Latest news with #Unipec
Reuters
9 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
Tankers U-turn, zig-zag, pause around Strait of Hormuz
SINGAPORE, June 23 (Reuters) - At least two supertankers made U-turns at the Strait of Hormuz following U.S. military strikes on Iran, shiptracking data shows, as more than a week of violence in the region prompts vessels to speed, pause, or alter their journeys. Washington's decision to join Israel's attacks on Iran has stoked fears that Iran could retaliate by closing the strait between Iran and Oman through which around 20% of global oil and gas demand flows. That has spurred forecasts of oil surging to $100 a barrel. Disruption is already evident, with tankers avoiding spending more time than needed in the strait, industry sources said. Singapore-based Sentosa Shipbrokers said that over the past week, empty tankers entering the Gulf are down 32% while loaded tanker departures are down 27% from early May levels. The Coswisdom Lake, a very large crude carrier (VLCC), reached the strait on Sunday before making a U-turn and heading south, Kpler and LSEG data showed. On Monday it turned back again, resuming its journey towards the port of Zirku in the United Arab Emirates. The South Loyalty, also a VLCC, made a similar U-turn and remained outside the strait on Monday, LSEG data showed. It was scheduled to load crude from Iraq's Basra terminal, according to Kpler data and two shipping sources. The Coswisdom Lake was scheduled to load crude at Zirku for delivery to China. It was chartered by Unipec, a trading arm of China's state-run Sinopec ( opens new tab, LSEG and Kpler data showed. Sinopec did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Shipowners will try to minimise time that vessels spend inside the Strait of Hormuz due to the conflict, KY Lin, spokesperson at Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical Corp. "Vessels will only enter the region when it is nearer to their loading time," he said on Monday. Japanese shipping firms Nippon Yusen (9101.T), opens new tab and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (9104.T), opens new tab said on Monday they continue to transit the strait but have instructed their vessels to minimise time spent in the Gulf. Several oil traders and analysts told Reuters that they had been warned to expect possible shipping delays as vessels wait for their turn outside the area. Iran's parliament on Sunday approved a measure to close the strait, Iran's Press TV reported, but any such move would require approval from the Supreme National Security Council. Iran has threatened to close the strait in the past but has never done so.
New Straits Times
24-04-2025
- Business
- New Straits Times
Sinopec resumes Russian oil purchase after short pause amid sanctions risks
SINGAPORE: Sinopec, Asia's top refiner, resumed purchases of Russian oil after a brief pause last month to assess risks from sanctions imposed by the United States on Russian entities, trade sources said on Wednesday. Unipec, a trading arm under China's state-run Sinopec, has bought May-loading Russian Far East ESPO Blend oil, the sources said, having been absent from the trade of March and April-loading ESPO cargoes. It was not immediately clear why Unipec resumed purchases. Sinopec did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The number of cargoes Unipec purchased is much lower than before the January sanctions were announced, the sources said. The former Biden administration imposed on Jan 10 harsh sanctions targeting Russian producers Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegaz as well as insurers and more than 100 vessels to curtail Moscow's oil revenue. The sanctions caused Russian oil exports to China and India to fall while Chinese state oil firms Sinopec and Zhenhua Oil suspended purchases of Russian oil, Reuters reported last month.
