Hungary and Russia's Gazprom are in talks about extra gas for Budapest by 2025
Hungary and Russia’s Gazprom have begun negotiations for an agreement to supply additional gas next year to Budapest. Peter Szijjarto, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs, told the Russian news agency RIA in remarks published Tuesday. "We've already signed an additional agreement for the fourth quarter of this fiscal year. It covers additional volumes and is priced competitively. Szijjarto said to RIA that we are currently negotiating a contract for next year. Last week, the Russian energy giant announced…
Russian Oil Production up 5%; Seaborne Exports up 9.5%
Russia's oil production rose almost 5% in the first half of June compared with May, the Interfax news agency reported on Tuesday, citing a source familiar with the output statistics.Average daily oil production, including condensate, was 1.46 million tonnes in the first 13 days of June, 68,000 tonnes more than May levels, the news agency reported.Russian oil companies, led by Rosneft ROSN.MM, were expected to re-open wells in June which they had shut due to Western sanctions as the companies bank on a pick-up in seasonal demand and sustained Asian buying, Reuters sources said previously.
How Much Oil Does the EU Import from Russia?
The European Union has agreed to ban the bulk of imports of Russian crude and oil products in its latest round of sanctions following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.The ban on seaborne crude imports will be phased in over six months and for seaborne refined products over eight months. It excludes deliveries via the Druzhba oil pipeline which supplies refineries in Eastern Europe and eastern Germany.Yet many European buyers have voluntarily suspended purchases of Russian oil or announced plans to phase it out…
Russian Oil Output Down in October
Russia lowered its oil output to 11.23 million barrels per day (bpd) last month from 11.25 million bpd in September, missing again its obligations under a global pact to curb production, energy ministry data showed on Saturday.The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other producers - a group known as OPEC+ - have since January implemented a deal to cut oil output by 1.2 million barrels per day to support the market.According to Reuters calculations, which use a tonnes/barrel ratio of 7.33…
U.S. Oil Makes it to Ukraine, a blow to Moscow
U.S. crude exports are gaining traction in Europe as even Ukraine turns into a significant consumer of American barrels at the expense of Russian supplies amid heightened U.S. political pressure on Moscow and problems over contaminated Russian oil.Ukraine this month received its first ever barrels from the United States, according to Refinitiv Eikon flows data, as the tanker Wisdom Venture unloaded 80,000 tonnes of Bakken crude in Odessa on July 6 for the Kremenchug refinery, the port said.Russia…
Oil Rises Toward $65
Oil rose towards $65 a barrel on Tuesday as OPEC supply cuts and Middle East tensions outweighed the U.S.-China trade dispute that has been dragging down the global economy and oil demand.OPEC and its allies led by Russia agreed last week to extend their supply-cutting deal until March 2020. Brent has risen almost 20% in 2019 supported by the pact and also tensions in the Middle East, especially concerns about the row over Iran's nuclear program.Benchmark Brent crude rose 33 cents to $64.44 a barrel by 1211 GMT. U.S.
MWV Expects Druzhba Shipments Within Days
German oil industry lobby group MWV expects German refineries to receive shipments of clean Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline via Belarus and Poland within the next several days, a spokesman said on Tuesday.The spokesman for the Berlin-based association (Mineraloelwirtschaftsverband), that represents 14 companies, 17 refinery sites and 10 oil pipelines, said the two most severely affected refineries, PCK Schwedt and Leuna would be receiving pipeline oil again.An influx of contaminated oil into Druzhba in April forced Russia to halt west-bound flows to customers…
Tainted Oil Set for Russian Refineries, Ports After Dilution
More than a million tonnes of contaminated oil from Russia's Druzhba ("Friendship") pipeline, expected to be shipped back from Belarus, will end up at Russian refineries and export ports after being diluted to usable levels, sources have told Reuters.The pipeline was halted in April after excessive levels of organic chloride used in oil extraction were found on the million-barrel-per-day pipeline that crosses Belarus and serves customers as far west as Germany.Pipeline operator Transneft…
Additional Tanker Supply Arranged in Russia Pipeline Crisis
Shareholders of two German refineries are arranging crude tanker shipments via the Baltic Sea in response to the halt of import flows on the Russian Druzhba pipeline, a spokesman for industry group MWV said on Thursday.He said that one tanker had been discharged in the Polish port of Gdansk to ship oil to the Leuna refinery while the German port of Rostock was preparing to receive a shipment to feed to the nearby Schwedt refinery.Both refineries had sufficient on-site inventories to keep operating for the time being…
Russia's Oil Exports to Europe Decline as Quality Worsens
Russia has exported less crude oil to Europe this year as the quality of the fuel on offer deteriorated and tense diplomatic relations prompted it to redirect more volumes to China.Russia increased oil pipeline exports to China by almost 50 percent in January-April from a year earlier to 12.4 million tonnes, Igor Dyomin, a spokesman for Transneft, Russia's oil pipeline monopoly, said on Tuesday.Moscow has embarked on a so-called "pivot East" strategy and tried to boost ties with Asia as its relations with the West have chilled over Russia's role in Ukraine's conflict and its alleged meddling in the U.S.
Rosneft Sends Oil to Hungary, Slovakia with Glencore's Help
Russia's biggest oil producer Rosneft has started supplying oil to Hungary and Slovakia with Glencore, expanding into new markets after recent acquisitions, three industry sources told Reuters on Friday. Rosneft declined immediate comment. The company is supplying Urals crude oil via the Druzhba pipeline, the sources said. Glencore recently became a Rosneft shareholder after it acquired, together with a Qatari fund, 19.5 percent in the Kremlin-controlled producer. Trading sources told Reuters that Rosneft will supply 80…
Oil Slips on China PMI; Libya in Focus
Oil slipped below $108 a barrel on Monday, as a survey showing activity in China's manufacturing sector contracted for a fourth month and signs of progress in restoring some of Libya's oil output outweighed rising tension in Ukraine. The HSBC/Markit purchasing managers' index added to questions over whether the Chinese economy is still losing momentum. In Libya, tribesmen ended a blockade of the El Sharara oilfield and engineers hoped to resume pumping within a week. "Libyan production is going up marginally," said Carsten Fritsch, analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt.
Czech Refinery Renews Deal for Russian Oil Supply
Czech refiner Ceska Rafinerska said on Wednesday it had signed a further contract with Slovak pipeline company Transpetrol for the shipment of Russian oil to its Litvinov refinery for the years 2015 and 2016. The company said fees were unchanged from the present contract. Volumes, running along the Druzhba pipeline which goes through Slovakia to the Czech Republic, should reach up to 4 million tonnes each year. "The new contract, concluded for the period of two years, definitely contributes to the crude oil supply safety in the Czech Republic…
Rosneft Acquires 16.67% Share in PCK Raffinerie
Total and Rosneft signed a Term Sheet that envisages the main terms and conditions of the purchase of 16.67% share in a refinery located in Schwedt, Germany (PCK Raffinerie GmbH). The document was signed in Sochi by the Head of Rosneft Igor Sechin and Chief Executive Officer of Total Patrick Pouyanne. The deal represents a deepening of the energy partnership between Russia and Europe based on the effectiveness of supply of a refinery located along the Druzhba pipeline. Total and Rosneft are…
