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12 Empty Supertankers Tell Us Everything We Need To Know About The Oil Market

February 24, 2019

12 Empty Supertankers Tell Us Everything We Need To Know About The Oil Market

As the US battles with its OPEC+ rivals over the direction of global oil prices (Trump wants to keep oil prices subdued, while Saudi Arabia and Russia, reeling from years of prices too low to balance their budgets, are desperately hoping to push them higher with another round of production cuts), 12 supertankers sailing across the Atlantic can tell us a lot about the changing supply dynamics in the global oil market.

The tankers have been traveling a route spanning thousands of miles with no cargo other than some seawater needed for ballast. Of course, in normal times, the ships would be filled with heavy, high sulfur Middle East oil for delivery to refineries in places like Houston or New Orleans.

Tanker

But these aren’t “normal” times. Following the OPE+ agreement to cut 1.5 mb/d, the ships are sailing cargo-less – forgoing profits on half of their journey – just so they can pick up the light crude that US shale producers – which briefly turned the US into a net-exporter of oil for the first time late last year – have been relentlessly pumping, according to Bloomberg.

WTI

That’s quite a sacrifice for the owners of the ships, which are traveling 21,000 with nothing to show for it.

The 12 vessels are making voyages of as much as 21,000 miles direct from Asia, all the way around South Africa, holding nothing but seawater for stability because Middle East producers are restricting supplies. Still, America’s booming volumes of light crude must still be exported, and there aren’t enough supertankers in the Atlantic Ocean for the job. So they’re coming empty.

“What’s driving this is a U.S. oil market that’s looking relatively bearish with domestic production estimates trending higher, and persistent crude oil builds we have seen for the last few weeks,” said Warren Patterson, head of commodities strategy at ING Bank NV in Amsterdam.

 …click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

The “Weakest” EIA Report In Years

August 20, 2018

The “Weakest” EIA Report In Years

Oil barrels

The EIA just published one of the “weakest” weekly oil reports in years, which suggests troubled waters ahead for the global oil market.

The timing of the report is not ideal, coming amidst a currency crisis in Turkey, which has raised fears of financial contagion in other emerging markets. The strength of the dollar is putting a long list of currencies under pressure, vexing policymakers around the world. Some countries, such as Argentina, are aggressively hiking interest rates to defend their currencies (although the peso continues to fall). Others, such as Turkey, are resisting any rate hikes at all, which is clearly not a solution to capital flight and a sharp devaluation.

It is too early to tell whether or not the sudden crisis will be confined to Turkey or if it will mushroom into an emerging market conflagration that sends emerging markets – and perhaps even the global economy as a whole – into a tailspin.

These currency troubles could severely undercut global oil demand. Not only are crude oil prices close to multi-year highs, but the strength of the dollar and the relative weakness of a variety of currencies in the developing world, combine for a toxic brew to demand. Oil prices are up some 6 or 7 percent on the year, but in Turkey, imported oil is now 60 percent more expensive – the result of the meltdown in the lira.

While the specific percentages might vary from country to country, much of the world is experiencing painful increases in fuel because so many currencies are being trampled by the strength of the dollar.

The early signs of trouble to the oil market are starting to materialize. The EIA’s weekly report showed a massive 6.8-million-barrel increase in crude oil inventories.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Tight Oil Markets Are Ignoring Supply Risk

July 27, 2018

Tight Oil Markets Are Ignoring Supply Risk

Aframax tanker

The global oil market is once again in flux as geopolitics and regional conflicts take an increasingly heavy toll on oil supplies. Since the OPEC meeting in Vienna, warning signs that oil markets are heading for a shortage in supply, due to low spare production capacity and growing security threats in and around the Persian Gulf, have not been taken into account.

The perceived oil production increase from the OPEC and Russia agreement has not materialized in full. Analysts are even reporting that the spare production capacity of Saudi Arabia is less than 500,000 bpd.

