LPG carriers return to Panama as limits ease

Market: LPG
20/02/24

VLGCs returned to the Panama Canal in December-January after steady rainfall allowed canal authority ACP to increase daily transits, lowering Neopanamax auction slot prices, although many ships embarked on longer voyages via the Suez Canal and Cape of Good Hope.

VLGCs moved 2.2mn t of LPG through the Panama Canal in January, up by 7.8pc from December and 36pc from November, despite total VLGC exports of LPG falling by 3.5pc on the month to 7.7mn t in January, oil analytics firm Kpler data show. ACP increased daily transits to 24 from 22 on 16 January after steady rainfall in November allowed it to reverse a plan to cut transits to 20 in January and 18 in February. The operator also released more auction slots in December at 180, compared with 154 in November, falling to 167 in January.

The average Neopanamax auction slot price fell by 82pc on the month to $243,900 in January, compared with $2.15mn in November and a record high of $3.9mn for one slot on 8 November. Demand eased as more VLGCs rerouted to the Suez Canal and around the Cape of Good Hope after ACP in late October announced tightening transits over winter. But transits through the Suez Canal fell by 83pc on the month to 92,000t in January, and from 1.02mn t in November, after attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea forced vessels to head around the Cape or back to the Panama Canal.

The increase in Panama transits has boosted VLGC availability and pressured freight rates in January, although they have since crept back up, and the canal is still a long way from its typical 32 transits a day.

VLGC monthly export volumes by route

Neopanamax auction prices

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30/04/25

Mexican economy grows 0.6pc in 1Q

Mexico City, 30 April (Argus) — Mexico's economy expanded at an annualized rate of 0.6pc in the first quarter, with solid growth in the agriculture sector offsetting a slowdown in industry. The result came in at the high end of analyst estimates and slightly above the 0.5pc GDP growth reported by statistics agency Inegi for the fourth quarter of 2024. Still, it marks the second-slowest quarterly growth in the past 16 quarters. Most of the first quarter's GDP growth came from a 6pc expansion in the agricultural sector, which more than reversed the 4.6pc contraction recorded in the fourth quarter of 2024. The industrial sector — including mining, manufacturing and construction — shrank for a second straight quarter, contracting by 1.4pc after a 1.2pc drop in the previous quarter. Manufacturing faced tariff-related uncertainty during the quarter, though investment in the sector had already been slowing for months. The contraction was softened by manufacturers ramping up production ahead of US tariffs, with the risk of trade-driven inflation also pushing builders to contain construction costs, according to market sources. These effects are expected to fade in the second quarter and worsen in the third if high US tariffs on Mexican goods persist, said Victor Herrera, head of economic studies at finance executive association IMEF, "especially as supply chains are hit by dwindling inventories." Services expanded by an annualized 1.3pc in the first quarter, compared with a 2.1pc growth in the fourth quarter of 2024. This marks the slowest growth in services since the end of Covid-19 restrictions in early 2021. By James Young Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Repsol sees Spanish refineries back to normal in a week

