to Refinitiv data, outpacing exports to Asia for the second month in a row.About two-thirds of U.S. LNG volumes went to Europe last month, compared to around 61% in December when sky-high European prices and demand drove U.S. LNG exports to a record, Refinitiv data showed.In both months, a lack of supply drove demand and led to cargoes being re-routed from other destinations.

04 Nov 2021

China's Sinopec Pens Long-Term LNG Supply Deal with Venture Global LNG

Credit: Sinopec

Chinese oil giant Sinopec has signed a 20-year liquified natural gas contract with U.S. LNG producer and exporter Venture Global LNG on November 4, 2021, to purchase 4 million tons of LNG a year. Venture Global will supply the LNG from its plant in Plaquemines, Louisiana. Also, China International United Petroleum & Chemicals ("UNIPEC"), a subsidiary of Sinopec, will buy LNG resources totaling 3.8 million tons from Venture Global's Calcasieu Pass project.Ma Yongsheng, president of Sinopec


06 Jan 2021

Libya's Hariga Oil Port Loading Blocked by Sit-in Guards

Petroleum facilities guards at Libya's eastern Hariga oil terminal have delayed the loading of a one million-barrel cargo as they press salary demands, the port's manager said on Wednesday.The guards at Hariga, where Mesla and Sarir grades are loaded, have been staging a sit-in, which continued on Wednesday morning, according to one of the guards and port manager Rajab Sahnoun.They say they will block crude exports until their demands over unpaid salaries are met.Trader Unipec's Olympic Fighter was due to load the one million barrel cargo, according to a local shipping agent.There was no immediate comment from the National Oil Corporation, which manages production and exports across Libya.Libya's oil production staged a rapid recovery late last year after an eight-month blockade of ports a

19 Nov 2020

Global Crude Market Finds Support From China Demand

© momentscatcher / Adobe Stock

China, the global oil market's lifeline this year, has stepped up purchases from exporters like Russia, the United States and Angola in recent weeks, while buyers elsewhere pare orders as coronavirus infections surge and fresh lockdowns are put in place.China, the world's largest importer of crude, is the only major buyer expected to see increased oil demand this year as the pandemic destroyed consumption globally.With China's imports expected to reach 12 million barrels per day (bpd) next year


25 Sep 2020

Shell Books Amoureux Tanker to Load Crude at Libya's Zueitina Port

Royal Dutch Shell has provisionally booked a tanker to load a crude cargo at Libya's Zueitina terminal on Oct. 3, potentially the first since January at the recently reopened port.The Amoureux tanker is expected to load a 1 million barrel cargo and then discharge in Singapore on Oct. 22, Refinitiv Eikon shipping data showed.Shell declined to comment on the booking.Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) lifted force majeure on crude loadings at the port on Sept. 22.The north African country has seen an uptick in export activity this week following the easing of the blockade imposed by eastern forces in January, which the NOC said cost the country around $10 billion in lost revenue.The Delta Hellas oil tanker loaded a 1 million barrel crude cargo for Unipec


23 Sep 2020

First Tanker to Load Crude at Libya's Hariga Port Since January

An oil tanker is expected to load crude at Libya’s Marsa el-Hariga terminal this week, the first since a blockade by eastern forces in January slashed the OPEC member’s oil production to a trickle.The Delta Hellas tanker will enter Libya’s Hariga port on Wednesday and load 1 million barrels of oil from the port’s storage, the Arabian Gulf Oil Co which operates the port said in a statement.Eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar said last week his forces would lift their eight-month blockade of oil exports, which depressed the OPEC member’s production down to around 100,000 barrel per day (bpd).Trading arm of China’s Sinopec , Unipec- which prior to the blockade was one of the main lifters of Mesla and Sarir crude grades from the terminal- booked the tanker, two trading sources said.Unipec

21 Sep 2020

Oil Tanker En Route to Libya Terminal After Partial Force Majeure Lift

The Marlin Shikoku oil tanker is making its way to Libya's Marsa El Hariga terminal, according to Refinitiv Eikon shipping data.Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) on Saturday lifted force majeure on what it deemed secure oil ports and facilities.NOC is yet to specify the ports and oilfields where it is lifting force majeure, but restart procedures are underway at some locations following a blockade that began in January which crippled the OPEC member's oil production."We are waiting for NOC to give a schedule of tankers and we are ready to export," an oil engineer at Hariga told Reuters.The Marlin Shikoku, a Suezmax tanker capable of carrying around 1 million barrels of crude


