data/results_platts_09082024_clean.csv

,body,headline,updatedDate,topic_prediction,topic_verification,negative_score,neutral_score,positive_score,trend_prediction,trend_verification
0," The value of Guyana's Liza crude relative to Dated Brent weakened to the lowest differential in over four months on Aug. 8 amid market talk of unsold cargoes.   Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed Liza at a 40-cent/b discount to the 30- to 60-day forward Dated Brent strip, a decline of 75 cents/b on the day, and the lowest since March 11. The assessment was based on participation in the Platts Market on Close assessment process.   ExxonMobil entered the MOC offering a 1-million-barrel cargo of Liza to load Sept. 12-13 at a premium of 40 cents/b to Dated Brent. Then, gradually lowered that offer to a discount of 40 cents/b. Glencore Energy UK marked interest in buying the cargo, and a trade was confirmed at that level.   A separate trading source familiar with Guyanese crude said that the falling prices for the crude were due to a surplus of as many as five unsold cargoes, information that Platts could not independently verify.   The day's decline comes after Liza reached a yearly high against Dated Brent of plus $1.15/b in July 2-3.   Platts assessed Guyana's Unity Gold at flat to Dated Brent, and Payara Gold at a discount of 5 cents/b, both also declining 75 cents/b on the day. ",Guyana’s Liza crude flips to discount against Dated Brent for first time in four months,2024-08-08 22:12:10+00:00,Other,Other,0.1914842621965287,0.027988088130626428,0.99662128325892,Bullish,Bullish
1," Drilling times are down 20% from 2023 for oil producer Riley Exploration Permian, led by improved efficiencies which resulted in better cost savings over the second quarter, executives said Aug. 8.   Total production was at 21.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, a quarterly increase of 5%. Oil production accounted for most of the growth, up 4% on the quarter at 14.7 million b/d.   Riley, formed from a late February 2021 merger between Riley Exploration and Tengasco and headquartered in Oklahoma City, closed on its acquisition   in Eddy County, New Mexico, for $18.1 million in early May. The bolt-on acquisition contributed to production during the last two months of the quarter as it ""added producing properties and development locations to our existing operating footprint"" in the region, CEO Bobby Riley said during the company's second-quarter earnings call.   Vertical production, which are volumes from wells that are typically less expensive to drill and less productive on average than horizontal wells, was up between 40% to 50% from 2023, Riley added.   Well costs, as a result, were down by over 20% on average year over year and down over 25% compared to 2022. Drilling efficiencies paired with   completion redesigns accounted for just over half of these savings, according to the company.   Drilling times were down 20% from 2023 and 40% from 2022, seen largely in the producers' operations in their primary San Andres asset, called Champions, located on the Northwest Shelf of the Permian Basin.   Champions consists of two fields, Wasson and Brahaney, mainly sited on the Texas side of the giant legacy oilfield which also extends into southeast New Mexico. The company produces from wells drilled to roughly 5,200 foot depths, in an area of the Permian which has produced since the 1930s and has cumulatively yielded over 2.3 billion barrels of oil.   On a macro level, executives noted that increased consolidation by E&P companies was creating a ""favorable"" environment for Riley Exploration.   ""We've obviously had a tremendous amount of consolidation,"" CFO Philip Riley said. ""More often than not, that's pulling demand out of the system for these services,"" ""Look at the year-over-year rig count... it's down by 90 or 100.""   Given the consolidation by E&P companies, which drop a rig or two depending on their size while they digest their new assets, there are more rigs not working and are available. As a result, there's less pressure to drive up prices due to the ample amount of idle rigs.   ""We're not necessarily competing with those guys for the same rig, but it generally pulls pressure out of the system, same thing with fracking,"" he said. ""It's just a pretty favorable environment for us.   Looking ahead, the company forecast midpoint growth at 13% for 2024 hinging on the oil pricing environment, which has been ""volatile"" for most of the year, Philip Riley added.   ""Every time we think we're done with volatility, we get something new in the Middle East or a political backdrop or such,"" he said. ""So we'll see where prices are bouncing around and what that affords us frankly, between a $70/b and $80/b WTI level is fantastic. We're not holding out for 90 or 100. Our wells are economic far, far below that.""   NYMEX September WTI settled at $76.19/b and ICE October Brent at $79.16/b Aug. 8. ",Riley Exploration Permian sees incremental production growth on quarter,2024-08-08 21:58:38+00:00,Other,Other,0.38250430893327647,0.10081162639166778,0.9401342255261318,Bullish,Bullish
2," US-based petrochemical company Koppers expects sales volumes for phthalic anhydride to remain elevated going into the third quarter, CEO Leroy Ball said during the company's Aug. 8 earnings call.   ""Phthalic anhydride business had a second consecutive strong quarter as we continue to catch a windfall from other production struggles in the industry,"" CEO Leroy Ball said. ""While we originally thought we could see the benefits subside by the end of Q2, it looks like we might be able to enjoy it for at least another quarter.""   The strong volumes of PA sales partially offset a decline in sales in the company's Carbon Materials and Chemicals segment in the second quarter. Koppers reported the CMC segment's sales dropped 18.22% on the year. For 2024, the company estimated annual sales growth for CMC to decrease by $60 million due primarily to price and volume declines in carbon pitch.   Produced using orthoxylene, PA is an intermediate chemical used to make phthalate plasticizers, polyethyer polyols and alkyd resins, which are seen in spray paint. Additionally, PA is used to make PVC more flexible and for applications including spray foam insulation.   Feedstock OX contract prices declined 4.27% in the second quarter from 58.50 cents/lb in March to 56 cents/lb in June, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights data.   In addition to crude oil-based OX for PA production, Koppers uses carbon pitch distilled from coal tar, generated during the steelmaking process.   Fellow US PA producer Stepan reported  having operational issues throughout the second quarter  related to a flooding event at the company's PA plant in Millsdale, Illinois, leading to lower PA volumes in the quarter, CEO Scott Behrens said during the company's July 31 earnings call.   Koppers, Stepan and ExxonMobil are the three PA producers in the US. ",Koppers expects phthalic anhydride sales to remain elevated in third quarter,2024-08-08 21:56:47+00:00,Light Ends,Light Ends,0.7442908242284448,0.14675136273403877,0.5841447125307492,Bearish,Bearish
3," Canada's Frontera Energy is currently drilling oil wells in both Ecuador and Colombia as oil and gas output fell for a fourth straight quarter in Q2, CEO Orlando Cabrales said Aug. 8.   The Espejo Norte-A1 well in Ecuador's Espejo Block and Hidra-1 well in Colombia's VIM-1 Block, part of the company's $272 million-$335 million 2024 capex, come as quarterly production fell 5% to 39,912 barrels of oil equivalent/d on the year, Cabrales said on a quarterly conference call.   The company produced 37,422 b/d of crude (-4.6% on the year), while natural gas output dropped 28.6% to 4,019-Mcf/d and gas liquids slid 2.3% to 1,785 b/d in the second quarter, Frontera said in a statement.   Production rebounded to 40,600 boe/d in July after the company expanded both water disposal capacity at the CPE-6 and Quifa blocks and gas compression facilities at the VIM-1 block, in addition to well workovers at the Sabanero Block, all in Colombia, Cabrales said. The company remains on track to meet 2024 guidance of 40,000-42,000 boe/d, he added.   Frontera drilled 30 development wells at its Quifa, Cajua and CPE-6 blocks in Q2, according to the company. A total of 62 development wells are planned for Colombia this year.   The company, looking to spin-off its Colombian infrastructure division and line up a partner for its Guyana offshore Corentyne Block, plans to start operating the Reficar hydrocarbons connection pipeline at its Puerto Bahía Caribbean port in December, while a $60 million LPG project at Puerto Bahía with Chile's Gasco is set for completion in 2027.   The company, which sold oil at $72.85/bbl (+13.7%) in the quarter, exports about 90% of its output. Frontera posted a $2.8 million quarterly loss compared with an $80 million profit a year ago, even as sales were little changed at $209 million. ","Canada's Frontera Energy currently drilling oil wells in Ecuador, Colombia: CEO says",2024-08-08 21:55:57+00:00,Crude Oil,Crude Oil,0.8086226107287079,0.08423717806458876,0.7852501485720346,Bearish,Bearish
4," California jet inventories slid from a nearly five-month high by 303,000 barrels to 3.163 million barrels in the week ended Aug. 2, marking the first week to week California inventory draw since the Fourth of July holiday, California Energy Commission data shows.   Stocks across the US West Coast reached a record-high in the week ended July 26, measuring north of 12 million barrels, according to the Energy Information Administration’s Weekly Petroleum Report released Aug. 7 like the CEC data. The USWC region is comprised of California and Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Arizona.   Despite California jet stock draws in the week ended Aug. 2, US jet stocks have been near or above their five-year highs since March, but the build has accelerated over the past several weeks, driven by strong imports into the USWC, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights analysts in the latest North America Short-Term Outlook for refined products.   Meanwhile, the CEC in its Aug. 7 Weekly Refinery Inputs and Production Report said statewide jet output rose from a four-week low by 43,000 b/d to 347,000 b/d in the same week.   Imports to the USWC rose to a four-week high by 38,000 b/d to 93,000 b/d on the week, up from 55,000 b/d the prior week, the EIA said. A cargo carrying 327,000 barrels of jet fuel discharged in Anchorage, Alaska, on July 29, according to US Customs data.   The jet arbitrage from South Korea to the USWC was estimated shut Aug. 8 at minus $1.59/b, potentially slowing deliveries, data from S&P Global Commodity Insight’s Refined Product ArbFlow daily report showed.   Platts, part of Commodity Insights, assessed the differential for Los Angeles pipeline jet fuel 0.25 cent weaker on Aug. 8 at NYMEX September ULSD futures minus 18.25 cents/gal, and its outright price dived 0.03 cent to $2.1753/gal.    California ULSD stocks soar to 18-week high as CARB output shrinks    California ultra-low sulfur diesel stocks surged 234,000 barrels in the week ended Aug. 2, rising to an 18-week high 1.352 million barrels, the CEC also reported on Aug. 7.   California ULSD production rose by 43,000 b/d in the week ending Aug. 2, helping boost the state’s output to over 100,000 b/d, while output of CARB diesel, which meets stricter state specifications, slid 65,000 b/d to 128,000 b/d.   Despite week on week draws for CARB diesel throughputs, statewide inventories rose for the third consecutive week by 57,000 barrels to reach 1.847 million barrels, marking a three-week high.   Recent imports in the US West Coast showed that at least two cargoes totaling 240,000 barrels of renewable diesel were discharged in Long Beach, California, in the week ended Aug. 2, US Customs data shows.   Growing renewable diesel supply will result in significant inventory builds in on the USWC, increasing diesel available for export through 2025, Commodity Insights analysts have said. USWC exports are filling a growing portion of a shrinking Latin America diesel deficit, they added.   “I expect by the end of the year, RD will have roughly an 80% market share of the total makeup of diesel consumption in the state,” Andy Lipow, energy analyst of Lipow Oil Associates, recently told Commodity Insights.   Platts assessed Los Angeles diesel differentials lower Aug. 8 at a 9.75 cents/gal discount to September ULSD futures. San Francisco differentials were assessed unchanged at a minus 10 cents/gal discount to September ULSD futures. ", California jet inventories buck six weeks of builds as imports rise: CEC,2024-08-08 21:45:40+00:00,Middle Distillates,Middle Distillates,0.9929752645384033,0.0574566891381264,0.043782130761750276,Bearish,Bearish
5," SBM Offshore will construct and lease a floating storage and offloading unit to Woodside Energy for the Trion oil field the company is developing in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, SBM said Aug. 8.   Trion is an alliance between Woodside and Mexican state oil and gas company Pemex, where Woodside owns a 60% state and is the operator. The Trion field is located 180 km (112 miles) off the Mexican coastline and 30 km south of the US-Mexico border, and is the first deepwater project being developed in Mexico. When complete, Trion is expected to have a production of 100,000 b/d at peak. Woodside has said that to handle that production, it will require a 950,0000-barrel capacity floating storage and offloading vessel, or FSO. First oil is expected in 2028.   The contract SBM Offshore has signed with Woodside is for a period of 20 years and complements a transportation and installation contract for the FSO and the FPU awarded to SBM in 2023, the company said in the statement.   The design of the FSO is based on a Suezmax-type hull and it will be equipped with a disconnectable turret mooring system, or DTM, the company said in the statement. Turret moored FSOs allow the FSO to weathervane about the mooring system in response to the environment, allowing vessels to adapt their orientation to reduce the vessel-environment angles and the resulting load on the mooring, which allows for optimum offloading. The FSO will be moored in water depth of about 2,500 meters and will be able to store around 950,000 barrels of crude oil.   According to Woodside Energy, the Trion project will target the development of an estimated 479 MMboe of best estimate contingent resource of oil and natural gas. Two-thirds of the Trion resource are expected to be produced within the first 10 years after start-up, the company has said. The total capital expenditure forecast for Trion is $7.2 billion.     ","SBM Offshore to build, lease FSO unit to Woodside Energy for Mexico's Trion",2024-08-08 21:37:12+00:00,Other,Other,0.35315712624871565,0.04371241341550022,0.9900901205151161,Bullish,Bullish
6," US producer Occidental Petroleum hit the company’s highest quarterly onshore production level in four years amid strong performance in the Permian Basin and in the Gulf of Mexico, company executives said Aug. 8.   Second-quarter total production was 1.26 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, exceeding the mid-point of its guidance by 6,000 boe/d, the company said in a statement.   “We’re exceeding our production expectations for onshore new wells across all our basins and are continuing to achieve operational efficiencies as we execute our capital program,” CEO Vicki Hollub said during a call with investors.    CrownRock deal    Oxy on Aug. 1 closed its acquisition of Permian producer CrownRock. The integration of the Midland Basin assets will unlock efficiencies through infrastructure sharing, resource utilization and best practices from the organizations, Hollub said.   “We absolutely believe that the CrownRock asset as a combined asset is … one of the best we’ve seen,” Hollub said. CrownRock will produce about 156,000 boe/d.   Oxy is maintaining its expected production levels for the full year, excluding production from CrownRock, even with the expected divestiture of 15,000 boe/d in the fourth quarter, according to a statement from the company.   Oxy had negotiated an agreement for Colombia’s Ecopetrol to buy a 30% working interest of CrownRock, but Colombian President Gustavo Petro did not approve of the deal, Hollub said.   “He’s made it very clear to the world that he’s anti-oil and gas, anti-fracking and anti-US, and with those three strikes, he pretty much dealt Ecopetrol out of the deal,” Hollub said regarding Petro.   “Unfortunately, there are others in the world like Petro, and there are some actually in the United States like Petro, who believe that oil and gas should go away and believe that we shouldn’t be an industry anymore,” Hollub said. “But the reality is that, as you know, oil and gas is going to be needed for many decades to come,” she said.    Direct air capture project    Hollub also touted progress on the company’s Stratos project in Texas, which will pull carbon dioxide out of the air and put it in assets in the Midland Basin, including CrownRock, to get more oil out of the ground.   The project is expected to remove and permanently store up to 500,000 metric tons of CO2e/year when it is fully operational. Stratos is expected to be commercially operational in mid-2025, according to Oxy’s presentation.   In July, Oxy announced a deal with Microsoft for the sale of 500,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide removal, or CDR, credits over six years from the project.   “Obviously, sales with Microsoft not only will be the largest CDR kind of block sale to date, but really, that counterparty meant a lot to us,” said Richard Jackson, president of US onshore resources and carbon management. “We know they’re very diligent in the way they think about what the product of a CDR can mean to the business,” he said. ","Occidental production hits four-year high thanks to Permian, Gulf of Mexico output",2024-08-08 20:40:14+00:00,Middle Distillates,Middle Distillates,0.07676958395793217,0.1978364703981597,0.9913148432988623,Bullish,Bullish
7," Argentinian crude oil runs fell 1.2% year on year in June as a surge in fuel oil production failed to offset declines in most other products, state-run statistics department Indec reported Aug. 8.   Fuel oil output increased 28% on the year in June, while gasoline output fell 5.4% and diesel output tumbled 6.8% in the same period, Indec reported.   The Indec data did not provide raw data nor reasons for the changes.   The country's asphalt production decreased 47% in the same period, Indec said.   Crude oil run rates fell 1.4% in the first half of 2024 compared to the first half of 2023, led by a 3% decline in diesel production and a 2.7% decline in gasoline production, the data showed.   Crude runs slowed in 2023 after a post-pandemic surge in 2021 and 2022, as rising inflation depressed demand. Annual inflation nearly hit 290% in April 2024 -- marking the highest inflation since a bout of hyperinflation in 1989 and 1990 -- but declined to 272% in June.   The cost of living is expected to ease to 127% at the end of 2024 and 41% at the end of 2025, according to a survey of economists by the Argentinian central bank.   The economy is expected to shrink 3.7% in 2024, depressing demand for petroleum products, before recovering with 3.2% growth in 2025 and 3% growth in 2026, according to the survey.   State-run oil company YPF has a 55% share of diesel and gasoline sales, trailed by Shell-backed Raizen, BP-backed Pan American Energy and Trafigura.   Argentina has about 560,000 b/d of installed refining capacity, but demand generally runs at 525,000 b/d. All of the crude is supplied domestically from fields that produced an average of 660,000 b/d in June. However, refiners must import additional supplies of higher-grade products because of the lack of capacity to make them. "," June oil refining falls 1.2% on year, government says",2024-08-08 20:20:22+00:00,Crude Oil,Crude Oil,0.7851640569493721,0.013403684438439303,0.9660338237129553,Bullish,Bullish
8," The price differential for the UK's Forties crude gained over $1/b Aug. 8, as concerns over lackluster Eastern demand subside to rapid tightening of physical crude in the wake of a  force majeure at Libya's Sharara Field , which has spurred a recent uptick in demand for prompt barrels, sources said.   Platts, a part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, last assessed the differential for Forties basis FOB Hound Point at a $1.39/b premium to Dated Brent, up $1.09/b on the day and its highest level since July 8, when the differential was assessed at $1.62/b.   The increase follows a return of buying interest for the crude as contracts across the Brent complex rebound from lows reached in recent sessions.   In the Aug. 8 Platts Market on Close assessment process, five bids for cargoes of Forties were published by both Unipec and BP.   UK major BP initially bid on an OCO (Order cancels order) basis for two cargoes of Forties, FOB Hound Point, loading Sept. 4-6 and Aug. 28-30, respectively. The bids both reached a $1.10/b premium to Dated Brent and were withdrawn before the 1630 London close.   Unipec initially bid for three FOB Forties cargoes, loading Aug. 24-30, Sept. 4-6, and Sept. 8-10, respectively, with the two bids for September loading crude bid for on an OCO basis.   At 16:24 London time, Shell sold into Unipec's Sept. 4-6 bid at a $1.35/b premium to Dated Brent, automatically causing the Sept. 8-10 bid to be withdrawn.   Unipec's bid for an Aug. 24-20 loading cargo was reached a $1.35/b premium to Dated Brent and was left outstanding at the London close.   Around 70 fields contribute to Forties Blend, a sour crude with a sulfur content and API gravity that vary according to the percentage of Buzzard crude within the blend.   Forties is one of the six crude grades that can demonstrate value for the global crude oil benchmark Dated Brent. ",Forties Differential gains more than $1/b on the day,2024-08-08 20:19:14+00:00,Other,Other,0.9144975046168256,0.0061742710841686,0.9439877619874764,Bullish,Bullish
9," Crude oil futures settled higher Aug. 8 against a backdrop of continued recovery in global financial markets and tighter supply outlooks.   NYMEX September WTI settled 96 cents higher at $76.19/b and ICE October Brent climbed 83 cents to $79.16/b.   ""US crude oil inventories are at their lowest level since February, this suggests demand for physical barrels remains robust, despite concerns about weak economic activity,"" said ANZ commodity strategists.   US commercial crude stocks fell 3.73 million barrels to 429.32 million barrels in the week ended Aug. 2, data from the Energy Information Administration showed Aug. 7. The draw put stocks about 6% below the five-year average for this time of year.   “One of the concerns that we should have, and I think the market is starting to realize that, is that we are heading into a supply deficit with crude oil inventories falling for the 7th week in a row,” Price Futures Group analyst Phil Flynn said.   Meanwhile recession fears and broader demand growth concerns eased amid signs of continued stabilization in global financial markets. US equity indexes were up around 2% in afternoon trading following a stronger-than-employment report showing initial jobless claims declined by 17,000 in the week ended Aug. 3 to 233,000.   NYMEX September RBOB settled up 4.19 cents at $2.3992/gal and September ULSD climbed 22 points to $2.3578/gal.    OPEC+ output climbs in July    OPEC+ crude production in July made its biggest jump in almost a year, as Iraq and Kazakhstan raised their output despite committing to deeper cuts, while Russia also remained well over its quota.   The group's overall production was up 160,000 b/d compared with June, totaling 41.03 million b/d, the  Platts OPEC+ survey from S&P Global Commodity Insights  showed Aug. 8.   July was the first month of compensation plans introduced by three countries that overproduced in the first half of 2024. Iraq pledged to cut an additional 70,000 b/d in July and Kazakhstan pledged to cut a further 18,000 b/d. Russia's compensation plan does not include additional cuts until October 2024.   The survey found that Iraq produced 4.33 million b/d in July - 400,000 b/d above its quota. This contributed to growth in OPEC production of 130,000 b/d to 26.89 million b/d.   The rise in output in July came despite the poor performance of the alliance's African contingent, with production in Nigeria, South Sudan, Gabon and Libya falling by a collective 80,000 b/d. "," Crude climbs on tighter US supply, easing recession fears",2024-08-08 20:08:11+00:00,Crude Oil,Crude Oil,0.06284123847331767,0.09511055638701615,0.9970466205501836,Bullish,Bullish
