Tag: oil

OPEC released its 2018 World Oil Outlook. Namely, all forms of energies will be required in the future, but oil will still be the fuel with the largest share in the energy mix. In addition, natural gas witnesses the largest demand growth in absolute terms, and renewables the largest growth in percentage terms.

According to JPMorgan, oil prices could increase this winter, due to the US sanctions on Iran. Namely, JPMorgan expects the price of a barrel of oil to increase from $60 to $85 a barrel in the next six months, while a 'pike' to $90 is also on the table. These sanctions will become effective on November 4.

The American Petroleum Institute released its industry outlook for the third quarter of 2018. The report shows the US achieved another new record for crude oil production of 10.8 million barrels per day over the past two months. However, US petroleum exports decreased by 1.3 million barrels per day since June.

OPEC expects a steady rise in US oil output, as it will gain momentum in the next five years. OPEC also expects the demand for its crude to reduce, in spite of an increasing appetite for energy driven by global economic expansion. The reduction in demand for OPEC crude is due to a strong non-OPEC supply in 2017–2023.

In its monthly oil market report, IEA said that global oil consumption will top 100 million barrels per day (bpd) over the next three months, but the upcoming US sanctions against Iran's oil exports, as well as the emerging market crises in Venezuela and Brazil, are expected to affect this demand. 

The South China Sea is a major trade route for crude oil, and in 2016, more than 30% of global maritime crude oil trade, or about 15 million barrels per day, passed through the South China Sea, according to EIA. Additionally, more than 90% of these crude oil volumes transited the Strait of Malacca.

The US Coast Guard responded to the grounding of a barge in Coney Island Channel near Brighton Beach, New York, on Wednesday August 22 morning. There were 14,000 barrels of fuel oil on board the barge but no pollution was reported. The cause of the incident is under investigation.

Enterprise Products Partners is planning to build an offshore crude oil export terminal off the Texas Gulf Coast. The terminal would be able of loading Very Large Crude Carriers, which have capacities of approximately 2 million barrels. The project could include about 80 miles of 42-inch diameter pipeline to an offshore terminal capable of loading and exporting crude oil at approximately 85,000 barrels per hour.

A Singaporean shipping company was ordered to pay $1 million and serve a two-year term of probation for not maintaining an accurate oil record book. The court accused the company for breaching the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships and for false statements concerning the illegal dumping of oil contaminated bilge water at sea.

The US accused North Korea of breaching the UN sanctions on refined petroleum, as illegal transfers between ships at sea took place. As a result, the US demanded an immediate stop to all sales of the fuel. The US said that these transfers, are breaching the UN sanctions.