09 Jul 2020

Second Oil Tanker Heads to Recently Reopened Es Sider Port

The Kriti Bastion oil tanker is making its way to Libya’s recently re-opened Es Sider oil port, two shipping sources said and ship tracking data showed on Thursday.The Aframax ship is the second vessel to head to the port, following Unipec’s Delta Ocean which is awaiting permission to load. The tanker was chartered by Vitol, two trading sources said.Libya’s state-owned National Oil Corp on Wednesday lifted force majeure on crude loadings from Es Sider after a six-month closure, but local guards have prevented loadings from resuming.(Reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar and Julia Payne; editing by Jason Neely)

10 Jul 2020

Libya's NOC to Lift Force Majeure at Es Sider Oil Port

Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) said on Wednesday that it is ready to lift force majeure at Es Sider oil port, allowing a tanker on standby to load crude from storage.The state oil company urged all Libyan parties to support it and called on what it described as "foreign mercenaries and armed groups" to leave the oil port immediately.The Delta Ocean Suezmax tanker arrived at the port on July 5 and has been waiting since then, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.The tanker was chartered by trader Unipec, according to a shipping and a trading source.

09 Jun 2020

Chinese Firms May Avoid Tankers That Have Carried Venezuelan Oil

© bogdan vacarciuc / Adobe Stock

Chinese oil companies may soon decline to charter any tanker that has visited Venezuela in the past year to avoid disruption to operations if the United States blacklists more ships for trading with Caracas, four shipping sources told Reuters on Tuesday.The U.S. government is seeking to choke Venezuelan oil exports to starve the government of socialist President Nicolas Maduro of its main source of revenue. Existing sanctions have cut Venezuelan exports sharply, but Maduro has held on.Washington may tighten sanctions by adding dozens more tankers to an existing blacklist, U.S.

03 Feb 2020

Coronavirus hits Supertanker Rates

© Trueffelpix/AdobeStock

Freight rates for supertankers on the Mideast Gulf and U.S. Gulf routes to Asia have fallen to their lowest since mid-September as the coronavirus outbreak hit Chinese oil demand, ship brokers told Reuters.China's Sinopec Corp, Asia's largest refiner, and so-called "teapot" independent refineries have reined in operations in the face of plunging consumption."The market has gone back to what it was before the COSCO sanctions came in," one ship broker said, referring to U.S. sanctions on subsidiaries of the state-owned Chinese shipping company."All the other variables have gone away


06 Jan 2020

Tankers Flock to US as Freight Rates Surge

A flotilla of oil tankers is sailing empty from Europe and the Mediterranean toward the U.S. Gulf Coast to take advantage of surging shipping rates, according to shipping sources and Refinitiv Eikon data on Monday.Eight tankers, an unusually high number, are in the Atlantic and steaming to the United States, with capacity of up to 5.6 million barrels of oil combined, the people said. Freight rates for Aframax vessels out of the U.S. Gulf coast hit record levels last month, drawing more vessels to the region.The United States exported a record 4.46 million barrels of crude oil per day (bpd) in the week ended Dec. 27, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, as shale producers continued to deliver more oil than U.S.

29 Oct 2019

Unipec Resumes Using COSCO Tankers

AdobeStock / © Jose Gill

China's Unipec has resumed using tankers owned by COSCO weeks after it suspended bookings due to U.S. sanctions on some of the Chinese shipping company's subsidiaries, trade sources said on Tuesday.Refinitiv data showed one COSCO owned tanker - belonging to a subsidiary not affected by the U.S. sanctions - was sailing to Asia with a cargo of oil chartered by Unipec, the trading arm of Asia's top oil refiner, Sinopec.Sinopec officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment after business hours.In one of the biggest sanctions actions taken by the U.S.

