Syria issues crude, products tenders: Correction

: Crude oil, LPG, Oil products
25/01/30

Corrects quality of gasoil sought in paragraph 4, from 10ppm to 50ppm. This story was originally published on 22 January

The new administration in Syria has issued its first tenders to buy crude and refined products since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in December, as acute fuel shortages continue to cause lengthy blackouts in the country.

Tenders seeking 3mn bl of light crude for the 140,000 Banias refinery and 1.2mn bl of heavy crude for the 110,100 b/d Homs refinery close for bidding on 27 January. They have a 10pc flexibility either way on the volumes.

The Banias refinery is undergoing maintenance at several of its production units after being taken offline last month because of a lack of crude feedstock.

Syria's new administration has also issued its first import tender for refined products — 80,000t of 90 Ron gasoline, 100,000t of 50ppm sulphur gasoil and 100,000t of fuel oil — commencing as soon as possible for delivery over a 30-day period. Offers must be delivered by hand to the oil ministry in Damascus by 14:30 local time on 27 January.

A tender seeking 66,000t of LPG has been issued as well. A previous tender for 20,000t of LPG was awarded at mid-teen $/t premiums to fob Lavera west Mediterranean prices.

Before Assad was toppled, Syria relied heavily on Iran for its oil supplies, as international sanctions imposed in the wake of the 2011 civil war left the country critically short of feedstock for its refineries. Iran's crude exports to Syria averaged around 55,000 b/d in January-November 2024 and around 80,000 b/d in 2023, according to trade analytics firm Kpler. Iran was also sending around 10,000-20,000 b/d of oil products to Syria in recent years, according to consultancy FGE.

But Tehran has halted crude deliveries to Syria since the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham took control last month, leaving the new transitional government under pressure to find alternative suppliers. Government-to-government deals are a potential option.

"Recent political developments have indicated that Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey could play a role in solving Syria's crude and refined products shortage," FGE analyst Palash Jain said.

Saudi Arabia is willing to help for a limited period, but discussions remain in a preliminary phase and are light on details, a source with knowledge of the matter told Argus. Riyadh is waiting to hear more from the Syrians on their energy needs and requirements, the source added.

The latest tenders come just two weeks after the US waived sanctions that had previously prohibited energy trade with Syria. The waiver, issued on 6 January, is valid until 7 July.

By Rithika Krishna and Bachar Halabi

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25/03/03

Sheinbaum urges calm ahead of Trump tariff deadline

Mexico City, 3 March (Argus) — Mexico will deliver a composed and measured response if the US imposes tariffs on its imports as threatened tonight, although there has been no definitive word on what will happen, President Claudia Sheinbaum said. US president Donald Trump postponed an early February deadline to impose 25pc tariffs on all Mexican and most Canadian goods by a month to allow more time for negotiations over what he said were concerns over the flow of drugs and immigrants into the US. This followed Sheinbaum pledge to send another 10,000 national guard troops to the border to curtail drug trafficking, with a specific focus on fentanyl. Mexico has continued talks with the US this past month to demonstrate results of its efforts. But the Mexican government does not yet know if this has been sufficient to convince Trump to further pause tariffs, Sheinbaum said this morning. "Whatever the decision is, we will have a plan to respond," Sheinbaum said during her daily press conference. Mexico has a plan that includes retaliatory tariffs as an option, Sheinbaum said last month. US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick said on a broadcast interview Sunday that the US will likely implement the tariffs on Canada and Mexico, but that Trump could lower the tariffs below 25pc. Lutnick described the situation as "fluid", leaving open the possibilities for last-minute negotiations. Sheinbaum could still have a call with Trump before the deadline expires, much like last month, when the tariffs were postponed following talks between the presidents , Sheinbaum said last week. Sheinbaum said such a call could come today. Tariffs would likely curtail energy trade between the US and Mexico. Nearly all of Mexico's roughly 500,000 b/d of crude shipments to the US in January-November 2024 were waterborne cargoes sent to US Gulf coast refiners. Those shipments in the future could be diverted to Asia or Europe. Mexico also imports much of its road fuels and LPG from the US. But hitting these goods with retaliatory tariffs would be costly for Mexico and may be unlikely, according to market sources. By Cas Biekmann Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