10," The US oil and gas drilling rig count dipped 4 to 632 in the week ended July 31, S&P Global Commodity Insights data showed Aug. 8, as oil drilling activity retreated from a 12-week high.   The number of active oil-focused drilling rigs declined 6 to 534, while the gas-focused rig count climbed 2 to 98.   Changes in drilling activity varied across the major named oil-focused basins. The Permian Basin rig count climbed 5 to 298, a four-week high, and the number of rigs active in the Eagle Ford climbed 1 to 53. The SCOOP-STACK and Denver-Julesburg each shed a single rig, putting the total number of rigs active in those basins to 22 and 10, respectively.   The number of active rigs in the Bakken held at 40 for a third straight week – the highest level since April 2023. Among the major oil plays, only the Bakken shows an annual increase in drilling activity, with rig counts up 4 from year-ago levels.   Hess Midstream reported strong growth in  natural gas processing volumes  in the Bakken Shale in the second quarter amid strong production from its primary customer Hess Corp, and expects volumes in the basin to increase in coming years as pipeline expansions begin service.   Gas processing volumes rose 17% year on year to 419 MMcf/d in the second quarter, up from 393 MMcf/d in the first quarter, the company reported July 31. It is guiding gas processing volumes of 405-415 MMcf/d for 2024, and it reiterated expected annualized growth in gas throughput volumes of 10% from 2024 through 2026.   Among the top gas-focused plays, Haynesville and Marcellus operators added a single rig each, putting rig counts in those basins up to 19 and 41, respectively. Utica basin operators idled a single rig, putting the total count there down to 10.   A lack of sufficient pipeline takeaway capacity has weighed heavily on Permian Basin gas prices this year, with cash prices at the Waha Hub in West Texas averaging minus 53 cents/MMBtu since March 1, Platts data showed Aug. 7. Platts is part of S&P Global Commodity Insights. Houston Ship Channel averaged $1.59/MMBtu in the same period, while Henry Hub averaged $1.93/MMBtu, according to Platts data. Matterhorn will send gas east toward Houston, potentially adding pressure on the Houston Ship Channel basis.   The 2.5 Bcf/d Matterhorn natural gas pipeline out of the US' Permian Basin is expected to begin service in September, EnLink Midstream CFO Benjamin Lamb  said Aug. 7 .   ""We expect the pipeline to be in service in the month of September,"" Lamb said during the company's second-quarter earnings call. ""That's maybe a two-week difference to what the original plan was -- toward the very end of August."" Lamb attributed the delay to weather-related effects of Hurricane Beryl.   Further exit capacity from the Permian Basin is planned for late 2026 in the form of the Blackcomb Pipeline, which  reached FID on July 31 . The pipeline will be able to transport up to 2.5 Bcf/d toward Agua Dulce in South Texas. Meanwhile, Energy Transfer hopes to announce a final investment decision on the Warrior natural gas pipeline out of the Permian Basin later this year, co-CEO Marshall McCrea said Aug. 7.     ","US oil, gas rig count falls 4 to 632 as oil-focused drilling slows",2024-08-08 20:04:04+00:00,Crude Oil,Crude Oil,0.8957497655938182,0.006653864867680506,0.9618958630185156,Bullish,Bullish
11," Pampa Energía, the fifth-biggest natural gas producer in Argentina, plans to increase its oil production to 50,000 b/d by the end of 2027 from 5,000 b/d in the second half of this year as export opportunities grow with new pipeline projects, E&P head Horacio Turri said Aug. 8.   “Our aim is to reach a plateau of 45,000 to 50,000 barrels per day,” Turri said on a conference call with investors.   To achieve this growth, Pampa is betting on Vaca Muerta, a huge shale play in the country’s southwest where it has found promising results in its Rincón de Aranda Block.   The first two wells have been put into production there, while another three pads of wells will be drilled and completed between this year and 2025 to boost the block’s oil output to 10,000 b/d to 12,000 b/d in 2025, Turri said.   This production is more than the company’s existing takeaway capacity from Vaca Muerta, meaning it will have to acquire idle capacity from other companies, he added.   The next jump in growth will come when YPF, Argentina's state-run energy company, completes the construction of Vaca Muerta Sur, a pipeline and export terminal designed to begin shipping 250,000 b/d in mid-2026 via an Atlantic port and increase to 800,000 b/d by as soon as 2030.   Pampa has 48,000 b/d of contracted capacity on Vaca Muerta Sur, Turri said.   A series of midstream projects including Vaca Muerta Sur are underway or in the planning phase to increase Vaca Muerta’s takeaway capacity — now at around 300,000 b/d — to 1.4 million by 2030 or soon thereafter, with most of it going to the Atlantic and some 100,000 b/d to the Pacific via Chile.   This takeaway capacity is boosting Argentina’s oil exports, which shot up 45% to 168,000 b/d in the first half of this year from 116,000 b/d in the year-earlier period, according to data from Economía y Energía, a consulting firm. The exports in the first half of this year were the highest since the 175,000 b/d in 2005, the data showed.   Argentina’s oil production rose 6.5% to 660,414 b/d in June from the year-earlier month, led by Vaca Muerta, taking the level above the 525,000 b/d of average demand, according to Energy Secretariat data. ","Argentina's Pampa Energia to boost Vaca Muerta oil output to 50,000 b/d by end-2027",2024-08-08 19:55:10+00:00,Other,Other,0.35841847369763447,0.20043093099374504,0.930004835231306,Bullish,Bullish
12," Murphy Oil is ramping up its activity offshore Vietnam, with two exploration wells planned to be spudded during the next few months, company executives said Aug. 8.   Late in the third quarter, Murphy will drill the Hai Su Vang exploration well on Block 15-2/17, targeting a gross resource potential of 170 million to 430 million barrels of oil equivalent, President and Chief Operating Officer Eric Hambly said during a second-quarter earnings conference call.   ""It's a very nice-looking prospect, a sizable prospect that will test the same type of geology as our Lac Da Vang development,"" Hambly said.   At the same time, Murphy is advancing plans to drill the Lac Da Hong exploration well on Block 15-105 in the fourth quarter, he said.   That ""other exciting"" well contains estimated gross resource potential of 65 million to 135 million boe, he said. Both wells are sited in the Cuu Long Basin.   ""We forecast approximately $30 million in total net drilling costs for the wells,"" he added. The wells could ""create a more sizable business for us in Vietnam.""   Concurrently, Murphy is developing the Lac Da Vang project offshore Vietnam, which the company operates. Award of major contracts are currently in progress, according to Murphy's Q2 slide presentation, while facilities and pipeline contracts have already been awarded.   The field contains estimated gross recoverable resources of 100 million boe, and its net peak production will be around 10,000-15,000 b/d of oil equivalent when it comes online in 2026.    Vietnam brought Murphy in-country    Murphy CEO Roger Jenkins said the government of Vietnam persuaded the company to operate in its offshore based on Murphy's previous long, successful operation offshore Malaysia. In 2019, Murphy sold that business to Thailand's national oil company PTTEP for $2.1 billion, 20 years after entering the country.   Wood Mackenzie said in a 2019 report the Malaysia operation, which featured both shallow- and deepwater fields, ""would come to define [Murphy's] international portfolio.""   The sale allowed Murphy to ""focus on its core positions in the US Gulf of Mexico [and] North American onshore,"" Wood Mac said at the time.   Today, Jenkins said, the company has ""lots of prospects in Vietnam [and we] chose to drill a couple of big ones in a row that are very exciting in a lower-risk basin to help build up possibly a big business"" in that country.   Meanwhile, in the US Gulf of Mexico Murphy, Occidental Petroleum and Chevron drilled a deepwater discovery in Q2, Ocotillo-1, unearthing about 100 feet of net pay across two zones, Hambly said.    May be tied back to Oxy facility    ""The partner group is currently evaluating results to determine the next steps, and we look forward to advancing this project,"" he said. ""I anticipate that it will be tied back to a nearby facility operated by Oxy.""   Another US Gulf well, named Orange – a 50-50 venture between Murphy and Oxy, 12 miles south of Ocotillo – was found to have non-commercial hydrocarbons, and has been plugged and abandoned, he added.   Ocotillo and Orange complete the company's US Gulf exploration program for 2024, he added.   Oxy operates both wells, which are located in upper Mississippi Canyon, about 75 miles southeast of Louisiana's ""toe."" Murphy and Oxy both hold 33% of Ocotillo, while Chevron has 34%.   Also in the US Gulf, the company is ""putting [online] a lot of nice wells"" at its operated Samurai field, which first came online in April 2022, Jenkins said. ""There are over 60 million barrels remaining in Samurai today.""   Murphy, in partnership with the former Anadarko Petroleum, paid a bonus of $105 million-plus to the US government in 2008 to lease the Green Canyon tract offshore Louisiana on which they made the discovery, in 2009.   But low oil prices at the time tamped down large US Gulf oil developments. Murphy didn't resume work at the field for about a decade. Anadarko opted out of the development, and was acquired by Oxy in 2019.        Drilling wells around King's Quay hub    Samurai produces into the King's Quay production hub with two other fields, Khaleesi and Mormont. Jenkins said the company is currently drilling two wells around those two other fields. The Khaleesi well came online in Q2, the Mormont well in Q3.   ""We have a full year [ahead] of those very high-rate wells,"" he said.   In Q2, Murphy produced about 180,600 b/d of oil equivalent, up 6.5% from Q1 but down about 2% year on year.   Oil production was 91,000 b/d in Q2, down 8% from the same period a year ago, while natural gas output was 486,000 Mcf/d in Q2, up 9% from Q2 2023.   During Q2, Murphy's Eagle Ford operation produced 28,000 boe/d, the Tupper Montney produced around 400,000 Mcf/d, the Kaybob Duvernay 4,000 boe/d, the US Gulf 74,000 boe/d and Canadian offshore, 8,000 boe/d.   Those average outputs were all roughly flattish with Q1, except for the Tupper Montney where gas volumes were up 15%.   ""We have hellacious wells"" in that Canadian British Columbia play, Jenkins said. ""We continue to improve our fracking and our execution.""   Murphy's third-quarter 2024 total volumes are projected at 181,500 boe/d to 189,500 boe/d, up 3% at midpoint. ",Murphy Oil to drill two exploration wells offshore Vietnam in H2,2024-08-08 19:53:52+00:00,Other,Other,0.2847281902138507,0.2632856890693622,0.9342232534163678,Bullish,Bullish
13," Prompt Brent CFDs surged to four-month highs Aug. 8 amid a reversal of fortunes for the North Sea crude complex, rebounding sharply from notable bearishness seen during Aug. 6 trading.   Brent CFDs are crude oil derivative contracts that underpin global crude oil benchmark Dated Brent, representing the perceived value difference between Dated Bent and Cash BFOE.   Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed the Aug. 12-16 Brent CFD at $2.61/b, up 60 cents on the day and the highest level since April 9, when it was assessed at $2.71/b.   Similarly, the Aug. 19-23 Brent CFD was assessed at $2.16/b, up 34 cents on the day and the highest level since April 11, when it was assessed at $2.27/b.   In contrast to the first and second week CFDs, later contracts relaxed on the day, widening the backwardated structure across late August and early September.   The strength seen in prompt CFDs tracked similar movements in the DFL market, where balance month contracts also reached their  highest levels since April . ",Prompt Brent CFDs reach four month highs,2024-08-08 19:48:38+00:00,Other,Other,0.6518827882763493,0.023137993865708185,0.9677986107065766,Bullish,Bullish
14," Canadian oil company PetroTal, Peru’s largest crude producer, aims to drill three oil wells in the northern Amazon rainforest in the first quarter of 2025 as the firm accelerates expansion plans, CEO Manolo Zuniga said Aug. 8.   The company, which is currently drilling the $15 million 20-H well at its Block 95 oilfields in the Maranon Basin, its fourth this year, plans $150 million-$175 million in 2025 capex as it seeks to nearly triple production capacity in the medium term, Zuniga said on a quarterly conference call.   Calgary-based PetroTal, which secured $40 million in credit lines from JP Morgan and Peru’s Banco de Credito, is working on a $70 million erosion prevention project at Block 95, in addition to additional water disposal capacity at the 26,000 b/d CPF-2 processing plant and drilling at recently-acquired Block 131 in the Ucayali Basin, Zuniga added.   PetroTal is holding talks with Petroperu about pumping crude through the state oil company’s 200,000 b/d North Peruvian Oil Pipeline (ONP), but does not expect to use the ONP either this year or 2025 due to high tariffs and delays in getting crude to the coastal Bayovar terminal, he said   “We’re looking to expand capacity to 50,000 b/d and eventually 70,000 b/d, so we will need to use the ONP,” Zuniga said. “Block 131 could also add 5,500 b/d.”   The company, which exports 600,000 b/month to Brazil and supplies Petroperu’s 12,000 b/d Iquitos oil refinery, began loading 100,000 barrels of crude onto river barges for shipment through neighboring Ecuador’s 450,000 b/d OCP pipeline for sale in October, and may increase exports to 150,000 b/month through Ecuador, Zuniga said.   PetroTal, which averaged 20,034 b/d in July, remains on track to meet annual production guidance of 16,500-17,500 b/d as it navigates the upcoming dry season, where low river levels limit export barge shipments, according to a statement.   Peru, whose crude production hit a 10-year high in 2019, has yet to recover to prepandemic levels as companies including Frontera Energy and Pluspetrol pulled out of northern rainforest blocks. Peru was producing 41,878 b/d through June, according to state oil contracting agency Perupetro. ",PetroTal to drill 3 Peru oil wells in Q1 2025: company,2024-08-08 19:45:46+00:00,Other,Other,0.5432658431795285,0.8732421436333822,0.08621822960590265,Neutral,Neutral
15,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts Crude Oil Marketwire 08AUG24,2024-08-08 19:09:26+00:00,Crude Oil,Crude Oil,0.3441365622954216,0.8676230928057591,0.13037420581230524,Neutral,Neutral
16,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts North American Crude and Products Scan 08AUG24,2024-08-08 19:09:13+00:00,Crude Oil,Crude Oil,0.4231576433290258,0.06159503118692173,0.9556131468320844,Bullish,Bullish
17,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts Latin American Wire 08AUG24,2024-08-08 19:04:40+00:00,Other,Other,0.2674371018263428,0.3868663467110179,0.7610510891140071,Bullish,Bullish
18," Venezuela's 955,000 b/d Paraguaná Refining Center was operating at 186,000 b/d, or 19.5% of its capacity, as of Aug. 8, over from the 18.5% reported on Aug. 1, according to a PDVSA technical report reviewed by S&P Global Commodity Insights.   Located in northwestern Venezuela, Paraguaná Refining Center, or CRP, includes the 310,000 b/d Cardón and the 645,000 b/d Amuay, Venezuela's largest refineries. It also includes the 16,000 b/d Bajo Grande asphalt plant, which has been out of service for several years.   According to the report, the processing rate continues to be affected by low stocks of crude oil with the specifications required by distillers.   Crude oil inventories at Amuay rose to 110,000 barrels as of Aug. 8 from 70,000 barrels reported on Aug.1. Crude oil inventories at Cardón were at 650,000 barrels as of Aug. 8, according to the report.    Amuay    The Amuay refinery was operating at a rate of 130,000 b/d of crude as of Aug. 8, or 20.2% of its capacity, over from the 19% reported on Aug. 1, according to the PDVSA technical report.   Of the five distillers, only two are in service.   The 108,000 b/d catalytic disintegrator plant (DCAY) at its Amuay refinery remained operating at 60,000 b/d, or 55.6% of its capacity on Aug. 8, according to the report. DCAY is a key fuel production unit to the supply of gasoline to the local market.    Cardón    The Cardón refinery was operating at a rate of 56,000 b/d of crude, or 18% of its capacity, as of Aug. 8, over 17.5% reported on Aug. 1, according to the PDVSA technical report.   At Cardón, three of the four distillers are out of service.   The 105,000 b/d catalytic cracking (FCC) unit at the Cardón refinery remained halted due to low vacuum gasoil inventories, the report said.   At Cardón, the 55,000 b/d naphtha hydrotreating unit was operating at 30,000 b/d, or 54.5% of its capacity, and the 45,000 b/d Cardón's naphtha reformer was operating at 25,000 b/d, or 55.6% of its capacity, as of Aug. 8. These units combined are producing 20,000 b/d of reformed, a product that is used for the production of gasoline.    Gasoline supply normalized    PDVSA has normalized the supply of gasoline to the local market from the CRP, which was affected by protests following the presidential elections held on July 28, according to previous reports.   According to the report, 52 trucks of gasoline, 52,000 liters of capacity each, were dispatched from the Cardón refinery for overland supply, and at the Amuay refinery there were 200,000 barrels of gasoline to be sent to the Carenero, Bajo Grande and El Palito terminals as of Aug. 8.   No further details were available regarding the supply of gasoline to the local market.   Venezuela regularly imports gasoline and blending components as its refineries are operating well below capacity. The report did not give details of imports of gasoline manufacturing components.   Venezuela's National Electoral Council declared current president Nicolás Maduro the winner of the election, with 51.2% of 80% of the votes counted. However, Venezuela's opposition party claimed that Edmundo González had won the July 28 election, with 67% of votes, with 83.5% of the ballots counted, according to the most recent electoral bulletin published on Aug. 6 by the political opposition to the government of Maduro.    Other refineries    Venezuela's refining system nationwide consists of four large refineries: Amuay, Cardón, Puerto La Cruz and El Palito; together, have a capacity of 1.3 million b/d, but they are currently operating at 25.9 % of capacity.   The Puerto La Cruz refinery was operating at 80,000 b/d, or 47.8% of its capacity, as of Aug. 8, according to the report .   The El Palito refinery was operating at 70,000 b/d, or 50% of its capacity, as of Aug. 8, according to the report. The 62,000 b/d FFC information was not available.   PDVSA did not respond immediately to a request for comment. ", PDVSA operates CRP complex at 19.5% of capacity,2024-08-08 18:48:27+00:00,Other,Other,0.9579026492535009,0.20479291538464017,0.10426599839464677,Bearish,Bearish
19,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts Global Oil Analytics Alert 08AUG24,2024-08-08 18:46:34+00:00,Other,Other,0.699130325296974,0.39678531144795853,0.2702501987037917,Bearish,Bearish
20,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts Global Oil Analytics Alert 08AUG24,2024-08-08 18:46:34+00:00,Other,Other,0.699130325296974,0.39678531144795853,0.2702501987037917,Bearish,Bearish
21,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts Global Oil Analytics Alert 08AUG24,2024-08-08 18:46:34+00:00,Other,Other,0.699130325296974,0.39678531144795853,0.2702501987037917,Bearish,Bearish
22,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts Global Oil Analytics Alert 08AUG24,2024-08-08 18:46:34+00:00,Other,Other,0.699130325296974,0.39678531144795853,0.2702501987037917,Bearish,Bearish
23,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts Global Oil Analytics Alert 08AUG24,2024-08-08 18:34:55+00:00,Other,Other,0.699130325296974,0.39678531144795853,0.2702501987037917,Bearish,Bearish
24,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts Global Oil Analytics Alert 08AUG24,2024-08-08 18:34:55+00:00,Other,Other,0.699130325296974,0.39678531144795853,0.2702501987037917,Bearish,Bearish
25,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts Global Oil Analytics Alert 08AUG24,2024-08-08 18:34:55+00:00,Other,Other,0.699130325296974,0.39678531144795853,0.2702501987037917,Bearish,Bearish
26,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts Global Oil Analytics Alert 08AUG24,2024-08-08 18:34:55+00:00,Other,Other,0.699130325296974,0.39678531144795853,0.2702501987037917,Bearish,Bearish
27,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts Global Oil Analytics Alert 08AUG24,2024-08-08 11:45:23+00:00,Other,Other,0.699130325296974,0.39678531144795853,0.2702501987037917,Bearish,Bearish
28,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts Global Oil Analytics Alert 08AUG24,2024-08-08 11:45:23+00:00,Other,Other,0.699130325296974,0.39678531144795853,0.2702501987037917,Bearish,Bearish
29,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts Global Oil Analytics Alert 08AUG24,2024-08-08 11:45:23+00:00,Other,Other,0.699130325296974,0.39678531144795853,0.2702501987037917,Bearish,Bearish
30,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts Global Oil Analytics Alert 08AUG24,2024-08-08 11:45:23+00:00,Other,Other,0.699130325296974,0.39678531144795853,0.2702501987037917,Bearish,Bearish
31,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts Global Oil Analytics Alert 08AUG24,2024-08-08 08:21:04+00:00,Other,Other,0.699130325296974,0.39678531144795853,0.2702501987037917,Bearish,Bearish
32,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts Global Oil Analytics Alert 08AUG24,2024-08-08 08:21:04+00:00,Other,Other,0.699130325296974,0.39678531144795853,0.2702501987037917,Bearish,Bearish
33,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts Global Oil Analytics Alert 08AUG24,2024-08-08 08:21:04+00:00,Other,Other,0.699130325296974,0.39678531144795853,0.2702501987037917,Bearish,Bearish
34,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts Global Oil Analytics Alert 08AUG24,2024-08-08 08:21:04+00:00,Other,Other,0.699130325296974,0.39678531144795853,0.2702501987037917,Bearish,Bearish
35," Keyera is proceeding with a planned increase in NGL and condensate processing and fractionation capacity at its Fort Saskatchewan plant in Central Alberta, as new market access is resulting in enhanced producer activity, senior company officials said Aug. 8.   “We are proceeding with ordering long-lead items for a debottleneck of KFS-II and also FEED [front-end engineering and design] work for KFS-III expansion,” Chief Commercial Officer James Urquhart said during a webcast of the midstream service provider’s second-quarter 2024 earnings. “In early 2025, we will fully understand the cost of expansion, while in the meanwhile we continue talks with customers to underpin the expansion by offtake contracts and processing fees.”   The Keyera Frst Saskatchewan three-unit complex is in the company’s legacy asset near the Alberta Heartland Industrial Area, with each facility having a nameplate capacity of 30,000 b/d to 35,000 b/d.   The KFS II debottleneck and KFS-III expansion are targeted to come online in 2026 and 2028, respectively, Urquhart said.   The Montney and Duvernay plays in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin and the heavy oil and bitumen producing areas in Northern Alberta are the prime focus areas of Keyera’s well-head-to-market midstream services, CEO Dean Setoguchi said during the same webcast.   Startup of the 590,000-b/d Trans Mountain Expansion pipeline May 1 has resulted in an additional demand for condensate for oil sands and heavy oil producers, which use pentane as a diluent to move their raw bitumen through pipelines, Setoguchi said.   As a rule of thumb, a single barrel of diluent, primarily pentane, is needed to reduce the viscosity of three barrels of bitumen.    Rising condensate, NGLs output    Keyera estimates an estimated 200,000 b/d increase in WCSB condensate and NGLs output by 2027, compared with now, according to information on its website.   S&P Global Commodity Insights data shows heavy oil production is estimated to grow by another 500,000 b/d by 2025-26.   “We will see robust demand in diluents even as TMX is being ramped up to full capacity,” Setoguchi said, adding that demand and supply dynamics for liquids-rich WCSB producers will change further in the WCSB with the impending startup of the Shell-led 12 million mt/year LNG Canada phase 1 project.   Some natural gas producers have shut in production in response to low prices. However, that will change in the late fall as prices rise with the steaming of the first LNG Canada train, Urquhart said.   ARC Resources has elected to curtail some 250 MMcf/d of natural gas production in response to weak natural gas prices, the company said last week. The shut-in volumes are at its Sunrise facility in British Columbia, output from which is committed to LNG Canada.    Q2 output, growth projects    Keyera’s gross liquids throughput last quarter was 1.487 Bcf/d, compared with 1.456 Bcf/d in the same quarter the prior year, the company said in its earnings release.   In the last quarter, Keyera saw record throughput volumes in the North East region of British Columbia where incremental producer activity has resulted in more NGLs and condensate molecules seeking a combination of markets, fractionation and processing capacity and storage, Setoguchi said.   “We also saw a continued ramp-up in the KAPS system, with the company carrying on talks for the Zone 4 expansion,"" Setoguchi said. ""A combination of TMX for crude oil, LNG Canada and other West Coast export projects for natural gas and Dow’s new petrochemical expansion is creating a growing demand for G&P business.”   The liquids volumes will seek access on Keyera’s 360-mile KAPS pipeline which is designed to handle 350,000 b/d of condensate and 2.25 Bcf/d of natural gas processing in the WCSB and has been developed by Keyera and SemCams Midstream under a 50:50 joint venture that is anchored by multiple long-term agreements averaging 12 years to 14 years.   KAPS connects to Keyera’s gas processing plants at Pipestone, Wapiti and Simonette, providing producers with options to deliver their NGLs and condensate to new markets.   Keyera is working on an expansion of KAPS, to be called Zone 4 extension or NorthEast Connector, which will run from Pipestone to Gordondale in the Montney.   “We will likely take a decision on Zone 4 extension by end-2024,” Setoguchi said.   By year-end, details will also be unveiled of Keyera’s all growth projects that include KFS, KAPS and continued ramp up of KAPS, besides a low carbon hub in Alberta, CFO Aileen Marikar said during the same webcast.   Meanwhile, Keyera has planned maintenance activities in the third quarter that include: a five-day outage for KFS unit 1; two weeks for work at the company’s Strachan gas plant; and three weeks for the Wapiti gas plant, it said in its release. ",Canada's Keyera moves ahead with debottleneck of NGLs fractionation plant in WCSB,2024-08-08 18:28:54+00:00,Other,Other,0.054020168623383887,0.2895767116365418,0.9931746909930336,Bullish,Bullish