Reuters
23-04-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Sinopec resumes Russian oil purchase after short pause amid sanctions risks, sources say
SINGAPORE, April 23 (Reuters) - Sinopec, Asia's top refiner, resumed purchases of Russian oil after a brief pause last month to assess risks from sanctions imposed by the United States on Russian entities, trade sources said on Wednesday. Unipec, a trading arm under China's state-run Sinopec ( opens new tab, has bought May-loading Russian Far East ESPO Blend oil, the sources said, having been absent from the trade of March and April-loading ESPO cargoes. It was not immediately clear why Unipec resumed purchases. Sinopec did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The number of cargoes Unipec purchased is much lower than before the January sanctions were announced, the sources said. The former Biden administration imposed on January 10 harsh sanctions targeting Russian producers Gazprom Neft ( opens new tab and Surgutneftegaz ( opens new tab as well as insurers and more than 100 vessels to curtail Moscow's oil revenue. The sanctions caused Russian oil exports to China and India to fall while Chinese state oil firms Sinopec and Zhenhua Oil suspended purchases of Russian oil, Reuters reported last month. ESPO Blend oil cargoes loading in May traded at premiums of about $2 per barrel against the ICE Brent benchmark on a delivered basis to China, traders said. Reporting by Siyi Liu, Florence Tan and Chen Aizhu in Singapore; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Kirsten Donovan
Zawya
17-02-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Latest US sanctions on Russia throw global oil trade into disarray
SINGAPORE/NEW DELHI - Tightened U.S. sanctions on Moscow have disrupted a roaring trade in discounted Russian oil to China and India, reviving demand for Middle Eastern and African crudes, roiling shipping markets and driving up oil prices. Washington's January 10 sanctions targeted tankers carrying Russian oil in a push to more effectively limit Moscow's oil revenue, the aim of western sanctions imposed after its invasion of Ukraine three years ago. The new rules have left millions of barrels floating on ships and sent traders hunting for alternatives, while dealings in Russian crude, the biggest source for top global importers China and India, have slowed for March. The scramble has upended market dynamics. For a few weeks, high-sulphur benchmark Dubai became more expensive than low-sulphur Brent, which is easier to process. That opened opportunities for producers from Brazil to Kazakhstan to gain share in China and India. Premiums for Brazilian crude surged last month to about $5 a barrel against dated Brent on cost and freight basis to China, up from about $2 in the previous month, traders said. That premium is now just below $5 a barrel for May arrival cargoes. In March, China is set to import its first cargo since June 2024 of Kazakhstan's CPC Blend, Kpler data showed. In the week after the new sanctions, TotalEnergies' trading arm TOTSA received so many enquiries that it held tenders instead of private negotiations to sell its Middle Eastern crude cargoes, which eventually went to China's CNOOC and Rongsheng Petrochemical, a Singapore-based trader said. TotalEnergies did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reflecting the rush for Middle Eastern crudes, premiums for benchmarks Oman, Dubai and Murban more than doubled in January from December and remain above $3 a barrel to Dubai, despite lower demand from refineries in seasonal maintenance. In addition, top exporter Saudi Aramco hiked prices for Asia-bound crude to the highest since December 2023, raising costs for refiners. A seller of Angolan crude said there was an increase in demand from Asian buyers looking to cover. "Unipec is taking a lot West African crude cargoes, especially Angolan barrels - good buying interest after the Lunar New Year," a Chinese trader said. Unipec is the trading arm of Asia's largest refiner Sinopec. Sinopec did not immediately respond to a request for comment. With sanctioned ships stuck on the water, many traders have rushed to switch to other vessels which now cost multiple times more, adding millions of dollars to the expense of each shipment. INDIA SCRAMBLES The rising costs are particularly tough for refiners in India. The country late last year cemented its shift from long-standing Middle Eastern sources to buy more oil from Russia, when Reliance Industries struck a 10-year supply deal with Russian state giant Rosneft worth roughly $13 billion annually. This week, India's oil secretary said the country's refiners want to buy only Russian oil supplied by companies and ships not sanctioned by the U.S. That has effectively reduced the number of cargoes and vessels available, Indian refining sources said. With a limited supply of sanctions-proof cargoes, discounts for Russian Urals crude to dated Brent have narrowed to $2.50-$2.90 a barrel for March delivery, versus $3-$3.50 before the January sanctions, they said, a major cost increase on a typical one million barrel cargo. Higher Russian crude costs have narrowed the price gap with Middle East crude to about $3 a barrel from $6-$7 for Indian refiners, offering little incentive to risk incurring secondary sanctions, Indian refining sources said. Indian buyers turned down offers from Russian shipping giant Sovcomflot to receive payments