The event began last week during a winter storm, which made it harder to see the tar approaching and deal with it at sea, Israeli officials said
London - National oil companies (NOCs) risk squandering $400 billion on expensive oil and gas projects over the next decade that may only break even if the world fails to meet the Paris climate goals, a non-governmental organisation said on Tuesday. In a new report called Risky Bet, the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) estimated that NOCs could invest $1.9 trillion over the next ten years
Moscow - The consortium behind the Russia-led Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline has resumed laying pipes in the waters of Denmark, it said on Saturday, despite mounting pressure on the project from Washington. Construction of the link, which would double the capacity of the existing Nord Stream pipeline to 110 billion cubic metres of gas per year, was suspended in December 2019 due to the threat of sanctions from Washington
Under sanctions, Iran has tended not to release official data on oil or product exports, a mainstay of its economy. Iranian oil exports were as high as 2.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2018 but fell to 300,000 bpd in 2020, assessments based on tanker tracking show
The German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern plans to set up a foundation to help the completion of the Nord Stream 2 (NS2) pipeline to bring Russian gas to Germany
Asian spot prices for liquefied natural gas (LNG) jumped nearly 50% this week to a record high, based on available data going back to 2009, as logistical issues disrupt supply to the world’s top consuming region
Pipe-laying vessel Akademik Cherskiy, expected to be used to finish the Moscow-led Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, has left the German project hub of Mukran and is heading to the Russian port of Kaliningrad
Seoul - South Korea's antitrust regulator said Wednesday it has fined a French engineering company 12.5 billion won (US$11 million) for its unfair tie-in sales to South Korean shipbuilding clients
Chennai - The Indian units of Singapore-based Sembcorp Industries and Saudi Arabia-based Aljomaih Holding won government auctions to sell solar power for a record low of two rupees ($0.0270) per kilo watt hour (kWh), sources said
Russian gas producer Novatek has started ship-to-ship loadings of liquefied natural gas from the Yamal LNG project near the northern port of Murmansk
Libreville - Gabon and Paris-based asset manager Meridiam signed a $210 million deal to build a hydroelectric dam as part of the central African nation's international commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Once operational in 2023, the Kinguele Aval project on the Mbei River is slated to have production capacity of around 205 gigawatt hours per year, or 13% of the current consumption of the capital Libreville, 100 kilometres to the west
Khartoum - Sudan doubled domestic fuel prices on Tuesday, a move that should help reduce a gaping budget deficit but is sure to anger many of the country’s impoverished citizens. The government, which has long fixed fuel prices at some of the lowest levels in the world, raised the price at the pump of locally produced diesel to 46 Sudanese pounds ($0.8364) a litre from the previous 23 pounds
German utility Uniper UN01.DE on Friday said it would review plans for a liquefied natural gas terminal in Wilhelmshaven
Turkey began drilling at a second borehole in a Black Sea natural gas field where it made its largest ever discovery earlier this year
Oil traders are scouting for newly built supertankers to store diesel for the next few months as they brace for lower demand in Europe amid renewed restrictions aimed at battling the pandemic
Iran has delivered several gasoline and crude oil shipments to Syria, easing a near two-month gasoline shortage, port officials and traders said
Royal Dutch Shell said its Prelude floating liquefied natural gas project off Australia, off line since early February, is working on restarting operations but would not resume full production this year
Paris - France will stop providing state export guarantees to projects involving dirty forms of oil such as shale from next year, followed by all types of oil from 2025 and gas from 2035, the finance ministry said on Monday. The French state stopped giving export guarantees, which companies often need to get bank credit, to projects this year where fracking and flaring were involved and also dropped its financial support for coal developments
An Iranian-flagged oil tanker left Venezuela on Friday for Iran’s Kharg Island, Refinitiv Eikon data showed, after the vessel loaded 1.9 million barrels of heavy crude at the South American country’s Jose oil terminal
Azerbaijan’s ties with Russia, already strained by conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, face further pressure from the launch later this year of a gas pipeline that is poised to squeeze Moscow’s diminished gas sales to Europe and Turkey
A pipe-laying vessel expected to be used to finish the Moscow-led Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, is heading towards the Russian port of Kaliningrad
Singapore’s annual liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering capacity is expected to hit 1 million tonnes by 2021, as the world’s largest marine refuelling hub transitions toward cleaner shipping fuels
Saudi Arabia shipped 6.1 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil in September, slightly above August levels, and kept output steady at 8.974 million bpd last month
