Saturday, March 28, 2026

Heavy Crude Oil News

Bloomberg News reports that oil magnate Sargeant's firm loaded 1 million barrels of oil for China.

North?American Blue Energy is a company that has been backed by the United States. Harry Sargeant III is a renowned energy magnate who has made a decision to export?1,000,000 barrels of?Venezuelan oil for delivery into China. Bloomberg News reported this on Monday, citing an official document. Reports?stated that this may be the first shipment of Venezuelan oil delivered to Asia since the US took control of the nation's oil exports earlier this year. U.S.

White House oil meeting includes independents and has strong ties to Denver

On Friday, the White House will be inviting oil executives to meet with them in order to discuss possible investment in Venezuela. While the list of attendees includes some big names from American oil, such as Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips, and Chevron, it also contains smaller independents, private equity-backed companies, and other players. Only the largest U.S. An oil industry source said that oil producers in Venezuela have the experience and scale to operate there.

Venezuelan oil will boost US refiners but hurt Canadian producers

Refiners in the United States would be able to absorb most of the approximately 1 million barrels of crude oil per day if U.S. Sanctions on Venezuela are lifted. According to a report on Tuesday, the U.S. has been in talks with Venezuela about exporting crude oil from the South American country to the United States. Sources say that U.S. oil executives will visit the White House Thursday to discuss Venezuela.

Venezuelan oil will boost US refiners but hurt Canadian producers

Refiners in the United States would be able to absorb the majority of the approximately 1 million barrels of crude oil per day that would be traded freely if the sanctions were lifted. The sanctions against the South American nation are lifted. Canadian oil companies, who sell heavy crude similar to that of Venezuela, and small Chinese refiners would suffer higher costs, if Venezuelan crude was diverted to the U.S. The U.S.

PetroChina will phase out 19 old chemical and refining units to reduce sector glut

Analysts say that PetroChina, a state-owned company, plans to permanently close 19 aging refining and chemicals units in order to reduce overcapacity. This is part of Beijing’s campaign to boost profitability and curb the country’s overcapacity. Due to the rapid electrification, fuel demand in this country's transportation fleet is expected to increase faster than anticipated. Its petrochemical industry is also plagued with excess capacity and low margins.

Official: Syria exports its first crude oil shipment for 14 years

A Syrian energy official said that Syria exported 600,000. barrels of heavy oil from Tartus on Monday as part of an agreement with a trading company. This was the first official export of Syrian crude oil in over 14 years. In 2010, Syria exported 380,000 barrels per day of crude oil. This was a year prior to the protests against Bashar Al-Assad, which spiraled into a 14-year conflict that destroyed the economy and infrastructure.

Cenovus' quarterly profit drops due to weak oil prices

Cenovus, a Canadian oil and natural gas company, reported a decline in profit for the fourth quarter on Thursday. Lower commodity prices and lower refining margins were offset by higher production. In mid-morning trade, the company's stock was down by 4.5%. The average Brent crude futures fell 3% in 2024 as the economy of the major consumer, China, remained weak. The OPEC+ producer's group also postponed their planned supply increases to 2026 and extended the deep cuts in output until the end of the year.

Executives say oil refiners are adding renewable feedstocks to produce cleaner fuels.

To meet the global demand for cleaner fuels, oil refiners are increasing efforts to blend in renewable feedstocks like used cooking oils into their crude refining streams. Maurits Van Tol, Chief Executive of Johnson Matthey, a provider of catalyst technologies, stated that the demand for additives and catalysts to remove impurities from feedstocks has increased. He said that in recent years, refineries have been blending some components into biomass feedstocks.

Heavy Crude Demand Boosts Mitsui Profits

Higher demand in low-sulphur heavy crude ahead of new rules on shipping fuel is helping to boost the profit of Mitsui & Co as the Greater Enfield project in Australia began production in August as scheduled, the Japanese trading house's CEO said on Thursday."The timely start of production of fine-quality low-sulphur heavy crude at the upstream project had also a ripple effect to our energy trading unit in Singapore…

Higher Output Cushions BP's Profit Fall

(Photo: BP)

BP's first quarter profits fell by nearly a third but beat forecasts as lower oil and gas prices and weaker refining margins were partly offset by higher production and stronger trading.The slump in profits marks the first significant dent in BP's steady recovery over the past 18 months following the sector's 2014 downturn."We produced resilient earnings and cash flow through a volatile period that began with weak market conditions and included significant turnarounds…