EU promises flexibility for car CO2 standards: Update

25/03/03

EU promises flexibility for car CO2 standards: Update

Adds reaction quote from E-Mobility in new paragraph 5. Brussels, 3 March (Argus) — European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen today promised "more flexibility" on CO2 targets, balancing "predictability and fairness" for firms that have already introduced low or zero emission vehicles. Von der Leyen said the commission will stick to agreed CO2 emission reduction targets for fleets. But the commission will show "more pragmatism in these difficult times" and technology neutrality. She specifically promised a "focused" amendment to the bloc's CO2 standards regulation this month, to introduce "pragmatism" with respect to possible penalties for not complying with 2025 targets. The EU's CO2 standards for manufacturers lay down an EU-wide fleet greenhouse gas target for light passenger vehicles and vans of 93.6 g/km until 2029. That represents a 15pc reduction compared with a 2021 baseline for cars. This falls to 49.5 g/km for 2030-34, a 55pc reduction, and 0g/km from 2035. "Instead of annual compliance, companies will get three years," von der Leyen said, noting the principle of "banking and borrowing". "The targets stay the same; they have to fulfil the targets. It means more breathing space for industry and more clarity, and without changing the agreed targets," she said. The proposal for flexibility on CO2 standards will "significantly delay" Europe's electric vehicle roll-out over the next two years, industry association E-Mobility Europe secretary-general Chris Heron said. He estimated that half a million fewer electric cars could enter the EU market in 2025. "That uncertainty is bad news for investors in EU charging infrastructure, battery production, and e-mobility overall," Heron said, noting legal and competitive issues from changing the rules midway. The amendment would need to be agreed quickly by the European parliament and a qualified majority of EU member states. The EU biofuels and hydrogen industry last week expressed disappointment at a draft outline of the commission's forthcoming automotive industrial action plan, for not mentioning low and carbon neutral biofuels and hydrogen. By Dafydd ab Iago Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Q&A: ExxonMobil sees pathway to eight Guyanese projects

25/03/03

Q&A: ExxonMobil sees pathway to eight Guyanese projects

New York, 3 March (Argus) — ExxonMobil has a "line of sight" to eight projects in Guyana, which will help drive up production from the prolific offshore Stabroek block in coming years. And more is possible as the prospecting licence for the block still has another two-and-a-half years to go, ExxonMobil's Guyana president, Alistair Routledge , told Argus' Stephen Cunningham in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the recent Guyana Energy Conference and Supply Chain Expo in Georgetown, Guyana. How will this year's general elections affect your operations in Guyana? We take a long-term perspective. Our job is to work with whichever administration is voted in, and to ensure that it's a collaborative relationship, it honours past commitments, and also that it ensures the long-term attractiveness of this location for future investment. How do you view Guyana's shallow-water blocks? We participated in the 2022 licensing round, and we were awarded the S8 block, along with our partners, [US firm] Hess and [China's] CNOOC. We continue in our discussions with the government to try to finalise a petroleum agreement. What about other deepwater blocks? We recently relinquished our interest in the Kaieteur block. Just as we looked at the opportunity space there, it didn't stack up in our global portfolio of opportunities. But we did drill a well that encountered oil in the Kaieteur block, so we think we've helped derisk it for the remaining players. Canje block — we still hold equity in that, we're still the operator. I think it's three wells we've drilled in the Canje block. So we've taken the data from those wells, we're revisiting the seismic and figuring out is there another prospect to drill? Can you talk about your new state-of-the art offices here? These are deploying the latest digital technologies, particularly control room technologies. The fact that we pre-invested in a fibre optic network, so a loop to line that goes from onshore through the offshore fields and then back again, to enable us to transmit information in huge quantities, but also to have very little latency in those communications, which you'll probably understand for control room operations is critical. [Floating production storage and offloading unit (FPSO)] Liza Destiny is not connected to the fibre optic, but all of the subsequent FPSOs either are or will be, and that enables them to have an onshore remote operation. Starting from April, we'll start getting those control rooms up and running and, more gradually, migrate the control room operators from offshore to actually operating 24/7 from onshore. What are the lessons that can be learned from Guyana? The partnership between the government and the operating companies is essential. Having a long-term perspective, creating a shared vision, and then working together to achieve it. That has been one of the strengths in Guyana. Then it's the partnerships that live within the industry, or the prime suppliers, the local suppliers with the overseas expertise, bringing all of that together. What about natural gas? We always have kept an eye on the value and opportunity space with the associated gas on the oil fields, but the first priority has always been to ensure that we're maximising the overall recovery of resource. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Guyana’s boom tests the ‘oil curse’ challenge

