2024.08.19

Asian refiners favor Middle Eastern light crude over expensive WTI

Asian refiners are increasingly buying light crude oil from the Middle East, particularly from Abu Dhabi (grades like Murban, Das, and Umm Lulu), as high Brent prices make U.S., European, and African oil more expensive. Refiners from South Korea and Japan have recently acquired spot cargoes of Abu Dhabi light crude grades—Murban, Das, and Umm Lulu—for October loading. Additionally, Indian Oil Corp, the leading refiner in India, secured 3 million barrels of Murban through a tender this week. This demand has pushed the Murban benchmark to its highest level this month. In contrast, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Midland crude has become less attractive to Asian buyers due to its high price, influenced by tighter supply and strong market backwardation. Despite Murban's strong performance, weak demand from China is keeping prices for other Middle Eastern crudes, like Dubai and Oman, relatively low.

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Libya's Waha oilfield resumes operations after pipeline maintenance

Libya's Waha Oil Company has completed maintenance on the Zaggut-Sidra pipeline, which connects the Waha oilfield to the Es-Sider port. Oil flows have now resumed, and production is expected to return to normal levels soon. Operations were halted earlier in the week due to a fire at the pipeline. Waha Oil, a subsidiary of Libya's National Oil Corp (NOC) in partnership with TotalEnergies and ConocoPhillips, manages five major fields with a combined production capacity of about 300,000 barrels per day, all exported through the Es Sider terminal.

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CPC Blend crude oil exports from Black Sea steady at 1.3 mln bpd

Black Sea CPC Blend crude oil exports through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) are expected to reach around 1.3 million barrels per day in September, totaling approximately 4.9 million metric tons for the month. This level is consistent with August's loadings, which were down 9.3% from July due to maintenance at Chevron-led Tengizchevroil's (TCO) Tengiz oil field. September loadings might also be slightly reduced due to ongoing maintenance at Tengiz. The average monthly loadings for CPC Blend from January to July were about 5.46 million tons.

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VLGC rates surge as Atlantic market activity boosts charter demand

Spot rates for very large gas carriers (VLGCs) have surged due to increased chartering activity in the Atlantic market, particularly in U.S. Gulf Coast trades. The Baltic LPG Index jumped by 35.6% over the past week, reaching 4,489 points, reflecting an average day rate of nearly $44,900. This rise followed a period of seasonal lows, with notable increases in key trade routes such as Houston to Japan and the Middle East to China. The surge in spot rates has also boosted the futures market, with December contracts showing significant gains.