China's oil refinery production in November increased by 0.2% year/year
China's refinery output in November increased slightly compared to last year, ending a seven-month drop, according to official data released on Monday. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), according to its data, showed that refiners processed 58.51 millions metric tons of crude last month. This is equivalent to 14,24 million barrels of oil per day. It was online in late September, when the percentage of users had increased to 60-70%. The demand for refined products has improved since late last month. Some refiners have also received a boost in their operation rates. In November, they were able to replenish their feedstock and ramp up production.
AVG US Gasoline Price Lowest in 3 Years
On Monday, the average U.S. gas prices dropped below $3 per gallon for the very first time in more than three years. This is a welcome relief for Americans who have been struggling with high inflation rates in recent years.Since the summer driving peak, fuel prices have steadily declined, boosting consumer spending, even though progress on inflation slowed in October and prices of other goods rose.GasBuddy.com, a market-tracker, reports that the national average price of regular gasoline dropped to $2.97 per gallons on Monday. This is the lowest it has been since May 2021.Oklahoma had the lowest average retail price of $2.42 a gallon in the United States.
Oil minister: India will be a refining hub and will rely on fossil fuels up to 2040.
Hardeep Singh Puri, India's Oil Minister, said on Tuesday that India will continue to be the world's third largest oil consumer and importer until at least 2040. The country is also positioning itself to become a major refining center. Puri, speaking at a Bengaluru refining conference, said that while global refineries are shrinking as the energy transition proceeds at an unpredictable rate, India will still rely on fossils fuels up until 2040. India, which is the third largest emitter of greenhouse gasses in the world, has committed to achieving a carbon-free target by 2070. It has set a goal of 500 gigawatts of renewable energy for 2030.
US fuelmakers report lower profits in Q3 due to weaker margins and fuel demand
Energy analysts predict that the third quarter profits of U.S. refiners will be lower than last year due to a decline in margins, as fuel demand has slowed and more refining capacity is coming online. After the pandemic, and Russia's invasion in Ukraine, which boosted margins at record levels, refiners are now reversing their favorable pricing and high demand. The difference between the product price and the crude oil price for U.S. gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel declined in the third quarter. Margins also fell to seasonal lows that have been in place for several years due to the lackluster summer fuel consumption. The U.S.
VEGOILS - Boost exports on the back of positive estimates and weak output
Malaysian palm oil futures ended up higher on Monday after two sessions of losses. Supported by higher export estimates, and expected seasonal palm production decreases, the prices rose. The benchmark contract for palm oil delivery in January on the Bursa Derivatives exchange gained 46 ringgit or 1.08% to 4,301 Ringgit ($1,000.23). The contract dropped 1.3% over the last two sessions. Palm prices are currently reacting to better export estimates, and the expectation of a weaker production in the next few weeks, in line with seasonal weaknesses, according to David Ng, a proprietary trading at Kuala Lumpur based trading firm Iceberg X Sdn Bhd.
The legal limit for toxic gas released by Pemex near Houston, Texas was exceeded in hours-long leakage of toxic gas
Pemex, the Mexican state-owned oil refinery, reported to Texas regulators that it released 43,500 lbs of highly toxic hydrogen sulfur gas in an incident that killed one person earlier this week. Two contract workers were killed and 35 injured in an accident that occurred on Thursday at a refinery. According to Pemex’s initial report submitted to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on October 10, the leak continued for seven hours and forty minutes. The hydrogen sulfide leakage during the incident exceeded the 6.89 pound per hour hourly limit of the gas. This was more than 800-fold. The date of the data provided by Texas regulators is October 11.
Pemex reports two deaths and five injuries from an oil leakage at a refinery in Texas
Two people were believed to have died and five were being treated for injuries on Thursday after a chemical release at Pemex's 312,500-barrels-per-day Deer Park oil refinery in Texas, the Mexican national oil company said. According to two anonymous sources familiar with the refinery's operations, a contractor who worked there is believed to be the one responsible for opening a hydrogen sulfide line. The gas was deadly and the worker died after being exposed to it. The county sheriff’s office confirmed that one person had died, another was taken by Lifeflight, and several other people were injured.
Elliott group seeks to buy Citgo Petroleum from Exxon director
Gregory Goff, Exxon Mobil's board director, recently joined a newly-formed company backed by Elliott Investment Management that is seeking to take control of Venezuelan oil refiner Citgo Petroleum. Citgo and Exxon compete in the motor-fuels and lubricants business. Exxon, the third largest U.S. refiner of oil by capacity, and Citgo are the seventh largest. Goff, a former Exxon executive who joined the company in 2021, as part of an oppositional board of directors, has been named CEO of Amber Energy. This Elliott affiliate was announced as the winning bidder at a U.S. Court auction for shares of Citgo parent PDV Holding.
Elliott group seeks to buy Citgo Petroleum from Exxon director
Gregory Goff, Exxon Mobil's board director, recently joined a newly-formed company backed by Elliott Investment Management that is seeking to take control of Venezuelan oil refiner Citgo Petroleum. Citgo and Exxon compete in the motor-fuels and lubricants business. Exxon, the third largest U.S. refiner of oil by capacity, and Citgo are the seventh largest. Goff, who was part of the dissident board of directors that joined Exxon 2021, was identified on Friday as CEO of Amber Energy. This Elliott affiliate had been selected as the winning bidder at a U.S. Court auction of Citgo parent PDV Holding shares.
New refineries bring down profits for global refiners
Oil refiners across Asia, Europe, and the United States have seen their profitability drop to multi-year-lows. This is a significant downturn in an industry which had previously enjoyed booming returns following the pandemic. It also highlights the global slowdown. This weakness is another sign of a softening consumer and industrial demand in China due to the slowing of economic growth and increasing penetration of electric cars. The pressure on prices has been exacerbated by the addition of new refineries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. TotalEnergies, a refiner, and Glencore, a trading firm, saw a boom in profits in 2022-2023.
