Asian Refiners Strive to Finish IMO Preparations
At SK Energy's largest refinery in South Korea, engineers are rushing to complete a new processing unit ahead of schedule as the firm looks to boost sales of low-emission fuels before new marine fuel standards take effect in just one month.In Japan, the country's second-biggest refiner Idemitsu Kosan Co is taking a more cautious stance, increasing capacity for low sulphur fuel oil (LSFO), but…
IMO 2020, China Output Pummels Asian Refinery Margins
Profits at Asian refineries are being buffeted by a combination of factors, chief among them uncertainty over how exactly new shipping fuel standards will play out and the rise of China as a product exporter.Refinery margins in Asia have been knocked to the lowest since the financial crisis in 2008 by some measures, as the industry grapples with the disparate factors.The return from processing…
U.S. Shipping Sanctions Give Boost to EU Refiners
U.S. sanctions imposed last month on subsidiaries of vast Chinese shipping fleet Cosco have given an unexpected boost to European refiners as less crude oil from the North Sea and West Africa heads east, traders and analysts said.Freight rates have soared as oil producers scramble for non-blacklisted vessels, discouraging longer-distance voyages.Complex refining margins for advanced facilities capable of extracting even more valuable products like diesel and gasoline…
Ship Fuel: Singapore Bunker Volumes Dip, 2019 Uncertain
Sales of marine fuels in Singapore, the world's biggest ship fueling port by volume, totaled 49.8 million tonnes in 2018, down 2 percentfrom a record the year before, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said on Monday.December sales volumes of marine fuels, also known as bunkers, reached an 11-month high of 4.308 million tonnes, up 10 percent from November and the second-highest for the year…
Argus Adds New Marine Fuel Price Assessments
Oil price reporting agency Argus has launched five new price assessments for low-sulphur marine fuels, ahead of new global rules capping the amount of sulphur in marine fuels, also known as bunkers.International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations will cut the limit for sulphur in bunker fuels globally from 3.5 percent to 0.5 percent from the start of 2020."Argus is pleased to be taking…
Maritime Rule Change Stirs Fears of Diesel Shortage: Kemp
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has so far resisted pressure to soften or postpone the implementation of new regulations requiring ships to use bunker fuels with a lower sulphur content from the start of 2020.That has prompted warnings from some analysts that the regulations will squeeze the availability of low-sulphur diesel and jet kerosene required by trucks, trains, aircraft…
How Refiners Plan to Grapple With Fuel Oil Output After 2020
High-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO), essentially the leftovers of an oil refiner's output, will still flow from refineries around the world even after new rules start up in 2020 curtailing its use in the global shipping fleet, a Reuters survey showed.Sixty percent of the 33 refineries contacted by Reuters in a global survey will still produce HSFO in 2020 although the supply will tighten as 70 percent of these refiners plan to reduce their output.Starting that year…
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.
Distillate Demand Boost from Shipping Sulphur Rules to be Brief
A sharp increase in demand for distillates following new shipping fuel rules will fade quickly, the International Energy Agency said on Monday. New rules implemented by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) will significantly cut the amount of sulphur that the world's ships can burn in their engines from 2020, leading to a close to 1 million barrel per day (bpd) rise in gasoil consumption at the expense of high-sulphur fuel oil.
IMO Rules a Cliffhanger for Oil Storage -Vitol's Chris Bake
Vitol executive committee member Chris Bake says a big question facing oil storage sector is how world handles new International Maritime Organisation rules for cleaner shipping. New IMO rules to slash the use of high sulphur fuel oil in global shipping will come into effect in 2020. "It's going to be more and more difficult to burn that fuel oil with more economies going to natural gas for power," he said. "(Lower sulphur) marine gasoil has to build ahead of 2020.