36,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts Oilgram News 08AUG24,2024-08-08 18:12:47+00:00,Other,Other,0.29850947859065546,0.8940960818036692,0.1271661921004065,Neutral,Neutral
37," The differential for Kazakhstan’s flagship CPC Blend crude fell to a four-week low Aug. 8, with the market currently stuck between August and September trading cycles and sellers struggling to shift remaining August-loading cargoes.   Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed CPC Blend at a $1.79/b discount to Dated Brent Aug. 8, 26 cents/b lower on the day and the steepest discount to the benchmark since July 9.   This comes at a time of a broad weakening across the Mediterranean sweet crude complex amid softer local demand ahead of a heavy maintenance season in September, according to sources.   Remaining August-loading barrels of CPC Blend and Azeri Light are struggling to find homes, traders said, as buyers are now looking ahead to the September trading cycle.   This has been demonstrated during the Platts Market on Close assessment process with PetroIneos offering a 90,000 mt CPC Blend cargo across six separate sessions and remaining unable to find a buyer.   During the Aug. 8 Platts MOC, PetroIneos offered a CPC Blend cargo loading Aug. 28- Sept. 1 which was left outstanding at a $2.15/b discount to Dated Brent at the 1630 London close.   In previous sessions across July 29, July 30, Aug. 1, Aug. 2 and Aug. 7, PetroIneos offered CPC Blend across various loading dates between Aug. 19 to Aug. 31. The offers were left outstanding between a $1.20/b to a $2/b discount to Dated Brent.   “Market has been super slow,” one trader said. “CPC is down day after day.” ",CPC Blend differential falls to four-week low with market stuck between trading cycles,2024-08-08 18:05:54+00:00,Light Ends,Light Ends,0.9940029454258105,0.02319745925733553,0.1244673929750844,Bearish,Bearish
38,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts Bunkerwire 08AUG24,2024-08-08 17:52:17+00:00,Other,Other,0.31539811872554696,0.8496197565685065,0.19650868467473123,Neutral,Neutral
39," The balance-month -- currently August -- Dated to Frontline contract gained 40 cents/b Aug. 8 from the previous close and was assessed at the highest level since April despite a weak backdrop for European sweet crudes.   The DFL represents the difference between ICE Brent futures and Dated Brent.   Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed the balance-month DFL contract at $1.50/b Aug. 8, the highest since April 9. The four-month high for the balance-month DFL contract comes just two days after Platts assessed the contract at minus 25 cents/b Aug. 6, which marked a two-month low.   The backwardation between the balance month and month 1 DFL contracts has widened further Aug. 8, after the contracts briefly flipped into contango Aug. 5 and Aug. 6. Platts assessed the month 1 -- currently September -- DFL contract at 54 cents/b Aug. 8.   The strengthening in the balance-month DFL contract is typically a bullish signal for the physical crude market. However, Platts has assessed the global Dated Brent benchmark below $80/b since Aug. 2, the first time Dated Brent has dipped below $80/b since June 7.   Market participants have pointed towards European refinery maintenance season in September as a key factor behind the recent softening in the sweet crude market. ",Balance-month DFL contract rebounds to 4-month high two days after 2-month low,2024-08-08 17:39:28+00:00,Middle Distillates,Middle Distillates,0.2627969382684259,0.02741331436027185,0.9947625249776723,Bullish,Bullish
40," Loadings of Azeri Light crude at the Turkish port of Ceyhan in September are set to total 597,667 b/d, 25,248 b/d below August, according to a copy of the loading program seen by S&P Global Commodity Insights Aug. 8.   September’s loadings are set to be above the 12-month average of 586,897 b/d, rebounding from August’s volume which marked a three-month low.   Overall, 17.930 million barrels are scheduled, up from 17.745 million barrels in August, with the number of cargoes set to decrease by one, to 26.   State oil company Socar is scheduled to load 81% of the program, 11 percentage points higher on the month.   Throughout the week starting Aug. 5, value for Azeri Light was heard at a $3-$3.50/b premium to Dated Brent.   Platts, part of Commodity Insights, last assessed Azeri Light at a $3.35/b premium to Dated Brent Aug. 7, marking a four-week low.   A broad weakening has emerged across the Mediterranean sweet crude complex amid a softer local demand ahead of a heavy maintenance season in September, according to sources.   The Mediterranean sweet crude market has so far shown minimal reaction to the total shutdown of the 300,000 b/d Sharara oil field in Libya, market participants said.   There was some concern that sweet crude prices in the Mediterranean could spike in a similar manner to what was seen in January during a two-week shutdown of the field. However, traders have mostly downplayed these concerns and pointed to a healthy supply of alternative sweet crudes.   “No panic due to Sharara so far,” one trader said. “WTI [Midland] is still everywhere.”   “I don’t have buyers knocking on my door to replace Sharara,” agreed a second trader. “Some prompt WTI [Midland] around, there’s ample supply.”   WTI Midland, imported from the US Gulf Coast, is a natural competitor to light sweet crudes in the Mediterranean such as El Sharara. According to the Platts Periodic Table of Oil, WTI Midland has a 0.2% sulfur content and API gravity of 42. Libya’s El Sharara crude has a 0.08% sulfur content and API gravity of 42.6. ","Azerbaijan’s Azeri Light crude September loadings set to total 597,667 b/d",2024-08-08 17:34:10+00:00,Macroeconomic & Geopolitics,Macroeconomic & Geopolitics,0.6443665979605134,0.023408430358122092,0.9723308332875933,Bullish,Bullish
41," Vertex Energy will reduce third-quarter crude throughput at its Mobile, Alabama, refinery as it works to return the plant’s hydrocracker to processing oil instead of renewables, its CEO Ben Cowart said on Aug. 8.   “In the third quarter, we have a planned turnaround schedule in conjunction with the hydrocracker conversion that is currently in progress,"" he said on the second-quarter results call. ""This will reduce our overall throughput for Q3, but we do expect to return to our typical run rates for Q4.""   Expectations are that hydrocracker conversion will be complete and the unit will return online in Q4.   Q3 crude throughput will range from 55,000 b/d to 60,000 b/d, with capacity utilization between 73% and 80%, lagging Q2 throughput of 68,000 b/d or 90% utilization as planned work on the crude unit was completed ahead of schedule.   Vertex’s Q2 fuel margins deteriorated to $5.67/b from $12.63/b in Q1, due to a 28% drop on cracks. US Gulf Coast cracking margins for Light Louisiana Sweet averaged $12.32/b in Q2, down from Q1's $18.55/b, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights margin data. As of Aug. 8, Q3 margins are averaging $11.93/b.   Earlier this year, Vertex announced a “pivot” from renewables back to pure play petroleum processing, driven by weak economics for renewable diesel, as US RD supply tripled between 2021 and 2023, reaching 3 billion gal/year, according to the US Energy Information Administration.   According to Platts assessments, 100% RD delivered into Los Angeles averaged $5.048 cents/gal so far for the week ending Aug. 9, down from the $5.138 cents/gal for the week earlier. Platts is part of S&P Global Commodity Insights.   Vertex finished depleting its renewable feedstock inventory, with Q2 throughput volumes averaging 3,092 b/d in the quarter as it returns to conventional oil processing. ", Vertex Energy to cut Q3 crude throughput rates as Mobile returns to pure play oil,2024-08-08 17:08:17+00:00,Crude Oil,Crude Oil,0.8138631156387277,0.11220954107752393,0.6455924488711944,Bearish,Bearish
42," Algeria's national oil company Sonatrach is set to resume exploration activities in neighboring Niger, five years after drilling its last well there and a year on from a coup in the oil-rich country.   In a statement released Aug. 7, Sonatrach said its subsidiary Sipex would “resume work on the Kafra block with a mutually agreed implementation schedule.” It did not elaborate on a timeline for or details of a potential drilling campaign.   The announcement followed a “working visit” to Niamey on Aug. 6 and 7 by Algeria’s minister of energy and mines, Mohamed Arkab, and Sonatrach CEO Rachid Hachichi, the NOC said.   The delegation also discussed cooperation opportunities for Sonatrach and the Nigerien NOC Sonidep, including reviving large-scale projects such as the ambitious trans-Sahara pipeline, designed to carry oil from regional oil heavyweight Nigeria to Europe via Niger and Algeria.   Sonatrach has built an impressive global portfolio of upstream and downstream assets in recent years, including in South America and across West and North Africa. Niger holds 1 billion barrels of 2P oil reserves, according to the African Petroleum Producers Organization, of which it is a member.    Kafra license    In February 2022, Sonatrach extended its production sharing contract on the Kafra block in Niger, which sits near the Algerian border in the Chad Basin, not far from the country’s Chinese-operated Agadem Rift projects. The contract on the 23,000 sq km license was first signed in 2015.   The Algerian company drilled two wildcats on the project in 2018 and 2019, with the first, KFR-1, discovering some 168 million barrels of heavy oil in place, and the second, KFRN-1, finding a further 100 million barrels.   Since the discoveries, Niger has experienced a  military coup , in July 2023, and has emerged as a significant oil producer -- at up to 110,000 b/d -- thanks to a Chinese-built export pipeline to Benin’s Seme port, which allowed the country to briefly hike its oil output from some 20,000 b/d.   The pipeline loaded its first 1 million barrel cargo of heavy sweet Meleck crude in May, but an ongoing feud between Niger and Benin -- dating back to sanctions imposed on Niger last year by regional bloc Ecowas -- has prevented the lifting of a second cargo. Sources said the pipeline, which is also facing attacks by anti-government groups in Niger, is currently idled. It is currently the landlocked country's sole oil export option.       Meleck has a 24.4 API gravity and sulfur content of 0.354%, according to China's CNPC, making it comparable to Angola’s Pazflor and Dalia grades, which are sold primarily into China. The first cargo headed to France.   London-listed Savannah Energy is the sole Western energy company operating in Niger and hopes to bring a 1,500 b/d oil project at its R3 East fields online in 2025, before ramping up to 5,000 b/d.   Niger’s President Abdourahmane Tchiani has also flipped his country’s traditional alliances, ejecting US and French troops, rescinding permits of French uranium miners, severing diplomatic ties with Ukraine on Aug. 7 and signing a security pact with Russia.   Meanwhile, on July 17 Niger  signed an agreement  with Turkey to strengthen oil and gas cooperation and entice Turkish companies into its oil patch.   Last year, Algeria offered to mediate and publicly opposed potential Western intervention following the removal of Niger’s elected president Mohamed Bazoum, a close Western security partner. ",Algeria's Sonatrach to resume oil exploration in Niger after 5-year hiatus,2024-08-08 16:58:29+00:00,Middle Distillates,Middle Distillates,0.5508664830539096,0.9509488993326531,0.03440948585493225,Neutral,Neutral
43," The Platts FOB New Orleans SOYBEX assessment for one calendar month forward set a new record-low outright price on Aug. 7 amid high old-crop soybeans stocks.   Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed FOB New Orleans SOYBEX for one calendar month forward -- September shipment -- at $409.97/mt on Aug. 7. The previous record low was set Sept. 15, 2020, at $409.88/mt.   “Farmers had held on to a larger percentage of stocks and a larger outright total of soybean bushels than in the past,” Jack Larimer, Commodity Insights analyst, said. “This was likely due to farmers waiting for a weather rally.”   US farmers held 466 million bushels, or 12.682 million metric tons, of old-crop soybeans on June 1, according to the US Department of Agriculture's last Grains Stock report. On-farm old crop stocks rose 44% from a year ago.   US farmers have been waiting for a weather rally to release their old-crop stocks, as prices have been weaker on the previous year. Additionally, the expected weather rally never materialized, and with the growing season almost over, farmers have been selling their old crop since the new-crop is coming soon, sources said.   In addition to farmers' high old-crop stocks, new-crop conditions have been better than the previous year, and thus have been pressuring US soybean values.   The USDA said in its last Crop Progress report Aug. 5 that 68% of the intended US soybean acreage was rated in good-to-excellent condition on Aug. 4. The figure was 14 percentage points above year-ago crop ratings and was the highest US soybean crop rating for that week since 2020, according to USDA data.   In addition to the ample supplies, export demand for US soybeans as been weak, as crush margins were worsening in China, the main US soybean buyer. Additionally, US soybeans have not been competing yet against the Brazilian origin in China, sources added.   According to USDA projections, 41% of the total US soybeans production estimated for MY 2024-25 was to be exported, with US supplies expected to account for 28% of global exports.   Soybeans are crushed to produce soybean oil -- which can be blended with fuels -- and to produce soybean meal, a source of protein in feed rations. ",FOB New Orleans SOYBEX hits four-year low amid high old-crop stocks,2024-08-08 16:38:24+00:00,Other,Other,0.6345942263765463,0.021679141731405966,0.9742888191173811,Bullish,Bullish
44," Product tanker markets are experiencing short-term downward pressure with more dirty tankers being used to transport refined products in recent weeks, while dry bulk freight rates remain well supported by healthy tonnage demand, Danish ship operator Norden said Aug. 8.   Since last month,  dirty tankers  up to VLCCs have been cleaned and used to ship diesel from the Middle East to Northwest Europe, with market participants seeking to take advantage of their lower unit freight cost.   The pivot has undercut demand for product tankers and led to weaker freight. Based on Platts data from S&P Global Commodity Insights, the LR2 rate for transporting 75,000 metric tons of refined products from the Persian Gulf to UK Continent fell to $53.47 per metric ton Aug. 8 from $74.20/t July 1.   While the sector remains supported by incremental ton-mile demand due to disruptions to Russian oil flows since the Ukraine war and Red Sea shipping crisis, Norden said in its quarterly report that ""short-term headwinds from weak crude led to larger tankers switching from crude to clean trades.""   But the Copenhagen-listed company added the negative effect should diminish, with dirty tankers' fundamentals supported by a small order book by historical standards and expected higher OPEC exports.   Despite a brief spike to $13.34/t on July 24, the Arab Gulf-China VLCC rate fell to $10.11/t Aug. 8 from $10.95/t July 1 amid seasonal demand weakness, according to Platts. VLCC rates tend to increase from early autumn.   Norden remains bullish on its freight outlook for dry bulk carriers, saying rates are supported by geopolitical disruptions, cargo growth and less competition from containerships.   ""The dry cargo market continued the positive trend from the past quarters … driven by solid demand growth, longer distances for iron import to China, diversions related to the situation around the Red Sea, and positive impact from the increase in container freight rates,"" the company said.   The Platts Global Dry Bulk Index time charter equivalent for non-scrubber ships was assessed at $18,962/d on Aug. 7, up from $11,189/d when the assessment started in November 2023.    Weaker margins    Norden, which operates 542 tankers and dry bulk carriers, reported its second-quarter revenue increased to $1.03 billion from $953 million in the year-ago period. But its net profit more than halved to $46 million from $108 million due to negative margins of its freight trading unit.   This resulted from ""higher [dry bulk] charter costs from covering the short position from the first quarter, combined with higher voyage costs related to weather and ballast,"" the company said. ""Margins were further impacted by costs related to new vessel charters and repositioning of tonnage on lower-paying back-haul voyages with expected future benefits.""   Norden has narrowed its full-year guidance to a net profit between $160 million and $240 million from $150 million-$250 million previously. ",Product tankers face short-term headwinds from dirty tanker competition: Norden,2024-08-08 15:29:48+00:00,Middle Distillates,Middle Distillates,0.15230284383225734,0.12773291983018367,0.9901678556518465,Bullish,Bullish
45,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts Global Inventory and Ullage Tracker 08AUG24,2024-08-08 14:20:43+00:00,Other,Other,0.9917472462990965,0.0675116058281013,0.056629214242706685,Bearish,Bearish
46,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts Global Inventory and Ullage Tracker 08AUG24,2024-08-08 14:20:43+00:00,Other,Other,0.9917472462990965,0.0675116058281013,0.056629214242706685,Bearish,Bearish
47,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts Global Inventory and Ullage Tracker 08AUG24,2024-08-08 14:20:42+00:00,Other,Other,0.9917472462990965,0.0675116058281013,0.056629214242706685,Bearish,Bearish
48,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts Global Inventory and Ullage Tracker 08AUG24,2024-08-08 14:20:42+00:00,Other,Other,0.9917472462990965,0.0675116058281013,0.056629214242706685,Bearish,Bearish
49,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts Global Economic Outlook 08AUG24,2024-08-08 13:54:24+00:00,Other,Other,0.05982026122920274,0.9524425804509671,0.35047265419890467,Neutral,Neutral
50," Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security said Aug. 8 that it will invest together with Idemitsu Kosan up to $36 million in synthetic fuels producer HIF Global, marking JOGMEC's first equity investment for e-fuels projects.   In its first move following the amendments to the JOGMEC Act in 2022 to be allowed to invest in hydrogen-related production and storage businesses, JOGMEC said it will invest with Idemitsu through its subsidiary to HIF Global, following the Japanese company's $114 million investment announced in May.   JOGMEC said e-fuels— being produced by synthesizing hydrogen from renewable energy sources and CO2 —can be utilized in existing infrastructures as well as being able to drop in to existing engines without any modifications, which will play a key role as an early decarbonization step.   HIF Global has been producing e-Fuels since December 2022 at the Haru Oni demonstration plant in Magallanes, Chile, and the company is now developing commercial-scale e-fuels projects in the US, Australia, Chile, and Uruguay, with an aim to produce 4 million mt/year of e-methanol equivalent, JOGMEC said.   Through this investment, JOGMEC said Idemitsu plans to source e-methanol from HIF Global's facilities and is committed to building up an e-fuels supply chain around Japan.   JOGMEC added it also intends to accelerate support for the development of hydrogen including e-fuels as part of its efforts to drive Japan's decarbonization and energy transition.   Idemitsu, meanwhile, plans to  develop 500,000 mt/year e-methanol supply  by 2035 through its acquisition of a minority stake in HIF Global announced in May.   Through its investment in HIF Global, Idemitsu has said it aims to develop the e-methanol supply chain in Japan and abroad with its high multiplicity of use not only as a bunker fuel but also as feedstocks to produce other e-fuels and synthetic chemicals.   Idemitsu Kosan said in April 2023 it had signed a strategic partnership with HIF, under which Idemitsu aims to develop e-fuel supply chains of several hundreds of thousands kiloliters per year in Japan by the second half of the 2020s. ",JOGMEC to make first investment for e-fuels with Idemitsu in HIF Global,2024-08-08 13:50:36+00:00,Other,Other,0.5008310986362784,0.714828505810812,0.3444268185593473,Neutral,Neutral
51," European LNG prices surged to their highest levels in 2024 as market participants prepare for winter amid multiple ongoing and upcoming supply concerns, exacerbated lately by geopolitical concerns.   On Aug. 7, Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed DES Northwest Europe LNG marker at $12.216/MMBtu, DES Mediterranean at $12.271/MMBtu and DES East Mediterranean at $12.466/MMBtu.   These prices were the highest since Dec. 1 for NWE and Mediterranean, which were then at $12.981/MMBtu and $12.881/MMBtu, respectively, and the highest for East Mediterranean since its inception on Dec. 20.   Bullish sentiment has also spread into the region across the Atlantic.   Platts assessed DES Brazil and FOB GCM values at $12.151/MMBtu and $11.49/MMBtu, respectively, the highest since Dec. 1 for Brazil and Nov. 24 for GCM, Commodity Insights data showed.   Prices have increased by approximately 19%-26% since July 25, with the average price between July 25 and Aug. 7 around 15%-33% higher than the same period last year.   Several supply-side issues shifted market sentiment from bearish to bullish, contributing to the price rise.   In the most recent move, Ukrainian troops approached the Russian border near the Sudzha interconnection point, intensifying an already bullish market.   This movement has unsettled the market, with concerns that any conflict near the interconnection point could damage pipeline infrastructure, potentially reducing Russian gas flows to Europe via Ukraine. Sudzha is currently the sole entry point for Russian gas into Europe through Ukraine.   Despite these concerns, Ukrainian grid operator GTSOU reported on Aug. 7 that Russian gas flows through Ukraine were continuing as expected.   Additionally, the extension of planned maintenance at several Norwegian facilities is sustaining the bullish market outlook. Maintenance at the Kårstø facility, which began late June, has been extended to Aug. 9, affecting 9.6 million cu m/d of capacity. Maintenance at the St. Fergus exit terminal has also been extended by 19 days, impacting 16.8 million cu m/d of capacity.   This, along with the upcoming planned maintenances at Norwegian facilities starting September, has made market participants uneasy. Traders warn that these risks, if prolonged into winter, could significantly impact Europe’s gas supply.   Middle East tensions have escalated, notably the Israel-Lebanon and Israel-Iran conflicts, while Suez Canal restrictions have kept Mediterranean prices high for much of the year.   This continues to make the market nervous, as further escalation could directly impact Israeli gas supply, Middle Eastern oil supply and shipping routes, thereby exerting pressure on the global energy complex.   While the outlook for coming months remains bullish, immediate demand in Europe, especially in Northwest Europe, is still weak. The Mediterranean region has seen some demand support due to hot weather, but NWE countries have not followed this trend.   Despite the current supply issues, European gas inventories are at healthy levels, 86.48% full on Aug. 6, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe, with nearly two months left to build inventories before winter.   Asian demand for cargoes is also keeping prices elevated in the region. As the fourth quarter approaches, the market expects a return to seasonal norms. However, anticipated heatwaves in Asia in September could delay this adjustment. ",European LNG prices hit 8-month high amid geopolitical tensions,2024-08-08 13:47:51+00:00,Middle Distillates,Middle Distillates,0.4852809773204251,0.011756483374399168,0.993915076382979,Bullish,Bullish
52,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts Light Product Balances - 3 Major OECD Countries 08AUG24,2024-08-08 13:18:13+00:00,Light Ends,Light Ends,0.964465531606872,0.16423504036008196,0.10549811192056752,Bearish,Bearish
53,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts Crude Oil Balances - 3 Major OECD 08AUG24,2024-08-08 13:17:34+00:00,Crude Oil,Crude Oil,0.3846752154377629,0.8894708466319187,0.12537071772857192,Neutral,Neutral
