Oil News

Iranian oil shipments into China are set to fall in the near-term after new U.S. sanctions on a refiner and tankers, driving up shipping costs, but traders said they expect buyers to find workarounds to keep at least some volumes flowing.Washington on Thursday imposed new sanctions on entities including Shouguang Luqing Petrochemical, a "teapot," or independent refinery in east China's Shandong province, and vessels that supplied oil to such plants in China, the top buyers of…

A ship carrying Russian crude transferred from three smaller tankers that are under U.S. sanctions unloaded last week at a Chinese port, shiptracking data shows, ending an unusual month-long voyage highlighting the efforts of producers and traders to keep Moscow's oil flowing despite tightened curbs.The Panama-flagged Daban, one of dozens of non-sanctioned vessels drawn to the Russian oil trade by fat margins following the January 10 U.S. sanctions, was received at a berth run by the privately-controlled Qingdao Haiye Group at the port of Qingdao…

The United States imposed sanctions on Thursday on Iran's Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad and some Hong Kong-flagged vessels that are part of a shadow fleet that helps disguise Iranian oil shipments, the Treasury Department said.President Donald Trumpre-imposed a "maximum pressure" policy on Iran in February that includes efforts to drive its oil exports to zero in order to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and funding militant groups.Paknejad "oversees the export of tens…

Over the last six weeks, U.S. President Trump has imposed and postponed tariffs on Canada and Mexico several times. The current situation seems to reflect something of a compromise, says Poten & Partners in an opinion released on March 7.Tariffs are in place, but they will not apply to goods covered by the North American trade agreement known as USMCA. Crude oil and refined products are covered under the USMCA, so provided the energy companies file the appropriate paperwork, they…

Asia's crude oil imports are off to a weak start in 2025, as top importer China continues to buy less and new sanctions put the brakes on cargoes from the continent's top supplier Russia.Asia's imports for the first two months of the year are on track to be 26.17 million barrels per day (bpd), down 780,000 bpd from the 26.96 million bpd for the same period last year, according to data compiled by LSEG Oil Research.The drop of about 3% in crude imports by Asia in the first two…

The cancellation of a license for Chevron to operate in Venezuela could lead to the negotiation of a fresh agreement between the U.S. producer and state company PDVSA to export crude to destinations other than the United States, sources close to the talks said.U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was reversing the license, accusing President Nicolas Maduro of not making progress on electoral reforms and migrant returns.U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio later said…

U.S. President Donald Trump will restore his "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran and drive its oil exports down to zero, a U.S. official said on Tuesday.Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz for traffic as a retaliation for Western pressure. That would shut down the region's trade and lead to a spike in oil prices.The Streit of Hormuz & OilThe strait lies between Oman and Iran and links the Gulf north of it with the Gulf of Oman to the south and the Arabian Sea beyond.It is 21 miles (33 km) wide at its narrowest point…

Oil prices retreated on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to hold off imposing steep tariffs on Mexico and Canada, the two biggest foreign oil suppliers to the United States, for a month.Brent futures LCOc1 fell 41 cents, or 0.5%, to $75.55 a barrel at 0149 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 declined 75 cents, or 1%, to trade at $72.41.Both Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said they had agreed to…

U.S. President Donald Trump's trade tariffs on Canadian and Mexican oil imports will offer European and Asian refineries a competitive advantage against their U.S. rivals, analysts and market participants told Reuters.Trump on Saturday ordered 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports and 10% on goods from China starting on Tuesday to address a national emergency over fentanyl and illegal aliens entering the U.S., White House officials said. Energy products from Canada will have only a 10% duty…

Oil prices slipped on Monday after U.S. President Trump called on OPEC to reduce prices following the announcement of wide-ranging measures to boost U.S. oil and gas output in his first week in office.Brent crude futures LCOc1 dropped 53 cents, or 0.68%, to $77.97 a barrel by 0430 GMT after settling up 21 cents on Friday.U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 was at $74.16 a barrel, down 50 cents, or 0.67%.Trump on Friday reiterated his call for the Organization of the Petroleum…

North Korea has likely received more than 1 million barrels of oil from Russia over an eight-month period this year in breach of U.N. sanctions, according to an analysis of satellite imagery published on Friday by the British-based Open Source Centre and the BBC.North Korean oil tankers have made more than 40 visits to Russia's Far Eastern port of Vostochny since March, the report on the research group Open Source Centre's website said."Dozens of high-resolution satellite images…

Freight rates for tankers exporting oil from Russian ports to Asia have risen this month ahead of winter and are set to climb further after recent Western sanctions hitting more tankers involved in the trade, according to industry data and sources.Russian oil is mostly sold to Asian buyers on a delivered basis, where the price includes transport costs, meaning higher freight rates would weigh on Moscow's revenue from energy sales.Freight rates from the Baltic ports of Primorsk or Ust-Luga to ports in western India have risen and may reach up to $5.5 million this month…

Russia's seaborne oil product exports in August fell to 9.074 million metric tons, down 2.3% month on month, data from industry sources and Reuters calculations showed.Russia's offline primary oil refining capacity for August at 2.95 million tons was up from July's level by some 3%, according to Reuters calculations based on data from industry sources.Total oil product exports via the Baltic ports of Primorsk, Vysotsk, St.