30/04/25

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30/04/25

Repsol sees Spanish refineries back to normal in a week

Adds chief executive's comments and further detail on refineries Madrid, 30 April (Argus) — Repsol said it expects its five Spanish refineries to return to normal operations within a week following the nationwide power outage on Monday, 28 April. The company confirmed that power was restored to all its refineries on Monday evening, allowing the restart process to begin. It will take three days to restart the crude distillation units and 5-7 days to restart secondary conversion units, with hydrocrackers taking the longest, according to chief executive Josu Jon Imaz. A momentary and unexplained drop in power supply on the Spanish electricity grid caused power cuts across most of Spain and Portugal, disrupting petrochemical plants and airports, as well as refineries. Imaz noted that Repsol was fortunate that its refineries avoided damage from petroleum coke formation and other solidification processes during the shutdown. Repsol's 220,000 b/d Petronor refinery in Bilbao was the first to restart, thanks to electricity imports from France, he said. Petroleum reserves corporation Cores has temporarily reduced Spain's obligation to hold 92 days of oil product consumption as strategic reserves by four days, mitigating potential supply issues from the outage. Repsol's refining margin indicator, a benchmark based on European crack spreads weighted to the firm's product basket, has been recovering this week and stood at $7.5/bl this morning, compared with an average of $4.2/bl in April and $5.3/bl in the first quarter, according to Imaz. The company posted a 70¢/bl premium to the indicator in January-March on refinery optimisation and use of heavier and cheaper crudes. This was lower than the $1.20/bl premium it reported in 2024 and negatively affected by the high water content in first-quarter deliveries of heavy Mexican Maya, a staple for Repsol's more complex refineries. The high water cut in the Maya receipts shaved a potential 50¢/bl from Repsol's refining margin premium in the first quarter, and operational issues at the company's Tarragona refinery a further 20¢/bl, according to Imaz. Repsol has already completed the three major refinery maintenance projects for 2025 it flagged at its Bilbao, Tarragona and Puertollano refineries . Work on the three refineries in the first quarter cut about 40¢/bl from the firm's refining margin. The three factors point to a combined $1.10/bl shortfall in the firm's refining margin in the first quarter and were one of the reasons for the 80pc fall in adjusted profit at Repsol's refining-focused industrial division to €131mn ($149mn) in January-March from a year earlier and the 62pc fall in group profit to €366mn. By Jonathan Gleave Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Repsol sees Spanish refineries back to normal in a week

30/04/25

News

30/04/25

Repsol sees Spanish refineries back to normal in a week

Madrid, 30 April (Argus) — Repsol said it expects its five Spanish refineries to return to normal operations within a week following Monday's nationwide power outage. The company confirmed that power was restored to all its refineries on Monday evening, allowing the restart process to begin. It will take three days to restart the crude distillation units and 5-7 days to restart the secondary conversion units, with hydrocrackers taking the longest, according to chief executive Josu Jon Imaz. A momentary and as-yet unexplained drop in power supply on the Spanish electricity grid caused power cuts across most of Spain and Portugal, disrupting petrochemical plants and airports, as well as refineries. Imaz noted that Repsol was fortunate that its refineries avoided damage from petroleum coke formation and other solidification processes during the shutdown. Repsol's 220,000 b/d Petronor refinery in Bilbao was the first to restart, thanks to electricity imports from France, he said. State-controlled petroleum reserves corporation Cores has temporarily reduced Spain's obligation to hold 92 days of oil product consumption as strategic reserves by four days, mitigating potential supply issues from the outage. Imaz declined to speculate on the cause of the power outage. By Jonathan Gleave Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Canada’s Liberals win minority government

29/04/25

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29/04/25

Canada’s Liberals win minority government

Calgary, 29 April (Argus) — Canadian prime minister Mark Carney and his Liberal party rode a wave of anti-US sentiment to victory in Monday's election, but fell just short of an elusive majority. The Liberals are on track to take 168 of the 343 seats in Parliament, according to Elections Canada, which said counting has carried over to today on account of a large voter turnout. If current levels hold, this will mark a six seat improvement for the Liberals over the 2021 election, but they will still require the support of other parties to pass legislation, as they did prior to the election. The Conservatives will form the official opposition with an estimated 144 seats. Despite the loss, the Conservatives made the largest gain of any party compared to the 2021 election, when they won 119 seats. Who will lead the Conservatives in Parliament is unclear, however, with current leader Pierre Poilievre losing his Ottawa seat to a Liberal candidate and being on the outside looking in for the first time in 20 years. Carney won his neighbouring seat handily, with the results indicative of which leader Canadians preferred to take on US president Donald Trump. The election was largely centered around trade and the economy which was brought to the forefront by Trump's tariffs and "51st state" rhetoric, turning the election into a two-horse race between the parties with the most realistic chances of forming a government. "President Trump is trying to break us so that America can own us. That will never, ever happen," said Carney in his victory speech. "We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons." Carney plans to sit with Trump to discuss the trade relationship between the two countries, but says Canada has "many, many other options" than the US to build prosperity. The Liberals garnered about 43.5pc of the popular vote while the Conservatives hit 41.4pc, according to preliminary results, each representing the highest for their respective parties since the 1980s. Liberal and Conservative gains came at the expense of the smaller New Democratic Party (NDP) and Bloq Quebecois who may still hold influence in government despite suffering steep losses. The NDP are likely to end with seven seats, down from 25 in the 2021 election and below the 12 required for official party status in Parliament. The Bloq Quebecois, a regional party standing for sovereignty in Quebec, fell to 23 seats from 32 across the same time frame. The Liberals were propped up by the NDP since 2022 and may turn to the left-leaning party yet again to push legislation through. The NDP, nearly being wiped out, could hold the balance of power yet again but they will need to regroup after its leader also lost his seat. Carney admits Canada must build more infrastructure to both kickstart a lagging economy but also diversify its trade partners further beyond the US. The Conservatives agree more must be done and it is likely common ground could be found between the two parties to progress the export of energy, critical minerals and more. "We are going to build," said Carney. "Build, baby, build." By Brett Holmes Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Spanish refineries, petchems restart after power outage