54," Asia-Pacific Long Range tankers hit their lowest freight levels so far this year Aug. 8 as refiners reduced their output and shipments due to poor earnings at a time when several dirty tankers have turned clean in their quest for better returns.   Rates were lower day on day on 19 of the 22 trading days in July and four of the six trading days so far in August, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights data.   The general refrain among traders was that every time it seemed freight was close to bottoming out, it hit fresh lows due to fewer cargoes seeking tonnage in the Persian Gulf spot market.   Weak refinery margins and the switchover of Aframax tankers from dirty to the clean segment has added to the woes of owners, several sources said. Freight on the LR1 benchmark Persian Gulf-Japan route has declined w86 since the start of July and more than halved in the last 10 weeks, Commodity Insights data showed.   Several LR1s are doing short voyages within the Persian Gulf while waiting for freight levels to improve.   According to the estimates of brokers, at least 60 dirty tankers, of all sizes combined, have turned clean so far this year, adding to supply and dragging down freight in the process.   Only two LR2 cargoes were quoted in the market Aug. 6 for loading in the Persian Gulf, after which owners hurried to finalize deals on expectations of a further drop in freight, said a clean oil tankers broker in Singapore. He said there is hardly any demand to move gasoil and jet fuel from the Persian Gulf and India to Europe.   ""Weak LR1s and going forward the narrow spread with LR2s implies there is still downside potential,"" the broker said.   Due to the economies of scale, the LR2s typically enjoy a discount of 20-30 Worldscale points to LR1s on the Persian Gulf-North Asia routes but amid falling freight it has whittled to just over w5, Commodity Insights data showed.   Despite the significant decline in rates, LR1 owners can still earn close to $18,500/day on round trip basis on the benchmark Persian Gulf-Japan route, assuming bunker prices of around $588/mt, brokers said. The corresponding earnings on the same route for LR2s is just over $26,000/day, brokers added.   The recent fall in bunker prices has prevented a bigger erosion in earnings.   In the second half of March, these LR1 and LR2 earnings had peaked for this year around $65,000/day and $90,000/day, respectively, despite the bunker prices being $60/mt above current levels, according to the estimates of brokers. ",Asia Pacific clean LR tankers' freight hits 2024 lows on slowdown in Persian Gulf shipments,2024-08-08 13:08:37+00:00,Other,Other,0.7293937144052526,0.006333337722211492,0.9907157418969702,Bullish,Bullish
55," China's overall crude throughput is set to recover in July and August after reaching a six-month low in June, as scheduled refinery maintenance winds down, but throughput levels will remain lower on the year amid weak domestic demand, according to sources and analysts.   China processed 14.25 million b/d (58.32 million mt) of crude in June, down 3.7% year on year and 0.4% from May on a barrel-per-day basis to the lowest since 14.21 million b/d in December 2023. The average utilization rate at the 50 state-owned refineries fell to a 22-month low of 78.4% in June, from a 12-month low of 78.7% in May. The average utilization rate for independent refineries in Shandong was 52% in June, the lowest since the pandemic first struck the country, according to local information provider JLC.   Meanwhile, in July, China's combined throughput -- which includes state-run refineries and mega private plants -- reached 10.23 million b/d with an 83% utilization rate, lower than the 10.41 million b/d and 85.6% capacity a year ago. The operating rate at China's small independent refineries edged up to 53% in July from a four-year low of 52% in June, although this was still significantly below the 62% in July 2023, according to local information provider JLC.   The average utilization rate at 50 state-owned refineries grew to 80% in July, compared with a 22-month low of 78.4% in June and a 12-month low of 78.7% in May.   PetroChina kept its run rates largely stable at around 74.3% in July, compared with 74.2% in June, as its Ningxia Petrochemical was shut for maintenance in early July, offsetting the throughput uptick from Dushanzi Petrochemical's restart. Sinopec lifted its utilization rate to around 81.9% in July from a 22-month low of 78.9% in June. The other two state refiners, CNOOC's Huizhou Petrochemical and Sinochem's Quanzhou Petrochemical, were operating at relatively higher run rates in July, at 102% and 94%, respectively.   The utilization rate at private refineries was kept relatively higher compared with their state-owned peers.   Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery was operating at around 98% of capacity in July, up from around 71% in June, when the refinery completed overall maintenance, while the 800,000-b/d ZPC upped its run rate to around 108% in July, from 105% in June. The 320,000-b/d Shenghong Petrochemical lowered its operating rate to around 103% in July, compared with 106% in June.   The utilization rate at smaller independent refineries in China's eastern Shandong province was also marginally higher in July, amid slightly improved refining margins.   Throughput in August is expected to increase further from July levels as Dushanzi Petrochemical, Qilu Petrochemical, Maoming Petrochemical and Dalian Wepec resume normal operations, sources said.   In other news, China's Zhejiang Petrochemicals has started commissioning activities at its phase 2 of 1.6 million mt/year acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene project, market sources said. The phase 2 of the plant's commissioning will take place over four stages, bringing in 300,000 mt/year of capacity each time or a total of 1.2 million mt/year. Market sources estimate that the commissioning activity of the two stages will be completed by the end of 2024.   Nanjing Jinling Huntsman New Material's MTBE refinery in Nanjing, China, is scheduled for a turnaround from mid-August, a source close to the company said July 23.   Separately, China’s Shandong provincial government could allow independent refineries in the region to share Yulong Petrochemical’s crude oil quota for 2024, as the commissioning of its new 400,000 b/d refinery has been delayed, local refiners said.   Meanwhile in Japan refinery run rates rose to 66.6% in the week to Aug. 3, from 63.6% the previous week, on higher crude throughput, the Petroleum Association of Japan said Aug. 7. The country's crude throughput was up 4.7% over the same period at 2.07 million b/d. Seven refining units, with a total production capacity of 790,200 b/d, were offline across Japan as of Aug. 3 -- four on planned maintenance, two following technical issues and another due to operational adjustments -- based on information compiled by S&P Global Commodity Insights.   Separately, as part of its response to jet fuel shortages and to make up its production loss from scheduled maintenance at Hokkaido, Idemitsu Kosan, the second-largest refiner in Japan, plans to boost its jet fuel imports as well as refinery capacities at the Chiba, Aichi and Yokkaichi refineries, an Idemitsu spokesperson said July 22.   Some incidents were reported at refineries in Japan.   Japan's Idemitsu Kosan said July 12 that its rack asphalt shipping facility at the Yokkaichi refinery in central Japan was hit by fire around 9:18 am local time (0018 GMT), and rack shipments of oil products were suspended. The fire was extinguished by the public fire department around 10:23 am and no one was injured, a company spokesperson said July 12. The 100,000 b/d No. 1 crude distillation unit and 155,000 b/d No. 2 CDU were operating normally, and waterborne shipments from the refinery are continuing.   The Chiba refinery run by ENEOS in Tokyo Bay caught fire July 29, though there was no impact on the sole 129,000 b/d crude distillation unit. The fire was confirmed on the heating unit at around 2:10 am local time (1710 GMT, June 28) and was put out at around 3:11 am without any injuries, according to a spokesperson of the local fire department.   The Hokkaido refinery in northern Japan run by Idemitsu Kosan caught fire July 30, though there was no impact on the sole 150,000 b/d crude distillation unit as all units including the CDU were already shut for planned maintenance June 22, a company spokesperson said July 30. The fire was confirmed on a sulfur tank at around 9:44 am local time (0044 GMT) and was put out at around 10:41 am without any injuries, according to the spokesperson. The CDU will restart its operation in the fall after the maintenance, the spokesperson added.   NEW AND ONGOING MAINTENANCE        Refinery  Capacity b/d  Country  Owner  Unit  Duration    Negishi  153,000  Japan  ENEOS  Part  Closure'22    Wakayama  127,500  Japan  ENEOS  Full  Closure'23    Yamaguchi  120,000  Japan  Idemitsu  Full  Closure'24    Chiba  177,000  Japan  Cosmo  Part  May    Kikuma  138,000  Japan  Taiyo Oil  Full  Jun, Nov    Kawasaki  249,100  Japan  ENEOS  Part  March    Yokkaichi  86,000  Japan  Idemitsu  Full  Sep    Oita  136,000  Japan  ENEOS  Full  May    Hokkaido  150,000  Japan  Idemitsu  Full  June    Tianjin  276,000  China  Sinopec  Part  Deferred    Shandong  52,000  China  Shenchi  Full  Jan     240,000  China  PetroChina  Full  Oct    Ningxia  100,000  China  PetroChina  Full  July    Jilin  200,000  China  PetroChina  Full  Aug    Lianhe  114,000  China  Joint  Full  April    Hengli Dalian  400,000  China  Hengli  Part  April    ZPC  800,000  China  Joint  Part  April    North Huajin  126,000  China  Norinco  Full  July        UPGRADES        Zhenhai  230,000  China  Sinopec  Expansion  2030    Jinling  420,000  China  Sinopec  Upgrade  NA    Haiyou  70,000  China  Haiyou  Upgrade  On hold    Huizhou  440,000  China  CNOOC  Upgrade  NA    Changling  230,000  China  Sinopec  Upgrade  NA    Qinzhou  240,000  China  Guanxi  Upgrade  2023    Fujian  280,000  China  Sinopec  Upgrade  NA    Guangxi  240,000  China  Petrochina  Upgrade  2025        LAUNCHES        Tangshang  300,000  China  Xuyang Group  Launch  NA    Huajin Aramco  300,000  China  Joint  Launch  2026    Yulong  400,000  China  Yulong  Launch  2024    Gulei  320,000  China  Joint  Launch  2025         Near-term maintenance     New and revised entries     Japan    ** ENEOS shut the sole 145,000-b/d crude distillation unit at its Sendai refinery in northeast Japan on Aug. 1 due to technical issues, a company spokesperson said Aug. 2. The refinery continues to ship oil products to both the rack and seaborne markets, although no date has been set for the restart of the CDU, the spokesperson said.   ** ENEOS restarted the sole 129,000-b/d CDU at its Chiba refinery in Tokyo Bay on July 28 after it was shut July 23 due to technical issues. The Chiba refinery caught fire July 29, though there was no impact on the CDU, the spokesperson added.   ** Japan's ENEOS restarted the sole 168,000-b/d crude distillation unit at its 203,100-b/d Kashima refinery on the east coast July 11 after completing unplanned works, a spokesperson said July 18. The company stopped operating the CDU on June 29, citing technical issues, but did not provide further details. At the Kashima refinery, the 35,100 b/d condensate splitter has also been shut since June 2021 due to operational adjustments. There is currently no prospect of restarting this unit, the spokesperson added.   ** Japan's Cosmo Oil restarted the 75,000 b/d No. 1 CDU at its 177,000 b/d Chiba refinery in Tokyo Bay Aug. 4 after technical issues, a company spokesperson said Aug. 5. The crude distillation unit had been shut June 6-July 16 due to planned maintenance to update power-related equipment. It was shut again July 17 due to technical issues.   ** Japanese refiner Taiyo Oil restarted its 106,000 b/d No. 1 CDU on July 13 and 32,000 b/d No. 2 CDU on July 19 at its sole Shikoku refinery in Ehime, also known as Kikuma, after regular maintenance, a company spokesperson said July 23. The company had shut the No.1 CDU on June 25 and No.2 CDU on June 26.   The spokesperson added that the CDUs will be shut again for about three months in the winter starting end-2024, with restart expected in early 2025.   ** The Hokkaido refinery in northern Japan run by Idemitsu Kosan caught fire July 30, though there was no impact on the sole 150,000 b/d crude distillation unit as all units including the CDU were already shut for planned maintenance June 22, a company spokesperson said July 30. The maintenance is expected to run until mid-September.    China    ** PetroChina’s Dushanzi Petrochemical restarted July 6 form maintenance that started May 15.   ** Sinopec Qilu Petrochemical in eastern Shandong province restarted July 11 from maintenance on a CDU Unit, which started May 19.   ** Maoming Petrochemical has been carrying out works on a 100,000 b/d CDU since May 25 until July 19.   ** Jinling Petrochemical will carry out works between Nov. 15-Dec. 31.   ** China's North Huajin refinery in the northeastern Liaoning province has shut for scheduled maintenance from July 10, which will last for about two months till early September, a source with knowledge of the matter said July 15. Huajin last carried out a scheduled maintenance over July-August 2021 for about two months.    Existing entries     Japan    ** Idemitsu Kosan shut the 61,000 b/d RFCC at its 260,000 b/d Yokkaichi refinery in central Japan due to technical issues, a company official said June 18, but declined to mention a specific date.   Idemitsu Kosan plans to shut the sole 86,000-b/d CDU at its Yokkaichi refinery in central Japan between late September and mid-November for planned maintenance.   ** Japan's ENEOS shut its 172,100 b/d No. 2 crude distillation unit at its 249,100 b/d Kawasaki refinery in Tokyo Bay from May 13 to mid-August for a planned maintenance, a company spokesperson said May 14. ENEOS is now carrying out a large-scale maintenance at the 77,000 b/d No. 3 CDU at its Kawasaki refinery, which has been suspended since March 22. The No. 3 CDU will restart the operations in end-August.   ** Japan's ENEOS shut the sole 136,000 b/d CDU at its Oita refinery in the southwest from May 13 to end-August for a scheduled maintenance.   ** Idemitsu Kosan decommissioned the sole 120,000 b/d crude distillation unit at its Yamaguchi refinery in western Japan March 1, 2024 as initially planned. In June 2022, the company had announced its plan to shut the refining functions at its Yamaguchi refinery in March 2024 as part of its restructuring. The refinery site will be converted into an oil terminal.   ** ENEOS decommissioned the sole 120,400 b/d CDU at its Wakayama refinery in western Japan in October 2023 as initially planned, a spokesperson said.   ** ENEOS decommissioned the 120,000 b/d No. 1 CDU at its 270,000 b/d Negishi refinery in Tokyo Bay by early October 2022 as planned, a company spokesperson said.    China    ** PetroChina's Dalian Wepec shut for full maintenance over June 5-July 24.   ** Sinopec's Tianjin Petrochemical, which had initially planned to shut one 50,000 b/d CDU for maintenance in October 2023, postponed maintenance to 2024, sources said. Tianjin Petrochemical will shut its 50,000 b/d CDU for maintenance over July 16-Sep. 30.   ** Sinopec's Fujian will have full maintenance Nov. 1-Dec. 20.   ** Sinopec's Wuhan Petrochemical will carry out full maintenance between Oct. 13-Dec.13.   ** PetroChina's Guangxi Petrochemical will shut for overall maintenance over Oct. 11-Nov. 30.   ** PetroChina's Ningxia Petrochemical will shut for overall maintenance over July 3-Aug. 31   ** PetroChina's Jilin Petrochemical to shut for overall maintenance over Aug. 24-Oct. 14.    Upgrades     Existing entries    ** PetroChina's Dalian Petrochemical is phasing out its No. 1 crude distillation unit (120,000 b/d), which has been idled since October 2023. Along with this CDU, an 800,000 mt/year FCC, a 600,000 mt/year reformer unit and a few other units will also be shut. The company also plans to move Dalian Petrochemical to the Changxing Island in the same city of Dalian to consolidate its overall capacity to 400,000 b/d from the current 410,000 b/d with a new 1.2 million mt/year ethylene plant.   ** Sinopec Zhenhai's expansion and upgrading project with a new 1.5 million mt/year ethylene plant is scheduled to complete by year-end. Zhenhai aims to grow its refining capacity to 60 million mt/year and 7 million mt/year of ethylene by 2030. Expansion and an upgrading project with a new 1.5 million mt/year ethylene plant is scheduled to complete by year-end.   ** China's Hengli has been upgrading two of its 3.2 million mt/year reformers to 3.8 million mt/year each, with work on the first one already completed. Although the first reformer has been upgraded, it is yet to fully integrate at higher levels, as this depends on aromatics demand. Both reformers have been running at 92%-95%.   ** Sinopec's new Hunan Petrochemical has been running about 60 units consolidated from Changling Refining & Chemical and Baling Petrochemical in Hunan province since Jan. 1, the company said on its official Wechat platform Jan. 30. The 300,000 b/d Hunan Petrochemical was set up June 2023 as a key Sinopec project to consolidate its 230,000 b/d Changling Refining & Chemical and 70,000 b/d Baling Petrochemical in Hunan province.   According to the project planning, the 160,000 b/d CDU at Changling will be upgraded to 200,000 b/d while the other 70,000 b/d CDU will be mothballed. The sole 70,000 b/d CDU at Baling will shut.   The upgrade of the refining projects will include constructing a 3 million mt/year hydrocracking unit, a 60,000 mt/year sulfur recovery unit, a 1 million mt/year solvent deasphalting unit and public utilities.   Meanwhile, Hunan Petrochemical will have a new 1 million mt/year ethylene plant, along with a 500,000 mt/year gasoline hydrocracker and another 12 units in addition to public utilities at the Yueyang Green Chemical High-tech Industrial Development Zone in central Hunan province.   ** PetroChina's Guangxi Petrochemical has started construction work on an upgrading project that will increase its petrochemical output by 2.76 million mt/year, following a groundbreaking ceremony held a day earlier, it said on its official WeChat account in March 2023. The upgrading project is due to be completed in 2025. As part of the project, 14 new petrochemical units will be set up, including a 1.2 million mt/year ethylene unit, a 350,000 mt/year aromatics extraction unit, a 400,000 mt/year HDPE unit, a 300,000 mt/year HDPE unit, a 300,000 mt/year EVA unit, a 100,000 mt/year H-EVA unit and a 400,000 mt/year PP unit. Two units will also be set up in the refining zone, including a 2 million mt/year gasoil adsorption de-aromatization unit and a 400,000 mt/year C2 recovery unit. Upon completion, the refinery's gasoline and gasoil output will be reduced to maximize feedstock for the downstream ethylene plant. Guangxi Petrochemical was set up in 2010 with an initial capacity of 10 million mt/year and was upgraded to 12 million mt/year in 2014 by adding a 4 million mt/year residual oil hydrodesulfurization unit, which enabled the refinery to process crudes with higher sulfur content.   ** A 1.2 million mt/year ethylene project by the Jilin Petrochemical in northeastern China's Jilin province began early 2022.   ** Sinopec plans to add a petrochemical plant to its Fujian refining complex as part of its phase two expansion plans, according to a company source. ""An ethylene plant will likely be added,"" said the source, without giving more details as the plans are still in the early stages. Saudi Aramco and Sinopec said they would undertake a feasibility study looking into ""optimization and expansion of capacity"" at Fujian.   ** Sinopec's Changling Petrochemical in central Hunan province plans to start construction for its newly approved 1 million mt/year reformer.   ** Axens said its Paramax technology has been selected by state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp. for the petrochemical expansion at the plant. The project aims at increasing the high-purity aromatics production capacity to 3 million mt/year. The new aromatics complex will produce 1.5 million mt/year of paraxylene in a single train.   ** Construction of a new 1 million mt/year coker at Chinese independent refinery Haiyou Petrochemical, in eastern Shandong, has been put on hold.   ** Sinopec's Jinling Petrochemical refinery in eastern China will build a new 600,000 mt/year VDU.    Launches     New and revised entries    ** The start up of China’s new Yulong Petrochemical refinery has been delayed with the refinery expected to start trial runs most likely in Q4. Yulong has been expected to start trial runs in June at the earliest. However, the trial run has now been delayed to Q3 though sources expect it to be rescheduled again to October-November mostly due to sluggish domestic demand.   Phase I of the Yulong project includes two CDUs with a capacity of 10 million mt/year each, two 1.5 million mt/year ethylene units and one 500,000 mt/year styrene unit. Yulong also expects to have a second phase for the project with a designed capacity of 400,000 b/d, which is yet to be approved by the government.    Existing entries    ** Huajin Aramco Petrochemical Company's 300,000 b/d integrated refinery and petrochemical complex in Panjin city, Liaoning province, in China, started the construction work at two key units Jan. 18, 2024, the company said on its official WeChat account late Jan. 19. A ground-breaking ceremony for the start of construction at its 1.65 million mt/year ethylene cracker and the 5 million mt/year residue hydrogenation unit took place Jan. 18. The ethylene cracker -- which has been expanded from the originally designed 1.5 million mt/year capacity -- and the residue hydrogenation unit are core units of the whole project. The ethylene unit, which is the leading chemical unit, will produce polyethylene, propylene and byproducts such as gasoline, hydrogen and cracked fuel oil. Meanwhile, the residue hydrogenation unit will produce feedstock for fluid catalytic cracker units, as well as byproducts of naphtha, diesel and bunker fuel oil. The construction work at the 2.5 million mt/year dewaxing hydrocracker started Nov. 8, 2023. A total of 32 units will be constructed, with the units expected to be ready in 2025 at the earliest. The greenfield HAPCO has been under construction since the second quarter of 2023. HAPCO is a joint venture between Saudi Aramco, Norinco Group and Panjin Xincheng Industrial Group, with stakes of 30%, 51% and 19%, respectively. The complex, which will receive 210,000 b/d of crude from Saudi Aramco, is expected to be fully operational by 2026.   ** Saudi Aramco and Sinopec have signed an agreement for a new greenfield project in Gulei, Fujian, which involves building a 320,000 b/d refinery and a 1.5 million mt/year petrochemical cracker. The new complex is expected to commence operations by the end of 2025.   ** Saudi Aramco signed an agreement with Chinese company Shandong Energy Group to explore cooperation on integrated refining and petrochemicals opportunities in China. The Saudi company will explore a potential crude supply agreement and chemical products offtake agreement. The two sides have an ""expansive scope for cooperation, especially in oil and gas resources development and integrated refining and petrochemicals development along the whole industrial chain,"" Li Wei, chair of Shandong Energy Group, said. The agreement also extends to ""cooperation across technologies related to hydrogen, renewables and carbon capture and storage,"" Aramco said in a statement.   ** China's coal chemical producer Xuyang Group has announced plans to build a greenfield 15 million mt/year refining and petrochemical complex in Tangshang in central Hebei province. ", Higher runs expected in China in August,2024-08-08 13:05:53+00:00,Heavy Distillates,Heavy Distillates,0.1993119549116945,0.9923653407345908,0.027871832580578033,Neutral,Neutral
56," Freight environments for oil, dry bulk and container shipping remain strong due to high ship requirements, but future outlook is uncertain amid the coming change of the US presidency, diversified shipowner Euronav said Aug. 8.   In its latest quarterly report, the Belgium-based, New York-listed company said healthy cargo volume growth combined with additional ton-mile demand amid Red Sea shipping disruptions had resulted in tighter balances across the main shipping sectors.   Global seaborne volume is expected to grow by an “above-trend” rate of 2.3% to 12.6 billion mt in 2024, while ton-mile will expand even more by 5.1%, Euronav said citing Clarksons figures.   Yemen-based Houthi rebels have attacked more than 100 ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since the Israel-Hamas war broke out Oct. 7, forcing many ship operators to take longer routes and sail around Africa.   However, the US is set to elect a new president in November’s elections after President Joe Biden withdrew his candidacy, which Euronav said “could impact global geopolitics...with ocean shipping at the forefront of any shifts in the current status quo.”   While the shipping industry is expected to enjoy an up-cycle in the coming years, “caution prevails as any easing of sanctions that reinstates pre-war trading patterns...poses a downside risk to ton-mile demand,” the company added.   “Furthermore, a more aggressive stance against China and the potential increase in trade tariffs would negatively affect global trade and, consequently, shipping.    Tankers    Having been supported by disruptions to Russian oil flows since the start of Ukraine war in February 2022, tanker rates have stayed at historically high levels also because of Red Sea rerouting despite seasonal demand softness, according to Euronav.   Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed the Arab Gulf-UK Continent Suezmax rate for transporting 140,000 mt of crude or dirty products at $20.81/mt on Aug. 8, down from $23.27/mt July 1.   The Arab Gulf-China VLCC rate fell to $10.11/mt from $10.95/mt in the same period, despite a brief spike to $13.34/mt on July 24.   Aside from seasonality, Euronav said: “China's economic landscape presents a mixed outlook” due to weak consumer spending and high unemployment rates in the world’s largest oil importing nation.   “These issues could further reduce China's overall energy consumption, a vital factor in global oil demand,” the company added.    Dry bulk, container shipping    In the dry bulk sector, Euronav also holds a bullish market view as Capesize rates have been supported by strong iron ore exports and long-haul bauxite shipments from Guinea to China.   The Platts Global Dry Bulk Index 0.5%S time charter equivalent from S&P Global Commodity Insights was assessed at $18,962/d on Aug. 7, up from $11,189/d when the assessment started in November 2023.   “July to September is typically a seasonally strong period for iron ore prices and Chinese steel production has recently ticked up,” Euronav said.   “Bauxite exports out of West Africa will soon decrease due to seasonal factors as the rainy season affects inland logistics, but longer-term trends are positive.”   Meanwhile, the company said container freight rates are surging due to ton-mile demand, a ramp-up of early peak season volumes, and increased port congestion.   The Platts Container Index, a weighted average of spot rate assessments on key routes, hit a 21-month high of $4,159.27/FEU in late June, up from $781.20/FEU on Nov. 22, 2023. It was last assessed at $3,734.24/FEU Aug. 7.   But Euronav also warned large newbuild deliveries and the possible resolution of the Red Sea crisis could be “clear negatives” and “predicting the near-term future of the container markets is very difficult.”    Q2 results    Following recent restructuring, Euronav -- ultimately controlled by the Saverys family’s Compagnie Maritime Belge -- now owns more than 160 ocean-going vessels in dry bulk, container shipping, chemical tankers, offshore wind and oil tankers.   The company has recently ordered three offshore wind vessels and four tugs capable of running on hydrogen, vowing to position itself for the shipping industry’s energy transition. It will be renamed as CMB.TCH from October.   Euronav posted a net profit of $680 million in January-June, up from $337 million in the same period of last year. Shipping revenue rose to $1.03 billion from $725 million. ","Shipping markets bullish, but US elections pose downside risks: Euronav",2024-08-08 13:01:37+00:00,Macroeconomic & Geopolitics,Macroeconomic & Geopolitics,0.918005910920045,0.05991405955139482,0.644061331229649,Bearish,Bearish
