US lawmakers question the SLB of oil service companies' exemption from Russian sanctions
Dozens U.S. Both political parties sent representatives to urge the Biden administration on strengthening sanctions against Russian oil shipments. They also questioned the exception granted to SLB, the largest oilfield service company in the world to operate within the country. The U.S., Europe and other countries have been trying to reduce Moscow's revenue from energy for the fight against the war since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. This led several oilfield services companies to leave Russia, but SLB remained in the country and helped keep Russian oil flowing.
Indonesian palm oil stocks in July at a 5-year low amid increased biodiesel production and higher demand
Data from a leading industry group showed that Indonesian palm oil inventories fell 10.82% from the previous month to a 5-year low of 2,51 million metric tons as demand for biodiesel grew and production decreased, according to data released on Wednesday. The benchmark Malaysian futures could be supported by falling stocks in Indonesia. Indonesia is the world's largest producer and consumer. Food sector consumption was 5.76 million tonnes, which is 5.18% less than last year. Biodiesel consumption was 6.44 million tonnes, which is 10.84% more than the previous year.
Russian insurance boosts oil exports to India's top buyer
Data from sources in the shipping and trade industries shows that Russian insurers play a greater role in facilitating oil shipments by Russia to India, which is its largest buyer. This helps to protect Moscow's revenue through exports despite Western sanctions. According to calculations based upon the documents of the vessels, Russian firms insured 60% of Moscow’s oil cargoes bound for India in July. This is up from 40% last December. By using Russian insurance companies…
Russian insurance boosts oil exports to India's top buyer
Data from sources in the shipping and trade industries shows that Russian insurers play a greater role in facilitating oil shipments by Russia to India, which is its largest buyer. This helps to protect Moscow's revenue from exports despite Western sanctions. According to calculations based upon the documents of the vessels, Russian firms insured 60% of Moscow’s oil cargoes bound for India in July. This is up from 40% last December. Moscow can use Russian insurers to sell oil above the $60-per-barrel price cap imposed by the Group of Seven…
Russian Oil Revenues Falling Because of Price Cap -US Official
Russian oil revenues are falling due to the price cap that Western countries imposed on its crude oil shipments and, ahead of further caps on Russia's oil products, Europe is well positioned to manage any price pressures, a U.S. Treasury official said on Wednesday.The Group of Seven countries, Australia and the European Union will extend sanctions on Russia for its war in Ukraine by putting a price cap on its oil products, such as gasoline and diesel, on Feb. 5.…
China Ramps up US Oil Purchases Ahead of Trade Deal Review
U.S. crude oil shipments to China will rise sharply in coming weeks, U.S. traders and shipbrokers and Chinese importers said, as the world’s top economies gear up to review a January deal after a prolonged trade war.Chinese state-owned oil firms have tentatively booked tankers to carry at least 20 million barrels of U.S. crude for August and September, the people said, moves that may ease U.S. concerns that China’s purchases are trending well short of purchase commitments under the Phase 1 of the trade deal.China had emerged as a top U.S.
Gazprom Neft Sells Its First Arctic Oil Cargo to China
Russia's Gazprom Neft has sold its first ever Arctic oil cargo to China to ChemChina, two sources familiar with the deal told Reuters on Thursday.This week, Gazprom Neft said it had sent 144,000 tonnes of light Novy Port oil grade to the Chinese port of Yantai on the Bohai Sea from Russia's north-western city of Murmansk, using the Northern Sea Route (NSR) through Russia's Arctic waters.The Delta Hellas vessel used part of the NSR, a route requiring icebreakers and ice-class tankers, Refinitiv Eikon data showed, sailing west from Murmansk to reach Suez and then China.Gazpro
Oil Hits $70 a Barrel
Oil prices rose a further 2% on Monday, pushing Brent above $70 a barrel, as rhetoric from the United States, Iran and Iraq fanned tensions in the Middle East after a U.S. air strike which killed a top Iranian military commander.Brent crude futures soared to a high of $70.74 a barrel and was at $69.74 at 0940 GMT, up $1.14, or 1.66%, from Friday's settlement.U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $63.92 a barrel, up 87 cents, or 1.38%, after touching $64.72, the highest since April.The gains extended Friday's more than 3% surge after a U.S.
Gazprom Neft Crosses 12-MT Oil at ARCO
Russian oil and gas company Gazprom Neft said that its Prirazlomnaya offshore platform in the southeastern Russian Barents Sea has produced its 12-millionth metric ton (13.23 MM ton) of ARCO (Arctic-blend) oil.The shipment was delivered by the Kirill Lavrov ice-class shuttle tanker to the storage tanker in Kola Bay, for onward transport to locations in Europe.The Prirazlomnoye field is the first — and, thus far, the only — project at which oil is being produced on the Russian Arctic Shelf.