Grangemouth Oil Refinery in Scotland to close by 2025 and lose 400 jobs
Petroineos, the operator of Scotland's sole oil refinery, announced on Thursday that it would close the facility in 2025, resulting in the loss of 400 positions. The closure is part of plans for the site, which has been around 100 years, to be converted into a fuels-import terminal. Petroineos will shut down the refinery in the second quarter next year. This is subject to employee consultations, according to a spokesperson for the company. The closure of the oil refinery with a capacity of 150,000 barrels per day, which is located in the Firth of Forth, will result in the loss of 400 jobs.
China's oil demand starts to decline after 2023, when it peaked.
The oil products demand in China - long the driving force behind global crude consumption - peaked in 2023. It is expected to decline by 1.1% per year between 2023-2025. This drop will accelerate in the following years, according to a China oil analyst. The decline in Chinese oil demand due to the adoption of LNG trucks and electric cars (EV), and China's slower economic growth after the COVID-19 epidemic, have been drags on global oil prices and consumption. The demand for oil products in China fell 0.5% in the first six months of the year. This was mainly due to a drop in diesel, which dropped by 5.8%.
APPEC-Gunvor expanding Asia operations and into power, according to chairman
Gunvor Group, a global energy trader, is expanding its Asia operations in order to expand into existing markets, such as liquefied petrol gas (LPG), gasoline, naphtha and aromatics, as well as new areas, including power. Power is one of the areas that Torbjorn Tornqvist - who is also a founder - said had potential in Asia. He was speaking on the sidelines the Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference Conference (APPEC), which took place on Monday. Gunvor, a Geneva-based company, has its main Asian trading hub in Singapore. It employs 160 people there and will concentrate on regional ambitions both for conventional and renewable energy.
Nigeria Seeking Operators for State-owned Oil Refineries
Nigeria's state-owned NNPC Ltd oil company said it has started the tender process for the operation of the Warri and Kaduna refineries, which are scheduled to begin processing crude this year.The oil refineries, which are being upgraded after being shut for several years, have the capacity to process 125,000 barrels per day (bpd) and 110,000 bpd, respectively.Nigeria, which is Africa's biggest oil producer, is seeking operators "to ensure reliability and sustainability towards meeting the nation's fuel supply and energy security obligations…
Rains hit India and Pakistan, evacuating thousands
Authorities warned of further heavy rains on Thursday after heavy rains flooded parts of India's western Gujarat state, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes and causing utility lines to be cut. At least 28 people were killed. Television images showed that the army has joined in on the relief effort as people wade through waist-high water which had partially submerged roads and vehicles. Prabhu Soni, a resident of the coastal city Jamnagar, said that there had been no electricity for two days. Disaster management officials reported that 28 people died since Sunday from drowning or rain-related causes.
Fire at Russian oil refinery Omsk injures seven people, but production continues
The local governor reported that seven people, including one person in serious condition, were hospitalized after an fire broke out at the Russian oil refinery in Omsk. However, the plant claimed to be operating normally and its production plans will not be affected. The fire at the Omsk Refinery has been brought under control. The automatic safety system of the plant detected a fire within technological equipment. The refinery, Russia's biggest, said that it was operating normally. Vitaly Khotsenko said that the Telegram app, which is used by the local governor to communicate, revealed seven hospitalized patients, one of whom was in a critical condition.
Ghana starts construction of $12 billion petroleum hub
Ghanaian president Nana Akufo Addo broke ground for the construction of an oil refinery capable of processing 300,000 barrels per day. The government hopes that this will transform the West African nation into a regional petroleum hub. However, critics claim the project has flaws. Ghana, second largest cocoa producer in the world, began producing oil in 2010. The current output is around 132,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil, and 325 million cubic feet of natural gas. The project will be the cornerstone for the development of our country," Akufo Addo said on Monday evening at the site in Jomoro. It also includes petrochemical facilities.
US EIA reports that China's diesel consumption fell by the most in three-years in June.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported on Thursday that China's demand for diesel fell 11% over the past year, to 3.9 millions barrels of fuel per day, which is the largest percentage decline since July 2021. The slowdown in fuel demand has put pressure on the oil market this year. This has unnerved investors who bet that China would continue to be an engine of growth. This week, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) lowered its oil demand forecast for 2024 citing lower expectations for China. It was the first time since the outlook had been published more than a year earlier that the outlook has been lowered.
Chevron pays $550 million to Richmond, California
Chevron Corp will pay Richmond City Council $500 million over a period of 10 years. The city made the announcement in a press release, after it dropped a ballot proposal on a tax on Richmond's oil refinery. Richmond was planning to ask voters for approval of a tax for the refinery that processes around 250,000 barrels per day. Richmond said Chevron must pay its fair share in the community, where it has operated for more than a century. In a statement on its website, the city said that as a result the settlement approved by the council on Wednesday, it agreed to remove the measure.
Dangote Refinery: Nigeria must enforce crude oil supply to local refiners
The Dangote Oil Refinery called on Nigeria's regulator of upstream oil to enforce a law which stipulates that producers supply local refineries. It said that the lack of enforcement increased its operating costs. The 650,000-barrel-per-day capacity refinery, built by Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote on the outskirts of Lagos for $20 billion, has struggled to get sufficient supplies from Nigeria, where vandalism and low investment impede oil production. In a Friday statement, Dangote Refinery alleged that the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission had failed to enforce the Domestic Crude Supply Obligation.
