Page 29 - Platts Analytics News Today

Asia too alluring for Middle East oil producers to drop the ball on hydrogen The fast-changing energy need of Asian oil importers is prompting Middle Eastern oil producers to accelerate their hydrogen efforts to ensure they can supply both oil and hydrogen to their biggest customers, a strategic push to prevent losing out a part of their future business to potential exporters like Australia. With Asia accounting for more than 80% of Middle East’s overall crude exports, top oil producers are n...

Poor earnings prompt VLCCs to cut costs by idling, slow steaming Weak or negative returns for VLCCs hauling crude from the Persian Gulf to North Asia are prompting shipowners to adopt cost-cutting measures like curtailing sailing speed and idling their ships near Singapore or Sri Lanka’s port of Galle, freight market sources said March 15. The current time charter equivalent (TCE), or earnings for a voyage on the benchmark Persian Gulf-China 270,000 mt route, is currently around $2,000/day fo...

Price spreads support higher Canadian gas exports to US this injection season Current price spreads make the US Midwest an attractive target for Canadian natural gas exports entering the upcoming injection season, but stronger Bakken shale production due to new infrastructure and higher gas-to-oil ratios could keep a lid on imports. S&P Global Platts Analytics is forecasting strong exports to the Midwest from Western Canada and weak injections this summer based on current spreads. However, West...

Key commodities such as oil and copper remain on track for a multi-year bull market due to tightening fundamentals but could be set for a near-term correction after investors “jumped the gun” over the anticipated demand rebound as the world emerges from the COIVD-19 pandemic, according to Saxo Bank’s head of commodity strategy Ole Hansen. ...

Asia’s fragile recovery path can ill afford oil upheaval, price gyrations Asia may have heaved a sigh of relief that a drone attack in Saudi Arabia left crucial oil infrastructure unscathed, but analysts told S&P Global Platts supply disruptions and high prices stemming from escalating geopolitical risk can choke the feeble economic recovery the region is witnessing after a pandemic-hit year. With Asia’s top oil importers largely dependent on the Middle East for bulk of their crude needs, a...

US rig count grows by 1 on week to 492, led by increase in oil activity: Enverus The US oil rig count pushed to an 11-month high in the week ended March 10, led by a continued recovery in the Permian basin, Enverus data showed. The number of oil rigs active in the US climbed five over the past week to 371, Enverus data showed March 11, the highest since the week ended April 15. This gain was countered by a three-rig slide in the number of active gas rigs to 121, leaving the total US oil and gas...

Despite February storm, US coal plant retirements likely to continue Despite the Feb. 14 winter storm’s triple-digit natural gas prices, massive gas-fired generation outages, soaring power prices and rolling blackouts in the southern Great Plains of the US, coal-fired generation is likely to continue to show net capacity reductions across the Lower 48 in the next few years. About 9.2 GW of coal-fired generation retired in 2020, down from 2019’s 14.2 GW, and another 3.2 GW is expected to ret...

REFINERY MARGIN TRACKER: Impact of strong USGC margins ripples across other regions US Gulf Coast refining margins strengthened as refiners moved forward to restart their plants back after unusually low temperatures forced them offline in mid-February, supporting refining margins higher than the same time in 2020, an analysis from S&P Global Platts showed March 8. The freeze overwhelmed Texas’ stand-alone electricity grid, and refiners shut down their plants to conserve power for residents to...

Here are some selected news articles from the week ended 06 March 2021. Part 2 is available here. This is a feature at Global Economic Intersection every Monday evening or Tuesday morning. Please share this article - Go to very top of page, right hand side, for social media buttons. Fuel supplies drop most on record as US oil refining collapses, leading to largest ever jump in oil supplies Refinery utilization at an all time low, 10% lower than its ever been; oil refined is least on record; re...

OPEC stuns by opting not to raise output; was diesel a reason? Analysis suggests diesel inventories remain high and may have been key factor in decision to stand pat Photo: JIm Allen/FreightWaves Coverage of the OPEC+ group’s decision Thursday to not increase crude production even after a more than $45 increase in prices since April inevitably featured one of two words: “shocking” or “stunning.” Diesel markets may have played a role in the path that OPEC took.   Expectation...