Oil Freight Rates Rocket After U.S. Sanctions COSCO
Oil freight rates in the Middle East and Asia have increased by almost 20 percent today following new US sanctions on units of Chinese company COSCO for its alleged involvement in ferrying crude oil out of Iran.In what the U.S. State Department has described as “one of the largest sanctions actions the U.S. has taken” since restrictions were re-imposed on Iran in November 2018, two units of COSCO, as well as other companies, were named in claims of involvement…
U.S. Slaps Sanctions on Firms Moving Venezuelan Oil to Cuba
The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday imposed sanctions on four maritime firms and vessels transporting Venezuelan oil to Cuba, amid an acute fuel scarcity in the island that is forcing people to line up for gasoline and public transport.Despite tough U.S. measures against Venezuela's state-owned oil company PDVSA in January, Cuba's state-run oil import and export company Cubametales and other Cuba-based entities "have continued to circumvent sanctions by receiving oil shipments from Venezuela…
BP Profits Lifted by Production Uptick
A strong rise in oil and gas production helped BP offset weaker crude prices and refining profit to again beat profit expectations on Tuesday, boosting its shares.BP's second quarter contrasts with Total and Norway's Equinor, which posted sharp earnings drops, and builds on a steady recovery after deep cost cuts since the 2014 downturn, project start-ups and last year's $10.5 billion purchase of BHP's U.S.
Oil Shipments from Georgia's Batumi Port Drop
Oil and oil-related shipments from Georgia's Black Sea port of Batumi dropped 24 percent in the first four months of 2019 from a year earlier, an official at a KazMunaiGas-operated terminal at the port said on Wednesday.Shipments of crude oil and refined oil products from Batumi have fallen in recent years, partly because Azerbaijan prefers to send its oil through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline or via its own terminal at the Georgian port of Kulevi, rather than from Batumi…
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…
US Crude Oil Shipments to China Halt Amid Trade War
U.S. crude oil shipments to China have "totally stopped", the President of China Merchants Energy Shipping Co (CMES) said on Wednesday, as the trade war between the world's two biggest economies takes its toll on what was a fast growing businesses.Washington and Beijing have slapped steep import tariffs on hundreds of goods in the past months. And although U.S. crude oil exports to China, which only started in 2016, have not yet been included, Chinese oil importers have shied away from new orders recently."We are one of the major carriers for crude oil from the U.S.
Oil Shipments From Georgia's Batumi Drop 45%
Oil and oil-related shipments from Georgia's Black Sea port of Batumi fell by 45.3 percent in the first eight months of 2018 from a year earlier, an official at the KazMunaiGas operated terminal said on Monday.Some crude oil has been re-routed to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline and to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium this year, the official added, while some fuel oil has been sent to the port of Taman in Russia and Georgia's other Black Sea port of Kulevi.The fall is partly because Azerbaijan prefers to send its oil through the pipeline or by rail in Georgia via its own ter
China Move to Drop Crude off Tariff List a Relief for Sinopec
China's decision to remove crude oil from its latest tariff list in an escalating trade war with the United States was a relief to state oil firms prompted by a strong lobbying effort by main importer the Sinopec Group, Beijing-based oil sources said.Dropping crude oil from the final tariff list on $16 billion in U.S. goods announced late on Wednesday underscores the growing importance of the United States as a key global producer and critical alternative supply source for top importer China…
North Sea Oil Market Sounds Alarm on Oversupply
The North Sea physical oil market is letting off a distress signal - crude is once again being stored on ships – as production increases from major exporters threaten a fragile balance between global supply and demand.Reuters data shows nearly 7 million barrels of North Sea crude held on ships that have been static for at least two weeks, unable to find immediate buyers, up from virtually nothing a few weeks ago."Over the past two weeks, North Sea floating storage has trended higher…
Saudi Arabia Resumes Oil Exports through Red Sea Lane
Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia said on Saturday it has resumed all oil shipments through the strategic Red Sea shipping lane of Bab al-Mandeb.Saudi Arabia halted temporarily oil shipments through the lane on July 25 after attacks on two oil tankers by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement.A statement by the Energy Ministry said shipments had resumed on Saturday."The decision to resume oil shipment through the strait of Bab al-Mandeb was made after the leadership of the coalition has taken necessary measures to protect the coalition states' ships…
Chinese Tariffs on LNG, Oil May Threaten US Energy Dominance
China's targeting of U.S. liquefied natural gas and crude oil exports opens a new front in the trade war between the two countries, at a time when the White House is trumpeting growing U.S. energy export prowess.China included LNG for the first time in its list of proposed tariffs on Friday, the same day that its biggest U.S. crude oil buyer, Sinopec, suspended U.S. crude oil imports due to the dispute, according to three sources familiar with the situation.On Friday, China announced retaliatory tariffs on $60 billion worth of U.S.
