Tanker owner denies Houthi attack in Med

Spanish Market: Crude oil, Oil products
16/07/24

The owner of a tanker reported attacked today in the Mediterranean Sea has said there was no such incident.

Petronav Ship Management said its tanker, Olvia, was not targeted as claimed by Yemen's Houthi militants.

An attack in the Mediterranean would be a big step outside the Houthi's region of operations, which is limited to the area in and around the Bab el-Mandeb strait at the southern end of the Red Sea.

The Houthis claimed two other attacks today in the Red Sea, on crude tanker Chios Lion and oil product tanker Bentley I.

By Ben Winkley and Bob Wigin

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15/04/25

IEA slashes 2025 global refinery runs growth forecast

London, 15 April (Argus) — The IEA has sharply lowered its forecast for refinery run growth this year, citing escalating tensions in global trade. In its latest Oil Market Report (OMR) published today, the energy watchdog said it expects growth in global crude runs of 340,000 b/d, down by 40pc from its previous forecast of 570,000 b/d. The IEA sees total global crude runs averaging 83.2mn b/d this year. Increased throughput from non-OECD countries still drives this year's growth, with the IEA expecting an increase of 830,000 b/d to 47.6mn b/d. The IEA has not adjusted this figure, as stronger runs in China through the first quarter of this year and higher Russian forecasts have offset downgrades in other non-OECD countries. Chinese crude runs in January and February averaged 15.2mn b/d, around 470,000 b/d higher than the IEA's forecast, it said. The body raised its Russian forecasts from the second quarter as Ukrainian attacks on Russian infrastructure have slowed. The IEA forecasts OECD refinery runs will fall by 490,000 b/d this year because of refinery closures, resulting in a cut from its previous forecast of 100,000 b/d, to 35.6mn b/d. OECD Europe runs are forecast to fall by 310,000 b/d on the year to 10.9mn b/d. OECD crude runs rose by 200,000 b/d on the year in February, 40,000 b/d higher than the IEA expected. Throughput was particularly weak in the first quarter of 2024, when extreme cold cut US run rates. In Mexico, state-owned Pemex's 340,000 b/d Olmeca refinery has still not reached stable operations having started up in mid-2024. The refinery ran no crude in January because of crude quality constraints, the IEA said, and February output there was 7,000 b/d. The IEA estimates the refinery's second crude unit will come online in the fourth quarter. The IEA said refiners will add more than 1mn b/d of global capacity in 2026, but it forecast growths in crude runs of only 300,000 b/d for that year. Assuming all new and expanded refineries come into operation by then, producers will have to cut runs at older refineries, it said. Capacity additions will be largest in Asia-Pacific. The IEA expects China's 320,000 b/d Panjin refinery to come online in the second half of 2026, and for producers to add capacity of 480,000 b/d in India. It sees growth in crude runs as focused on the Mideast Gulf, and runs across the OECD falling. By Josh Michalowski Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Keystone oil pipeline to restart today, pressure capped

14/04/25

Keystone oil pipeline to restart today, pressure capped

Calgary, 14 April (Argus) — The 622,000 b/d Keystone oil pipeline is repaired and has approval to restart at a reduced pressure less than a week after spilling crude in North Dakota. Pipeline operator South Bow is planning a "controlled restart" of the Keystone system today, provided weather cooperates, the company said. The repair and restart plans were approved by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), which issued a corrective action order (COA) to the Calgary-based midstream company on 11 April. The pipeline is a major carrier of Canadian heavy crude destined for both the US midcontinent and the Gulf coast but was shut down on 8 April after spilling 3,500 bl near Kathryn, North Dakota. About 2,845 bl had been recovered by 12 April, according to PHMSA. The COA indicates Keystone was operating at 1,251 pounds per square inch gauge (psig) at the time of failure, below the maximum allowed operating pressure of 1,440 psig for the pipeline. Flow rate at the time of failure was 17,844 bl per hour. Keystone will be capped at 80pc of the pressure at the time of the failure, or 1,000 psig. PHMSA noted five prior spills from Keystone occurring in 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2022 that saw releases of 400, 6,592, 4,515, 442 and 12,937 bl of crude, respectively, which "show a tendency or pattern in recent years of increasingly frequent incidents resulting in larger releases". Prices on either side of the pipeline break narrowed ahed of Keystone's imminent return-to-service. Heavy sour Western Canadian Select (WCS) in Hardisty, Alberta, has narrowed by about 75¢/bl to a $9.10/bl discount to the May Nymex WTI calendar month average, so far, while the same assessment in the Houston, Texas, area has widened by nearly 30¢/bl to about a $2.40/bl discount to the May basis. By Brett Holmes Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Funding cuts could delay US river lock work: Correction

14/04/25

Funding cuts could delay US river lock work: Correction

Corrects lock locations in paragraph 5. Houston, 14 April (Argus) — The US Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) will have to choose between various lock reconstruction and waterway projects for its annual construction plan after its funding was cut earlier this year. Last year Congress allowed the Corps to use $800mn from unspent infrastructure funds for other waterways projects. But when Congress passed a continuing resolutions for this year's budget they effectively removed that $800mn from what was a $2.6bn annual budget for lock reconstruction and waterways projects. This means a construction plan that must be sent to Congress by 14 May can only include $1.8bn in spending. No specific projects were allocated funding by Congress, allowing the Corps the final say on what projects it pursues under the new budget. River industry trade group Waterways Council said its top priority is for the Corps to provide a combined $205mn for work at the Montgomery lock in Pennsylvania on the Ohio River and Chickamauga lock in Tennessee on the Tennessee River since they are the nearest to completion and could become more expensive if further delayed. There are seven active navigation construction projects expected to take precedent, including the following: the Chickamauga and Kentucky Locks on the Tennessee River; Locks 2-4 on the Monongahela River; the Three Rivers project on the Arkansas River; the LaGrange Lock on the Illinois River; Lock 25 on the Mississippi River; and the Montgomery Lock on the Ohio River. There are three other locks in Texas, Pennsylvania and Illinois that are in the active design phase (see map) . By Meghan Yoyotte Corps active construction projects 2025 Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