57,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts Crude arbFlow 08AUG24,2024-08-08 12:24:55+00:00,Other,Other,0.6503285497873345,0.08910631933790317,0.7948213784090273,Bullish,Bullish
58," Spanish crude import volumes increased 11% year on year in the first half of 2024 to 1.4 million b/d (33.5 million mt) as imports from the Americas and Africa ousted the Middle East and Eurasian volumes, data published Aug. 8 by reserve corporation CORES showed.   The incoming volume for the first half was the highest since 2019, according to CORES data.   Spain has a refining capacity of 1.6 million b/d, making it Europe's third-largest market by refining capacity.   The US, with 5.7 million mt, and Brazil, with 4.6 million mt, were the two largest suppliers to Spain in the period, followed by Nigeria, with 4.2 million mt and Mexico, with 4.0 million mt.   US volume was at a record high, reflecting a pivot in upstream operations of Spain’s principal integrated player Repsol towards the region.   Brazilian volume in H1 was also at a record high, beating its previous record of 2.8 million mt from H1 2022, while South American volume overall was also boosted by increased flows from Venezuela after Repsol lifted an increasing number of cargoes as the result of a production agreement with PDVSA signed in Q2.   African volume was boosted by steady output from Libya and Nigeria, but both Eurasian and Middle East volumes declined amid lower volumes from Kazakhstan and Iraq, among others.   Middle East volume to Spain in H1 was at its lowest on records since 1996 and 62% down from its pre-pandemic 2019 level, the data showed.        SPAIN CRUDE IMPORTS BY COUNTRY H1 2024            Volume  Volume  Y/Y change    source  (000 mt)  (b/d)  (%)                Total  33,535  1,350,613  11          Africa  10,950  441,008  28          Angola  2,592  104,392  75    Algeria  1,550  62,426  20    Egypt  0  0  -100    Gabon  130  5,236  na    Eq. Guinea  293  11,800  -43    Libya  2,156  86,832  6    Nigeria  4,230  170,362  34          North America  10,588  426,429  16          Canada  894  36,006  -40    US  5,656  227,794  54    Mexico  4,037  162,589  1          South America  6,705  270,042  47          Brazil  4,587  184,740  66    Colombia  0  0  -100    Ecuador  0  0  -100    Trinidad & Tob.  0  0  -100    Venezuela  1,363  54,894  229    Others Americas  756  30,448  85          Europe/Eurasia  2,512  101,170  -45          Albania  119  4,793  -45    Azerbaijan  0  0  -100    Italy  269  10,834  58    Kazakhstan  1,332  53,646  -36    Norway  752  30,287  -4    UK  39  1,571  -86          Mid East  2,780  111,964  -18          S. Arabia  1,927  77,609  -3    Iraq  853  34,354  -40          Key NC: No change       NA: no % change - previous year was zero            source: CORES         ", H1 crude imports rise 11% to 1.4 million b/d,2024-08-08 12:11:55+00:00,Middle Distillates,Middle Distillates,0.991797610384811,0.005056588249849503,0.5397446558471588,Bearish,Bearish
59," A number of refineries in China have resumed operations over the course of July after completing planned maintenance, refinery sources told S&P Global Commodity Insights.   PetroChina’s Dushanzi Petrochemical restarted July 6 following maintenance that started May 15.   Sinopec Qilu Petrochemical in eastern Shandong province restarted July 11 following maintenance on a CDU that started May 19.   Maoming Petrochemical had been carrying out works on a 100,000 b/d CDU over May 25-July 19.   Jinling Petrochemical will carry out works over Nov. 15-Dec. 31. ", Host of Chinese units back from works; Jinling maintenance in Nov-Dec,2024-08-08 11:51:12+00:00,Other,Other,0.8584412102584595,0.8519458402691007,0.014467630787184793,Bearish,Bearish
60," Some refineries in the Asia-Pacific region increased throughput in the second quarter of 2024, but runs at other refineries were affected by maintenance.   Thai and South Korean refiners have been reluctant to purchase light sweet Mediterranean crude oil as attacks off the Red Sea coast of Yemen persist, leading to less-than-ideal delivery costs and cracking economics for the Kazakh, Libyan and Algerian grades. The ongoing Israel-Iran conflict and Red Sea maritime security risks have diminished East Asian refiners' appetite for Mediterranean crude over the past several trading cycles, as cargoes are now detouring the Suez Canal and Red Sea passage and opting for the longer Cape of Good Hope route, which make logistical costs more expensive. Thai refineries used to actively procure Libyan crude grades including El-Sharara, Mellitah and Amna as well as Algeria's Saharan Blend from the Mediterranean market, while Kazakhstan's CPC Blend crude also featured in their crude slate until 2023. However, Southeast Asia's second biggest economy took zero CPC Blend and Saharan Blend cargoes so far this year, while light sweet Libyan crude imports over January-May tumbled 62% year on year to 15,610 b/d, Thai customs data showed. At least three major South Korean refiners regularly and actively purchased CPC Blend crude. One of the buyers has halted purchasing light sweet Kazakh crude since the third quarter 2023, while another importer stopped purchasing in April, according to refinery sources with direct knowledge of the matter and data from the Korea Petroleum Association.   ** Throughput at Reliance Industries Ltd.'s Jamnagar refinery complex in India totaled 19.8 million mt from April through June of its fiscal 2025, up 0.5% from the corresponding FY 2024 quarter, the company said July 19. RIL-operated Jamnagar, located in Gujarat on the west coast of India, is the world's largest refinery complex.   ** India's Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd. recorded 4.35 million mt of total throughputs in the April-June period compared with 4.36 million mt a year ago, company officials said July 23. The first quarter throughput, including crude and others, was 5.4% lower compared with the January-March quarter. MRPL recorded a 52% year-on-year decline in its gross refining margin to $4.70/b for the April-June period or Q1, reflecting lower returns from cracks. In Q1, MRPL added three new crude grades for the first time -- Varandey (API 37.63) and Kaliningrad (API 39.43) from Russia and Eocene crude from the Saudi-Kuwait Neutral Zone (API 18.07).   ** Gross refining margins at Hindustan Petroleum's Vizag refinery in Andhra Pradesh state is expected to improve by $3/b after the completion of its residual upgrade by the end of the current 2024-25 fiscal year in March 2025, company officials said July 31. The refinery is expected to run at its full expanded capacity of 300,000 b/d after the expansion project. In the October-December period, the Vizag refinery is expected to produce high-value refined products, the officials said. Separately, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. posted a 32.8% year-on-year drop in gross refining margin to $5/b in the April-June quarter on lower returns from cracks despite processing the highest-ever quarterly volume, company officials said July 30. HPCL recorded a $7.44/b gross refining margin a year ago. In the first quarter, which runs from April to June, HPCL's two refineries at Mumbai and Vizag processed a record 5.76 million mt, up 6.7% on the year. Widening the company’s crude basket, HPCL's two refineries processed imported crude Khafji and Varandey, and indigenous crude KGDWN for the first time during the quarter.   ** Indian refineries processed 5.42 million b/d of crude in June, up from 5.26 million b/d in June 2023, the oil ministry said in its latest update, reflecting a 3% year-on-year increase in processing in Asia's third-largest economy. The combined runs of all types of refineries, state-run and private, were 4.2% above the 5.2 million b/d target for the month. Analysts attributed the year-on-year increase to most of the refineries ramping up processing to meet higher demand for auto fuels. Indian refineries processed 5.24 million b/d in 2023-24 (April-March), up 2.1% year on year, reflecting domestic demand for oil and oil products.   ** Thailand’s Bangchak reported July 19 that the utilization rate at its 120,000 b/d Phra Khanong refinery dropped to 63% in the second quarter, from 101% in the first three months of the year, due to a planned turnaround at the plant. The average crude run at Phra Khanong fell to 76,200 b/d in the quarter, from 121,400 b/d in the first quarter, as the refinery was shut down for a planned turnaround between May 7 and June 2. Meanwhile, the utilization rate at Bangchak's other refinery, the 174,000 b/d Sriracha facility, increased to 89% in the second quarter, from 86% in the first quarter. Over April-June, the Sriracha refinery processed 154,200 b/d of crude oil, up from 150,300 b/d in Q1 2024. Bangchak’s combined utilization rate in the second quarter was 78%, with average crude runs of 230,400 b/d.   ** Thailand’s IRPC reported a 94% utilization rate in the second quarter of 2024, up from 90% in the same period of 2023 and 85% in the first quarter, the company said in its latest results report Aug. 6. Its utilization in the first half was 89%, down from 91% in H1 2023. The IRPC Rayong refinery processed 201,000 b/d of crude oil in the second quarter, up 3.6% year on year and surging 10.4% from Q1 2024. It processed 192,000 b/d of crude oil between January and June, down from 195,000 b/d in the same period of last year. Its gross refining margin in Q2 was $2.45/b, down from $4.12/b in Q2 of last year and dropping from $6.56/b in Q1, mainly due to lower spreads of diesel and gasoline products compared with the Dubai crude oil price. The company's GRM in the first half was $4.38/b, down from $5.86/b a year earlier.   ** Thai Oil reported a slight decrease in the utilization rate at its Sriracha refinery in the second quarter of this year compared with last year due to a planned shutdown at a crude distillation unit (CDU) in May, the company said in its Q2 results report on Aug. 8. The utilization between April and June was 111%, which was lower than 113% in Q2 last year as its CDU-1 and related units had a planned shutdown in 11 days in May this year. However, the Q2 utilization was higher than the 105% in Q1 as its CDU-3 had experienced an unplanned shutdown in 13 days in January due to technical issues. In Q2, the Sriracha refinery processed 306,000 b/d of crude oil, lower than 311,000 b/d in the same period in 2023 but higher than 288,000 b/d in the Q1 of 2024. Thai Oil’s gross refining margin (GRM) in Q2 was at $3.8/b, falling from $4.5/b in Q2 2023 thanks to lower spreads of gasoline and jet fuel/kerosene over Dubai crude oil prices because of oversupply. Thai Oil’s utilization in the first half was 108%, lower than 113% in the first six months of 2023. Its Sriracha refinery processed 297,000 b/d of crude oil in the period, lower than 309,000 b/d in H1 last year. The company's GRM in H1 was $6.3/b, lower than $7.2/b in H1 2023.   ** Australia's Ampol said July 25 that production at its Lytton refinery in the first half of 2024 was at 2.802 billion liters (around 95,000 b/d) -- 5.8% lower compared with the year-ago period. Refining margin in H1 was at $10.27/b, largely unchanged from $10.29/b in the year-ago period. However, in Q2 it rose to $8.81/b from $5.66/b in the year-ago quarter when margins were impacted by an unplanned FCC outage.   ** South Korea's S-Oil Corp. raised its crude run rate to average 94.6% in the second quarter, from 80.3% a year earlier and 91.9% in the previous Q1, despite weak refining margin. The refinery ran RFCC/hydrocracker at average of 96.1% in Q2, up from 80.9% a year earlier, but down from 97.6% in Q1. The refiner would keep its crude throughput high in the third quarter.   ** SK Innovation's crude run rate at Ulsan and Incheon averaged 81% in the second quarter, up from 80% a year earlier but down from 85% in the first quarter. Its crude run rate was still well below the prepandemic level of around 90%, though it has bounced back from 77% in 2022, 66% in 2021 and 75% in 2020. The refiner could slightly raise crude throughput later this year, but would remain cautious due to lingering market uncertainties. SK Innovation operates the Ulsan complex on the southeast coast that runs five CDUs with combined capacity of 840,000 b/d. Its another complex in Incheon on the west coast runs two CDUs with 275,000 b/d, which makes its total refining capacity of 1.115 million b/d in addition to a 100,000 b/d condensate splitter.   Meanwhile there have been reports of new products, as well as change of ownership and mergers.   ** India's oil refinery at Paradip has developed a high-octane gasoline variant, STORM- X, for racing cars, company officials said July 23. The new fuel variant is developed by the Indian Oil Research and Development Centre in Faridabad and produced at the state-of-the-art Paradip Refinery. The variant blends high-octane gasoline streams with advanced sustainable components, including 2G Ethanol from the Panipat Refinery.   ** South Korea's top oil refiner SK Innovation and SK E&S, a major LNG importer and utility, agreed to merge to become “Asia’s biggest private energy entity,” the companies said July 17. SK Innovation and SK E&S held separate board meetings that approved the merger plan as part of their parent SK Group’s restructuring efforts aimed at strengthening its energy business and providing financial support to the struggling electric vehicle battery segment. The merger will be finalized following approval at the companies’ emergency shareholders' meeting slated for Aug. 27, followed by the official launch of a new entity Nov. 1. The merger ratio between SK Innovation and SK E&S was set at 1:1.2.   ** Independent commodity trader Gunvor has agreed to purchase TotalEnergies' 50% stake in Total PARCO Pakistan, a fuel marketing company, the companies said Aug. 6. Total PARCO Pakistan is a 50/50 joint venture between TotalEnergies Marketing and Services and Pak-Arab Refinery Limited (PARCO) in Pakistan with a retail network of more than 800 service stations, fuel logistics and lubricants activities. Following the transaction, the new entity will continue its retail business under the existing “Total Parco” brand and its lubricants business under the “Total” brand for five years in Pakistan.   In other news, Pakistan’s government has allowed several refineries recently, including Pak Arab Refinery, PARCO, National Refinery and Attock Refinery to export fuel oil to help reduce stockpiles and optimize refinery operations. In May, Pakistani refineries had exported around 150,411 mt of fuel oil, up 59.5% on the year, according to data from the Oil Companies Advisory Council, which compiles data for petroleum products consumption, imports, and exports.       New and ongoing maintenance        Refinery  Capacity b/d  Country  Owner  Unit  Duration    Balikpapan  260,000  Indonesia  Pertamina  Part  Back    Taoyuan  200,000  Taiwan  CPC  Part  June    Dalin  400,000  Taiwan  CPC  Part  Aug    SRC  290,000  Singapore  Joint  Part  May    Onsan  669,000  South Korea  S-Oil  Part  H2    Lytton  109,000  Australia  Ampol  Full  H2    Kochi  310,000  India  BPCL  Part  Sept    Port Dickson  88,000  Malaysia  Petron  Full  Back    Manali  210,000  India  Chennai  Full  July    Bina  156,000  India  BPCL  Full  Aug        Upgrades        Vizag  166,000  India  HPCL  Expansion  2023    Mathura  160,000  India  IOC  Upgrade  N/A    Paradip  300,000  India  IOC  Upgrade  N/A    Panipat  500,000  India  IOC  Expansion  2024    Gujarat  275,000  India  IOC  Expansion  NA    Vadinar  400,000  India  Nayara  Expansion  NA    Jamnagar  1,360,000  India  Reliance  Expansion  NA    Numaligarh  60,000  India  BPCL  Expansion  2025    Kochi  310,000  India  BPCL  Expansion  2025    Haldia  150,000  India  IOC  Upgrade  2023    Port Dickson  88,000  Malaysia  Petron  Expansion  NA    Bataan  180,000  Malaysia  Petron  Expansion  NA    Sriracha  275,000  Thailand  Thai Oil  Expansion  2023    Barauni  120,000  India  IOC  Expansion  NA    Balikpapan  260,000  Indonesia  Pertamina  Expansion  2024    Balongan  125,000  Indonesia  Pertamina  Upgrade  2026    Tuban  100,000  Indonesia  TPPI  Upgrade  2024    Byco  155,000  Pakistan  Byco Group  Upgrade  NA    Cilacap  348,000  Indonesia  Pertamina  Upgrade  2023    Plaju  133,700  Indonesia  Pertamina  Upgrade     Pakistan Ref  50,000  Pakistan  Pakistan Ref  Upgrade  NA    Hengyi  160,000  Brunei  Hengyi Ind  Expansion  2024    Dung Quat  130,000  Vietnam  Binh Son  Expansion  2026    Attock  53,400  Pakistan  Attock  Upgrade  NA    National Refinery  70,000  Pakistan  National Ref Ltd  Part  Dec    Dumai  170,000  Indonesia  Pertamina  Expansion  NA    Bongaigaon  54,000  India  IOC  Expansion  NA    Pulau Muara Besar  160,000  Brunei  Hengyi  Upgrade  NA    Nagapattinam  180,000  India  Chennai  Launch  NA    Ulsan  840,000  South Korea  SK Energy  Upgrade  NA    Geelong  120,000  Australia  Viva Energy  Upgrade  2025    Digboi  13,000  India  IOC  Expansion  2025    Rayong  215,000  Thailand  IRPC  Upgrade  Completed        Launches        Barmer  180,000  India  HPCL  Launch  2024    Maharashtra  1,200,000  India  Joint  Launch  NA    Tuban  300,000  Indonesia  Joint  Launch  2024    Dornogovi  30,000  Mongolia  Government  Launch  2026    Mumbai  1,200,000  India  Ratnagiri  Launch  2025    Gwadar  300,000  Pakistan  Joint  Launch  NA    Balasore  NA  India  Haldia  Launch  NA    Hambantota  NA  Sri Lanka  Joint  Launch  NA    Bontang  300,000  Indonesia  Pertamina  Launch  NA    PARCO  250,000  Pakistan  PARCO  Launch  2025    Nagapattinam  180,000  India  Chennai  Launch  2025    Ratnagiri  1,200,000  India  Joint  Launch  2025    Trans Asia Refinery  120,000  Pakistan  Joint  Launch  NA    Long Son  300,000  Vietnam  PetroVietnam  Launch  2027         New and ongoing maintenance     New and revised entries    ** There has been no impact on the refinery units at South Korea's S-Oil's Onsan facility following a fire at an aromatics unit. “No other facilities at the complex -- such as crude distillation units and heavy oil upgraders -- were affected,” a company official said July 29. S-Oil shut its No. 2 aromatics unit in Onsan after a fire on July 28 morning. The fire erupted at 4:47 am local time (0747 GMT) July 28 and was completely extinguished about five hours after it started, according to the official. No casualties were reported. The unit can produce 1.05 million mt/year of paraxylene and 300,000 mt/year of benzene.   Separately, S-Oil Corp. plans to shut its smallest No. 1 crude distillation unit at Onsan with a capacity of 90,000 b/d for maintenance for several weeks later this year, with cracking margins forecast to rebound in the third quarter, a company official said July 26. However, the official refused to provide details such as exact dates for the maintenance in the second half of 2024. Earlier, the official said shutdown of No. 1 CDU might come in the second quarter, indicating the maintenance seems to have been delayed. The company conducted massive turnaround for the past two years, there would be no maintenance plans for this year, except the No. 1 CDU, according to the official.   ** South Korea's SK Innovation has no plans to shut its crude distillation units at Ulsan and Incheon for maintenance in the third quarter as it forecasts solid products crack margins, but has remained cautious in raising crude throughput, a company official said Aug. 1. “The company will not shut down other facilities such as heavy oil upgraders in the third quarter as we conducted massive maintenances so far this year,” the official said. The refiner has restarted its 240,000 b/d No. 4 CDU in the Ulsan complex since June 20 after a month-long maintenance. SK Innovation has also restarted the 260,000 b/d No. 5 CDU since April 15 after a month-long maintenance focused on replacing the preheater for boosting efficiency. The refiner’s No. 1 residue hydrodesulfurization unit with a capacity of 72,000 b/d in the Ulsan complex has restarted since June 20 after a month-long maintenance. The company also restarted two vacuum residue desulfurization units, both in the Ulsan complex and each with a 40,000 b/d capacity, in early April after weeks-long maintenance. On April 15, SK Innovation restarted the 260,000 b/d No. 5 CDU after a month-long maintenance period focused on replacing the pre-heater for boosting efficiency.   ** Hindustan Petroleum's officials ruled out any planned turnaround at the Vizag refinery during the remaining period of the current fiscal year. Vizag ran at 114% of capacity in 2023-24 (April-March) against 112% in 2022-23. In June, Vizag ran at 114% while it ran at 102% during the April-March period.   ** India's Bharat Petroleum Corporation's refinery at Bina, Madhya Pradesh, is set for a 15-day turnaround over August-September, company officials said July 30. All the four major units at the refinery -- hydrocracking unit, diesel hydro desulphurization unit, diesel hydrotreater unit and sulfur recovery unit -- are expected to undergo maintenance during the turnaround.   ** Indian state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd plans a 30-day turnaround at its Kochi refinery for primary and secondary units, company officials said.   During the turnaround period, most units will be shut for maintenance. The units to be shut down are expected to be CDU-2, the fluid catalytic cracking block, the vacuum distillation unit, the sulfur recovery unit, and the hydrogen sulfide removal unit. The CDU has a 4.5 million mt/year (90,000 b/d) capacity. Officials have previously said the maintenance was planned for September-October when the refinery's usual capacity would be reduced by 29%. During the planned shutdown period, the second CDU with 10.5 million mt/year capacity would function normally.   ** Taiwan's CPC has further delayed the restart of its residue fluid catalytic cracking unit in Dalin to Aug. 23, according to company notice seen by S&P Global Commodity Insights. The delay was attributed to further technical issues, with the RFCC unit's catalytic equipment suffering damage following a restart attempt Aug. 2, the notice said. The unit, which can produce 280,000 mt/year of propylene, was initially slated to resume operation July 28 but was postponed to Aug. 1. It was shut July 21 due to technical issues.   ** India’s Nayara Energy may undertake maintenance at the Vadinar refinery in the near term as evident from a tender where the refiner offered vacuum gasoil for loading in September, market sources said July 24. The maintenance is expected to take place in September. According to market sources one of the units expected to undergo works is a hydrocracker which processes VGO into diesel. Company officials did not comment on the possible maintenance citing company policy.   ** The 360,000 b/d CDU No. 4 at Pertamina's Balikpapan refinery in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, has resumed normal operations as of July 26, sources said July 29. The unit underwent maintenance following a fire incident May 25.   The whole refinery is fully back online after completing its maintenance, sources said. Balikpapan has been under maintenance and expansion since the start of the year. This is a key step in integrating existing refinery units with newly-built ones and has resulted in raising capacity by 100,000 b/d to 360,000 b/d and increasing the quality of products to Euro 5 standards from Euro 2. The new capacity includes the revamped 300,000 b/d CDU No. 4 and the 60,000 b/d CDU No. 5, according to the company.   ** India’s Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. has no maintenance plans for its Mumbai refinery for 2024 and has not carried out any work in July, company officials said July 31. Earlier, the refiner had planned to shut down one of the crude distillation units for 30 days to coincide with the second quarter, which runs from July to September. The CDU that had been planned to undergo maintenance was of smaller capacity.   ** Australia's Ampol in a brief statement to Commodity Insights July 10 said the refinery will be undergoing planned turnaround commencing mid-July to end-August. ""[The turnaround] is for the reformer primarily, although we will take the opportunity to do some other minor maintenance and cleaning,"" the company said in the statement. Ampol said Feb. 19 its Lytton refinery will have a ""scheduled turnaround and inspection"" in H2 2024 and expected to last about seven weeks.    