Cairo - A blockade on Libya's oil facilities has been partially lifted, allowing a gradual reopening of some ports and fields, but obstacles and uncertainties complicate a full recovery
Teheran - The first of a group of three tankers carrying Iranian fuel for gasoline-starved Venezuela entered the waters of the South American nation on Monday, according to Refinitiv Eikon data, in the most recent sign of the countries' expanding trade. The two OPEC members have increased cooperation this year by exchanging crude, fuel, food, equipment for refineries and other industrial goods
The Trump administration, which has worked to expand U.S. oil and gas drilling and roll back Obama-era rules on pollution from fossil fuels, originally wanted to expand offshore drilling off many of America's coasts, including Florida
London - Royal Dutch Shell is looking to slash up to 40% off the cost of producing oil and gas in a major drive to save cash so it can overhaul its business and focus more on renewable energy and power markets. Shell's new cost-cutting review, known internally as Project Reshape and expected to be completed this year
London - Global oil refiners reeling from months of lackluster demand and an abundance of inventories are cutting fuel production into the autumn because the recovery in demand from the impact of coronavirus has stalled
Oil major BP has provisionally chartered a supertanker to store crude oil off Malaysia at this year’s lowest rate yet, according to industry sources and data on Refinitiv Eikon
Beijing - China is planning a set of new government policies to develop its domestic semiconductor industry and counter restrictions imposed by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump
A study undertaken in April by Cologne University's energy economics institute (EWI) showed that consumers would benefit from a 5% gas price discount if Nord Stream 2 materialised
China’s crude oil imports in August climbed 13% from a year earlier, buoyed by hefty orders placed earlier this year when global oil prices collapsed and as cargoes previously delayed by congestion at arrival ports finally cleared customs
Beijing - China bought only 5% of the targeted $25.3 billion in energy products from the United States in the first half of 2020, falling well short of its trade deal commitments at a time when relations between the two top economies are already sour. China's imports of crude oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG), metallurgical coal and other energy products totalled around $1.29 billion this year through June
London - Wind turbines and solar panels produced a record 10% of the world’s electricity in the first half of 2020 as coal-power declined, but steeper change is needed to meet targets set under the 2015 Paris climate agreement, a report said on Thursday. Scientist say huge cuts to greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector are required over the next decade to limit global warming and curb the worst impacts of climate change
Ankara - Turkey wants to resolve its dispute with Greece over energy exploration in the eastern Mediterranean through dialogue, Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said on Wednesday, while vowing to defend Turkey's coastal interests
Fuel spilling from a Japanese bulk carrier that ran aground on a reef in Mauritius two weeks ago is creating an ecological disaster
London - The trading units of European oil and gas majors have shielded their second-quarter results from the full force of the corona-induced collapse in demand for fuel, but big writedowns showed the scale of the challenge ahead, results showed on Thursday. France's Total and Anglo-Dutch Royal Dutch Shell scraped out small profits against expectations of losses
Congestion at China’s east coast oil ports that is adding to costs for shippers and importers is likely to run well into August, with crude shipments set to hit another record high this month
Brazilian state-controlled oil company Petrobras said on Friday it has approved the start of a tender to build three new floating platforms, known as FPSOs, in the Buzios oilfield
Shipments of Russian diesel from Baltic to Mediterranean region opened in July as refinery run cuts in Europe and low freight rates offered opportunities for arbitrage trade
Russian mining giant Norilsk Nickel said on Sunday that around 45 tonnes of aviation fuel had leaked from its pipeline in the Arctic
Iran is determined to develop its oil industry in spite of U.S. sanctions imposed on the country
Nicosia - Cyprus takes its first step into the natural gas era on Thursday when President Nicos Anastasiades lays the foundation stone of the island’s first LNG terminal at Vasiliko, Larnaca. The €289 mln project is considered to be Cyprus’ largest energy venture and features an LNG floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), a jetty, mooring facilities, a pipeline, and other onshore and offshore related infrastructure
Oil prices rose nearly 2% on Wednesday following a drawdown in U.S. crude inventories from record highs and a string of positive manufacturing data, but a surge in coronavirus cases tempered gains
Chesapeake Energy, the emblem of the American revolution for shale, is facing bankruptcy following the collapse of oil and gas prices linked to coronavirus
Asian spot liquefied natural gas prices remained steady this week on a continued stream of spot supply even though traders continued to cancel cargoes loading from the United States due to poor economics
Poland has signed contracts worth 1.9 billion zlotys ($483 million) to expand its liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Swinoujscie to 8.3 billion cubic metres (bcm) by 2023 from 5 bcm now in response to increasing domestic demand.