US to Overtake Saudi in Oil Exports

United States will soon export more oil and liquids than Saudi Arabia, thanks to the continued rise in oil production from US shale plays and the increased oil export capacity from the Gulf Coast.According to Rystad Energy, energy research and business intelligence company, it is a a pivotal geopolitical shift. The US has for decades relied on large-scale imports to satisfy its thirst for oil, but this is…

US Judge Halts Keystone XL Oil Pipeline

Photo: TransCanada Corp

A U.S. judge in Montana has halted construction of the Keystone XL pipeline designed to carry heavy crude oil from Canada to the United States, drawing a sharp rebuke on Friday from President Donald Trump.The ruling of a U.S. Court in Montana late on Thursday dealt a major setback to TransCanada Corp, whose stock dropped 2 percent in Toronto. Shares of companies that would ship oil on the pipeline also fell.TransCanada said in a statement it remains committed to building the $8 billion…

Investigators Work to Determine Cause of Wisconsin Refinery Blast

Investigators on Friday searched for the cause of a blast at a Husky Energy refinery that injured at least 15 people and rocked a northern Wisconsin city, sending smoke billowing into the sky and prompting tens of thousands to evacuate. A massive explosion shook Superior, Wisconsin, a city of about 27,000 people, at about 10 a.m. local time (1500 GMT) on Thursday, local authorities said. At least 15 people were injured…

Bids for second phase Development of Iranian oilfields

Iran plans to ask international oil companies to bid for the second phase of development of its Yadavaran and North Azadegan oilfields, a senior official said on Saturday. That means Chinese firms China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and Sinopec, which have played a leading role in developing the fields until now, will have to compete with other firms if they want to maintain that position. "CNPC would like to extend its North Azadegan contract…

Iran aims to boost oil output capacity by 160,000 bpd

Iran aims to boost its crude oil production capacity by 160,000 barrels per day following the completion of expansion projects at its North Azadegan and Yadavaran oilfields, a senior Iranian oil official was quoted as saying. The two oilfields are both operational and ready to be officially inaugurated after the Feb. 26 parliamentary elections, Abdolreza Haji-Hosseinnejad was cited as saying by Iran's oil ministry news agency Shana on Saturday.

Keystone XL Pipeline Prospects Dimming

Faced with dimming prospects for approval, the Canadian company behind the proposed Keystone XL pipeline chose to plead with the U.S. government for a delay on its fate, signaling that prolonged uncertainty is preferable to rejection of the $8 billion project. Monday's appeal by Calgary-based TransCanada Corp has been widely interpreted as an attempt to avert an impending "no" from President Barack Obama to the nearly 1,200-mile (2,000-km) cross-border pipeline.

Judge Approves Exxon Mobil Settlement Over 2013 Spill

A federal judge on Wednesday approved Exxon Mobil Corp's $5.07 million settlement of charges that it violated the federal Clean Water Act and state environmental laws in connection with a 2013 oil spill in central Arkansas. U.S. The rupture of Exxon's Pegasus pipeline led to a March 29, 2013 spill that caused about 3,190 barrels, or 134,000 gallons, of oil to flow through Mayflower, Arkansas and nearby waterways, including Lake Conway, which flows into the Arkansas River.

US Orders Owner to Clean Up Ruptured Pipeline

Photo courtesy of the Refugio Response Joint Information Center

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Coast Guard issued a joint federal Clean Water Act order to ensure the cleanup of heavy crude oil leaked from a pipeline near Refugio State Beach, Santa Barbara County, Calif. The order requires Plains Pipeline, L.P. (a.k.a. Plains All American Pipeline), the pipeline owner and operator, to continue its cleanup work inland, beachside, and in the ocean, to contain the oil and prevent further shoreline contamination.

A History of U.S. Oil Export Controls

On Oct. 20, 1973, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia imposed a total embargo on oil shipments to the United States among other countries in response to their support for Israel during the Arab-Israeli war. Faisal's decision led directly to the introduction of a ban on U.S. crude exports, which remains in force in a slightly modified form and is now the focus of an intense struggle for reform. Following the U.S. mid-term elections next month…

Chicago Wholesale Gasoline Prices Rise on BP Whiting Refinery Fire

Wholesale gasoline prices surged in Chicago on Thursday after a fire hit a piece of equipment used to produce gasoline at BP Plc's refinery in nearby Whiting, Indiana, trade and industry sources said. BP said the fire was extinguished at its biggest U.S. plant and it expects little impact on production. The 413,500 barrel per day (bpd) refinery, which BP spent $4 billion expanding to handle more heavy Canadian crude, was still operating.