The discount on front-month Brent crude oil futures to later contracts increased to an 11 year high on Thursday, as the coronavirus pandemic continued to cause an unprecedented slump in global demand. The spread on the May to November contracts had widened to as much as minus $10.31 per barrel at 1004 GMT, a level not seen since January 2009.
Top exporter Saudi Arabia has chartered an armada of ships to flood the market with additional oil, but in the process has driven freight costs so high refiners are reluctant to take the shipments.That could leave the kingdom stuck with tens of millions of barrels in expensive ships at anchor when the coronavirus outbreak has destroyed oil demand and international prices have lost more than half
Trading house Glencore has chartered the 3 million barrel crude carrier Europe to store oil at sea for at least 6 months, trading sources on Tuesday.The vessel is one of two so-called ultra large crude carriers (ULCC), the largest tankers in the world.Glencore booked the vessel at a rate of $37,000 a day for the first six months, according to the sources.A Glencore spokesman declined to comment.
The cost to transport oil on supertankers soared on Thursday as major producers scrambled to secure vessels to ship more crude in a bid to regain market share and buyers took advantage of plunging oil prices.Freight charges to ship oil in very large crude carriers (VLCCs) from the Middle East, which is home to the largest OPEC producers, to China, the world's top crude oil importer
The U.S. Navy commissioned its newest Expeditionary Sea Base, USS Hershel “Woody” Williams (ESB 4), during a ceremony Saturday, March 7, in Norfolk, Va.USS Hershel “Woody” Williams is optimized to support a variety of maritime-based missions and designed around four core capabilities: aviation facilities, berthing, equipment staging support, and command and control assets.
Purpose-built for storage challenges brought on by climate change and geopolitical tensions, TeleSense has introduced its cellular SensorSpear Monitors to protect post-harvest grain.TeleSense, a post-harvest grain monitoring innovator, recently introduced a Cellular SensorSpear intended to give grain managers and barge operators an easy and reliable way to accurately monitor stored grain
BC Ferries has awarded Remontowa Shipbuilding S.A. a contract to build an additional liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fueled vessel scheduled to go into service in the Southern Gulf Islands in 2022.This vessel will be identical to the three Salish Class vessels built by Remontowa for BC Ferries in 2016.“Our Clean Futures Plan is our path to replace diesel fuels with clean erenergy options.
Siem PCTCs sport MAN ES engines, turbochargers and propellers -- Each ship is estimated to cut CO2 emissions by up to 25%, NOx by up to 30%, particulate matter by up to 60%, and SOx almost completely.Siem Confucius and Siem Aristotle are the names of the new pure car truck carriers (PCTCs), significant in that they are the world’s first trans-Atlantic PCTCs to operate full-time on LNG.
Ammonia, the same pungent solution used in fertilizers and cleaning agents, may one day be the key to transporting renewable energy around the world. There are currently a number of government and corporate projects assessing the feasibility of converting excess renewable energy from sources like wind, solar, tidal and nuclear into ammonia and then back into usable energy.
Japanese shipping gaint Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) has signed a new long-term contract with Total Gas & Power Chartering Limited (TGPCL), a subsidiary of Total, a leading oil and energy company headquartered in France.The contract calls for TGPCL to charter from NYK a newly built liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier that will be built by Samsung Heavy Industries Co. Ltd.
A fire swept through the engine room of a tanker owned by Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA on Monday while it was anchored at Amuay Bay near the country's largest refinery, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.The extent of the damage to the Panama-flagged Aframax tanker Proteo was not immediately clear.
Lock Closures Starting on the Illinois Waterway This Summer May Result in More Freight Flowing Through St. Louis Region.Businesses that move or handle commodities on the Illinois Waterway system are being encouraged to start making alternative plans due the scheduled closure of locks on that inland waterway system. With a two-week closure planned by the U.S.