Saturday, May 18, 2024

Middle East News

Fratelli Cosulich Inks Charter Deal for LNG Bunkering Vessel

(Credit: Fratelli Cosulich)

Italian shipowner Fratelli Cosulich and PETCO Trading Labuan Company Limited (PTLCL), a trading arm of Malaysian energy company Petronas, have signed a two-year charter agreement for Paolina Cosulich LNG bunker barge.Operating under PTLCL, a global energy solutions provider in key bunker hubs with network in Southeast Asia, Japan, Middle East and South Africa, Paolina Cosulich will cater to the increasing demand for LNG as bunker fuel in the Straits.Fratelli Cosulich’s latest LNG bunger barge features a cargo capacity of 8…

Offshore Energy Production & the World Economy

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As the price of gas continues to seemingly hold steady at around three dollars a gallon, the pocketbooks of Americans continue to suffer. Regretfully, due to global conflict and the outbreak of wars across Europe and the Middle East, oil prices are continuing to climb upwards, troubled by geopolitical conflict and fears of a potential shutdown of international oil and gas fields.Thankfully, the United States has long been blessed with tremendous sources of domestic energy that…

Petronas Clean Energy Arm Sees India, Australia as Key in Rapid Growth Plans

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Gentari, the clean energy arm of Malaysia's state oil firm Petronas, sees India and Australia as its key markets for growth and expects to tap more financing to meet its ambitious targets, its chief executive told Reuters.Petronas launched Gentari as a separate entity in June, aiming to build renewable energy capacity of 30-40 gigawatts and produce up to 1.2 million tonnes per year of hydrogen by 2030 in Asia Pacific.It also plans to establish 25…

MAN ES: Moving Forward on Ammonia Engines

MAN ES will start testing on its ammonia engine in Copenhagen in Q1 2023. Images courtesy MAN ES

As shipowners ponder future fuels, MAN Energy Solutions is sailing full speed ahead optimizing dual fuel marine powerplants while preparing to start testing ammonia fueled engines in early 2023. Bjarne Foldager, Senior Vice President, head of two stroke business at MAN ES hosted Maritime Reporter & Engineering News in Copenhagen for a look behind the scenes at a cornerstone of its mandate to ‘Move big things to Zero.’Just 10 years ago…

2023 Outlook: The Offshore Service Vessel Market

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The market for offshore support vessels has been through a rather rough few years since offshore exploration and production activity took a nose-dive in 2015 following the oil price crash the year before.The newbuild order boom that came with the ever-greener pastures imagined in the industry ensured that not only was the supply- and demand balance off by an insurmountable degree in the years that followed, but at its peak, in 2017…

BP Beefs Up Hydrogen Team in Bet on Fuel's Future

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BP is beefing up its hydrogen management team as the energy company prepares to accelerate investments in the low-carbon fuel which it believes will play a key role in the world's shift away from fossil fuels.The revamp of the hydrogen team is the first clear sign of changes Anja-Isabel Dotzenrath, a former head of RWE Renewables, has made since becoming BP's head of natural gas and renewables in March.It also comes as BP announces…

Intelatus: The long-tenured, New Name in Market Intel & Planning

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Intelatus Global Partners is a new name in energy, marine and industrial market analysis and strategic planning, a ‘new name’ with nearly 50 years of experience and proven results.Founded by the merger of International Maritime Associates (IMA) and World Energy Reports (WER), Intelatus is a firm of business consultants with unique experience of nearly five decades across the entire maritime supply chain, producing multi-client analytical studies for sectors including offshore oil and gas…

Japanese Refiners See Bullish Oil Price Trend Continuing

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Oil prices are set to remain on a bullish course this year given the strong recovery in global demand following the COVID-19 pandemic-induced slump, the head of the Petroleum Association of Japan (PAJ) said on Wednesday."Global crude demand is expected to further recover in the second half of this year, given the convergence of the pandemic and the revival of economic activity in the United States and Europe," PAJ president Tsutomu…

India Asks Refiners to Cut Reliance on Middle East Oil after OPEC+ Decision

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India has asked state refiners to speed up the diversification of oil imports to gradually cut their dependence on the Middle East after OPEC+ decided last week to largely continue production cuts in April, two sources said.India, the world's third biggest oil importer and consumer, imports about 84% of its overall crude needs with over 60% of that coming from Middle Eastern countries, which are typically cheaper than those from the West.Most of the OPEC+ producers…

Deal Struck to Deliver Maritime Biofuel in Fujairah

Gary Hubbard, Chief Commercial Officer of Neutral Fuels and Lars Liebig, Managing Director of UED.