25/03/03

Guyana’s boom tests the ‘oil curse’ challenge

New York, 3 March (Argus) — Passengers arriving at Cheddi Jagan International Airport just south of Guyana's capital do not have long to wait to see first-hand how a recent oil boom is transforming the economic fortunes of this tiny South American nation. In the arrivals hall, visitors are greeted with billboards advertising everything from heavy machinery to elite security services and banking. And on the hour-long drive into Georgetown, signs of a construction spree are everywhere as work crews lay fresh tarmac on a road lined with lumber yards and building firms. Yet the once-in-a-generation oil discovery at the giant Stabroek block 120 miles off the coast of Guyana by an ExxonMobil-led group in 2015, which has catapulted the once impoverished nation into the world's fastest-growing economy, is still in its early stages. And Guyana's emergence as the newest petrostate will see the former British colony with a population of 800,000 become a key source of non-Opec supply growth, with output due to rise to 1.3mn b/d by the end of the decade from 650,000 b/d this year as new projects come on line. ExxonMobil's experience in Guyana has been extraordinary, and Stabroek's full potential has yet to be fully tested. "In most basins, this takes even two decades to get to the point from discovery to development. Here we are a decade in — we're already at 650,000 b/d and yet we are still very much exploring the basin and testing for new plays," the US major's Guyana president Alistair Routledge tells Argus . With two and a half years yet to run on its exploration licence, "there's another third of the block that we haven't been able to access as yet", he says. "The running room here in Guyana remains exciting." But many locals complain that the country's newfound oil windfall has been slow to trickle down to the general population, while poverty rates remain high, especially in rural areas. And a dependence on oil also risks leaving Guyana, located on South America's northern coast bordering Venezuela, Suriname and Brazil, at the mercy of volatile commodity markets. The jobs bonanza that followed the discovery of billions of barrels of crude is welcome, but taxi drivers grumble that training to get a foothold in the oil and gas industry is expensive and can be difficult to come by. That has led the government to offer free tuition and expand training opportunities. Its record on spreading the benefits of the country's oil boom will be put to the test in national elections later this year. Security concerns For the hundreds of industry executives who descended upon the Guyana Energy Conference and Supply Chain Expo this month, sharing in the spoils of the oil boom was the key draw. Outside the venue, dozens of booths were crammed into an exhibition centre. Travel operators, shipping brokers and a real estate firm pitching Guyana's first Florida-style gated community competed for the attention of conference attendees alongside oil and gas service providers. There was also a disproportionately large number of private security firms, with one offering services ranging from defensive driving to tests for substance abuse and first aid. Inside the conference, government ministers talked up their efforts to diversify the economy as well as manage the country's new oil riches at the same time. Keen to avoid being tagged with the "oil curse", whereby nations that make sudden discoveries often end up worse off because of mismanagement, Guyana is boosting its non-oil sector including agriculture, mining, tourism and construction. "So far, we've been doing a good job," natural resources minister Vickram Bharrat said when asked if the nation could avoid a similar fate as some of its less fortunate predecessors. That has led to up-and-coming producers from Suriname and Namibia beating a path to its door as they seek to learn how Guyana has handled its oil wealth in such a short period of time. Ahead of the elections, the main opposition party has made noises about renegotiating the terms of Guyana's production-sharing contract (PSC) with the ExxonMobil-led consortium. The current administration has ruled out such a move for fear of alienating foreign investors, even though it concedes the terms of the contract could have been better. "Our position has been crystal clear," Bharrat told Argus. "We are not renegotiating the Stabroek PSC," he said. For its part, ExxonMobil has cautioned against any move that would undermine its long-term investment plans and called for contract terms to be respected. ExxonMobil, operator at Stabroek with a 45pc stake, says 2025 is shaping up to be a "very pivotal" year for the company in Guyana as the pace of projects speeds up. ExxonMobil also acknowledges the Guyanese government's impatience for faster progress on natural gas developments. "We want to move quickly," Routledge told the energy conference. "But for those in the industry, you will understand the additional complexity and challenges that gas brings." That includes higher transport and storage costs than oil as well as a lower energy density. Initial plans include a gas-to-energy project to fuel a power plant, for which the pipeline segment is already complete. And ExxonMobil sees further opportunities to build out gas production to potentially support data centres behind the artificial intelligence boom, and a fertilizer plant, as well as accessing global markets through LNG technology. Disputed land On the eve of the energy conference, six Guyanese soldiers were wounded in a border skirmish with a suspected Venezuelan gang, risking a further escalation in long-running tensions between the two nations. Venezuela has long laid claim to the resource-rich Essequibo region, which covers two-thirds of Guyana's territory. The territorial dispute has only worsened since Guyana's unprecedented offshore discovery, with Venezuela at one stage threatening to annex the region. The issue has been referred to the International Court of Justice, but Venezuela has disputed the court's jurisdiction. And in the meantime, Guyana has forged closer military ties with the US. The US ambassador to Guyana has noted that US secretary of state Marco Rubio wasted no time in touching base with the nation's president Irfaan Ali, calling him seven days into the start of the new Donald Trump administration. According to the readout of their conversation, Rubio doubled down on US support for Guyana's sovereignty in the face of the "bellicose actions" of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his "cronies". With the new US administration indicating this week that it may once again tighten sanctions on Caracas by not extending a sanctions waiver there for Chevron, cross-border tensions with Georgetown may remain high. But Guyana's government is sitting on the sidelines while a dispute between ExxonMobil and rival US major Chevron over the future of US independent Hess' 30pc stake in Staebroek plays out. Chevron's pending $53bn takeover of Hess was largely driven by that stake, but ExxonMobil argues it has a right of first refusal for Hess' share. An international arbitration case will resolve the issue in May. ExxonMobil will remain operator whatever the outcome, Routledge tells Argus. "Our position was clear from the start," Bharrat says. "If that was not going to affect the operations in Guyana — and we were told it will not — then we are fine." Guyana has a "good relationship" with Hess, which has agreed to buy carbon credits from the government, he says. "We have no issue with Chevron coming in either. Chevron would add value to the Guyana basin." By Stephen Cunningham Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