29/04/25

News

29/04/25

Spanish refineries, petchems restart after power outage

Madrid, 29 April (Argus) — Spanish oil companies Repsol and Moeve are restarting refineries and petrochemical plants after they were halted by a massive power cut across Spain and Portugal yesterday, 28 April. Power has returned to Repsol's five Spanish refineries, which have a combined 890,000 b/d of capacity, and its two petrochemicals plants in Tarragona and Puertollano, as well as Moeve's 464,000 b/d of refining capacity and two petrochemicals plants in southern Spain. Facilities are "restarting progressively" after power was restored from late on 28 April, according to the companies. They declined to say when they expect production to return to levels prior to the outages. A momentary and as-yet-unexplained drop in power supply on the Spanish electricity grid of over 10GW at around 12.30 CET (10:30 GMT) caused power cuts across most of Spain and Portugal yesterday, shutting down industrial complexes . The outage followed a localised and unexplained loss of power in Cartagena southern Spain on 22 April which shut down Repsol's 220,000 refinery for several days, the company confirmed. Portugal's Galp has not yet responded to requests for confirmation that its 226,000 b/d Sines refinery in southern Portugal halted yesterday, although one worker at the facility confirmed to Argus that the refinery is restarting now after a "total shutdown" following the power cut. BP said operations at its 108,000 b/d Castellon refinery in eastern Spain "have not been affected by the power outage" but the facility did "activate an emergency response plan" and is working "closely with local authorities to manage the situation." Spain's dominant oil product pipeline and storage operator Exolum, whose facilities connect refineries and ports, and deliver to service stations, said its infrastructure is working "normally" today after yesterday's disruption, adding that it managed to supply essential services and airports with fuel throughout the blackout. Repsol's 220,000 b/d Bilbao refinery, which has limited hydrocracking capacity and no major petrochemicals units, took just two days to return to prior production levels after a power outage caused a total shutdown in 2016. Any recovery to normal functioning of a plant could take longer depending on the configuration of a particular refinery, whether any damage to units occurred and whether any petrochemical units were affected. Airport operations Aena — the firm that operates 48 Spanish airports — said that all airports in its network had fully resumed operations as of Tuesday morning. Airlines including Iberia, AirEuropa and Easyjet expect all flights to operate as scheduled today. The power outage halted operations at airports in Spain, Portugal, Morocco and southern France. Morocco's National Airports Office (Onda) announced that check-in and boarding procedures have been fully restored at all airports in the country. Around 500 flights were cancelled in Spain and Portugal, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium, after deducting double-counted flights between the two countries. Lisbon airport was the worst hit, with 45pc of departures cancelled, as well as about 30pc of departures at Seville airport. Around 50 flights each were grounded at Madrid and Barcelona airports — Spain's busiest. By Jonathan Gleave and Amaar Khan Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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