Page 32 - Platts Analytics News Today

Valero expects more normal oil markets by the third quarter Valero Energy expects refined product demand to gradually pick up in the second quarter of 2021 and be close to normal by the third quarter as coronavirus vaccinations increase along with personal mobility, which will shift disposable income spending toward funding pent-up travel demand. “We’ve been pleased with the pace of the recovery so far,” said Valero’s CEO Joe Gorder on the Jan. 28 results call. “If we can get governme...

US crude exports jump despite Europe, Asia arbitrage pressure Weekly US crude exports jumped 1.1 million b/d to 3.36 million b/d over the week ended on Jan. 22, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration Jan. 27, despite difficult arbitrage economics. The rise took exports to their highest average weekly export level since the week ended on Jan. 1, and kept the four-week moving-average above 3 million b/d. The arbitrage for WTI MEH crude into Rotterdam against local Forties...

Methanol’s bunkering uptake blunted by availability, industrial lure: Methanex Methanol offers significant greenhouse gas savings as a bunker fuel but demand for its use in other sectors along with limits on availability are preventing wider uptake, at least for now, Stuart McCall, director for Business Development at Canadian methanol producer Methanex told S&P Global Platts in a recent interview. Methanol is a widely traded commodity and there is an existing infrastructure for its transport...

US LNG feedgas demand rises as fog eases in some areas along Gulf Coast Gas deliveries to US liquefaction terminals topped 11 Bcf/d for the first time in a week Jan. 25 as the impact of fog eased temporarily, S&P Global Platts Analytics data showed. Pilot service resumed for LNG tankers heading inbound through the channel that feeds Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass facility in southwest Louisiana. The rebound in activity could be short-lived, as fog was forecast to return to the area, possibly l...

Fresh blow for Libya’s oil revival, as militia threatens to stop crude exports at three ports Libya’s resurgent crude exports could face a massive blow, as a militia controlling three key eastern terminals is threatening to shut down shipments in a long-festering salary dispute. The Petroleum Facilities Guard militia group has begun a strike at the Ras Lanuf, Marsa el-Hariga and Es Sider terminals, demanding the immediate “disbursement of all salaries, health insurance payments, and other...

The natural gas storage report from the EIA for the week ending January 15th indicated that the amount of natural gas held in underground storage in the US fell by 187 billion cubic feet to 3,009 billion cubic feet by the end of the week, which left our gas supplies just 36 billion cubic feet, or 1.2% higher than the 3,045 billion cubic feet that were in storage on January 15th of last year, but still 198 billion cubic feet, or 7.0% above the five-year average of 2,811 billion cubic feet of nat...

Port of Corpus Christi crude shipments up 65% in 2020, sees record tonnage The Port of Corpus Christi saw a 65% increase in crude shipments in 2020 to 96.4 million mt, leading to a record tonnage throughput of 159.7 million mt in a year that saw immense volatility in the global crude market, the Port of Corpus Christ said in a press release late Jan. 21. “Despite the extraordinary challenges we navigated in 2020, the Port of Corpus Christi and its customers have yet again demonstrated the res...

The US Energy Information Administration reported the largest weekly draw from gas in underground storage of the current heating season on Jan. 22, but Henry Hub futures continued to flounder as milder weather points to smaller pulls ahead. Storage inventories decreased 187 Bcf to 3.009 Tcf for the week ended Jan. 15. The report was ...

Iranian sanctions relief under Biden could strain OPEC+ ties: panel A return of Iranian oil to the market if new US President Joe Biden resurrects the nuclear deal could destabilize crude prices and undermine the OPEC+ alliance, experts said at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum. OPEC, Russia and several other allies have instituted deep production cuts to support prices through the coronavirus crisis. But those gains could be wiped out by an increase of up to 1 million b/d of Iranian cru...

Iraq’s dominance over Indian crude market to be tested if Iran returns Iraq’s crude exports to India grew nearly double-digits last year, helping it retain the title of India’s top oil supplier in 2020, but it may struggle to attain similar growth in 2021 if the newly appointed US President Joe Biden resurrects the nuclear deal with Tehran, which could potentially see the return of Iranian crude, analysts told S&P Global Platts. With 2020 being the first year when Iranian crude inflows in...