Us Exports News

New US Energy Department Chief to Call for More LNG

Chris Wright, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to head the U.S. Energy Department, will tell U.S. senators in his confirmation hearing on Wednesday his first priority is expanding domestic energy production including liquefied natural gas and nuclear power.Wright, 59, believes fossil fuels are the key to ending world poverty, which is a greater problem than climate change's "distant" threat, according to a report he wrote as CEO of oilfield services company Liberty Energy LBRT.N.Wright supports some fossil fuel alternatives…

Trump Threatens to Retake Control of Panama Canal

President-elect Donald Trump threatened to reassert U.S. control over the Panama Canal on Sunday, accusing Panama of charging excessive rates to use the Central American passage and drawing a sharp rebuke from Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino.Speaking to a crowd of supporters in Arizona, Trump also said he would not let the canal fall into the "wrong hands," warning of potential Chinese influence on the passage.After the event, he posted an image on Truth Social of an American flag flying over a narrow body of water…

Oil Falls on Demand Worries, Market Awaits Fed Advice

Oil prices eased about 1% to a one-week low on Tuesday on demand worries following the release of negative economic news from Germany and China, while investors remained cautious ahead of a U.S. Federal Reserve decision on interest rates.Brent futures fell 90 cents, or 1.2%, to $73.01 a barrel by 1:36 p.m. EST (1836 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 86 cents, or 1.2%, to $69.85. That puts both crude benchmarks on track for their lowest closes since Dec. 10 and cut the premium of Brent over WTI to a 12-week low of $3.56 a barrel…

Panama Canal Battles Ongoing Drought

The lush river valleys of El Zaino y La Arenosa in western Panama, home to hundreds of families that eke out a living farming, fishing and raising cattle, could soon be submerged by a massive man-made reservoir designed to ensure the viability of the Panama Canal in the face of a changing climate.Tres Hermanas, with its farms, two schools, churches and a medical clinic, is one of dozens of towns that would disappear in the next six years if the state-owned Panama Canal's ambitious $1.6 billion project goes ahead.

Panama Canal's Big Plans to Address Drought

The lush river valleys of El Zaino y La Arenosa in western Panama, home to hundreds of families that eke out a living farming, fishing and raising cattle, could soon be submerged by a massive man-made reservoir designed to ensure the viability of the Panama Canal in the face of a changing climate.Tres Hermanas, with its farms, two schools, churches and a medical clinic, is one of dozens of towns that would disappear in the next six years if the state-owned Panama Canal's ambitious $1.6 billion project goes ahead.

LNG Shipping Rates Tumble as New Vessels Enter Market

Liquefied natural gas shipping rates have hit multi-year lows and may extend losses going into 2025, analysts and shipping sources said, with new tankers being added at a faster rate than LNG production is rising and spot demand still tepid.New LNG tankers, built in anticipation of rising U.S. exports after a plunge in Russian gas supplies to Europe in 2022, are coming online earlier than liquefaction projects, which have been delayed amid inflation from strong wage growth and a shortage of skilled labour and equipment.With more ships expected to come…

US Exporters Race to Ship Soybeans as Looming Election Stokes Tariff Worries

U.S. soybean export premiums are at their highest in 14 months, as grain merchants race to ship out a record-large U.S. harvest ahead of the U.S. presidential election and fears of renewed trade tensions with top importer China, traders and analysts said.Nearly 2.5 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans were inspected for export last week, including almost 1.7 million tons bound for China, the most in a year, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data released on Monday.But while this export flurry is a bright spot for U.S.

Global Orderbook Likely to Shrink

VesselsValue has released its Q4 2024 Market Outlook indicating a forecast period up to 2027 which suggests a mixed outlook across different vessel types.The company anticipates that orders for bulkers and tankers will gain momentum, while demand for containers and LNG/LPG vessels will decline. Despite the expected rise in bulker and tanker orders, the overall orderbook will likely shrink due to a surge in deliveries for container and gas vessels.Geopolitical tensions, such as the Houthi attacks in the Bab Al Mandeb Strait, are creating both risks and opportunities for shipping.