Buyers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) are expected to cancel 40 to 45 cargoes for August loading from the United States due to a slow recovery in Asian gas demand and record high European gas stocks
Iran could send two to three cargoes a month in regular gasoline sales to ally Venezuela, sources say, helping offload domestic oversupply but risking retaliation from U.S. President Donald Trump who has sanctions on both nations.
The Kinisis, a ship carrying liquefied natural gas from Trinidad, arrived at Dominion Energy Inc’s Cove Point LNG plant in Maryland on Saturday as some energy firms look to send cargoes to the United States with stockpiles in Europe filling fast
Doha - Qatar has signed a deal worth around $20 billion with South Korean shipbuilders to help cement its position as the world’s largest producer of liquefied natural gas. The Gulf emirate entered into agreements with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. and Samsung Heavy Industries Co
Ship assessors are resorting to virtual inspections of oil tankers to keep vessels afloat, as the coronavirus pandemic makes physical visits to check for seaworthiness tougher and a slump in fuel demand increases the need for ships as storage
The first of five Iranian tankers carrying fuel to Venezuela has moored at a port serving the South American country’s El Palito refinery, the nation’s oil minister said Monda
Guaido said the fact President Nicolas Maduro's socialist government is importing fuel shows its mismanagement of the country's oil industry. Venezuela's refining network has 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) of capacity, but has collapsed after years of underinvestment
U.S. crude prices settled about 3% lower on Tuesday after data showing domestic stockpiles didn’t rise as high as had been expected given tightening storage, despite pledges to cut production from May 1.
Saudi Arabia is looking into re-routing millions of barrels of oil onboard tankers sailing to the United States if President Donald Trump decides to block imports of crude from the Kingdom, shipping and trade sources say
Norway plans to extend its no-go zone for oil exploration in the country's Arctic waters but stopped short of areas for which licences have already been granted to oil companies
Behind a Saudi-Russian truce to stabilise oil markets with a record output cut, market players are seeing the two production heavyweights still trading blows in the physical market
Washington - The U.S. Energy Department is negotiating with nine companies to rent about 23 million barrels of oil storage capacity in its Strategic Petroleum Reserve as part of a Trump administration bid to help drain the country’s growing glut of crude
Having been in a stand-off with western nations from 2014 on everything from Crimea's annexation from Ukraine to allegations of election meddling, Moscow has sought to rebuild ties since the coronavirus outbreak. It sent medical support to Italy and the United States to fight the pandemic and has supported the historic oil supply pact
Tankers carrying U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) are on their way to China after Beijing started granting tax waivers to some importers, shipping and trade sources sai
Traders have chartered at least five supertankers in the past day with options to store oil at sea as global stocks mount after the United States ditched plans to purchase oil for its emergency reserve, shipping sources said on Friday
PetroChina and China Petroleum & Chemical or Sinopec, are expected to trim their annual production by 2 to 3 per cent, similar to that seen in the last oil recession in 2014 , according to Neil Beveridge, senior analyst in Hong Kong at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co
Kuwait has barred foreign ships, except those carrying oil, from departing to or arriving from several countries to prevent the spread of the coronavirus
Mercantile & Maritime said on Monday it would terminate its shipments of Venezuelan oil for Rosneft after the United States imposed sanctions on the Russian oil firm’s Swiss trading unit
South Korea is on track to overtake Canada as the top buyer of U.S. crude oil in 2020 as a mix of steep price discounts to alternative supplies, attractive refining economics and rebates on shipping charges prove too good to resist for big refiners
France’s Total is considering stopping sales of fuel oil to power markets as the energy giant seeks to reduce its carbon footprint and grow its renewable power business
Record low prices for liquefied natural gas are roiling the global gas market, creating havoc as traders rush to find alternative locations for cargoes with Chinese buyers rejecting shipments amid the coronavirus epidemic
Trading companies Mercuria, Trafigura and United Arab Emirates-based GP Global have applied for licenses to supply marine fuel to ships in Singapore, the world’s top bunkering hub
Lithuania's oil and LNG terminals operator Klaipėdos Nafta has been appointed as the operator of a liquefied natural gas
