All Freeport LNG Trains on Line Monday
All three liquefaction trains at Freeport LNG's export plant in Texas were expected to be back in service on Monday, according to preliminary data from financial firm LSEG.Freeport told environmental regulators that liquefaction Train 2 tripped while operating around midday on Nov. 22 due to an issue with a compressor system, resulting in an emissions event that lasted almost nine hours.That was the second train to shut at the plant in the past week. Liquefaction Train 3 shut on Nov.
Henry Hub natgas price drops to a 25-year low, while Waha is in negative territory
According to LSEG's pricing data, U.S. natural gas spot prices fell to a new 25-year low in Louisiana at the Henry Hub benchmark and entered negative territory at the Waha hub for the 47th consecutive time. The energy traders noted that the mild weather this year has had a negative impact on Henry Hub prices next day, resulting in lower heating and cooling demands than usual. LSEG reports that Henry Hub futures have been under pressure due to the low prices of next-day Henry Hub contracts.
APPEC-Weak Oil Demand Affects Singapore Industry Gathering
Next week, the largest gathering of energy traders in Asia will be dominated by discussions about the weak demand for oil in Asia and China as well as the plans of OPEC+ producers in order to reduce supply. APPEC 2024 is organised by S&P Global Commodity Insights and will begin on Monday, in Singapore. More than 1,000 participants are expected to attend from more than 50 countries. They will discuss the outlook of oil and gas demand, supply and prices.
US CFTC fines energy traders
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission ordered TOTSA TotalEnergies Trading SA on August 27 to pay a fine of $48 million for alleged gasoline price manipulation. Ian McGinley, CFTC Director of Enforcement, said that the CFTC had "guarded the integrity of the market in numerous cases during the past 20 years" by detecting these benchmark-related scheme and prosecuting them. The U.S. regulator has fined several companies for what they call oil and gas market malpractice. Here are some examples.
Freeport LNG plant to resume service in Texas on Thursday, LSEG data indicates
LSEG data indicated that the U.S. liquefied gas (LNG), company Freeport LNG, was on schedule to resume service at its Texas export plant on Thursday. The facility had been shut down on Wednesday. Freeport is one the most watched U.S. export LNG plants in the World because of its history of changing global gas prices every time it restarts or shuts down. However, energy traders noted that the gas prices in other parts of the world did not change much on Wednesday…
Work from Home: Energy Traders Swap Shouts for Babies, Barking Dogs
SINGAPORE, March 24 -- From banks of screens and giant phones in the office, energy traders worldwide are adapting to a laptop in the bedroom -- and it's going surprisingly well.Working from home has become the new norm in the oil trading hubs of Singapore, London and New York as governments encourage physical distancing to curb the spread of coronavirus.While some energy companies have long had facilities in place to allow off-site access to trading platforms and other technology…
Big Corn, Big Oil Unhappy with Fed's Biofuel Plan
Corn farmers, ethanol producers, refinery representatives, energy traders and state and local officials from the Midwest all blasted away at the Trump administration's proposed biofuels plan for next year during a public hearing on Wednesday hosted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).The hearing in Ann Arbor, Michigan, marks the second public meeting on the topic in as many days, airing the grievances of the opposing oil and…
KY Gasline Erupts in Flames, One Dead
A natural gas line erupted in a ball of flames that could be seen for miles over a residential community in rural Kentucky on Thursday, killing one person and setting several houses on fire, a local sheriff said.The blast, in Moreland, a community about 40 miles (65 km) south of Lexington, was the second so far this year on Canadian energy company Enbridge Inc's Texas Eastern natural gas pipeline following an incident in Ohio in January that injured at least two people.A woman killed in Thursday's explosion was found outside her home…
Oil Prices Retreat from 3-1/2 Year High
Crude prices fell on Tuesday in volatile trading after early gains lifted the U.S. benchmark past $75 a barrel for the first time in more than three years, which prompted traders to book some profits ahead of the U.S. July Fourth holiday. Crude rallied early on supply concerns, then slid as traders booked profits. U.S. light crude was down 25 cents to $73.69 a barrel by 12:43 p.m. EDT, rebounding from a session low of $72.73 a barrel. In early trade, the contract rose as high as $75.27, a 3-1/2 year high.
Unipec, ENOC Place Lowest Offers in Bangladesh Oil Import Tender
Energy traders Unipec and ENOC placed the lowest offers in a tender by Bangladesh Petroleum Corp to buy up to 1.52 million tonnes of oil products for import in the second half of 2018, officials said on Tuesday. The state-owned company was seeking between 1.1 million tonnes and 1.28 million tonnes of 500ppm sulphur gasoil, 100,000 tonnes of jet fuel and 120,000 to 140,000 tonnes of 180-cst high-sulphur fuel oil. Unipec, the trading arm of China's state-owned Sinopec…
Traders Shift Oil Products out of Storage
Short-term appetite for oil products has jumped; that is pushing traders to take oil products out of storage. Some energy traders in Southeast Asia are cutting their use of storage tanks as short-term demand for oil products soars, hitting companies that rent out storage at a time when many of them have just expanded their capacity. Three traders told Reuters they have cut the amount of oil they hold in tanks or decided not to renew storage contracts in the past year.