EU promises flexibility for car CO2 standards

25/03/03

EU promises flexibility for car CO2 standards

Brussels, 3 March (Argus) — European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen today promised "more flexibility" on CO2 targets, balancing "predictability and fairness" for firms that have already introduced low or zero emission vehicles. Von der Leyen said the commission will stick to agreed CO2 emission reduction targets for fleets. But the commission will show "more pragmatism in these difficult times" and technology neutrality. She specifically promised a "focused" amendment to the bloc's CO2 standards regulation this month, to introduce "pragmatism" with respect to possible penalties for not complying with 2025 targets. The EU's CO2 standards for manufacturers lay down an EU-wide fleet greenhouse gas target for light passenger vehicles and vans of 93.6g/km until 2029. That represents a 15pc reduction compared with a 2021 baseline for cars. This falls to 49.5g/km for 2030-34, a 55pc reduction, and 0g/km from 2035. "Instead of annual compliance, companies will get three years," von der Leyen said, noting the principle of "banking and borrowing". "The targets stay the same; they have to fulfil the targets. It means more breathing space for industry and more clarity, and without changing the agreed targets," she said. The amendment would need to be agreed quickly by the European parliament and a qualified majority of EU member states. The EU biofuels and hydrogen industry last week expressed disappointment at a draft outline of the commission's forthcoming automotive industrial action plan, for not mentioning low and carbon neutral biofuels and hydrogen. By Dafydd ab Iago Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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