industryterm:oil trade

Now you see it, now you don’t: oil surplus vanishes ahead of Iran d...
▻https://diasp.eu/p/7650967

Now you see it, now you don’t: oil surplus vanishes ahead of Iran deadline

Source: Reuters

“An overhang of homeless crude in the Atlantic Basin has halved in recent weeks, suggesting oil traders are bracing for a further supply loss from Iran due to U.S. sanctions and a new rally in prices. Iran’s oil exports are already dropping fast as refiners scurry to find alternatives ahead of a reimposition of U.S. sanctions in early November, which in turn has helped drain a glut of unsold oil. The millions of unsold barrels of crude that had pooled around northwest Europe, the Mediterranean and West Africa over July and August are rapidly draining. A months-long surplus in the West African market that depressed prices to their lowest in months has almost vanished.” (08/30/18) (...)

How US sanctions on Iran can help Russia win trade battle with European rivals — RT Business News
▻https://www.rt.com/business/428532-russia-iran-us-sanctions

Russian companies working in Iran have an advantage over European rivals – they are already under US sanctions, so they have nothing to lose, TeleTrade Chief Analyst Petr Pushkarev told RT.

“Russian companies will continue doing business in Iran as if nothing happened at all – in oil, gas and nuclear energy. They have this advantage over the Europeans, who, like Total or Airbus, have major businesses in the US and are listed on American exchanges,” Pushkarev said.

India & Iran drop dollar in oil trade to bypass US sanctions – report
Companies from Russia can simply ignore Washington’s threats of imposing fines for trade with Iran or for conducting projects in Iran, the analyst says. Russian trade with Iran accounts only for $2 billion, but it can grow significantly, Pushkarev notes.

“This is quite real because Russia and Iran are natural allies in Syria. #Rosneft has preliminary agreements with Iran worth up to $30 billion, and even if only a small part of these plans are implemented with Russia, and not with European partners, it can be a significant gain for Moscow,” he said.

Another possible sphere for boosting business ties between Moscow and Tehran are contracts for the delivery of civil aviation aircraft, Pushkarev says. Iran planned the purchase of 100 aircraft from Boeing, 80 from Airbus and another 20 from the Franco-Italian ATR. “Russia will have a chance to deliver its MC-21 jets, if Iran agrees to wait for a couple of years, since the aircraft is just on the way and ends the testing phase,” he said.

Une ouverture à l’exportation pour le tout nouveau Irkout #MS-21 ?

Irkout MS-21 — Wikipédia
▻https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irkout_MS-21

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/Maiden_flight_of_MC-21.jpg/1200px-Maiden_flight_of_MC-21.jpg

En 2009, Irkut annonce une première sortie de chaîne en 2014 et une certification européenne en 2016. Sa version de base MS-21-200 de 150 places devrait être suivie du MS-21-300 de 180 places et du MS-21-400 de 210 places.

En septembre 2014, à la suite de retards, on déclare qu’il fera son premier vol en avril 2016 et entrera en service en 2017. Il est prévu d’en construire 50 exemplaires par an à partir de 2018.

Le MS-21-300 effectue son premier vol le 28 mai 2017 à Irkoutsk. Il est rejoint par un deuxième prototype le 12 mai 2018.

Le principal poste d’importation de brut états-unien teste son fonctionnement en sens inverse. Le supertanker bénéficiant de cette première est un navire saoudien transportant son brut vers… la Chine ;

America’s Supertanker Terminal Set to Export Oil for the First Time - Bloomberg
▻https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-13/america-s-supertanker-terminal-set-to-export-oil-for-first-time

The flood of crude leaving the U.S. could be about to get a major boost: the nation’s top imports terminal is testing one of the industry’s biggest tankers to load an export cargo for the first time.