BP, Eni Deepen Blockchain Trading in European Gas
Oil majors BP and Eni are deepening their foray into blockchain technology, starting to run blockchain trades in parallel with their live trading systems, according to developer BTL Group. The energy traders, together with Austria's Wien Energie, had previously tested BTL's Interbit blockchain platform over 12 weeks, carrying out trades in European natural gas. For example, the blockchain system found a discrepancy in the volume allocation of a trade of French gas sold by Eni to BP…
Gunvor Cuts Stake as Staff Ups Their Share
The co-founder of Gunvor, Torbjorn Tornqvist, is diluting his stake in the company to allow employees to own more than a third of the fast-growing trading house by year-end to help to retain and recruit talent as it pursues its global expansion strategy. Gunvor has been diversifying away from Russia, where it was created at the turn of the millennium by Swedish citizen Tornqvist and Russian businessman Gennady Timchenko, and changing its ownership structure to resemble other global trading houses such as Vitol and Trafigura.
Qatargas, RWE Ink SPA Deal for LNG Deliveries
Qatargas, the World’s Premier LNG Company, today announced a flexible Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with RWE Supply Trading (RWEST), a leading European electricity and gas company. Qatargas will deliver up to 1.1 million tonnes of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) per annum to RWEST in North West Europe for seven and a half years. Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar Petroleum President and Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Qatargas Board of Directors, said: “Qatargas is committed to providing reliable, clean energy to consumers all over the world.
Centrica to Relocate Most Trading Staff to Central London
Britain's largest energy supplier, Centrica, will relocate most of its energy trading staff to a central London location from its Windsor headquarter this year, a spokesman said on Thursday. About 150 of Centrica Energy Marketing and Trading's (EM&T) 250 staff will move to an office on London's Oxford Street as the company aims to cut travelling costs, the spokesman said. "A move to London puts our Energy Marketing and Trading teams closer to counterparties. Centrica's staff relocation comes at a time when it is cutting jobs elsewhere.
Landmark US LNG Exports Delayed
The long-awaited first liquefied natural gas exports from the lower 48 U.S. states will have to wait another month or two due to mechanical problems at the Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana, Cheniere Energy Partners LP said Thursday. Cheniere said it expects to export the first cargo from the plant in late February or March. The company had expected that cargo to leave port in late January. With expected growth in pipeline exports to Mexico and LNG exports to the world…
US Oil Drillers Add Rigs for First Week in Five
U.S. energy firms this week added oil rigs for the first time in the last five weeks, data showed on Friday, despite continued weak crude prices. Drillers added 17 oil rigs in the week ended Dec. 18, bringing the total rig count up to 541, oil services company Baker Hughes Inc said in its closely followed report. That is about a third of the 1,536 oil rigs operating in same week a year ago. Since the end of the summer, drillers have cut 151 oil rigs.
US Oil Drillers Cut Rigs for 14th Week in 15
U.S. energy firms this week cut oil rigs for a 14th week in the last 15, data showed on Friday, a sign drillers were still waiting for higher prices before returning to the well pad. Drillers removed 21 oil rigs in the week ended Dec. 11, bringing the total rig count down to 524, the least since April 2010, oil services company Baker Hughes Inc said in its closely followed report. The decline was the sharpest since October. That decrease brings the total rig count down to about a third of the 1,546 oil rigs operating in same week a year ago.
US Oil Rigs Cut for 13th Week in 14
U.S. energy firms this week cut oil rigs for the 13th week in the last 14, data showed on Friday, a sign drillers were still waiting for higher prices before returning to the well pad. On Friday, OPEC decided to keep production near record highs despite depressed prices, as a way to boost market share by forcing rivals to reduce output. Drillers removed 10 oil rigs in the week ended Dec. 4, bringing the total rig count down to 545, the least since June 2010, oil services company Baker Hughes Inc said in its closely followed report.
Rig Count Drops for 11th week in Last 12
U.S. energy firms this week cut the number of oil rigs for an 11th week in the last 12, data showed on Friday, a sign drillers were still waiting for higher prices before returning to the well pad en masse. Drillers removed 10 oil rigs in the week ended Nov. 20, the biggest weekly decline since late October, bringing the total rig count down to 564, oil services company Baker Hughes Inc said in its closely followed report. That is about a third of the 1,574 oil rigs operating in same week a year ago.