Experts will this week resume a risky operation to salvage the Sounion tanker which was attacked by Yemen's Houthis in the Red Sea last month and still holds about one million barrels of crude oil, maritime sources said on Thursday.The towing of the Greek-registered vessel - which was struck, lost power and caught fire on Aug. 21 - was paused after it was deemed unsafe by the companies initially involved in the project.Officials have said the towing operation will be particularly delicate…

Fuel oil exports bound for the U.S. Gulf Coast slumped to their lowest level since January 2019 last month, a sign of weakened refinery demand as margins have softened, analysts said.Feedstocks like high sulfur fuel oil and other heavy residues can be refined into higher value products such as gasoline and diesel using secondary units.But loadings of those products to the Gulf Coast, America's largest refining hub, fell by a third in August from the prior month to 260,000 barrels per day (bpd)…

Russia will increase oil exports via its western ports to 1.98 million barrels per day (bpd) in September, up by just 30,000 bpd from August, despite expected start of seasonal maintenance on Russian refineries, two trade sources said on Friday.Russia needs to supply its own market with enough crude oil to produce motor fuels essential to meet demand, but normally local refineries start large seasonal maintenance and cut runs, which leads to higher availability of crude oil for exports.Russia's August oil shipments from Primorsk, Ust-Luga and Novorossiisk will rise just 1.5% on a daily basis f

At least four people have been reported dead following the sinking of an oil barge operated by a contractor of Venezuela's state-run energy company PDVSA at the country's Lake Maracaibo, according to a report of the accident on Thursday and sources.Another 19 people had been successfully rescued by Thursday morning at the accident site, the report added.Incidents involving barges that carry Venezuelan oil and fuel between domestic ports and to the Caribbean have become frequent.

Big energy merchants trading oil cargoes that form the basis of the Brent benchmark have used an obscure clause to reroute U.S. shipments from Europe, in a practice that raises doubts over whether reforms to the crude price marker have succeeded.Brent, the most significant benchmark across commodity markets, is used to price more than 60% of globally traded crude and underpins oil futures. Its value affects fuel prices paid by consumers and businesses.The 2023 addition of U.S.

Libyan crude exports reached about 550,000 barrels per day last week, a three-fold increase on the previous week, according to data from analytics firm Kpler and a shipping agent.Tankers carrying crude including Flavin, Pacific Pearl, Ghibli, and Delta Atlantica set sail to European destinations from various Libyan ports in the week starting Sept. 9, the data show.This comes as the OPEC producer remains in the throes of a political stand-off that has hampered its oil production.The standoff began last month when western Libyan factions moved to oust central bank governor Sadiq al-Kabir…

The United States expanded sanctions against Iran's petroleum and petrochemical sectors on Friday in response to an Iranian missile attack on Israel, the administration of President Joe Biden said.The U.S. move adds petroleum and petrochemicals to an executive order that targets key sectors of Iran's economy with the aim of denying the government funds to support its nuclear and missile programs."The new designations today also include measures against the 'Ghost Fleet' that carries Iran’s illicit oil to buyers around the world…

An oil tanker caught fire off the Baltic Sea coast of northern Germany early on Friday, and all seven crew members on board at the time were taken ashore, maritime rescue services said in a statement.Three vessels have been deployed to the burning tanker Annika in the Mecklenburg Bay to extinguish the blaze, with several firefighting teams also en route to the site via helicopters, according to the statement.The Germany-flagged, 73-metre-long tanker is carrying around 640 tonnes of oil, it added.

Energy facilities along the U.S. Gulf Coast have begun scaling back operations and evacuating some production sites as Tropical Storm Francine swept through the energy-rich region, and was poised to strengthen into a hurricane later Tuesday.Francine was advancing toward the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, set to become the fourth hurricane of the Atlantic season, which concludes on November 30. Francine could intensify into a Category 2 hurricane, ahead of its expected landfall along the Louisiana coast on Wednesday evening, the National Hurricane Center said.Offshore production in the U.S.

Britain has slapped sanctions on 10 further ships in Russia's so-called "shadow fleet" of vessels which it says use illicit practices to avoid Western restrictions on Russian oil.Russia rejects Western pressure to limit its oil exports, and in the past year there has been a growth in the number of tankers transporting cargoes that are not regulated or insured by conventional Western providers."Today’s sanctions further undermine Russia’s ability to trade in oil via its shadow fleet," British foreign minister David Lammy said in a statement on Wednesday.The foreign ministry said the action take