If the trial run signals the start of regular exports from Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, it will be a step change in America’s capacity to export the burgeoning production that’s roiled global oil markets. The ability to load very large crude carriers, the industry term for giant ships able to carry two million barrels, will significantly cut the cost of shipping cargoes overseas.
[…]
On its website, the terminal said it’s testing a supertanker following modifications last year to allow crude exports. Shipping data compiled by Bloomberg and cargo tracking firm Kpler show the tanker is the Saudi Arabian-owned Shaden, chartered by China’s largest oil trader last month.

Oil and shipping markets on edge after South China Sea ruling | Reuters
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/us-southchinasea-ruling-shipping-idUSKCN0ZS1AJ

Deux points de vue sur la liberté de navigation en #Mer_de_Chine_méridionale, l’un « politique », l’autre (un assureur) « pragmatique »…

The ruling will be seen as a victory by other regional claimants such the Philippines and Vietnam, but with China rejecting the ruling and saying its military would defend its sovereign rights, nerves were on edge.

Although shippers and oil traders said they did not expect an immediate impact on shipping as a result of the ruling, oil prices jumped following the findings. Brent crude futures were up over $1, or more than 2 percent, to $47.60 per barrel at 1110 GMT.

“It is vital that merchant ships are allowed to go about their lawful business on the world’s oceans without diversion or delay. We will of course be monitoring for any interference in the coming weeks,” said Peter Hinchliffe, Secretary General of the International Chamber of Shipping in London.
[…]
Neil Roberts, manager of marine underwriting at the Lloyd’s Market Association, said the South China Sea is not listed by the LMA’s joint war committee which highlights insurance hotspots.

“Unless it is there would be no prospect of premiums rising,” Roberts told Reuters. “The shallow waters and numerous reefs in the Spratly island region means that commercial shipping is unlikely to be sailing within the territorial waters of any of the islands.”

Strikes cripple French oil refineries, disrupt shipping | Reuters
▻http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-france-politics-protests-oil-idUKKCN0YF26X

Le point de vue des pétroliers

Strikes by French oil sector workers protesting proposed labour reforms spread to all the country’s refineries on Tuesday, sapping petrol stations dry and creating delays for tankers at major ports.
[…]
The impact on the oil price has been limited so far: though the strikes have curbed demand from refineries, Brent crude was up nearly 1 percent on Tuesday at $48.73 a barrel on expectations that data would show a U.S. supply overhang was shrinking.

But with just a couple of weeks to go before the kick-off of the Euro 2016 football tournament in France, which is expected to attract more than a million foreign visitors, the government is under pressure to act quickly to free up flows of crude oil and refined products.
[…]
Crude oil traders said there were no signs yet of distress in the market, of cargoes being diverted to other ports, or of owners of physical barrels being forced to sell at steep discounts just to get rid of their oil.

Still, traders said it was probably just a matter of time before charges on ships for late arrival at destination ports, or demurrage, start to rise and owners of physical cargoes may have to fight harder to find buyers for their oil.

The flip-side for the oil market at least is that with French refineries either shut or running at minimum levels, an overhang of excess refined products in Europe is likely to clear up more quickly.

“The combination of upstream production outages and French strikes are going ... to clean up a bit of the overhang in both crude and products. But it will depend on how long either last,” one trader said.

#always_look_on_the_bright_side_of_life …

Oil Traders Looking Again Towards Floating Storage - gCaptain
▻http://gcaptain.com/oil-traders-looking-again-towards-floating-storage

Hep, les gens, c’est le moment de remplir vos piscines ! … de pétrole ;-)

http://i1.wp.com/gcaptain.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/shutterstock_313054091.jpg

The world is so awash with crude, the boss of BP Plc said people will be filling their “swimming pools” with it by the end of the year.

While the company’s Chief Executive Officer Bob Dudley bemoaned this bearish outlook for oil, traders were eyeing a potentially profitable opportunity: turning supertankers into temporary floating storage facilities.

Trading houses including Vitol Group, Koch Supply & Trading LP and Glencore Plc, plus the in-house trading arms of BP and Royal Dutch Shell Plc, collectively made billions of dollars from 2008 to 2009 stockpiling crude at sea. At the peak of the floating storage spree, sheltered anchorages in the North Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Singapore Strait and off South Africa each hosted dozens of supertankers.