Uniper Energy DMCC (UED) and Neutral Fuels will collaborate to provide maritime biofuel in Fujairah, UAE.The companies will blend UED’s VLSFO and Neutral Fuels biofuel, creating a maritime fuel that meets IMO standard under their ISO8217:2010 RMG380 specification, cutting emissions of carbon dioxide.“The collaboration is aimed to address climate protection, the predominant social issue in the world today," said Lars Liebig, Managing Director of UED.

Global Crude Market Finds Support From China Demand

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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…

China Ramps up US Oil Purchases Ahead of Trade Deal Review

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U.S. crude oil shipments to China will rise sharply in coming weeks, U.S. traders and shipbrokers and Chinese importers said, as the world’s top economies gear up to review a January deal after a prolonged trade war.Chinese state-owned oil firms have tentatively booked tankers to carry at least 20 million barrels of U.S. crude for August and September, the people said, moves that may ease U.S. concerns that China’s purchases…

PDVSA Changes Oil Deals to Include Shipping as Sanctions Bite

Venezuelan state-run oil firm PDVSA has begun offering to ship its own oil, figuring in the costs in crude supply deals to help customers who have struggled to hire vessels to carry the country’s oil due to U.S. sanctions, according to company documents seen by Reuters.The United States has blacklisted vessel owners, shipping operators and threatened to sanction any tanker facilitating the country’s oil exports as it tightens…

US-China Cold War Would Redirect Energy Flows

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Worsening diplomatic relations between the United States and China are putting a spotlight on their economic inter-dependency in the context of global supply chains for both technology and energy.Top policymakers in the United States and some of its closest allies, including Australia and Britain, have recently hardened the language in which they describe relations with China.China has been labelled a “strategic competitor” for…

Iran's Oil Storage Almost Full as Sanctions and Pandemic Weigh

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Iran has slashed crude oil production to its lowest level in four decades as storage tanks and vessels are almost completely full due to a fall in exports and refinery run cuts caused by the coronavirus pandemic, industry data showed.Total onshore crude stocks surged to 54 million barrels in April from 15 million barrels in January, and swelled further to 63 million barrels in June, according to FGE Energy.Market intelligence…

Refineries around Asia Join Chinese Peers in Increasing Production

Refinery - Image by TTstudio/AdobeStock

Refineries from India to South Korea are expected to increase output from June, joining their Chinese counterparts as the easing of lockdown measures boosts demand for oil products, industry executives said.The average operating rate for refineries in Asia is expected to rise to 75.5% and 82.2% in the third and fourth quarters, respectively, from 72.4% in the second quarter out of total capacity of about 35 million barrels per day…

Saudi Oil Price Hike Throws Asian Lifeline to U.S. Shale

U.S. Shale ops -Credit:FerrizFrames/AdobeStock

Saudi Arabia's decision to jack up the price of its July exports to Asia may have opened the door for U.S. crude oil producers to boost sales to the region that consumes more oil than anywhere else in the world.State-controlled producer Saudi Aramco hoisted its official selling prices (OSPs) to all regions for July-loading cargoes, but the biggest hikes were for the key Asian region, which takes the bulk of the kingdom's exports.Benchmark Arab Light crude was boosted to a premium of 20 U.S.

Seafox Drops Takeover Pursuit of GMS

Image credit: GMS

Dutch jack-up services company Seafox has ended its pursuit to acquire rival Gulf Marine Services.After it in April floated an idea about the possible takeover of GMS, the GMS board rejected the plan deeming the move opportunistic, valuing the company's equity "at only US$32 million," and urging its shareholders not to accept it.Seafox has previously said that its offer, if made firm, would be 10 pence per GMS share (or $0.09…

GMS Fleet Utilization at 2015 High as More Middle East Work Secured

A GMS jack-up unit/Credit: GMS

Gulf Marine Services PLC (GMS), a UAE-bases supplier of offshore jack-up service units, has won a seven-month contract for one of its E-Class (large) vessels, and an extension for a smaller unit.Under the 7-month contract which also includes extension options, GMS will provide support for offshore activities on behalf of a Middle East client, the company said Tuesday.The vessel will be mobilized for the start of operations during the summer of 2020.

Rystad: Oilfield Services Firms' Market Cap Halved. Offshore Drillers Have it Worst

For Illustration - Image by Ranimiro - AdobeStock

Oilfield services companies have collectively lost almost half of their market capitalization, hit by the combination of the coronavirus pandemic and low oil prices, with offshore drillers, in particular, the most affected, Norway's Rystad Energy has said in its analysis released on Friday."It is widely acknowledged that the oilfield services sector (OFS) is the energy world’s worst-hit market from the Covid-19 pandemic. What is staggering is the extent that the capitalization of listed OFS companies has fallen…