US LNG Exports Dip in September

U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas fell slightly in September as plant maintenance trimmed output, while Europe remained the leading destination, data from financial firm LSEG showed.Gulf Coast plants escaped any major impact from hurricanes last month, helping the U.S. to retain its status as the world's largest LNG exporter.Exports of the superchilled gas fell to 7.26 million metric tons in September, just down from August, when the U.S. sold 7.48 MT, LSEG data showed.U.S.

Low Water Hampers Barge Shipping on the Mississippi River

Low water conditions have led to several barges running aground along a key stretch of the lower Mississippi River, the U.S. Coast Guard told Reuters on Wednesday, just as the busiest U.S. grain export season gets underway.Low water levels are slowing export-bound barge shipments of grain and oilseeds from the Midwest farm belt for a third straight year, making U.S. exports less competitive in a world market awash in supplies - just as farmers are set to harvest a record soy and large corn crop and as prices hover near four-year lows.The U.S.

US Probes Canadian Ballast Water Regulations After Shipping Companies Cry Foul

U.S. regulators are investigating potential unfair trade practices within pending Canadian regulations governing ballast water management systems of ships in the U.S.-Canada Great Lakes trade.The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) on Tuesday said it launched the probe to determine if the pending regulations have a disparate effect on U.S. flagged vessels and constitute a Foreign Shipping Practices violation under 46 U.S.C. Chapter 423.U.S.-based companies operating ships in the…

US LNG Exports Fall for Fourth Straight Month

U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) fell for a fourth consecutive month to 6.19 million metric tons in April from 7.61 million in March on production outages, preliminary data from financial firm LSEG showed on Wednesday.Recurring mechanical problems have hit Freeport LNG, the second largest U.S. plant by capacity. Last month, the Quintana, Texas, terminal exported five cargoes for a total of 330,000 tons, compared to 21 cargoes and 1.42 million tons in December.Since mid-January, the plant has been operating without at least one of its three gas-processing trains.

Brazil’s Import of Russian Clean Petroleum Products Jumps 135%

Since the European Union sanctioned Russian oil exports in 2022, crude oil and dirty and clean petroleum products (CPP) have found new buyers. “India and China have taken most of the crude oil and dirty products while Turkey and Brazil have emerged as the main buyers of CPP. Year-to-date, Brazil’s import of Russian CPP has increased by 135% year-on-year,” says Niels Rasmussen, Chief Shipping Analyst at BIMCO.Historically, the US has been the main supplier of CPP to Brazil, accounting for about 50% of all Brazilian CPP imports.

US Was Top LNG Exporter in 2023 as Hit Record Levels

U.S. liquefied natural gas exports hit monthly and annual record highs in December, tanker tracking data showed, with analysts saying it positioned the United States to leapfrog Qatar and Australia to become the largest exporter of LNG in 2023.The U.S. was the stand out in global LNG supply growth in 2023, said Alex Munton, director of global gas and LNG research at consulting firm Rapidan Energy Group of the rise to 8.6 million metric tons leaving U.S. terminals in December.Qatar was the largest LNG exporter in 2022 and Australia the second-largest that year, U.S. government data showed."U.S.

Mississippi River Near Historic Lows, Grain Exports at Risk

A key stretch of the lower Mississippi River dropped this week to within inches of its lowest-ever level and is expected to remain near historic lows just as the busiest U.S. grain export season gets underway, according to the National Weather Service.Low water has slowed hauling of export-bound corn and soybean barges over recent weeks as shippers lightened loads to prevent vessels from running aground and reduced the number of barges they haul at one time to navigate a narrower shipping channel.The water woes come at the worst possible time for U.S.