Chris Bake, a senior executive at Vitol, the world’s largest independent oil trader, gave the clearest indication yet this week that traders are considering the same strategy again.

“Primary and secondary storage is pretty much full,” Bake said in London Wednesday. “It’s probably a good time to be a vessel owner.”

#Super-Contango

Floating storage is profitable when the market reaches a condition traders call a “super-contango.” In a contango market, prices of oil for delivery today are lower than those in future months. Buyers with access to storage can fill up their tanks with cheap crude and sell higher-priced futures contracts to lock in a profit.

This has been happening throughout the oil slump using onshore tanks, which are now starting to fill up. Oil stocks at Cushing, the Oklahoma town that calls itself the “pipeline crossroads of the world” and serves as the delivery point of the West Texas Intermediate futures contract, have surged to a record of 64.7 million barrels, or more than 88 percent of working capacity, according to data from the U.S. Department of Energy.

“In the second half, every tank and swimming pool in the world is going to fill,” BP’s Dudley said Wednesday at International Petroleum Week in London, which every year brings together hundreds of people from the oil industry, from producers and refiners to traders and bankers.

Russia presents proof of Turkey’s role in ISIS oil trade — RT News
▻https://www.rt.com/news/324263-russia-briefing-isis-funding

Turkey’s leadership, including President Erdogan and his family, is involved in illegal oil trade with Islamic State militants, says the Russian Defense Ministry, stressing that Turkey is the final destination for oil smuggled from Syria and Iraq.

Today, we are presenting only some of the facts that confirm that a whole team of bandits and Turkish elites stealing oil from their neighbors is operating in the region,” Antonov said, adding that this oil “in large quantities” enters the territory of Turkey via “live oil pipelines,” consisting of thousands of oil trucks.

https://cdn.rt.com/files/2015.12/original/565eebf7c36188094e8b45b9.jpg

Turkish villages smuggle IS oil through makeshift pipelines
▻http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/09/turkey-syria-iraq-illegal-oil-pipeline.html

▻http://www.al-monitor.com/files/live/sites/almonitor/files/images/almpics/2014/09/ft1s.JPG?t=thumbnail_570

Villagers in Hacipasa lay new pipelines for the oil, September 2014. (photo by Fehim Taştekin)

Here is how the oil trade fills IS coffers:

From Ezmerin, about 500 illegal oil pipelines, small-diameter plastic pipes normally used for irrigation, extend to the Turkish side of the Asi River. On the Turkish side, they are buried under agricultural fields to reach the village. Just like the village’s underground water distribution lines, oil pipelines crisscross under streets to reach the back yards of private houses. Diesel fuel pumped from a tanker on the Syrian side fills the private tanks. Simple “pump” and “stop” commands are given over cellular phones.

(...)

The state began to intervene only after the international media started to question whether Turkey was supporting IS and whether IS oil was being sold in Turkey. At the end of March, soldiers that had until then been watching the goings on from a hilltop about 100 meters from the river began digging up the pipes from the fields and cutting the ones that lay visible in the streets. Checkpoints were established to prevent the diesel from leaving Hacipasa. But the smugglers always found ways to bypass the gendarmerie, the latest being shipping the fuel in barrels.

(...)

The state knows what is going on, said the villagers. Everything was happening in front of its soldiers. Some people even imported machinery from Japan to dig and lay the pipes. That can’t be done secretly. Every day, about 30-50 tanker loads of diesel is transferred. In Hatay, there are 4,500 semi trucks. They all use this fuel. Trucks come from central Anatolia to buy cheap fuel.

(...)

When asked, "You are objecting to the measures taken, but aren’t you uncomfortable with the money IS makes from this business?” their answer was: "Fine, let’s say they cut off the oil as a measure against IS. But militants are crossing the border freely. Go to Esentepe and you will see it.’’ Esentepe is a Reyhanli neighborhood where most cars have Syrian license plates. People believe many militants reside in that neighborhood.