IMO GHG pricing not yet Paris deal-aligned: EU

14/04/25

IMO GHG pricing not yet Paris deal-aligned: EU

Brussels, 14 April (Argus) — The International Maritime Organisation's (IMO) global greenhouse gas (GHG) pricing mechanism "does not yet ensure the sector's full contribution to achieving the Paris Agreement goals", the European Commission has said. "Does it have everything for everybody? For sure, it doesn't," said Anna-Kaisa Itkonen, the commission's climate and energy spokesperson said. "This is often the case as an outcome from international negotiations, that not everybody gets the most optimal outcome." The IMO agreement reached last week will need to be confirmed by the organisation in October, the EU noted, even if it is a "strong foundation" and "meaningful step" towards net zero GHG emissions in global shipping by 2050. The commission will have 18 months following the IMO mechanism's formal approval to review the directive governing the bloc's emissions trading system (ETS), which currently includes maritime emissions for intra-EU voyages and those entering or leaving the bloc. By EU law, the commission will also have to report on possible "articulation or alignment" of the bloc's FuelEU Maritime regulation with the IMO, including the need to "avoid duplicating regulation of GHG emissions from maritime transport" at EU and international levels. That report should be presented, "without delay", following formal adoption of an IMO global GHG fuel standard or global GHG intensity limit. Finland's head representative at the IMO delegation talks, Anita Irmeli, told Argus that the EU's consideration of whether the approved Marpol amendments are ambitious enough won't be until "well after October". Commenting on the IMO agreement, the European Biodiesel Board (EBB) pointed to the "neutral" approach to feedstocks, including first generation biofuels. "The EBB welcomes this agreement, where all feedstocks and pathways have a role to play," EBB secretary general Xavier Noyon said. Faig Abbasov, shipping director at non-governmental organisation Transport and Environment, called for better incentives for green hydrogen. "The IMO deal creates a momentum for alternative marine fuels. But unfortunately it is the forest-destroying first generation biofuels that will get the biggest push for the next decade," he said. By Dafydd ab Iago Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Shale patch on edge after tariff drama

14/04/25

Shale patch on edge after tariff drama

New York, 14 April (Argus) — US president Donald Trump's back and forth over tariffs that sent oil prices tumbling to a four-year low last week has sparked jitters across the shale patch, although most producers are likely to take their time to respond. The oil and gas industry, one of Trump's biggest cheerleaders and donors during his election campaign, has been taken aback by the speed and scale of the president's escalating trade wars and executives are signalling growing impatience. Meanwhile, Trump's "Drill, baby, drill" mantra is even less likely to become a reality now, after oil slid below the $65/bl level that executives surveyed by the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank last month warned was needed to profitably sink a new well. Trump's imposition of punitive tariffs on nearly every major US trading partner led to a sell-off in stock, bonds and commodity markets until he announced a 90-day pause for most nations — except China — on 9 April. While it may be too early for talk about dropping rigs and curtailing production, companies will face tough questions from analysts about their contingency plans when first-quarter results start coming through later this month. One key difference from previous downturns in 2014 and 2020 is that exploration and production (E&P) firms are in a better position this time, with less debt on their balance sheets and more modest growth plans, which may help limit the initial fallout. But higher costs owing to tariffs on steel imports could offset the efficiency savings that have kept production going in an era of restrained spending. "E&Ps are likely to mostly take a wait-and-see approach — with a high level of uncertainty about future policy — and not prematurely lay down rigs," consultancy Enverus principal analyst Andrew Dittmar says. "If prices are weak headed into 2026, that is where you are likely to see a more material reduction in drilling budgets. Feeling dominated The shale industry has welcomed Trump's "energy dominance" agenda and his promise of a permitting overhaul. But cracks are appearing in that relationship because of his stop-start policy on tariffs. "This administration better have a plan," Diamondback Energy president Kaes Van't Hof said in a social media post, in a direct appeal to energy secretary Chris Wright. Shale is the "only industry that actually built itself in the US, manufactures in the US, grew jobs in the US and improved the trade deficit — and by proxy GDP — in the US over the past decade", Van't Hof, who is due to become Diamondback chief executive later this year, said. His company became the largest pure-play producer in the prolific Permian basin of west Texas and southeast New Mexico following its $26bn takeover of Endeavor Energy Resources last year. While few public producers were planning any kind of meaningful growth this year as higher dividends and buy-backs continue to be the priority, even that could eventually find itself on the chopping block. "The corporate reality for public players means that already modest growth could be at risk if prices remain near $60/bl," Rystad Energy vice-president for North American oil and gas Matthew Bernstein says. Little in the way of growth was forecast outside the core Permian this year even before Trump rolled out his tariffs. A prolonged period of lower prices could spur a downturn in the top-performing US basin. A combination of short-term activity levels, investor distributions and production could be sacrificed in order to defend margins, according to Rystad. And producers in the Delaware sub-basin could be especially vulnerable, given the region's steep initial decline rates, high well costs and large capital return requirements, the consultancy says. By Stephen Cunningham WTI breakeven price Nymex WTI futures month 1 Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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