in any currencies, including Indian rupees, for Russian oil shipped on sanctioned tankers, the sources said, after its CEO met buyers in India on the sidelines of the India Energy Week conference this week. Sovcomflot declined to comment. The slowdown has meant that Russian oil stored aboard ships has increased by 17 million barrels since January 10, according to a February 5 note from Goldman Sachs, and is expected to rise to 50 million barrels in the first half of 2025. "We're seeing floating volume pick up. There's a number of tankers carrying Russian oil hanging out around Shandong and southern ports in China that are normally not big entry points," said a senior executive at a major global trading house. Shandong province is the hub for independent Chinese refiners that have been core buyers of discounted sanctioned oil from Russia as well as Iran and Venezuela. IRAN'S OUTPUT TARGETED The Russian supply disruption comes on top of falling Iranian oil imports by top customer China amid tightening U.S. pressure, with President Donald Trump recently vowing to bring Tehran's oil exports to zero. Goldman Sachs estimated Iranian floating storage has risen by 14 million barrels since the start of the year to its highest in 14 months. Tighter sanctions enforcement could cut Iran's output by 1 million barrels per day and push Brent to the high $80s a barrel by May, the analysts said. The squeeze on cheap crude into China, coupled with weak domestic demand, has led several independent refiners to shut for maintenance instead of losing 500 yuan ($68.62) for every ton of non-sanctioned crude processed based on offers at $7-$8 a barrel above ICE Brent delivered to China, a trader said. China's state refiners, meanwhile, are likely to shun Russian oil as sanctions reduce the number of counterparties and insurers for such transactions, while key ports such as Qingdao and Rizhao have become stricter, said a source with knowledge of the matter. The person estimated Russian export volumes to China would fall by between 700,000 and 800,000 barrels per day from March, after sanctions waivers lapse. That would amount to at least a 70% decline from January, according to Kpler data. WARNED Weeks before the sanctions were announced in a 27-page document, Indian refiners were warned by authorities and made some purchases in advance, industry officials said. The Indian government did not respond to a request for comment on whether refiners were warned in advance. In China, the Shandong Port Group issued a ban three days earlier on sanctioned ships from calling at its ports, although it is not clear whether the move was related. Other signs that markets were anticipating new measures included higher demand for Middle East and African crude from Chinese and Indian buyers, and a rush to charter ships that subsequently drove up tanker rates sharply, traders said. Adi Imsirovic, director of consultancy Surrey Clean Energy, and former oil trader at Russia's Gazprom, said the impact of the sanctions may curb Russian exports by up to 1.5 million barrels per day in the near-term. "The only true prediction that we can make is that the market is just going to get more volatile. With more and more government intervention in the markets, it's just going to get more volatile," he said. ($1 = 7.2870 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Florence Tan in Singapore and Nidhi Verma in New Delhi; additional reporting by Siyi Liu and Chen Aizhu in Singapore, Anna Hirtenstein, Alex Lawler, Ahmad Ghaddar in London; Editing by Tony Munroe and Sonali Paul)
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Analysis-Latest US sanctions on Russia throw global oil trade into disarray
By Florence Tan and Nidhi Verma SINGAPORE/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Tightened U.S. sanctions on Moscow have disrupted a roaring trade in discounted Russian oil to China and India, reviving demand for Middle Eastern and African crudes, roiling shipping markets and driving up oil prices. Washington's January 10 sanctions targeted tankers carrying Russian oil in a push to more effectively limit Moscow's oil revenue, the aim of western sanctions imposed after its invasion of Ukraine three years ago. The new rules have left millions of barrels floating on ships and sent traders hunting for alternatives, while dealings in Russian crude, the biggest source for top global importers China and India, have slowed for March. The scramble has upended market dynamics. For a few weeks, high-sulphur benchmark Dubai became more expensive than low-sulphur Brent, which is easier to process. That opened opportunities for producers from Brazil to Kazakhstan to gain share in China and India. Premiums for Brazilian crude surged last month to about $5 a barrel against dated Brent on cost and freight basis to China, up from about $2 in the previous month, traders said. That premium is now just below $5 a barrel for May arrival cargoes. In March, China is set to import its first cargo since June 2024 of Kazakhstan's CPC Blend, Kpler data showed. In the week after the new sanctions, TotalEnergies' trading arm TOTSA received so many enquiries that it held tenders instead of private negotiations to sell its Middle Eastern crude cargoes, which eventually went to China's CNOOC and Rongsheng Petrochemical, a Singapore-based trader said. TotalEnergies did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reflecting the