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…
US Judge Halts Keystone XL Oil Pipeline
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…
Canada Should Bring in Stronger Rail Cars for Crude Before 2025 - official
Canada ought to require stronger tank cars for transporting flammable liquids sooner than the current deadline in 2025, Transportation Safety Board Chair Kathy Fox said on Thursday, noting that crude-by-rail shipments are expected to rise in the country."We understand that it can't happen all at once. But we'd like to see it sooner," Fox said in an interview, without giving a specific alternative date. "We do have an ongoing concern that flammable liquids be transported…
TransCanada sees 'Robust' Shipper Interest in Keystone XL
Pipeline operator TransCanada Corp is seeing strong interest from oil shippers in locking up the remaining space on Keystone XL and expects it to be fully subscribed, its chief executive said on Thursday.TransCanada has not yet made a final investment decision on its $8-billion Keystone XL (KXL) expansion, which would boost export capacity from the oil-rich province of Alberta to U.S. refineries. That decision may come late this year or in early 2019, pending some remaining regulatory approvals needed and court challenges…
TransCanada Revenue Tops Estimates
TransCanada Corp reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue on Thursday, helped by performance in the company's U.S. natural gas pipelines. Revenue from the company's U.S. natural gas pipelines unit rose to C$337 million ($265.40 million) in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, from C$332 million a year earlier. However, revenue in its Canadian natural gas pipelines fell 4 percent to C$316 million. TransCanada is trying to build its 830,000 barrels-per-day Keystone…
KeystoneXL Opponents Vow Long Fight as Nebraska Hearing Concludes
Opponents of the Keystone XL pipeline vowed on Thursday to block construction of the controversial project if Nebraska regulators approve the proposed route later this year. Nebraska regulators wrapped up a final public hearing a day early on Thursday on TransCanada Corp's proposed Keystone XL pipeline after four days of contentious exchanges between lawyers. They will make their final decision by Nov. 23. After the hearing, two dozen landowners and other pipeline opponents vowed non-violent civil disobedience if the commission rules in favor of TransCanada.
TransCanada Frees Up Keystone Pipeline Capacity
TransCanada Corp is offering crude oil shippers extra space on its Keystone pipeline from Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast after technological improvements freed up 10,000-15,000 barrels per day (bpd) of capacity, the company said on Friday. The overall capacity on the 590,000 bpd Keystone pipeline has not changed, but the company will be able to increase daily volumes, said TransCanada spokesman Mark Cooper. "This is essentially some operating efficiencies that we have been able to find through technological advancements to allow us to contract out more volume," he said.
Kemp: Million Barrels of Oil per day Riding U.S. Rails
More than 1 million barrels of crude oil move by train across the United States every day, according to data published for the first time by the government on Tuesday. The volume of crude shipped by rail has increased more than 50-fold in five years, from just 630,000 barrels in January 2010 to 33.7 million barrels in January 2015, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) revealed in its first monthly report on movements of oil by rail. Until now, information on oil shipments has been incomplete, partly confidential and scattered across a number of sources.
North Dakota Passes Crude Safety Rule
North Dakota's Industrial Commission on Tuesday ordered that all oil produced from the Bakken petroleum system must be passed through surface separation facilities to ensure it is safe prior to transport. The regulations respond to concerns about the flammability of Bakken oil following a series of train fires across the United States and Canada involving crude originating from the Williston Basin. From Apr 1, 2015, all oil produced from the Bakken and associated formations must be passed through a gas-liquid separator or heater-treater.
Sanctions Bite Russian Arctic Oil Shippers
Shipping services that support Russia's attempts to extract oil from remote parts of the Arctic will run into difficulties as banks scale back energy financing due to Western sanctions, increasing transport costs for the frontier sector. Sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States and European Union over Ukraine have targeted the delivery of oil technology, goods and services, aiming to make it impossible for Moscow to access new oil sources. The world's largest energy exporter, Russia relies on oil and gas exports for about half its federal budget.
US Places New Rules on Rail Oil Shippers
U.S. orders oil-by-rail shippers to advise when cargo moves through states Oil-by-rail shippers must advise state officials when their cargo moves across the state, the U.S. Transportation secretary said on Wednesday, as officials took further steps in response to a string of fiery derailments. Secretary Anthony Foxx, addressing lawmakers, also said DOT-111 tank cars, the workhorse of the oil-by-rail sector, were not fit for such cargo and should be taken out of circulation or made sturdier. (Reporting By Patrick Rucker; Editing by Bill Trott)
