Latest news with #Vortexa
Reuters
12 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
Discounts deepen on Iranian oil in China as struggling teapots slow buying
SINGAPORE, June 20 (Reuters) - Sellers of Iranian oil to China are offering deeper discounts this month as they look to reduce inventories and as independent refiners slow their buying due to a jump in crude prices, traders and analysts said. Iranian Light crude oil is being traded at $3.30-$3.50 a barrel below ICE Brent for July deliveries, compared to a discount of around $2.50 for June, three traders said. Independent refineries, known as teapots, are the main Chinese buyers of Iranian crude. They are currently being squeezed by a $10 a barrel surge in crude prices since the Israel-Iran conflict began last week. Teapots in refining hub Shandong province are incurring their deepest losses this year, traders said. Consultancy Sublime China Information estimates average losses at 353 yuan ($49.15) per metric ton this week. Shandong refinery operations remained low at 51% of capacity as of June 18, down from 64% a year earlier, Sublime data showed. STORAGE RISING Meanwhile, stocks of Iranian oil, including in Chinese storage, in tankers near and off Chinese ports awaiting discharge, and in floating storage near Malaysia and Singapore, amount to roughly 70 million barrels, according to analytics firm Vortexa. That is enough for two months' demand for Iranian oil from China, the biggest buyer. Data from tanker tracker Kpler points to a stockbuild of more than 30 million barrels this year in floating storage. Both Kpler and Vortexa estimate total Iranian oil on the water, including floating storage, at nearly 120 million barrels, the most since at least 2023. Recent U.S. sanctions on three Chinese teapots curtailed buying from several mid-sized independents worried about being designated, Reuters has reported. One trader estimated the volume of Iranian supply to China replaced by non-sanctioned barrels at 100,000 barrels per day in the first half of 2025 - a fraction of the 1.4-1.5 million bpd of Iranian oil being delivered to China. ($1 = 7.1819 Chinese yuan renminbi)
Business Recorder
a day ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
Iran adapts to maintain oil exports during conflict: trackers
LONDON: Iran is maintaining crude oil supply by loading tankers one at a time and moving floating oil storage much closer to China, two vessel tracking firms told Reuters, as the country seeks to keep a key source of revenue while under attack from Israel. The conflict between Iran and Israel which broke out last week poses a fresh hurdle for Iran, which uses a shadow fleet of tankers to conceal their origin and skirt US sanctions reinstated in 2018 over its nuclear programme. Crude exports from Iran, OPEC's third-largest producer, mainly head to China. Loadings have so far been largely unaffected by the conflict with Israel, the trackers said. Iran has loaded 2.2 million barrels per day of crude oil so far this week, marking a five-week high, the latest data from analytics firm Kpler showed. Energy infrastructure in both countries has been targeted in missile exchanges between the two countries, including the Haifa oil refinery in Israel and Iran's South Pars gas field, though Iran's major crude exporting facility at Kharg island has so far been spared. All of the loadings from Kharg Island this week took place from the site's eastern jetty, said Homayoun Falakshai, head of crude oil analysis at tracking firm Kpler. Kharg Island is situated deep inside the Persian Gulf, some 30 km off the Middle Eastern nation's south west coast. 'NIOC may believe it is less risky than the other main jetty located on the western side, in open waters,' Falakshai said, referring to Iran's state oil firm National Iranian Oil Co. Large oil tankers are now approaching Kharg Island one at a time, leaving the second jetty on the western side of the island unused for several days, with 15-16 more Iranian tankers scattered across the wider Persian Gulf area. Iranian oil exports have been steady so far this year at around 1.7 million bpd, the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday, despite US sanctions on Chinese customers since March. Iran has moved part of its 40 million barrel floating storage fleet, which sits on 36 different vessels, much closer to China to minimise the impact of any disrupions on buyers, ship tracking firm Vortexa told Reuters. Around ten tankers, carrying approximately 8 million barrels of Iranian crude, are now stationed directly offshore China, Vortexa said, moving from the Singapore area where a further 20 million barrels are located. The remaining 12 or so million barrels were in the Persian Gulf at the start of the month, Vortexa added, but their current location was not clear.