Existing entries    ** Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical will enter planned turnaround at Mailiao in mid-September 2024, with both the 180,000 b/d No. 1 CDU unit and the 80,500 b/d No. 1 RDS unit expected to be offline for 40 days, while the 76,000 b/d No. 1 RFCC unit will likely be taken offline for nearly 70 days.   ** SRC will carry out planned maintenance at its plant on Jurong Island between mid-August and mid-September, according to market sources. Two of the CDUs were expected to be offline. The refinery has three CDUs. One CDU was due to have maintenance in May, although it has been deferred, according to market sources. An SRC spokesperson said the company does not comment on its facility operations.   ** India's Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd. plans a month-long maintenance shutdown mid-year, company officials said. The maintenance at Manali refinery was expected to take place over July-August.   ** Malaysia's Melaka bigger 200,000 b/d CDU is expected to undergo maintenance in 2026.   ** Taiwan's state-run CPC plans to shut the 50,000 b/d residue catalytic cracker at the Taoyuan refinery for scheduled maintenance over June 25 to Sept. 2, a source close to the company said.   ** CPC has scheduled to shut the 40,000 b/d catalytic reformer at the Dalin refinery for turnaround over Aug. 30 to Oct. 18. The unit produces the reformate feedstock for the company's No. 3 and No. 6 BTX plants. CPC's No. 6 BTX unit is also scheduled for maintenance from Aug. 30 to Oct. 1. The refiner also plans to shut its residual oil cracking unit at Dalin refinery from Oct. 30 to Dec. 23 for maintenance. The unit can produce 53,000 mt/year of propylene.   ** Repair works on the RDS No. 3 unit of Taiwan's state-owned CPC Corp's Dalin refinery -- also known as Talin -- were ongoing, a company spokesperson said in November 2023. The company expected the works to be completed by early 2025, though the timeline will be reviewed on a “rolling basis” as the project progresses, he said. The RDS unit was shut following a fire at the refinery's 40,000 b/d residue hydrotreater No. 3 unit in late October 2022.   ** New Zealand's sole refinery Marsden Point converted operations to an import-only fuel terminal in April 2022.   ** ExxonMobil Australia integrated the common infrastructure between the Altona refinery in Melbourne and the new fuel import and storage terminal over the course of 2022. The process of shutting down the refinery started at the end of August 2021 and was completed in May 2022.    Upgrades     New and revised entries    ** Hindustan Petroleum's Vizag refinery in Andhra Pradesh state is expected to run at its full expanded capacity of 300,000 b/d after the expansion project, which includes a 3 million mt/year hydrocracker, a sulfur recovery unit and hydrogen unit. Its bottom-of-the-barrel upgrade will be over by the January-March quarter of the current 2024-25 fiscal year. After the fully expanded capacity comes into force, the refinery's overall distillate yields will increase by at least 10% from the current level of 75%. After expansion, Vizag's distillates would reach 60% from 48%-50%, gasoline at 18%, and LPG at 5%. From the next fiscal year (2025-26), there will be no fuel oil production at the Vizag refinery.   ** Thailand's IRPC said it put its ultra clean fuel project into commercial operation in April. The UCF project, which includes a new 75,000 b/d diesel hydrotreater, will enhance the efficiency of the refinery plant and improve the quality of its diesel to meet the Euro-5 standard, in alignment with Thai Ministry of Energy's policy that requires diesel distribution to comply with the Euro-5 standard beginning Jan. 1, 2024. This standard reduces the permissible sulfur level to 10 ppm from 50 ppm under Euro 4, IRPC said.   ** Thai Oil reported little progress on its delayed clean fuel project (CFP). The company completed 96.8% of work at the project as of Jun. 30, slightly higher than the 96% as of March 31. The CFP will help Thai Oil move from producing low-value products to producing higher value and more environmentally-friendly products. It will also enable the company to process more types of crude oil with higher quantities. Thai Oil initiated the commissioning of the Hydrodesulfurization unit (HDS-4) in February, ahead of schedule. This unit played a vital role in enabling the company to comply with the Euro-5 standard, which was enforced in Thailand this year. Additionally, Thai Oil is working to accelerate the commissioning of the remaining units, it said.    Existing entries    ** PetroVietnam's Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical was targeting completion of the expansion project at its Dung Quat refinery in the third quarter of 2028, PetroVietnam said in May. The target was announced during the 2024 annual stakeholders meeting that BSR held on May 23. The board of managers of BSR announced in March that it has approved the expansion project, which will raise Dung Quat's capacity to 171,000 b/d from 148,000 b/d. The company hopes it can award the engineering, procurement and construction contract so work to build the expansion project can begin from 2025. The expansion project will add seven new units, including gasoline hydrotreating technology, diesel hydrotreating technology and sulfur recovery unit; and revamp nine existing units. Currently Dung Quat refinery has 15 units.   ** Pakistan Refinery Ltd. is aiming to award the EPC contract for the upgrade and expansion of the refinery by the end of 2024 and ""work towards achieving financial close of the project"" by the middle of 2025, it said in a filing to the Pakistan Stock Exchange in May. The announcement was made after senior management visited China and engaged with EPC contractors and financial institutions. Pakistan Refinery Ltd. plans to double its capacity to 100,000 b/d in five years at a total project cost of around $1.7 billion, CEO Zahid Mir said in January. It also reiterated that its refinery expansion and upgrade project involve doubling of the capacity and adopting a deep conversion configuration. The upgraded refinery will produce Euro V products, enhancing the refinery's ""operational efficiency and environmental footprint,"" it also said. Pakistan Refinery has previously said it aims to install bottom-of-the-barrel conversion technology and naphtha processing. That includes a residue fluidized catalytic cracking process, LPG Merox process and a naphtha complex, featuring a naphtha hydrotreater and a CCR platforming unit.   ** Indonesia's Pertamina said that its Balikpapan refinery will also produce propylene upon completing its upgrade and expansion which started in February and has largely been completed. The refinery's production capacity will raise to 360,000 b/d from 260,000 b/d and the quality of products will improve from Euro II to Euro V. Upon the completion of the upgrade, the refinery will produce 225,000 mt/year of propylene, which will be used as a feedstock for the polypropylene unit at Balongan. That unit subsequently will be able to substitute imported products.   KPI, which runs six refineries, has petrochemical units currently at Balongan, as well as a paraxylene unit at Cilacap and a polypropylene unit at Plaju.   ** Indian Oil Corp has selected global technology processing company Lummus' Cumene Technology solution for the 440,000 mt/year cumene unit at its Paradip refinery on India's east coast. The new cumene unit is part of a grassroots petrochemical and polymers expansion at the refinery.   ** India's Nayara Energy plans to set up two ethanol plants of 200,000 liters/day capacity each by 2025-26 (April-March), company officials said. One plant will be in Andhra Pradesh while the other unit will be in Madhya Pradesh. Nayara's two plants will help meet the government's 20% ethanol blending target for 2025, the company said.   Nayara aims to gradually increase the number of ethanol plants to five with production capacity 1 million l/d in the near future, to ensure the reliability of the blending program.   Nayara Energy also plans to expand and modernize existing refining capacity, a company official said Feb. 15, without providing further details. According to Russian media reports, citing an energy ministry source, the refinery looks at more than doubling its capacity. A Rosneft-led consortium owns Nayara in which trading company Trafigura and UCP Investment Group are partners. Nayara is looking to set up a 450,000 mt/year polypropylene plant at the Vadinar refinery as part of the upgrade. The plant is expected to be commissioned in 2024.   ** Thai Oil had completed 96.8% of work at the project as of June 30, slightly higher than the 96% as of March 31. The CFP will help Thai Oil move from producing low-value products to producing higher value and more environmentally-friendly products. It will also enable the company to process more types of crude oil with higher quantities. Thai Oil initiated the commissioning of the Hydrodesulfurization unit (HDS-4) in February, ahead of schedule. This unit played a vital role in enabling the company to comply with the Euro-5 standard, which was enforced in Thailand this year. Additionally, Thai Oil is working to accelerate the commissioning of the remaining units, it said. The $4-billion project is expected to increase the refinery's capacity to 400,000 b/d and help Thai Oil move from producing low-value products to producing higher value and more environmentally friendly products. It will also enable the company to process more types of crude oil with higher quantities.   Thai Oil initiated the commissioning of the Hydrodesulfurization unit (HDS-4) in February, ahead of schedule. This unit played a vital role in enabling the company to comply with the Euro-5 standard, which was enforced in Thailand this year. Additionally, Thai Oil is working to accelerate the commissioning of the remaining units, it said.   ** India's Numaligarh Refinery plans to run at an expanded capacity of 9 million mt/year (180,000 b/d) in December 2025, company officials said. The latest timeline to start the expansion is three months behind an earlier deadline. The refiner is expected to complete installation works related to a new CDU and associated secondary units by September at the latest. Currently, the refinery has a 3 million mt/year (60,000 b/d) capacity. The proposal related to NRL's capacity expansion was approved by the federal government in 2019. The expanded full runs would be sourced 61% through imported crude and the rest via local production, said Ranjit Rath, OIL's chair. The expansion plan will add a second CDU of 6 million mt/year. Details of a new diesel hydrotreating unit to be installed as part of its multiyear expansion have also been finalized. Toyo Engineering Corp. said that its India subsidiary was awarded a contract for the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of a 3.55 million mt/year diesel hydrotreating unit. Separately, Axens will provide technical support and license a naphtha hydrotreating unit, continuous catalytic reforming unit, isomerization and fluid catalytic cracker.   ** Indian Oil Corp.'s Panipat refinery is set to run its expanded capacity of 500,000 b/d (25 million mt/year) in December 2025 form the current 15 million mt/year, company officials said in February 2024. The setting up of new petrochemical units as part of the expansion project would help the refinery in North India diversify its product portfolio. The project will produce gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and LPG by utilizing indigenous INDMAX technology. The installation of polypropylene and catalytic dewaxing units will help diversify product offerings, strengthening market competitiveness. McDermott has been awarded a project management consultancy (PMC) contract by IOC for the Maleic Anhydride (MAH) unit at the Panipat Refinery and Petrochemical Complex. The contract includes FEED, construction supervision, pre-commissioning and commissioning among other things.   ** Indian Oil Corp. owned Barauni refinery revised the completion target for raising capacity by 50% to 180,000 b/d by December 2025, company officials said in February 2024. The expansion includes setting up secondary process units for petrochemical products. The project aims to set up the state's first polypropylene unit. The capacity expansion project was originally scheduled for completion in 2021 but was delayed due to COVID-19.   IOC has awarded an engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning contract to Paris-based Technip for its expansion project at the Barauni refinery. The contract involves the installation of a 1 million mt/year ""once-through"" hydrocracker unit, a fuel gas treatment unit and associated facilities.   ** A final investment decision on the Lytton Ultra Low Sulfur Fuels Project is expected in Q1 2024, Australia's Ampol said.   ** India's Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd has selected KBR solvent deasphalting (SDA) technology for its Mumbai plant. ""KBR will provide technology licensing, basic engineering, training, start-up support and proprietary equipment to HPCL,"" it said, adding that the new 850,000 mt/year unit will be integrated with the existing facility. ""This unit will help HPCL enhance refinery economics by upgrading fuel oil into more valuable products while lowering the overall carbon footprint,"" KBR said.   ** India's Bharat Petroleum Corporation-owned Kochi refinery in South India would spend around $606 million to install a polypropylene unit. The unit will utilize the abundant propylene feedstock of the refinery and will have a capacity of 400,000 mt/year.   ** Expansion plans at Pakistan's Attock refinery will depend on the future availability of domestic crude produced in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Potwar region, currently running at around 41,000 b/d, as importing crude oil is not economically feasible. As a result, the refinery has requested that 5,000 b/d of condensate/crude that is currently exported be redirected to the refinery. A six-year, $500 million upgrade project to produce more Euro-5 gasoline and diesel is planned. Its upgrade plans include a continuous catalyst regeneration complex, the front-end engineering design for which has been completed. The FEED for the revamp of the diesel desulfurization unit has also been completed. Both units will produce products meeting Euro-V specifications. The refinery also plans to install a new 50,000 b/d deep conversion green-field refinery, without providing a time frame.   ** Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of Bina refinery's downstream petrochemical complex and expansion project involving $6 billion investment by 2027-28, company officials said in September 2023. The project includes setting up an ethylene cracker that will produce about 1,200 kt/year of ethylene and propylene. As a result of the expansion, the capacity of the Bina refinery will be raised to 220,000 b/d in 2027-28, up 40% from the current capacity.   ** Australia's Viva Energy reported in August 2023 that planning and investment for its ultra-low sulfur gasoline project at Geelong are ""well underway"" with completion expected in the second half of 2025 ""due to delays of critical components.""   ** India's Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd has selected Chevron Lummus Global's Isofinishing technology for a catalytic processing unit at Mumbai refinery. The process unit, with 200,000 mt per annum capacity, will be India's first catalytic process unit to manufacture de-aromatized solvents and white oil. Isofinishing is CLG's proprietary hydrofinishing technology.   ** Indian Oil Corp's board has accorded ""Stage 1"" approval to set up a petrochemical complex at Paradip on the east coast, the company said March 2023. The petrochemical complex will include a world-scale cracker unit along with downstream process units for producing several petrochemical products such as polypropylene, high density polyethylene, linear low density polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride. It will facilitate the production of niche chemicals and petrochemicals such as phenol and isopropyl alcohol, a company statement said. The official said the mega petrochemical project would have extensive integration and stream exchange with the Paradip refinery, and not exactly a part of the existing refinery at Paradip.   ** The second phase of expansion of Hengyi Brunei's PMB petrochemical complex is expected to be operational in 2027-28, according to a report from The Scoop website citing an official. The second phase is expected to increase the refinery capacity from 160,000 b/d to 280,000 b/d. It will also add a paraxylene unit, an ethylene plant and purified terephthalic acid (PTA) facility, the report said. China's Hengyi plans to start up a new 450,000 mt/year high density polyethylene and 450,000 mt/year linear low density polyethylene plant at its Pulau Muara Besar plant in Brunei at the end of 2024 or in early 2025, Commodity Insights reported.   ** Indonesia's Balongan has increased its capacity to 150,000 b/d after completing in 2022 the first phase of its upgrade which involved raising refining capacity from 125,000 b/d. The second and third phases will increase the product yield from the refinery.   ** Toyo Engineering has been awarded a contract by India's IOC for EPCC (engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning) of a new 2.5 million mt/year vacuum distillation unit at the Vadodara refinery in Gujarat. The Gujarat refinery is also in the process of expanding its capacity from 13.7 million mt/year to 18 million mt/year, which is due for completion in the first half of financial year 2024, the statement said. Under the expansion project, the smaller capacity atmospheric unit and vacuum units will be replaced by a large atmospheric vacuum unit to raise operational efficiency.   ** IOC has approved Digboi refinery's proposal to raise capacity to 20,000 b/d. Digboi, India's oldest refinery, was set up in 1901. Its current capacity stands at 13,000 b/d. ""The project is expected to be commissioned by October 2025,"" the company said in a regulatory filing.   ** SK Innovation and Energy has selected Honeywell UOP for a feasibility study to retrofit the hydrogen plant at its Ulsan refinery with carbon capture. SK will ""explore capturing and sequestering 400,000 tons of carbon dioxide"" from the existing hydrogen production assets. From 2026, the CO2 will be reinjected in depleted natural gas reservoirs, Honeywell said.   ** Indian Oil Corp. has received environmental clearance for a capacity upgrade project at its Mathura refinery. The capacity expansion project includes residue upgrade and distillate yield improvement programs. The upgraded crude processing capacity will be 11 million mt/year.   ** Reliance Industries Ltd. has no investment commitment for any refinery capacity expansion plan at its Jamnagar integrated complex, company officials said. Reliance has two refineries at the world's biggest refinery complex in Gujarat on India's west coast with a combined capacity of 68.2 million mt/year. Reliance has received environmental clearance for a capacity expansion proposal at its export-focused refinery from 35.2 million mt/year to 41 million mt/year. Reliance also applied for regulatory clearance for a capacity expansion proposal at its domestically focused refinery from 33 million mt/year to 40.5 million mt. However, it aborted the proposal after marketing conditions changed.   ** State-run Indian Oil Corp. has awarded an engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning contract to Paris-based Technip for its expansion project at the Barauni refinery in the eastern state of Bihar. The contract involves the installation of a 1 million mt/year ""once-through"" hydrocracker unit, a fuel gas treatment unit and associated facilities. The expansion project will raise its capacity by 50% to 180,000 b/d and add petrochemicals such as polypropylene to its product portfolio. The initial plan for completing the capacity project was scheduled for 2021. But the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic may result in this being rescheduled.   ** IOC-owned Bongaigaon refinery plans to raise its capacity to 4.5 million mt/year.   ** IOC's Haldia refinery will launch a second catalytic dewaxing unit with 270,000 mt/year capacity in 2023. The unit will produce advanced Group III Lubes Oil Base Stock. The unit is expected to be commissioned in January 2023.   ** Pakistan's largest refiner, Cnergyico -- formerly Byco -- plans to convert the bulk of its fuel oil output capacity into producing gasoline and diesel meeting international Euro 5 standards, Chair Mohammad Wasi Khan said in September 2021. Byco Petroleum typically produces 30%-40% fuel oil, or furnace oil as it is commonly called in the country, from each barrel of crude oil it refines. The product is mainly used by utilities for power generation. But furnace oil demand has weakened after utilities started using LNG, which is a cleaner alternative, said Khan. ""Byco started development work to modernize its refinery by launching the Upgrade-I project at the start of this year which would be completed by 2025,"" he said. Civil work on the site and the arrival of equipment and machinery are underway, and the company is getting ready to install additional units. ""Byco seeks to install 14 plants altogether, including fluid catalytic cracking and diesel hydro desulfurization units,"" Khan said. By the time it finishes, the company will have 19 plants at its oil refining complex. This equipment will help convert the bulk of Byco's furnace oil output into Euro 5-compliant gasoline and diesel and produce other high-quality fuels like jet fuel and kerosene. Meanwhile, Axens has been selected by Byco to support its upgrade projects Phases I, II and III. The scope of Axens' work includes ""the supply of process design package for integration of three existing units into FCC gasoline hydrotreating configuration"" as well as catalysts and adsorbents for the sulfur recovery unit and distillate hydrotreaters 2 and 3, and distillate hydrotreater 3 reactor internals. The start-up date of the complete Phases I, II and III is expected in Q2, 2024. Currently, Pakistan's Byco refinery is rebranding under the name of Cnergyico Pk Ltd.   ** Indonesia's TPPI has laid out the next steps of its upgrading works at its Tuban refinery, setting 2024 as the target for the completion of its new olefin project. TPPI will also continue with its aromatics revamping project. The olefins project is slated for completion by 2024, while the aromatics revamping project will be completed by 2022.   ** Petron Malaysia has been considering a plan to more than double capacity at its 88,000 b/d Port Dickson refinery in Malaysia to 178,000 b/d.   ** Saudi Aramco and S-Oil signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on a $6 billion steam cracker and olefin downstream project at Onsan due for completion in 2024.   ** ExxonMobil announced a final investment decision at its Singapore complex. The project includes an expansion aimed at converting ""fuel oil and other bottom-of-the-barrel crude products into higher-value lube base stocks and distillates."" The startup is set for 2023.   ** Petron plans to expand and upgrade its Bataan refinery in Limay. There was no timeline for when the expansion will take place. The refinery's capacity will be increased by 100,000 b/d of condensates and light crude oils, from the current capacity of 180,000 b/d.    Launches     Existing entries    ** India's Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. plans to build a 12 million mt/year (241,000 b/d) refinery in the next five years, company officials said June 2024. The refiner is exploring suitable sites in the three states -- Andhra Pradesh in south India, Uttar Pradesh in north India and Gujarat in western India. ""The details of our fourth refinery are being worked out,"" said a company official. The planned refinery would be BPCL's biggest refinery among its existing three at Mumbai, Kochi and Bina.   ** India's Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. said in May that the construction of process units at the new integrated refinery at Barmer has seen 66% of the estimated project cost of $8.3 billion spent. Currently, the key process units Diesel Hydrotreating (DHDT) and Hydrogen Generation Unit (HGU) are in the pre-commissioning stage. The mechanical completion of Cooling Tower1, Raw Water Treatment Plant, Compressed Air & Cryogenic Nitrogen Plant was achieved during the January-March period. The physical progress for the other key process units CDU/VDU, DCU, PFCCU & VGO-HDT was more than 90% complete and progress in all other packages and units was also being sped up to meet the completion deadline of December. The project's mechanical completion was expected to be completed by mid-June. It will have a petrochemical production capacity of 26% with 2.4 million mt/year output. The project has been running almost three years behind schedule due to the impact of COVID-19 and related restrictions. It was originally scheduled for completion by March 2021.   ** India's Chennai Petroleum Corp. Ltd.'s 9 million mt/year (180,000 b/d) grassroots refinery project at Nagapattinam is expected to be commissioned by December 2027, company officials said April 30, delayed by two years from an earlier deadline amid fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. CPCL will develop the refinery with its parent company Indian Oil Corp. as a joint venture. The land for the refinery project has already been acquired after environmental clearance.   The project is still waiting for approval from the federal government regarding the new equity structure. Recently, CPCL changed the capital structure of the joint venture developing the project, with its parent company IOC holding a 75% stake and the remainder controlled by itself.   