rush for Middle Eastern crudes, premiums for benchmarks Oman, Dubai and Murban more than doubled in January from December and remain above $3 a barrel to Dubai, despite lower demand from refineries in seasonal maintenance. In addition, top exporter Saudi Aramco hiked prices for Asia-bound crude to the highest since December 2023, raising costs for refiners. A seller of Angolan crude said there was an increase in demand from Asian buyers looking to cover. "Unipec is taking a lot West African crude cargoes, especially Angolan barrels - good buying interest after the Lunar New Year," a Chinese trader said. Unipec is the trading arm of Asia's largest refiner Sinopec. Sinopec did not immediately respond to a request for comment. With sanctioned ships stuck on the water, many traders have rushed to switch to other vessels which now cost multiple times more, adding millions of dollars to the expense of each shipment. INDIA SCRAMBLES The rising costs are particularly tough for refiners in India. The country late last year cemented its shift from long-standing Middle Eastern sources to buy more oil from Russia, when Reliance Industries struck a 10-year supply deal with Russian state giant Rosneft worth roughly $13 billion annually. This week, India's oil secretary said the country's refiners want to buy only Russian oil supplied by companies and ships not sanctioned by the U.S. That has effectively reduced the number of cargoes and vessels available, Indian refining sources said. With a limited supply of sanctions-proof cargoes, discounts for Russian Urals crude to dated Brent have narrowed to $2.50-$2.90 a barrel for March delivery, versus $3-$3.50 before the January sanctions, they said, a major cost increase on a typical one million barrel cargo. Higher Russian crude costs have narrowed the price gap with Middle East crude to about $3 a barrel from $6-$7 for Indian refiners, offering little incentive to risk incurring secondary sanctions, Indian refining sources said. Indian buyers turned down offers from Russian shipping giant Sovcomflot to receive payments in any currencies, including Indian rupees, for Russian oil shipped on sanctioned tankers, the sources said, after its CEO met buyers in India on the sidelines of the India Energy Week conference this week. Sovcomflot declined to comment. The slowdown has meant that Russian oil stored aboard ships has increased by 17 million barrels since January 10, according to a February 5 note from Goldman Sachs, and is expected to rise to 50 million barrels in the first half of 2025. "We're seeing floating volume pick up. There's a number of tankers carrying Russian oil hanging out around Shandong and southern ports in China that are normally not big entry points," said a senior executive at a major global trading house. Shandong province is the hub for independent Chinese refiners that have been core buyers of discounted sanctioned oil from Russia as well as Iran and Venezuela. IRAN'S OUTPUT TARGETED The Russian supply disruption comes on top of falling Iranian oil imports by top customer China amid tightening U.S. pressure, with President Donald Trump recently vowing to bring Tehran's oil exports to zero. Goldman Sachs estimated Iranian floating storage has risen by 14 million barrels since the start of the year to its highest in 14 months. Tighter sanctions enforcement could cut Iran's output by 1 million barrels per day and push Brent to the high $80s a barrel by May, the analysts said. The squeeze on cheap crude into China, coupled with weak domestic demand, has led several independent refiners to shut for maintenance instead of losing 500 yuan ($68.62) for every ton of non-sanctioned crude processed based on offers at $7-$8 a barrel above ICE Brent delivered to China, a trader said. China's state refiners, meanwhile, are likely to shun Russian oil as sanctions reduce the number of counterparties and insurers for such transactions, while key ports such as Qingdao and Rizhao have become stricter, said a source with knowledge of the matter. The person estimated Russian export volumes to China would fall by between 700,000 and 800,000 barrels per day from March, after sanctions waivers lapse. That would amount to at least a 70% decline from January, according to Kpler data. WARNED Weeks before the sanctions were announced in a 27-page document, Indian refiners were warned by authorities and made some purchases in advance, industry officials said. The Indian government did not respond to a request for comment on whether refiners were warned in advance. In China, the Shandong Port Group issued a ban three days earlier on sanctioned ships from calling at its ports, although it is not clear whether the move was related. Other signs that markets were anticipating new measures included higher demand for Middle East and African crude from Chinese and Indian buyers, and a rush to charter ships that subsequently drove up tanker rates sharply, traders said. Adi Imsirovic, director of consultancy Surrey Clean Energy, and former oil trader at Russia's Gazprom, said the impact of the sanctions may curb Russian exports by up to 1.5 million barrels per day in the near-term. "The only true prediction that we can make is that the market is just going to get more volatile. With more and more government intervention in the markets, it's just going to get more volatile," he said. ($1 = 7.2870 Chinese yuan renminbi) Sign in to access your portfolio
