Oil Soars 10%
Oil futures jumped 10% on Monday after an attack on Saudi Arabian crude oil processing facilities over the weekend sliced the kingdom's production in half and threatened to hamper shipments from the world's largest crude exporter.Prices initially surged more than 20% after the open on Sunday evening, with Brent crude posting its biggest intraday gain since the 1990-1991 Gulf crisis, before pulling back as various nations have said they would tap emergency supplies to keep the world supplied with oil.Brent crude futures rose as much as 19.5% to $71.95 per barrel, the biggest intraday jump since Jan. 14, 1991. By 10:37 a.m.
As Traders Tussle Turkmenistan Cuts Exports
A clash between trading house Vitol and Azerbaijan's SOCAR over Caspian Sea oil shipments is forcing Turkmenistan to slash exports of crude due to a lack of tankers.Turkmenistan typically exports about 200,000 tonnes of oil per month via the Caspian to world markets, mainly from fields operated by the UAE's ENOC and Italy's Eni, but flows have halved in recent weeks, six traders involved in operations said.That happened after Turkmen producers decided to export oil via Russia with the help of Swiss trader Vitol and ditch the previous Azeri route…
Storms, Snow Disrupt Exports from Russian Baltic
Storms, snow and freezing temperatures in Russia's northwest to the south have delayed some oil product exports but the fall in volumes so far has not been exceptional for the time of year, industry sources said on Thursday.Products are mainly shipped from ports on the Baltic coast, Black Sea, Sea of Azov and the Far East. They are mostly transported by rail and pipelines, with small volumes travelling by truck.Fuel oil loadings from the Russian Baltic were delayed by snow that caused disruptions to rail shipments to the ports…
Russia's Sakhalin-1 to Raise Sokol Crude Oil Exports
Russia's Sakhalin-1 plans to raise Sokol crude oil exports by 0.2 million tonnes per month to 1.3 million tonnes per month from October, loading schedules seen by Reuters show.Sokol crude oil loadings for October-December this year are planned at 1.3 million tonnes per month, up from the 1.1 million tonnes planned previously, the schedules show.Earlier this year Sakhalin-1 was asked by Russian authorities to drop a plan to hike production to 250,000 bpd.Last week India's ONGC Videsh's managing director said that Sakhalin-1 output is up to 250,000 bpd. ONGC Videsh is a part of the Sakhalin-1 consortium.Reporting by Olga Yagova
Azeri BTC Crude Oil Loadings from Ceyhan Port Set to Fall 9%
The Azeri BTC <BFO-AZR> crude oil loading plan from the Ceyhan port is set to fall to 18.85 million barrels in September from 21.4 million barrels in August, the schedule seen by Reuters showed.On a daily basis, Azeri BTC loadings will fall by 9 percent in September compared to August, Reuters calculations showed.Lower Azeri BTC loadings in September may result in firmer premiums for the grade's cargoes, which are currently supported by healthy demand for light barrels in the Mediterranean.August-loading cargoes of Azeri BTC were recently estimated around dated Brent plus $2 a barrel, Reuters monitoring showed.Reporting by Olga Yago
Oil Climbs on Libya Force Majeure, Canada Outage
Libyan disruption cuts 850,000 bpd of oil from market; Canada outage drains U.S. crude, product inventories. Oil prices rose on Tuesday after Libya declared force majeure on some of its crude exports, while the loss of Canadian supplies helped lift U.S. crude to 3-1/2-year highs. U.S. light crude jumped 99 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $74.93 a barrel, its highest since November 2014, before easing back to $74.79, up 85 cents, by 1120 GMT. Benchmark Brent crude oil was up 70 cents at $78.00. Production at Syncrude Canada's 360…
Oil Edges Up But U.S.-China Trade Tensions Weigh
Trade dispute between U.S./China unsettles markets as U.S. drillers add 11 rigs drilling for new oil. Oil markets stabilised on Monday after having lost around 2 percent last Friday as concerns grew over the impact on global growth from an intensifying trade dispute between the United States and China, as well as increased U.S. drilling activity. Markets were also eyeing the situation in Syria after reports - denied by the Pentagon - that U.S. forces had struck a major air base there. Brent crude futures were up 39 cents on the day at $67.50 a barrel by 0912 GMT. The price approached its lowest in three weeks last week. U.S.
Russian Pipeline Fire Could Affect Oil Loadings
An oil leak and resulting fire on an oil pipeline in Russia's Saratov region may affect the loading schedule for Russian crude exports, Igor Dyomin, a spokesman for oil pipeline monopoly Transneft, told reporters. Dyomin said that oil flows through the pipeline could resume in approximately 3-4 days. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Adrian Croft)
Novorossiisk Port Resumes Oil Loadings
Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft said on Friday that oil loadings from the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk had resumed after a storm. Transneft added in a statement, however, that weather conditions at the port remained unstable. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Writing by Alexander Winning)
Iran's Crude Exports Dip to 14-month low
Iran's crude exports to hit 14-month low; May exports to total 1.66 mln bpd in May. Iran's crude oil exports are set to hit a 14-month low in May, a person with knowledge of the Middle Eastern country's tanker loading schedule said, suggesting the country is struggling to raise exports after clearing out stocks stored on tankers. Part of the drop may also be attributable to a decline in demand, as loadings bound for India are set to slump to a one-year low after a dispute over the award of a contract for a gas field and Japan's orders fall by more than half from April.