Since Saras launched its very low-sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) blend in early September its sales have topped 120,000 tonnes, an executive at the Italian refiner said
PetroChina’s Singapore bunkering unit moved up a notch to be the top marine fuel supplier in the world’s biggest ship refuelling hub in 2019, official data showed, as the overall number of suppliers fell for a sixth year in a row
The deal follows a similar deal by France’s Total announced last week and a 0.5 million tonnes per year deal with commodity trader Vitol signed in December
With 25% tariff on LNG still in play, the Phase-1 deal between the US and China is not expected to bring any significant change in the LNG trade between the two countries, writes research firm Drewry
At least $1 trillion of investment in new fuel technology is needed to enable the shipping industry to meet U.N. targets for cuts in carbon emissions by 2050
Ørsted, the largest energy company in Denmark, has started constructing its first offshore wind farm in the Netherlands
U.S. refiners are scooping up cheap high-sulfur fuel oil for processing from Russia and the Baltic states as they take advantage of new shipping rules that have cut demand for the dirtier marine fuel, according to oil traders and shipping data
Global supplies of marine fuel compliant with new environmental rules are increasing fast as concerns over quality remain marginal
Attorneys general from 16 U.S. states have opposed a Trump administration proposal to ship liquefied natural gas by rail
A Russian gas tanker that is used to secure energy supplies in the west Russian enclave of Kaliningrad has arrived back in the region after being leased out to transport U.S.-produced LNG to Europe
With his death, the region loses a trusted and seasoned leader, seen as the father of modern Oman, who balanced ties between two neighbours locked in a regional struggle, Saudi Arabia to the west and Iran to the north, as well as the United States
Ships globally have switched to lower sulphur fuels, or use emissions-removing devices, to comply with new rules imposed by the International Maritime Organization this year
The presidents of Turkey and Russia on Wednesday formally launched the TurkStream pipeline which will carry Russian natural gas to southern Europe through Turkey, part of Moscow’s efforts to reduce shipments via Ukraine
State-run Qatar Petroleum (QP) said on Sunday it had signed a 15-year agreement to supply Kuwait with up to 3 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year.
Russian pipeline operator Transneft said Russian oil companies have not sent any oil to Belarus since Jan. 1, the TASS news agency reported
U.S. strike kills Iranian General Soleimani in Iraq. Iran's supreme leader vows revenge
Asian refining margins for 10 ppm gasoil climbed to their highest in over a month buoyed by expectations of firmer near-term demand as the shipping industry switches to cleaner marine fuels
Swiss-Dutch company Allseas said it had suspended its pipe-laying activities in the Nord Stream 2 Russia-to-Germany natural gas pipeline
Riyadh - Saudi regulators on Sunday approved state energy giant Aramco’s request to make its stock market debut, firing the starting gun on the highly anticipated offering which could be the world’s largest. The announcement paves the way for a domestic stock listing of Aramco
Cairo - Libyan state oil firm NOC said on Tuesday it had been unable to pay salaries in September at a fuel distribution unit in the east where authorities have set up a parallel board.
London - Prices rose sharply in previous session. Threat of military response hangs over market.
Dubai - The kingdom intends to list 1% of the state oil giant on the Riyadh stock exchange before the end of this year and another 1% in 2020, the sources said, as initial steps ahead of a public sale of around 5% of Aramco.
Cagliari - Italian refiner Saras is introducing bunkering services at the Italian ports of Sarroch and Cagliari. Starting from September 1, bunkering operations would take place at specific dedicated areas of the ports with the refiner offering a complete range of marine fuels
Philadelphia - Largest U.S. East Coast refinery would shut. Shutdown would involve hundreds of workers laid off.
Dublin - IEA sees recent attacks as threat to energy security.
London - Beard, 52, helped turn Glencore into top 3 oil trader. Follows retirement of Glencore’s agri, copper heads.
Oslo - Mediation on pay scheduled for June 3. If talks break down, strike would start on June 4.
Moscow - The quality of Russian oil from the Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga has improved significantly in the past day but fluctuates sharply, three Russian oil buyers familiar with operations said on Tuesday.
Geneva - U.S. sanctions against Iran’s oil industry will damage the stability of global oil markets, a senior Iranian official was quoted as saying on Monday.
Moscow - Poland and Germany have suspended imports of Russian oil via a major pipeline, citing poor quality and triggering a rare crisis over supply from the world’s second-largest crude exporter. Halting imports from the Druzhba pipeline could trigger legal claims by Western buyers