NDTV
3 days ago
- Business
- NDTV
All About The Strait Of Hormuz: World's Most Important Oil Artery
Israel launched strikes against Iran on June 13, saying it targeted nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders during the start of a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran from building an atomic weapon. Iran, which has denied such intentions, has in the past threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz for traffic in retaliation to Western pressure. Experts have said that any closure of the strait could restrict trade and impact global oil prices. Below are details about the strait: The strait lies between Oman and Iran and links the Gulf north of it with the Gulf of Oman to the south and the Arabian Sea beyond. It is 21 miles (33 km) wide at its narrowest point, with the shipping lane just 2 miles (3 km) wide in either direction. WHY DOES IT MATTER? About a fifth of the world's total oil consumption passes through the strait. Between the start of 2022 and last month, roughly 17.8 million to 20.8 million barrels of crude, condensate and fuels flowed through the strait daily, according to data from Vortexa. OPEC members Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq export most of their crude via the strait, mainly to Asia. The UAE and Saudi Arabia have sought to find other routes to bypass the strait. Around 2.6 million bpd of unused capacity from existing UAE and Saudi pipelines could be available to bypass Hormuz, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in June last year. Qatar, among the world's biggest liquefied natural gas exporters, sends almost all of its LNG through the strait. Iran has threatened over the years to block the strait but has never followed through. The U.S. Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, is tasked with protecting commercial shipping in the area. HISTORY OF TENSIONS In 1973, Arab producers led by Saudi Arabia slapped an oil embargo on Western supporters of Israel in its war with Egypt. While Western countries were the main buyers of crude produced by the Arab countries at the time, nowadays Asia is the main buyer of OPEC's crude. The United States more than doubled its oil liquids production in the last two decades and has turned from the world's biggest oil importer into one of the top exporters. During the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War, the two sides sought to disrupt each other's exports in what was called the Tanker War. In July 1988, a U.S. warship shot down an Iranian airliner, killing all 290 aboard, in what Washington said was an accident and Tehran said was a deliberate attack. In January 2012, Iran threatened to block the strait in retaliation for U.S. and European sanctions. In May 2019, four vessels - including two Saudi oil tankers - were attacked off the UAE coast, outside the Strait of Hormuz. In July 2021, an Israeli-managed oil tanker was attacked off Oman's coast, killing two crew members, with Israel blaming Iran for the incident, which Iran denied. Three vessels, two in 2023 and one in 2024, were seized by Iran near or in the Strait of Hormuz. On June 17, 2025, two oil tankers collided and caught fire, near the Strait of Hormuz, where electronic interference has surged during the conflict between Iran and Israel, but there were no injuries to crew or spillage reported.
Straits Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
The Strait of Hormuz: the world's most important oil artery
The Strait of Hormuz: the world's most important oil artery Israel launched strikes against Iran on June 13, saying it targeted nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders during the start of a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran from building an atomic weapon. Iran, which has denied such intentions, has in the past threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz for traffic in retaliation to Western pressure. Experts have said that any closure of the strait could restrict trade and impact global oil prices. Below are details about the strait: The strait lies between Oman and Iran and links the Gulf north of it with the Gulf of Oman to the south and the Arabian Sea beyond. It is 21 miles (33 km) wide at its narrowest point, with the shipping lane just 2 miles (3 km) wide in either direction. WHY DOES IT MATTER? About a fifth of the world's total oil consumption passes through the strait. Between the start of 2022 and last month, roughly 17.8 million to 20.8 million barrels of crude, condensate and fuels flowed through the strait daily, according to data from Vortexa. OPEC members Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq export most of their crude via the strait, mainly to Asia. The UAE and Saudi Arabia have sought to find other routes to bypass the strait. Around 2.6 million bpd of unused capacity from existing UAE and Saudi pipelines could be available to bypass Hormuz, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in June last year. Qatar, among the world's biggest liquefied natural gas exporters, sends almost all of its LNG through the strait. Iran has threatened over the years to block the strait but has never followed through. The U.S. Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, is tasked with protecting commercial shipping in the area. HISTORY OF TENSIONS In 1973, Arab producers led by Saudi Arabia slapped an oil embargo on Western supporters of Israel in its war with Egypt. While Western countries were the main buyers of crude produced by the Arab countries at the time, nowadays Asia is the main buyer of OPEC's crude. The United States more than doubled its oil liquids production in the last two decades and has turned from the world's biggest oil importer into one of the top exporters. During the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War, the two sides sought to disrupt each other's exports in what was called the Tanker War. In July 1988, a U.S. warship shot down an Iranian airliner, killing all 290 aboard, in what Washington said was an accident and Tehran said was a deliberate attack. In January 2012, Iran threatened to block the strait in retaliation for U.S. and European sanctions. In May 2019, four vessels - including two Saudi oil tankers - were attacked off the UAE coast, outside the Strait of Hormuz. In July 2021, an Israeli-managed oil tanker was attacked off Oman's coast, killing two crew members, with Israel blaming Iran for the incident, which Iran denied. Three vessels, two in 2023 and one in 2024, were seized by Iran near or in the Strait of Hormuz. On June 17, 2025, two oil tankers collided and caught fire, near the Strait of Hormuz, where electronic interference has surged during the conflict between Iran and Israel, but there were no injuries to crew or spillage reported. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
TimesLIVE
4 days ago
- Business
- TimesLIVE
UK maritime firm says incident east of UAE's Khor Fakkan is not security-related
British maritime security firm Ambrey said early on Tuesday the cause of an incident 22 nautical miles east of Khor Fakkan in the United Arab Emirates, near the Strait of Hormuz, was not security-related. It didn't provide any details about the incident. The event unfolded as tensions escalated between Israel and Iran, with the two nations exchanging attacks for a fifth consecutive day after Israel's widescale strikes on Friday aimed at preventing Tehran from building an atomic weapon. The Strait of Hormuz lies between Oman and Iran and links the Gulf north of it with the Gulf of Oman to the south and the Arabian Sea beyond. About a fifth of the world's total oil consumption passes through the strait. Between the start of 2022 and last month, about 17.8-million to 20.8-million barrels of crude, condensate and fuels flowed through the strait daily, according to data from Vortexa. There was no immediate response to Reuters' request for comment from the Emirati foreign ministry or Khor Fakkan container terminal in the early hours on Tuesday.