North Sea Brent Oil Loadings to Slip in March
The North Sea Brent crude oil stream will load about 97,000 barrels per day (bpd) in March, down from 107,000 bpd planned in February, a trade source said on Wednesday. The March schedule lists five cargoes of 600,000 barrels each, the source said, the same as the revised February programme. Brent, together with Forties, Oseberg and Ekofisk, underpins the dated Brent benchmark price. (Reporting by Alex Lawler)
Russia Resumes Liftings from Novorossiisk
Russian oil pipeline monopoly Transneft said it had resumed oil loadings from the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk on Friday morning after a storm. Transneft also said that it expected to export 30.6 million tonnes of oil from Novorossiisk, 50.6 million tonnes from Primorsk, 30 million tonnes from Ust-Luga and 31.7 million tonnes from Kozmino this year. Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin
China Gobbles up Angolan Oil in Rush to Year End
China's loadings of West African crude are set to hit their highest in more than two years in November as the nation's refineries race to stock up and offset falling domestic oil production, according to a Reuters survey of shipping fixtures and traders. China's November West African crude oil loadings, the bulk of it Angolan, are on track to reach 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd), the highest since September 2014, the survey showed on Monday. December bookings are already expected to be similarly strong. "Domestic production declines and stockpiling continue to generate demand for crude…
Gazprom Neft to Delay Novoportovskoye Oilfield Launch
Russian oil producer Gazprom Neft will delay the start of commercial production at its key Novoportovskoye oilfield by around six months, two company sources told Reuters on Tuesday. One source, who works at the field on the Yamal peninsula in the Arctic, said commercial production would start no earlier than September due to technological problems. Russia's fourth-largest oil producer had planned to launch production at the field this spring and the project is seen as crucial to the company hitting its target of 100 million tonnes, or 2 million barrels per day, of oil by 2020.
Russia Resumes Novorossiisk Oil Liftings
Russia has resumed oil loadings from the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk after a storm ended on Saturday, a spokesman for oil pipeline monopoly Transneft said. The spokesman, Igor Dyomin, also said that all the Russian ports are working according to the schedule on Monday. Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin
Storm Halts Novorossiisk Oil Liftings
Russia suspended oil loadings from the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk late on Thursday due to a storm, a spokesman for oil pipeline monopoly Transneft said. The spokesman said that the storm was expected to last until the end of Friday. Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin
Kurdish Oil Loadings at Turkey's Ceyhan Delayed
Loadings of oil from Iraqi Kurdistan at the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, which were halted on Feb. 17, remained suspended on Monday due to bad weather, shipping agents told Reuters. Pumping via the pipeline which feeds the port had resumed on Friday and were back to normal, with a pumping rate of close to 600,000 barrels per day, shipping agents said. The storage in the port was being filled during the weekend and was around 1.4 million barrels as of Monday, they added. Bad weather conditions in the port of Ceyhan were due to continue until the end of the day…
Azeri Oil Loadings From Ceyhan Port Set to Rise
Azeri Light oil loadings from the Turkish port of Ceyhan are expected to increase to 695,000 barrels per day in January from 603,000 bpd in December, a loading programme showed on Wednesday. The supplies fell in December due to a planned maintenance at an oilfield in Azerbaijan. (Reporting by Olga Yagova; writing by Vladimir Soldatkin)
Med Crude-Urals Stronger in Med, Still Weak in Baltic
Russian Urals crude price differentials strengthened slightly on Tuesday in the Mediterranean while hovering near their weakest in 17 months in the Baltic due to abundant supplies. In the Platts window, Glencore offered a Nov 13-17 Urals cargo in the Baltic at dated Brent minus $3.05 a barrel and Vitol a Nov 15-19 cargo at minus $2.80, but found no bidders as the asking prices were seen as too ambitious, traders said. In the Mediterranean, Trafigura bid for a 23-27 Nov Aframax cargo at dated Brent minus $1.95 a barrel, some 30 cents stronger than previous price estimates.
Oil Spill Halts Loadings from Statoil's Statfjord A Platform
Norway's Statoil has stopped all oil loadings from the Statfjord A platform in the North Sea after an oil spill occurred on Sunday, the company said on Monday, with no impact on production from the platform. "We had a minor leak while preparing to load on Sunday," said Statoil spokesman Morten Eek, who said that some 400 litres of crude had spilled. Sunday's leak is the second one in less than three weeks to occur at the platform. On Oct. 8, a spill shut loadings from one of two buoys. The latest spill shut loadings from the other buoy tankers could load from.