The project will require 36 months for physical construction after the government clears the new equity structure and another three months for final commissioning, a company official said. The new refinery will have capacity to produce around 4 million mt/year of diesel, 1.8 million mt/year of gasoline, both Euro 6 grades, and 600,000 mt/year of LPG and 300,000 mt/year of jet fuel. The new refinery's configuration will allow the processing of 50% each of a mix of Basrah Light and Basrah Heavy and also 100% Iranian Light.   ** India's Nagapattinam refinery project has received mandatory regulatory clearances, though civil construction activities are yet to start. The configuration of the proposed refinery would be such that it would be able to process 50% each of a mix of Basrah Light and Basrah Heavy and also 100% Iranian Light. It is expected to come on stream by 2028.   ** Sri Lanka has awarded a contract for building a new refinery at Hambantota to China's Sinopec, Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera said Nov. 27. ""Cabinet approval was granted today to award the contract to China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (SINOPEC) of China, to enter into an agreement to establish"" a new refinery in Hambantota, Wijesekera said. Sri Lanka has been looking for potential investors to express interest in building a new refinery in Hambantota. The country previously canceled another project for the construction of a new refinery due to a lack of progress.   ** Five state-run companies in Pakistan have joined together to build a greenfield refinery in the country's southwestern province of Baluchistan, with a capacity of 300,000 b/d, Energy Minister Mussadik Malik said July 27. A signing ceremony was held in Islamabad between Pakistan State Oil, Oil and Gas Development Co. Ltd., Pakistan Petroleum Ltd., Pak Arab Refinery and Government Holdings Private Ltd. Pakistan is also looking for foreign partners in the joint venture, the minister said. The refinery, whose construction is expected to take 20 years, will get 20 years tax holiday, an energy ministry official said.   ** Indonesia's state-owned oil company Pertamina has said the Ukraine conflict might impact its joint refinery project with Russia's state-owned company Rosneft, according to local media reports. Pertamina wants to add a new partner due to sanctions imposed on the Russian company that could impact the final investment decision for the project, Taufik Aditiyawarman, a senior official of the refinery subsidiary PT Kilang Pertamina Internasional, told reporters. Asked whether Pertamina would like to change its JV with Rosneft, Taufik Aditiyawarman said that there was ""no plan to change"" the JV partner. Rosneft holds a 45% stake and Pertamina a 55% stake in the joint venture to build an oil refinery and petrochemical complex. The JV was set up in October 2016, Commodity Insights reported. Commissioning of the plant in East Java was expected by 2025, but the FID has been delayed. Within the next five years, primary processing design capacity is planned at up to 15 million mt/year, around 300,000 b/d. Planned capacity at the petrochemical complex includes more than 1 million mt/year for ethylene and 1.3 million mt/year for aromatic hydrocarbons.   ** India's planned refining and chemicals complex Ratnagiri on its west coast will be split into three refining units, each with 20 million mt of capacity, according to the chair of Indian Oil Corp. ""Now we don't intend to go to 60 million mt at one go; we'll have three of 20 million mt each,"" Shrikant Vaidya told Commodity Insights on the sidelines of the Middle East Petroleum and Gas Conference in Dubai. The Ratnagiri refinery will be co-developed by Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., Saudi Aramco as well as Indian state-backed refiners including, IOC, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. The project, which has an estimated $70 billion development cost, has been delayed by issues with land acquisition in the coastal region of Maharashtra state. The first 20 million mt refinery will begin work once soil studies are complete, Vaidya said. The refinery's original proposed site was in Ratnagiri district, 250 km from Mumbai, Commodity Insights reported. A second option that was considered was Raigad district, around 100 km from Mumbai.   ** India is confident to complete Mongolia's 1.5 million mt (30,000 b/d) maiden refinery project in 2025, oil ministry officials said March 2023. The latest timeline is nearly three years behind the schedule compared with an earlier completion deadline. The rescheduling of the completion deadline has been done due to two years of disruption in project work on account of COVID-19. The greenfield refinery was expected to reach 70% of installed capacity after two years of operation, while the full run was expected after four years of operation. The proposed Mongolian refinery will have a complexity index of 12.   ** PetroVietnam is seeking government approval to build a 300,000 b/d mega refinery and petrochemical complex, as well as a facility to accommodate national crude oil and refined products reserves in Long Son in Ba Ria Vung Tau province, according to local media reports and industry sources with close knowledge of the state-run oil firm's refining business. A feasibility study report will be prepared from June to December 2023 and the final investment decision will be approved in the first quarter of 2024. After that, the EPC contractor will be selected and the project will be built from January 2024 to December 2027, according to the sources close to the company. Vietnam has a total refining capacity of around 350,000 b/d so far, which is only enough to cover about half the country's oil products and chemicals demand. The new complex is expected to nearly double Vietnam's refining capacity, and it will process most of the domestic raw materials of crude oil, gas and condensate.   ** Flow Petroleum Ltd, a Pakistan-based oil marketing company, has signed an agreement with Al Ghurair Investments, a large investment group in the UAE, for 100% ownership of a 120,000 b/d refinery named Trans Asia Refinery. It will be set up on 200 acres leased from Port Qasim Authority, Karachi, Pakistan.   ** Indonesia's Pertamina has postponed construction of a proposed 300,000 b/d Bontang refinery in East Kalimantan.   ** Indian Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd.'s proposal to invest $4.05 billion in an integrated refinery and petrochemicals facility in Balasore has been granted approval by the Odisha state government.   ** Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have been in talks to develop a 200,000-300,000 b/d refinery in Balochistan's Gwadar district for $10 billion. ", Mixed runs in Asia-Pacific,2024-08-08 11:50:48+00:00,Middle Distillates,Middle Distillates,0.8906676014358873,0.29540797864573326,0.1975700863112209,Bearish,Bearish
61," The physical low sulfur (1%S) fuel oil Med-North spread widened to a record high Aug. 7, amid a strong pull of demand from within the Mediterranean markets.   Platts last assessed the LSFO Med-North spread -- the spread between 1%S FOB Med cargoes and 1%S FOB NWE cargoes -- at $41/mt Aug. 7, marking a record high since the assessment began, S&P Global Commodity Insights data showed.   Within the Platts Market on Close assessment process, Alkagesta has consistently been bidding since early August for a 25,000-mt LSFO cargo on a CIF Malta basis, pushing up the Med-North spread in recent days.   With the majority of LSFO production occurring within the Northwestern European markets, the 1%S Med-North predominately sees a premium within the Mediterranean markets to incentivize flows to move from the North into the Mediterranean.   One trader said the Mediterranean LSFO market has become stronger over the past two weeks “as it needs the arb” from Northwest Europe, adding that they have seen lots of prompt demand for LSFO within the Mediterranean from utility shorts to meet their power generation needs.   A second trader said the lack of 1%S production within the European refinery complex means that there is a more limited pool of supply entering the markets.   The LSFO market remains thinly traded and therefore more susceptible to larger fluctuations in prices, traders continued to note. ",Physical 1%S fuel oil Med-North spread hits record high on competitive bidding in Platts MOC,2024-08-08 11:28:20+00:00,Middle Distillates,Middle Distillates,0.9519853566650026,0.00961254773478393,0.82290523424995,Bearish,Bearish
62," Bunkering activity in India has experienced significant growth during the first seven months of 2024, with the total number of bunkering and ship-to-ship (STS) calls to Indian ports increasing by 64% year on year.   According to  S&P Global Commodities at Sea  data, the total number of bunkering and STS calls to Indian ports surpassed 6,765 compared with just 4,113 during the same period in 2023.   “This year the performance of all ports is better because mostly the demand has increased,” a Gujrat-based trader told Commodity Insights.   “We anticipate that volumes could increase significantly, reaching up to 3,000-4,000 mt in the coming months for Hazira and Dahej,” said a Hazira-based trader.   This time, the monsoon has had little effect in Mumbai, said market participants. Mumbai, which is one of the major bunkering hubs in the country, saw a 53% rise in total bunkering and STS calls, CAS data showed.      “One barge is operating at Mumbai OPL, specifically handling monsoon deliveries,” a Mumbai-based trader said Aug. 8.   ""For July, Mumbai's total volume is expected to exceed 60,000 mt. Product availability is strong, with significant HSFO and VLSFO orders at OPL deliveries,"" the trader added.   Attacks on shipping in the Red Sea have prompted shipowners to take longer voyages around Africa. This disruption caused a substantial increase in monsoon bunker demand at Indian ports, which is typically lower due to weather disruptions. The growth was further fueled by favorable pricing and consistent supply from domestic refineries since the second quarter of 2024.   Platts, part of Commodity Insights, assessed 0.5% marine fuel oil delivered to Mumbai at $641/mt CFR on Aug. 8, down $4/mt week on week, while in Kochi prices were at $647/mt, up $4/mt.    Weather disruptions hit bunker volumes at Gujarat-based ports    Demand for bunker fuels at West coast India ports took a hit in July as supplies have been impacted by the ongoing monsoon season, traders said.   During the Southwest monsoon period from June to September, certain port authorities impose restrictions on barge movement due to unfavorable weather conditions impacting anchorage supplies.   “Despite a steady flow of inquiries in July, weather conditions prevented us from fulfilling orders at locations like Vadinar and Sikka,” said a Kandla-based supplier.   In June, the total volume of supplies was around 52,000 mt while in July it decreased to 35,000 mt, the supplier added.   “Our limitation lies in the lack of barge supply at anchorage, restricting us to tank truck deliveries at berth, which impacts our ability to handle larger volumes,” said a Dahej-based supplier   Total Bunkering and STS calls fell to 26% month-over-month to 357 in July 2024 for Gujrat-based ports, CAS data showed.   Gujarat ports include Kandla, Sikka, Vadinar Terminal, Port Okha, Bedi Bunder, Navlakhi, and Mundra in the Gulf of Kutch, along with Dahej, Hazira, Jafrabad, Magdalla, and Pipavav in the Gulf of Khambhat.    East Coast ports see some product unavailability    Haldia market demand remained stable, with consistent supply maintaining market stability. Uncertainty about refinery maintenance has left market participants unsure about its impact on August demand, with some predicting a product shortage and others expecting market stability   “In July Haldia's bunker volumes ranged between 15,000 mt-17,000 mt,” said a Visakhapatnam-based trader adding ""Annually, we’re seeing a 16% rise.""   “We had a surplus of product in July and we attained volumes of around 16,000 mt. There is no firm date yet for the refinery shutdown, it was planned to take place in July but things got delayed. We’re hearing it might start around mid-August”, a Haldia-based IOCL official told Commodity Insights.   Market sources reported increased demand at Visakhapatnam and Kakinada from late Q2 due to Red Sea diversions, while other ports showed no significant change. Pipeline issues at Paradip disrupted VLSFO supplies and reduced inquiries.   “In July, we recorded volumes of 36,000 mt at Visakhapatnam, while Kakinada saw volumes of around 32,000 mt,” said another trader.   Since January, Paradip has been facing issues with the refinery pipeline, leading to a shortage of VLSFO supply there, the trader added.   “New Mangalore and Tuticorin have experienced stable volumes, with no significant increase compared to last year.”    Kochi demand stable, volumes shift    Market sentiment in Kochi has remained stable, but some suppliers experienced product shortages in July, leading to a decrease in their monthly volumes. However, suppliers who had the product saw increased volumes as customers shifted to them.   According to a Kochi-based supplier, the monsoon season has not been favorable, resulting in a decrease in monthly volumes. It could be due to limited options or a diversion of demand to Sri Lanka.   An IOCL official in Kochi mentioned a slight dip in VLSFO inquiries but highlighted better performance due to less competition last month.   “We have done more than 20,000 mt in July. There hasn’t been much change in the industry volumes, it's basically a shift of volumes from one participant to another,” the official added.   An increase in bunker demand at Colombo led to a decline in Kochi. Increased demand led to supply tightness in Sri Lanka, mainly impacting Colombo and Hambantota, while Trincomalee remained unaffected.   “But the situation is now easing,” a Sri Lanka-based supplier said.   Platts assessed 0.5% marine fuel oil delivered to Kochi at $647/mt CFR on Aug. 7, a $23/mt discount to Marine Fuel 0.5% Bunker Delivered Colombo. ","Indian ports see Jan-July bunker, STS calls up 64% on year, monsoon hits July demand",2024-08-08 11:27:15+00:00,Other,Other,0.09884375174302025,0.05934772521831927,0.9973253307458043,Bullish,Bullish
63,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts High-Frequency Oil Stock Data 08AUG24,2024-08-08 10:55:33+00:00,Other,Other,0.2609231091151952,0.3362091413870386,0.8728038881791955,Bullish,Bullish
64,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts Commercial Oil Stock Watch 08AUG24,2024-08-08 10:54:55+00:00,Other,Other,0.232916948991792,0.8368574891452351,0.2602418671841577,Neutral,Neutral
65," LNG bunker prices in Rotterdam and Barcelona reached their highest level of 2024 amid rising demand and bullishness in the wider LNG market.   Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed LNG bunker Rotterdam and Barcelona at $13.83/MMBtu and $13.93/MMBtu respectively Aug. 7.   This is a rise of 0.82 cent/MMBtu and 0.81 cent/MMBtu respectively on the week, placing both assessments at the highest levels since Dec. 7, 2023.       Market sources attributed factors such as higher demand, arbitrage economics, and bullish price movements in the physical LNG and gas arenas for the price increase.   “We see a healthy port calling with a mixed bag of product tankers, pure car carriers, cruise ships, it' getting better… and it's only going to go up,” said one Atlantic LNG bunker trader.   Rising geopolitical tensions in Russia and the Middle East have added to market jitters with increasing uncertainty leading to an uptick in prices, market sources said.   Meanwhile, market sources noted that ships are increasingly turning to Europe due to high prices and infrastructure limitations in Asia as ships face long waitlists for bunker slots in Singapore and Malaysia.   The spread between LNG bunker Rotterdam and Singapore also narrowed as the latter was assessed Aug. 7 at $14.792/MMBtu, placing the spread between Bunkers Singapore and Rotterdam at 0.959 cent/MMBtu- the lowest since Feb. 29. ",LNG bunker prices in Europe hit 8-month high amid rising demand,2024-08-08 10:51:11+00:00,Middle Distillates,Middle Distillates,0.6302283378370089,0.009250900848855026,0.9905732837896436,Bullish,Bullish
66," Singapore-based commodities trader Wellbred Trading acquired French refinery La Nivernaise de Raffinage SAS that processes used cooking oil as feedstock, with plans to expand capacity next year by taking advantage of increased demand for renewables-based refined products.   The 60,000 mt/year refinery in Premery produces biodiesel and is Wellbred's first refinery, the company said Aug. 8.   Wellbred, which has offices in Geneva, Dubai and Lagos, was approved July 20 to buy the plant in an auction held by the commercial court of Nevers, France.   The refinery will operate under Wellbred's renewables desk based in Geneva, it said.   Wellbred Trading started its renewables desk in 2022 supplying biofuels to Norway and Sweden. Since then, it has added biofuels for the shipping industry. The French refinery allows Wellbred Trading to start trading feedstocks and distributing biodiesel in France, Germany and Spain, the company added. ", Wellbred Trading acquires La Nivernaise de Raffinage in France,2024-08-08 10:50:54+00:00,Other,Other,0.7647959422997297,0.5921214542795844,0.11621512441409058,Bearish,Bearish
67,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts ARA Oil Product Stocks 08AUG24,2024-08-08 10:40:51+00:00,Other,Other,0.9572854560252326,0.03741628638289112,0.3793028984817927,Bearish,Bearish
68," Singapore-based commodities trader Wellbred Trading acquired French refinery La Nivernaise de Raffinage SAS that processes used cooking oil as feedstock, with plans to expand capacity next year by taking advantage of increased demand for renewables-based refined products.   ""This acquisition gives us the opportunity to engage further with the renewable energy space and reinforces our commitment to growth in this important aspect of Wellbred’s value chain,” CEO Ghazi Abu al-Saud said Aug. 8 in a statement provided first to S&P Global Commodity Insights.   The 60,000 mt/year refinery in Premery produces biodiesel and is Wellbred's first refinery, it said.   ""The biodiesel produced at our refinery will be suitable for both road and marine applications,"" Simon Lausch, managing director of Wellbred Trading and president of the refinery, told Commodity Insights. ""The marine sector, in particular, is experiencing rapid growth in France with the implementation of B30 fuel standards.""   Platts, part of Commodity Insights, assessed the bunker fuel price for B30 -- a blend of 70% 0.5% sulfur fuel oil and 30% used cooking oil methyl ester -- at $774.25/mt in Rotterdam Aug. 7, up from $754.75/mt at the end of last year.   Wellbred, which has offices in Geneva, Dubai and Lagos, was approved July 20 to buy the plant in an auction held by the commercial court of Nevers, France.   The refinery will operate under Wellbred's renewables desk based in Geneva, it said.   Wellbred Trading started its renewables desk in 2022 supplying biofuels to Norway and Sweden. Since then, it has added biofuels for the shipping industry. The French refinery allows Wellbred Trading to start trading feedstocks and distributing biodiesel in France, Germany and Spain, the company added. ",Wellbred Trading buys French diesel refinery that runs on used cooking oil,2024-08-08 10:40:34+00:00,Light Ends,Light Ends,0.39407838688843083,0.20134870370093408,0.9110638664031572,Bullish,Bullish
69," There is a high probability that 2024 will be the hottest year ever as extreme weather events such as wildfires and heat waves become increasingly commonplace, the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said Aug. 8.   This comes as July 2024 was the second-warmest month on record, with the two hottest days ever recorded last month, according to data from EU'c climate monitor.   Surface air temperatures averaged 16.91 degrees Celsius in July this year, which was 1.48 C above the estimated July average for 1850-1900, the designated pre-industrial reference period.   But July marked the end of 13-month period when each month was the warmest on record for the respective month of the year. July 2023 was the hottest month ever averaging 16.95 C.   ""The streak of record-breaking months has come to an end, but only by a whisker. Globally, July 2024 was almost as warm as July 2023, the  hottest month  on record,"" Samantha Burgess, Deputy Director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).   ""July 2024 saw the two hottest days on record. The overall context hasn’t changed, our climate continues to warm. The devastating effects of climate change started well before 2023 and will continue until global greenhouse gas emissions reach net-zero.""   The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change has repeatedly said phasing out of fossil fuels was urgently needed for the world to meet its Paris Agreement commitments, to limit warming to 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels.    Climate change and energy    July 22 and July 23 were declared the hottest days on record with temperatures reaching 17.16 C and 17.15 C respectively, data showed.   Temperatures were mostly above average in southern and eastern Europe, western Canada, western US, most of Africa, the Middle East and Asia, and eastern Antarctica.   Sea surface temperatures also remained at very high levels with temperatures for June averaging 20.88 C over the global extrapolar ocean, from 60 degrees south to 60 degrees north, the second-highest value on record for the month, and only 0.01 C below July 2023.   Warmer temperatures are already starting to have an impact on energy demand and renewable energy output, with extreme weather events seen in 2023 and more expected this year.   The continuing wildfires in the Western Canadian province of Alberta  could  impact some 400,000 b/d of crude oil production, with multiple producers being on high alert as 119 fires are currently burning in the province.   Alberta is home to some 4 million b/d of heavy and light oil and nearly 16.8 Bcf/d of natural gas production.   The likely return of the climate phenomenon La Nina, and the associated shift in global weather patterns and temperature extremes,  could also result  in a fresh wave of disruption and volatility across key global commodity markets.   Climate change caused by a surge in greenhouse gas emissions has been increasing the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, all of which have a measurable impact on air quality, human health and the environment.   Global energy-related CO2 emissions rose to a record high 37.4 gigatonCO2e in 2023, an increase of 410 million mtCO2e from 2022, according to International Energy Agency data. ",EU's climate monitor says 2024 'increasingly likely' to be warmest year on record,2024-08-08 10:29:33+00:00,Macroeconomic & Geopolitics,Macroeconomic & Geopolitics,0.13913747687341554,0.05097680616191227,0.9959962398805593,Bullish,Bullish
70," The differential between the European propane and naphtha markets has narrowed consistently over the past three months to near year-on-year lows as the propane market gained steeply while naphtha strength remained marginal.   A significant narrowing in the spread between the two commodities could see naphtha preferred in flexible petrochemical steam crackers as the margins for naphtha turn more favorable.   Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed the discount of the front-month CIF NWE propane swap to the equivalent Platts CIF NWE naphtha swap at $79/mt on Aug. 7, which has been narrowing consistently since the highest point of $181.25/mt on April 4.   While narrowing differentials could re-incentivize naphtha use at flexible steam crackers, some players remain skeptical of any substantial shift in the market, with the majority of steam crackers still on max LPG due to larger margins.   For LPG, butane continues to offer the largest returns, as steam cracker margins stood at $463.54/mt compared with $353.91/mt for propane in Europe.   Prices in the European propane market have been buoyed by early month crude oil strength and tightness in the market. Short supply has emerged on the back of reduced US LPG inflows to the continent after Hurricane Beryl disrupted loadings, while stronger netbacks into the Asian market have pulled US product eastward.   “The main concern is US exports, with a healthy arbitrage into the East, all the barrels are heading there due to robust demand, leaving US producers with very few spot barrels and keeping the flat price very high,” one source said.   According to the source, “Expectations from US producers when selling are based on FEI netbacks, making the economics of importing into Europe very challenging due to extremely high US premiums and terminal fees.”   Consequently, European and Mediterranean LPG imports plunged to n ear three-year lows for July  as players struggled to locate product.   “Propane is strong due to delays in the US and stronger Asian demand, which adds to general strength in gas,” a second Europe-based trader said, adding that although the propane market remains heavily backwardated, petrochemical players “still buy propane, having a baseload of propane they have to take, and potentially need a narrower discount to make a switch to naphtha"".   Meanwhile, the naphtha market was relatively backwardated but faced a limited increase on the month, especially as crude oil prices weakened, thus narrowing its premium over propane.   Platts, part of Commodity Insights, assessed the front-month CIF NWE naphtha swap at $646/mt and the August-September time spread at $12.50/mt on Aug.7.   Another European trader said naphtha market tightness reduced slightly over July, thus explaining the limited rise in naphtha prices. According to this source, the European naphtha market “does not look super short as it seems most blenders and petrochemical companies are covered”, the “situation does not look as intense as last month”.   The upcoming refinery turnaround season and recent steepening of naphtha backwardation structure can, however, give much stronger support to naphtha prices looking forward. ","European LPG discount to naphtha narrows, shifting petchem feedstock appetite",2024-08-08 10:22:07+00:00,Light Ends,Light Ends,0.6150866489663008,0.03234233260701678,0.9731147928565977,Bullish,Bullish