S.Korean Refiners Look to Cash in on 2020 Mandate
Three refiners to spend more than $5 bln to upgrade or add units. South Korean refiners are planning to spend over $5 billion on plant upgrades in response to tighter rules on shipping fuel, boosting production of low-sulphur fuel oil as well as other high-end products. The refiners hope the investment, which comes ahead of the 2020 introduction of the new rules, will make them one of the biggest beneficiaries of the new regulations…
Construction Starts on Serbian Oil Firm's New Deep Conversion Complex
Serbian oil company NIS, majority owned by Russia's Gazprom Neft, started construction on Monday of a 300 million euro ($352 million) deep conversion complex at its main refinery, which it says will boost efficiency and reduce pollution. The project at the Pancevo refinery is part of the second phase of a Gazprom Neft programme to modernise NIS's refining capacity, which has been ongoing since 2009 and is expected to be completed in 2019.
BP to Leverage Americas Oil Boom
U.S. shale, Canadian sands, Brazilian offshore lift output; BP wants to expand trading desk as trade flows rise. Oil major BP expects its trading operations to benefit from growing global crude trade on the back of abundant U.S., Canadian and Brazilian production and rising energy demand in Asia, a top BP executive said. Tufan Erginbilgic, the head of BP's downstream division that includes one of the world's most powerful trading desks…
Unipec, Vitol Front-Runners in Bangladesh Fuel Tender
China International United Petroleum & Chemicals Co. (Unipec) and Vitol SA submitted the most competitively priced offers for Bangladesh Petroleum Corp's (BPC) tender to import oil products in the first half of 2017, according to an offer document. In October, state-owned BPC issued a tender to import 965,000 tonnes of gasoil with a maximum 0.05 percent sulphur content, 90,000 tonnes of jet fuel, and 120,000 tonnes of high sulphur fuel oil in the first half of 2017.
Asia Fuel Oil-Traders on Sidelines Awaiting Price Drop
Asian fuel oil traders sat on the sidelines on Tuesday as a fall in crude prices made them wary of taking positions in case prices moved lower. Fuel oil prices have fallen by $11-12 per tonne since Friday's close, continuing a volatile period that saw fuel oil prices gain by more than 5 percent at the start of last week. See-sawing fuel oil prices have unnerved traders who see no clear direction in the market. Oil prices have lost more than 4 percent since Sept.
Glencore to Lift Iranian Fuel Oil at Bandar Mahshahr
Anglo-Swiss commodity trader Glencore has chartered a ship to load Iranian fuel oil at the Iranian port of Bandar Mahshahr in a move that signals the return of legitimate Iranian crude and oil products to international markets. The Greek-owned vessel, Green Warrior, arrived at the Iranian port of Bandar Mahshahr on February 3, on a fully fixed charter by Glencore and is set to load 80,000 tonnes of high-sulphur fuel oil bound for Singapore…
Asia Fuel Oil: Market Brightens on Tight January Supply
Asia's fuel oil market strengthened on Wednesday trading as discounts for both 180cst and 380cst fuels narrowed markedly amid tightening supply. In addition to lower discounts on spot cargos, Singapore ex-wharf 380cst term contracts for January switched to a premium, traders said, pointing towards a healthier market. Singapore's onshore inventories of fuel oil dropped more than 2 million barrels to a four-week low of just under 25 million barrels in the week to Dec.
Asia Fuel Oil Faces Further Price Pressure
Asia fuel oil prices edged slightly lower in Friday. trade amid worries of further downward potential over the next few weeks given the fundamental oversupply from expected January arbitrage flows and growing weakness in crude oil markets, traders said. Trading activity was typically slow for this time of year with most traders having already locked in positions for December and most of January.
Asia fuel Dips to 11-Year Low
Asia fuel oil falls to 11-yr lows on expectations of Western arbitrage inflows. Fuel oil prices fell for a fifth consecutive session, dropping to 11-year lows amid expectations of significant Western arbitrage inflows in January and no signs of a reduction in the oversupply of crude oil. Asia fuel oil prices are now at levels not seen since January 2005. Differentials however remained unchanged from yesterday's trading.
Asia Fuel Oil Dragged Down by Crude Drop
Asia's fuel oil prices continued their downward trend towards new seven-year lows and at levels not seen since early 2005 amid a growing global oil glut that saw benchmark crude prices extend their losses for the 7th session and nearing their eleven-year trough. The contango curve for the more actively traded 380-cst fuel widened while its differentials deteriorated after Monday trading. Conversely, the contango curve for the 180-cst fuel oil narrowed and its differentials improved.