US Dirty Tanker Export Demand Jumps

During the first eight months of 2023, US dirty tanker export demand increased 33% year-on-year while the global dirty tanker exports increased only 5%. Measured in deadweight tonne miles, US exports now account for 14% of global dirty tanker demand, says Niels Rasmussen, Chief Shipping Analyst at BIMCO.US oil production has increased since 2013 while US refinery runs peaked before the COVID pandemic. This has allowed dirty tanker exports to increase from 0.4 million barrels per day (mbpd) in 2016 to 3.5 mbpd during the first eight months of 2023.

US Regains Crown as World's Largest LNG Exporter

The U.S. regained its crown as the world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the first six months of this year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA).US exports of the superchilled gas, particularly to Europe, have jumped in the last year as buyers looked for alternatives to Russian gas imports and to fill Europe's storage inventories, the EIA said.An average 11.6 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d) of the superchilled gas was exported through June, up 4% from the same period a year-earlier, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) said.The increase in U.S.

US LNG Exports Slip in August

U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) fell in August as some processing plants reduced output and a heat wave increased gas demand for power, leaving less gas available for LNG production, according to vessel monitoring data and analysts.Above-normal temperatures and drought hit the U.S. Southwest last month, triggering record electricity demand and forcing providers to ask users to voluntarily reduce consumption. Maintenance outages also curbed processing at two Cheniere Energy facilities: Sabine Pass in Louisiana and Corpus Christi in Texas.Gas supply to the seven largest U.S.

US LNG Exports Flat Despite Freeport LNG Partial Restart

U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) were flat last month at 6.84 million tonnes, shipping data showed on Thursday, even as a long-idled Texas processing facility began shipping the fuel during an ongoing restart.Freeport LNG's Texas plant, the second-largest LNG export facility in the United States, began resuming some processing and export operations in February following an eight-month outage caused by a fire.Refinitiv Eikon data showed on Thursday that the plant is on track to pull in about 1.2 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of natural gas from pipelines…

World Trade Boom Keeps De-globalization at Bay

Globalization may have peaked, but the resilience of world trade in the face of mounting headwinds means a reversal of the past three decades is not inevitable.Since the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine shattered global supply chains, debate has raged over how integrated the global economy will be in the future compared with the previous 30 to 40 years.'Globalization' is an amorphous subject. According to the International Monetary Fund, economic globalization refers to "the increasing integration of economies around the world…

US Poised to Regain Crown as World's Top LNG Exporter

The United States is on track to become the world's biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) this year - ahead of current market leader Australia - once a fire-idled Texas plant is restarted, according to Reuters data.A June fire sidelined Freeport LNG, the second biggest U.S. export facility, and cut U.S. exports of the fuel by about 2 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd). That outage dropped the United States behind top exporter Australia as global demand for the fuel boomed.In 2022, U.S. exports of natural gas as LNG rose 8% to 10.6 bcfd, just shy of Australia's 10.7 bcfd.

U.S. LNG Exports Dip in October

U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in October remained capped by plant outages, with producers shifting more cargoes to Asian buyers last month, according to Refinitiv Eikon tanker monitoring data, after of a pipeline leak cut supplies from Malaysia. LNG prices recently have cooled with Europe's gas storage levels rising to over 90% of target capacity and a slow start to winter. In Asia, however, a declaration of force majeure on gas supplies by Malaysian state-energy company Petronas PETR.KL  has LNG customers in Japan scrambling for alternative cargoes.

Can US Port Infrastructure Handle More Crude Exports?

U.S. crude shippers are exporting huge amounts of oil to meet strong demand from Europe following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and subsequent sanctions against Moscow. In coming years U.S. oil may find even more buyers overseas, but that could test the capabilities of U.S. export infrastructure.How much crude does the United States typically export?U.S. crude exports averaged 3.7 million barrels per day (bpd) over the four weeks through late May, their highest since March 2020, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.