71," Thai Oil reported a slight decrease in the utilization rate at its 275,000 b/d Sriracha refinery in the second quarter of this year compared with last year due to a planned shutdown at a crude distillation unit in May, the company said in its Q2 results report Aug. 8.   The utilization between April and June was 111%, which was lower than 113% in Q2 last year as its CDU-1 and related units had a planned shutdown for 11 days in May this year. However, the Q2 utilization was higher than 105% in Q1 as its CDU-3 had experienced an unplanned shutdown for 13 days in January due to technical issues.   In Q2, the Sriracha refinery processed 306,000 b/d of crude oil, lower than 311,000 b/d over the same period in 2023 but higher than 288,000 b/d in Q1 of 2024.   Thai Oil’s gross refining margin in Q2 was at $3.8/b, falling from $4.5/b in Q2 2023 thanks to lower spreads of gasoline and jet fuel/kerosene over Dubai crude oil prices because of oversupply. The GRM between April and June tumbled from $9/b in Q1 largely due to the decline in spreads of almost all refined products, resulting from high supply and elevated inventory levels in the US, the company said.   Thai Oil’s utilization in the first half was 108%, lower than 113% in the first six months of 2023. Its Sriracha refinery processed 297,000 b/d of crude oil over this period, lower than 309,000 b/d in H1 last year. The company’s GRM in H1 was $6.3/b, lower than $7.2/b in H1 2023.   Meanwhile, Thai Oil reported little progress on its delayed clean fuel project (CFP). The company completed 96.8% of work at the project as of June 30, slightly higher than 96% as of March 31.   The CFP will help Thai Oil move from producing low-value products to producing higher value and more environmentally-friendly products. It will also enable the company to process more types of crude oil with higher quantities.   Thai Oil initiated the commissioning of the Hydrodesulfurization unit (HDS-4) in February, ahead of schedule. The unit played a vital role in enabling the company to comply with the Euro-5 standard, which was enforced in Thailand this year. Additionally, Thai Oil is working to accelerate the commissioning of the remaining units, it said.   The company said the capex for Thai Oil and its subsidiaries over 2024-2027 will be kept at $743 million, comprising $228 million for the CFP. ", Thai Oil’s Q2 utilization drops on planned CDU shutdown,2024-08-08 09:50:35+00:00,Crude Oil,Crude Oil,0.6350400164454715,0.014267749812004288,0.9833821929690058,Bullish,Bullish
72," South Korea’s top oil refiner SK Innovation said Aug. 8 that its upstream unit has joined a project to build a submarine carbon storage facility in Australia as part of its strategy to diversify beyond oil and natural gas development.   SK Earthon, the exploration and production subsidiary of SK Innovation, has acquired a 20% stake in the project to explore the G-15-AP submarine mining area off the northwest coast of Australia.   “The G-15-AP block marks the first mine to be used to store carbon captured from industries in Australia,” SK Innovation said in a press release.   The project is 75% owned by InCapture, an Australian carbon capture and storage company, and 5% by CCS technology consulting company CarbonCQ.   The three entities will build the undersea facility and sign deals with local companies so as to start the CCS project from 2030, after feasibility studies to confirm the project’s business value, according to SK Earthon.   “The CCS project in Australia is expected to generate synergy for SK Earthon’s traditional business of energy development projects and new business of carbon capture and storage,” it said.   SK Earthon is currently involved in 13 oil and gas upstream projects across eight countries, including six blocks under production, such as Block 17-03 in China and Block 15-1 in Vietnam. The 13 projects also comprise three LNG ones, such as Oman LNG and Qatar’s Ras Laffan LNG.   The company has recently adopted a strategy to concentrate its upstream business efforts in the Asian region, moving away from remote markets like the US and Peru, as part of ""business reorganization strategy focused on decarbonization.""   SK Earthon has led a group of South Korean companies for the Shepherd CCS project in Malaysia, which launched in August 2022 in a consortium that also consists of Malaysia's state-run oil company Petronas.   The Shepherd project aims to capture CO2 emitted from industrial sites in South Korea and collect it in local carbon capture plants before transporting it to Malaysia for onshore or offshore storage.   “SK Earthon aims to secure carbon capture and storage capacity of 2 million mt by 2030, 5 million mt by 2040 and 16 million mt by 2050,” the release said. ",South Korea’s top oil refiner SK Innovation joins carbon storage project in Australia,2024-08-08 09:14:41+00:00,Middle Distillates,Middle Distillates,0.10522941446771512,0.4301426805926679,0.9750732864200452,Bullish,Bullish
73,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts Singapore Oil Product Stocks 08AUG24,2024-08-08 08:38:57+00:00,Light Ends,Light Ends,0.6323339322978486,0.7016918058702164,0.10977996318020908,Neutral,Neutral
74,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts Refined Product arbFlow 08AUG24,2024-08-08 08:32:17+00:00,Light Ends,Light Ends,0.8919176439663955,0.08779216026200806,0.49509485994767044,Bearish,Bearish
75," The Middle East sour crude complex saw cash differentials for key markers jump for a second session to hit month-to-date highs during the Singapore Platts Market on Close assessment process Aug. 8.   Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed October cash Dubai and cash Oman at a premium of $1.07/b to same-month Dubai crude futures at the market close, both up 37 cents/b on the day.   October cash Murban was also assessed at a premium of $1.07/b to same-month Dubai futures, up 35 cents/b on the day.   During the MOC, 22 October Dubai partials of 25,000 barrels each traded.   The sellers were Mitsui, Idemitsu, PetroChina, Unipec, Trafigura, Phillips 66, BP and Reliance and the buyers were Gunvor and Vitol.   No convergences were reached during the MOC. A convergence occurs when 20 partials are traded between two counterparties, resulting in a full 500,000-barrel physical cargo being declared from the seller to the buyer.   In the broader market, Saudi Aramco's September crude oil allocations have yet to be released, though spot trades were taking place for October-loading ADNOC crudes, traders said.   October-loading Murban crude cargoes were heard sold to two South Korean refiners at premiums in the high-60s cents/b to Platts Dubai, FOB, while an October-loading Umm Lulu crude cargo was also heard sold to South Korea, though price levels for the cargo were unclear.   Iraq's SOMO was also seen issuing its September crude oil official selling prices late in the Aug. 7 session. ", Middle East sour crude cash differentials hit month-to-date highs,2024-08-08 08:20:14+00:00,Other,Other,0.14587954937297024,0.6490146370749059,0.7493974316380951,Bullish,Bullish
76,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts Oil Market Snapshot 08AUG24,2024-08-08 07:57:10+00:00,Other,Other,0.0940723770124328,0.9470083813391018,0.28311620057165654,Neutral,Neutral
77," State-owned oil and gas major China National Offshore Oil Corp. has approved more than 100 billion cubic meters of proven natural gas reserves at the Lingshui 36-1 gas field in the South China Sea, the company said in a statement late Aug. 7.   Lingshui 36-1 gas field is the first large-size ultra shallow gas field in ultra-deep water in the world, which opens a new area of exploration in deep waters, CNOOC said.   Located in the southern portion of the Central Sag, Qiongdongnan Basin, the average water depth of the gas field is approximately 1,500 meters, and the burial depth is 210 meters, CNOOC said, adding that the field has been tested to produce over 10 cu m/day of open flow natural gas.   CNOOC has been searching for oil and gas resources in the South China Sea for decades, finding a total of more than 1 trillion cubic meters of proven natural gas reserves, the company said.   These include multiple large-size gas fields discovered in Yinggehai, Qiongdongnan and Pearl River Mouth basins, namely Dongfang 1-1, Liwan 3-1, Lingshui 17-2, Baodao 21-1 and now, Lingshui 36-1, the company added.   ""The newly discovered ultra-deep-water ultra-shallow gas field is an important composition of the trillion cubic meters gas region in the South China Sea,"" Zhou Xinhuai, CNOOC’s CEO and President said.   Apart from the South China Sea, CNOOC is building another two gas production areas in the Bohai Sea and onshore, with current proven natural gas reserves of about 500 Bcm and 400 Bcm, respectively, data from the company showed.   The Lingshui 36-1 gas field is situated in the southern part of the Qiongdongnan Basin, south of the LS 17-2 deep-water gas field which was the most significant large-sized gas discovery for CNOOC in the deep-water of the Qiongdongnan Basin when it was discovered in March 2014, according to Linda Wang, Associate Director for Research in Upstream at S&P Global Commodity Insights.   “The discovery has proved the exploration potential of structural and lithological trap in the central canyon system of the Lingshui Sag and confirmed the good exploration prospects in the deep-water area of the Qiongdongnan Basin,” Wang said in a note.   “The LS 17-2 field was brought onstream in June 2021 and the field is expected to reach a peak output of 328 MMcf/d of gas and 6,751 b/d of condensate in 2022,” Wang added. ",CNOOC approves 100 Bcm of proven reserves at South China Sea gas field,2024-08-08 05:40:35+00:00,Other,Other,0.9437827458081414,0.03651321200858201,0.6948798907460616,Bearish,Bearish
78," The Singapore government will work with CAPGC, which is buying over Shell’s assets in the city-state, as well as others in the refining and petrochemicals sector to help decarbonize their product slate, Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong said Aug. 6.   Gan, who is also Singapore’s deputy prime minister, was responding to a parliamentary question on how the sale of Shell’s assets would impact the city-state’s emissions levels.   “The Government’s commitment to reducing the carbon footprint of the petrochemical sector and creating a Sustainable Jurong Island remains unchanged,” he said in a written reply to the Parliament.   Around one-third of Singapore’s total emissions are directly from the refining and petrochemicals sector, which accounts for most of the activities on Pulau Bukom and Jurong Island -- where Shell’s assets are located as well.   In May, Shell Singapore had confirmed that it will  sell its Energy and Chemicals Park in Singapore to CAPGC  -- a joint venture between Chandra Asri Capital and Glencore Asian Holdings -- and the sale is due to be completed by end-2024.   The transferred interests from Shell include both physical assets and commercial contracts, including a 237,000 b/d refinery and a 1.1 million mt/year ethylene steam cracker at Pulau Bukom, as well as downstream chemicals assets on Jurong Island.   “At this point, it is not yet clear how the buyers of Shell’s refinery and petrochemical assets intend to operate or transform the facilities,” said Gan.   “In any case, the Government is not at liberty to disclose company-level emissions data,” he added in response to the parliamentary question.   The Singapore complex is Shell's largest petrochemicals production site in Asia and was its biggest ever downstream and petrochemicals investment when completed in 2010. Shell's Singapore chemicals assets, including its share of JVs, produce roughly 1.4 million mt/year of ethylene, or 18% of the company’s present global capacity.   Singapore currently charges a carbon tax of S$25/mtCO2e ($18.75/mtCO2e) this year and it remains on track to raise this to S$45/mtCO2e ($33.18/mtCO2e) in 2026, Sustainability and the Environment Minister Grace Fu said in a separate parliamentary written reply on the same day. ","Singapore to work with Shell’s refinery, petrochemicals asset buyers to decarbonize: minister",2024-08-08 04:17:34+00:00,Light Ends,Light Ends,0.37838948710228715,0.08766567069209845,0.9637677576494892,Bullish,Bullish
79," The BLM Montana-Dakotas federal oil and gas lease sale netted nearly $24 million in total high bids in the latest quarterly auction, according to Energynet.com.   During the sale, 23 parcels covering 4,819.2 acres received bids, of an original 26 parcels covering 5.569.6 acres offered to industry, the website, a platform for selling petroleum properties both government and privately owned, said Aug. 6.   The sale received total high bids of $23.9 million.   Parcels in states with predominantly Bakken Shale production received the priciest bids, Energynet.com data showed.   The largest bid was $15 million for a 273-acre parcel in Mountrail County, North Dakota -- one of the biggest Bakken producing states.   A parcel in that same state's McKenzie County -- another big Bakken producing region -- went for $1.68 million.   But a parcel in nearby Richland County, Montana, where the Bakken was originally discovered decades ago, captured $2.34 million, Energynet.com records show, while a second Richland County parcel went for $1.44 million.   Those four bids alone accounted for more than $20 million, or nearly 86% of all high bids.   Ten of the 26 parcels offered were in North Dakota, while 16 were in Montana. The three parcels that did not receive bids were all in Montana, Eergynet.com records show.   The second-quarter 2024 BLM Montana-Dakotas federal oil and gas lease sale, held in late April, received total high bids of $663,524 for 21 parcels covering 4,635.11 acres, according to the website.   And the first-quarter BLM Montana-Dakotas federal oil and gas lease sale took in total high bids of $2.4 million for six parcels covering 2,335.6 acres. ",BLM federal Montana-Dakotas oil and gas lease sale nets nearly $24 mil: Energynet.com,2024-08-08 04:13:37+00:00,Middle Distillates,Middle Distillates,0.9922766438937903,0.08193621383330485,0.043504233803048714,Bearish,Bearish
80," Refinery: Sohar, Oman   Owner: OQ   Overall capacity: 198,000 b/d   Units affected: Unclear   Duration: Started week of Aug. 5; targeted restart date Aug. 13   Notes: Oman's 198,000 b/d Sohar refinery was heard to have undergone an unplanned shutdown in the week of Aug. 5, trade sources said Aug. 7.   Refinery operator OQ could not be immediately reached for comment.   The refinery is targeting a restart date of Aug. 13, sources said.   The refinery was heard to have released a very prompt August-loading Oman crude cargo into the market due to the shutdown, sources said.   Source: Market sources ", Oman's Sohar undergoes unplanned shutdown: sources,2024-08-08 03:53:50+00:00,Other,Other,0.11228392672380452,0.1830740405547755,0.9805339708726466,Bullish,Bullish
81," Crude oil futures were higher in midmorning trading Aug. 8, following the sixth consecutive weekly decline in US commercial crude stocks. However, concerns about weakening activity in the world's biggest economies, the US and China, limited the gains.   At 11:35 Singapore time (0335 GMT), the October ICE Brent crude oil futures contract increased 21 cents/b, or 0.27%, to $78.54/b, while the September NYMEX light sweet crude contract gained 31 cents/b, or 0.41%, to $75.54/b.   US commercial crude stocks fell 3.73 million barrels to 429.32 million barrels in the week ended Aug. 2, data from the Energy Information Administration showed Aug. 7. The draw put stocks about 6% below the five-year average for this time of year.   “US crude oil inventories are at their lowest level since February, this suggests demand for physical barrels remains robust, despite concerns about weak economic activity,” said ANZ commodity strategists.   US refinery utilization strengthened 0.4 percentage points on the week to 90.5% of capacity, and refinery net crude input increased 250,000 b/d to 16.4 million b/d.   Meanwhile, both gasoline and distillate fuel production increased in the week ended Aug. 2. Slower demand and increased production have led to higher oil product stocks.   US gasoline stocks climbed 1.34 million barrels to 225.1 million barrels, according to the EIA. The counter-seasonal build narrowed the deficit to the five-year average to 1.7% from 3.2% the week prior.   Implied demand for gasoline declined for the second straight week, sliding 3% to 8.97 million b/d and falling nearly 4% below normal for this time of year.   Recent weaker-than-expected US employment data and contracting Chinese manufacturing activity have raised concerns about slowing economic growth and its impact on crude oil demand.   “The latest trade data from China was relatively bearish, Chinese crude oil imports in July averaged 10.01 million b/d, down 3.1% on the year and 11.8% lower on the month,” ING commodity strategists said.     Dubai swaps     Dubai crude swaps strengthened, and intermonth spreads were steady in midmorning trading in Asia from the previous close on Aug. 8.   The October Dubai swap was pegged at $76.16/b at 10 am Singapore time (0200 GMT), widening $1.36/b, or 1.36%, from the Aug. 7 Asian close.   The September-October Dubai swap intermonth spread was pegged at 59 cents/b at 10 am Singapore time, unchanged from Aug. 7, and the October-November intermonth spread was pegged at 46 cents/b, also stable on the session.   The October Brent-Dubai exchange of futures for swaps was pegged at $2.19/b, widening 13 cents/b on the day. "," Crude prices higher as US stockpiles extend decline, demand concerns cap gains",2024-08-08 03:38:12+00:00,Crude Oil,Crude Oil,0.18372564976144476,0.054922871567719155,0.9935476008383897,Bullish,Bullish
82," Qatar Petroleum announced the acceptance of September-loading LPG cargoes under term contracts with Asian lifters in line with nominated dates, without any cuts or delays heard, market sources said.   ""Heard nothing unusual with Qatar acceptances for September,"" a Singapore-based industry source said.   While some market participants cautioned that Asian demand for AG cargoes could fall as the landed cost of Middle East LPG exports could increase on the back of rising tensions in the Middle East, market participants also said the overall impact on landed prices could be quite mild as the market has already priced in regional tensions.   ""I believe that the market has already priced in regional tensions in the Middle East such as the recent Houthi attacks on ships,"" an industry source said.   Asian demand for LPG was heard stable to weaker, as Chinese PDH demand was heard lackluster with PDH average run rates heard at 73% in the week of Aug. 5, down 1% from the previous week, sources said.   However, demand for LPG as a heating fuel is expected to increase moving toward the winter period, sources said.   The spread between the month one (September) Saudi Aramco propane contract price swap and the month two (October) Saudi Aramco propane contract price swap was pegged at plus $2/mt Aug. 7, widening from the Platts assessment at flat Aug. 6, while the September butane CP swap was pegged at $10/mt below propane, S&P Global Commodity Insights data showed. ",Qatar announces acceptance of Sep LPG cargoes with no cuts or delays heard,2024-08-08 02:45:55+00:00,Light Ends,Light Ends,0.13941647370785895,0.04729688563478406,0.996675106472959,Bullish,Bullish
83,"                    Please click on the newswire link either in the subject or body of this alert and the PDF version of the newswire will launch. If you have any issues opening this link,please contact Platts support at support@platts.com. ",Platts Aramco Monthly Pricing Analysis 08AUG24,2024-08-08 02:29:31+00:00,Crude Oil,Crude Oil,0.24226232410898352,0.26662271413471617,0.8965398618151335,Bullish,Bullish
84," The South Korean government aims to wrap up legal and administrative procedures required to fully implement the free trade agreement with Gulf Cooperation Council members by September, a deal that could allow local refiners to procure Middle Eastern sour crude cheaper and improve their margins.   Minister for Trade Dukgeun Ahn and GCC Secretary General Jassim Mohammed Al-Budaiwi had signed a joint preliminary statement for the South Korea-GCC FTA in December 2023.   The government is now aiming to complete an economic impact evaluation, seek the National Assembly's ratification agreement and execute other necessary administrative procedures for the FTA's entry into force, public relations managers and officials at state-run Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy told S&P Global Commodity Insights over Aug. 6-8.   ""Although the agreement was signed last year [2023], the treaty still requires various procedures to be cleared ... the ultimate goal is to finalize all necessary domestic procedures by September and to proceed to the formal implementation of the FTA before the end of the year,"" a MOTIE official said.   Minister Ahn recently met Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Commerce Majid bin Abdullah Al-Kassabi on July 30 in Seoul to discuss about the FTA's swift entry into force.   ""To expedite the legal review process of both parties, we ask for [Saudi Arabia's] support as a member of the GCC,"" Ahn said at the July meeting.   Apart from South Korea's top crude supplier Saudi Arabia, the six GCC members include other major crude suppliers such as Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar and Oman, as well as Bahrain. Among major Middle East crude suppliers to South Korea, only Iraq is not a GCC member.    Sour crude trading edge    Traders, feedstock managers and oil product marketers at major South Korean refiners indicated the formal implementation of FTA with major Middle Eastern crude producers would provide them a significant edge in buying Persian Gulf sour crude cargoes at a lower cost.   South Korea currently levies a 3% tariff on imported crude oil, which is abolished or cut for volume from suppliers that have free trade agreements with the nation.       In the first half of 2024, South Korea imported 160.6 million barrels from Saudi Arabia and paid on average $86.66/b, Elsewhere, 39.1 million barrels came from Kuwait in the first six months at an average cost of $84.56/b and 74.7 million barrels were imported from the UAE over the same period at an average price of $86.46/b, latest data from state-run Korea National Oil Corp. showed.   KNOC's import cost data includes freight, insurance, tax and other administrative and port charges.   Platts, part of Commodity Insights, assessed Middle Eastern sour crude physical benchmark Cash Dubai at an average $83.26/b in H1.   ""If the FTA with GCC nations can be fully implemented by end of the year, we could restructure and reconfigure our Persian Gulf sour crude procurement plans for 2025 in a positive manner ... every cent saved on taxes and tariffs would all contribute to healthier refining margins,"" said a feedstock and logistics manager at a major South Korean refiner.   The South Korea-US FTA, for example, allows cost cuts by up to $2/b for WTI Midland crude purchases, a trade source at a South Korean refiner's feedstock trading team in Singapore said.   South Korean refiners combined spent over $40 billion for feedstock crude purchases and procurement in H1, according to Korea Petroleum Association. FTAs with energy producing nations would be strategically essential for the world's fourth biggest crude importer, refinery sources based in Seoul and Ulsan said.   Most recently, South Korea separately signed a bilateral FTA with the UAE on May 29, removing the 3% tariff on various Abu Dhabi sour crude grades including Murban, Das Blend and Upper Zakum over the next 10 years. ","South Korea aims for full GCC FTA execution by year-end, refiners hopeful for cheaper sour crude",2024-08-08 02:09:25+00:00,Other,Other,0.022429747996317324,0.945160380391862,0.8174167000118822,Neutral,Neutral
85," Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources set the Minas crude oil price at $84.95/b for July, rising $3.35/b from June, according to its monthly selling price notice seen by S&P Global Commodity Insights on Aug. 8.   With the Dated Brent benchmark averaging $85.31/b in July, the Minas alpha, or differential, for the month was at a discount of 36 cents/b.   Among Indonesia's other main grades, the July Indonesia crude price for Banyu Urip crude was set $1.36/b higher on the month at $88.31/b.   The monthly ICPs are set retroactively.       ICPs for main Indonesian crude grades:   (Unit: $/b)        Grades  May  June  July  Change    Minas  82.13  81.60  84.95  3.35    Attaka  79.91  79.35  81.91  2.56    Duri  86.67  85.88  86.97  1.09    Belida  80.15  79.54  82.06  2.52    Senipah  70.88  70.93  73.77  2.84    Banyu Urip  87.48  86.95  88.31  1.36            ICP alphas for main Indonesian crude grades:   (Unit: $/b)        Grades  May  June  July  Change    Minas  0.08  -1.01  -0.36  0.65    Attaka  -2.14  -3.26  -3.40  -0.14    Duri  4.62  3.27  1.66  -1.61    Belida  -1.90  -3.07  -3.25  -0.18    Senipah  -11.17  -11.68  -11.54  0.14    Banyu Urip  5.43  4.34  3.00  -1.34        Source: Directorate General of Oil and Gas ","Indonesia sets Minas crude price at $84.95/b for July, rising $3.35/b from June",2024-08-08 02:05:13+00:00,Middle Distillates,Middle Distillates,0.9926734319450401,0.04286090006550804,0.07892061673161296,Bearish,Bearish