This lack of production capacity must now become a major point of focus as, in addition to the ongoing Iran-U.S. confrontation in the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian backed Yemeni Houthi rebels have once again attacked Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea. In response, Saudi Arabia has suspended oil shipments through the Bab El-Mandeb Strait for an undisclosed period of time.

Aramco stated that “in the interest of the safety of ships and their crews and to avoid the risk of oil spill, Saudi Aramco has temporarily halted all oil shipments through Bab El-Mandeb with immediate effect. The Company is carefully assessing the situation and will take further action as prudence demands”.

Even though no casualties have been reported, the current situation is undeniably dangerous and has been escalating this year.

So far in 2018, the Houthis have threatened to increase their attacks on Saudi or Arab Alliance owned vessels. On April 3, a Saudi tanker was shot at with a projectile from Houthi fighters. Several other Houthi attacks have been reported against commercial vessels in the Red Sea and Bab El Mandeb area lately.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Record Oil Production Doesn’t Free U.S. From Global Market

July 16, 2018

Record Oil Production Doesn’t Free U.S. From Global Market

Oil

In the first week of July, U.S. net imports of petroleum products fell to just 1.670 million barrels per day (mb/d), the lowest weekly total on record in at least three decades.

The decline of net imports comes as the U.S. has ramped up oil production in the last few years, which affects the net import figure in two ways. Surging oil output cuts out the need for imports. Also, a steady increase in exports also pushes down the net import figure.

Crude oil exports hit a high of 3 mb/d in the third week of June.

However, the net import figure has been falling for years, and a large part of that is the fact that the U.S. has been scaling up exports of refined products, including gasoline, distillate fuel oil and propane, among others. This trend dates back longer than the recent run up in crude exports.

In 2005, weekly net imports peaked, routinely topping 13 mb/d. Now that figure has plunged to less than 2 mb/d.

With a zero net import bill in sight, is the U.S. on the verge of energy “independence,” the long sought-after goal that has been promised by just about every president dating back to Richard Nixon?

Not exactly. While the U.S. may not need oil and refined product imports in the same way that it used to, the U.S. is still completely enmeshed and intertwined with the global market. In fact, as output of oil and refined products dramatically increased over the past few years, the volume of trade also rose sharply. “Far from reducing interaction with the world, higher [light tight oil] output has contributed to increased traffic as U.S. refiners seek to diversify their crude slate and producers look for new markets,” the IEA wrote in its latest Oil Market Report.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Saudis Bring Oil War To Europe With Largest Price Discount Since 2009

November 5, 2015

Saudis Bring Oil War To Europe With Largest Price Discount Since 2009

With oil exports to Europe having slipped from 13% of Saudi’s total to just 10% in the last six months, The FT reports, the de facto leader of OPEC has slashed its Official Selling Price (OSP) to Europe in an effort to regain market share. Saudi lowered its OSP for its Arab light crude grade in Europe by $1.30 a barrel for December, taking its discount to the weighted average of the North Sea Brent benchmark to $4.75 a barrel – the largest discount since February 2009.

The move, as we detailed previously, is basically going after Russia’s customer base, has raised heckles in Moscow, with Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin complaining last month about Saudi “dumping” after he revealed the kingdom was selling oil to refineries in Poland.

Chart: Bloomberg

As The FT reports, the de facto leader of Opec, which produces more than one in every ten barrels of oil in the world, has been squeezed in Europe over the past year as rival producers have sent more oil to the region.

Rising shipments from Iraqi Kurdistan that are delivered into the Mediterranean via the Turkish port of Ceyhan have displaced some Saudi shipments this year, traders and analysts said, while more crude from west Africa is also flowing to Europe.

Saudi Arabia has responded by trying to find new customers, including targeting refineries that have traditionally taken the majority of their supplies from Russia and the North Sea.

The global oil market remains oversupplied by at least 1m barrels a day, a move exacerbated by both Saudi Arabia and Iraq raising production since Opec decided last year to focus on squeezing out higher cost producers rather than defending price.

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