11 Oct 2019

U.S. Sanctions Bite; Traders Shun 300 Tankers

AdobeStock / © Jose Gill

Nearly 300 oil tankers globally have been placed off limits as companies fear violating U.S. sanctions against Iran and Venezuela, driving freight rates to new highs, industry sources said.The move has taken roughly 3% of the global oil tanker fleet out of the market, according to industry sources and data on Refinitiv Eikon, sending rates soaring to secure tankers to ship oil, particularly to Asia."Freight rates are going through the roof and people are getting very nervous with the cost of shipping


07 Oct 2019

W. Africa Crude-Buyers Wary as Freight Rates Weigh

AdobeStock / © Jose Gill

Sellers returned to the window on Monday to entice buyers spooked by high freight rates due to Washington's sanctions on subsidiaries of a major Chinese shipping firm at the end of September.Long-haul rates to Asia have risen sharply prompting refiners to shed some cargoes.China's Unipec offered four cargoes in the window for a third session all November loading on a fob basis. These were Angolan Saturno at dated Brent plus 35 cents, Dalia at dated Brent plus $1.90, Mostarda at


26 Sep 2019

Unipec Replaces Ship Charters After U.S. Sanctions COSCO Tanker Units

© Carabay / Adobe Stock

China's Unipec has made replacement bookings for four oil shipments from the Middle East Gulf after the United States imposed sanctions on the tanker subsidiaries of China's COSCO, three shipping sources said on Thursday.The sources said Unipec, the trading arm of Asia's top oil refiner Sinopec, had switched to other tanker owners including China Merchants-owned AMCL after the designation by Washington on Wednesday of two of state-owned COSCO's subsidiaries.Sinopec declined to comment. AMCL's Hong Kong office could not be reached for comment after office hours.

27 Jun 2019

Shipping Companies: Is Bigger Better?

© Julien/Adobe Stock

“If consolidation was the solution to all that ails shipping, then container liner companies would be super profitable. They are not. In ‘commoditized’ sectors of the shipping industry, which by now includes pretty much everything apart from very small niche markets, there is hardly any economies of scale at the company level. As long as bigger is not in fact much better, then meaningful consolidation will not happen.”Dr. Roar Adland, visiting scholar at MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics and Professor at the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH).Like any other business


15 Jul 2019

W. Africa Crude Traders Await Sept Programs

File Image: AdobeStock / © Jose Gill

Some August-loading Angolan cargoes cleared but trading was slow on Monday as new programs were expected to emerge this week.The preliminary Angolan loading program for September is expected to emerge on Tuesday. New Nigerian programs are expected at the end of the week.BP's August-loading cargo of Girassol, two August-loading cargoes of Mostarda were sold to India's Reliance, China's Unipec and an independent Chinese refiner, a trader said.

20 Sep 2019

Saudi Attacks, High Demand Leaves U.S. Short on Oil Tankers

© Carabay / Adobe Stock

A disruption in global oil flows following attacks on Saudi Arabian facilities has left U.S. crude exporters without enough tankers to cover rising demand for cargoes, traders and shipping sources said.Missile attacks last Saturday temporarily cut Saudi oil production by more than 5 million barrels per day, or about half the country's output.That set off a scramble for alternative cargoes of crude, particularly in the United States, which lined up available tankers sailing from the Mediterranean, West Africa and continental Europe to pick up cargoes.

09 Aug 2019

China Fixes First U.S. Crude Cargo Since Latest Tariff Threat

File Image: A VLCC loads alongside in the port of Corpus Christi, Texas (CREDIT: Port of Corpus Christi, Texas)

Chinese oil trader Unipec chartered a supertanker to ship U.S. crude to China in September, trading sources said, the first such cargo since U.S. President Donald Trump announced additional tariffs on Chinese import, ending a monthlong trade truce.Unipec, the trading arm of state refiner Sinopec , has fixed the Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) Anne to load U.S. crude in mid-September, according to a shipbroker and Refinitiv Eikon data. VLCCs are capable of transporting about 2 million barrels of crude.Unipec has three other vessels


17 Sep 2019

China's Unipec Ramps Up U.S. Crude Shipments

Unipec, the trading arm of Asia's top refiner Sinopec, chartered at least four crude tankers this week from the United States, ramping up purchases after attacks on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities and as trade tensions between the world's two largest economies cool, sources said.Three Aframax vessels that can carry about 750,000 barrels, and one supertanker that can carry about 2 million barrels of crude, have been fixed by Unipec tentatively, according to a shipping source and Refinitiv Eikon data.The attack on Saudi oil facilities Saturday knocked out half of Saudi Arabia's oil production, or 5% of global output, sending prices soaring when trading resumed on Monday. (Reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar in New York Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)