Congestion delaying LNG shipments via the Panama Canal is expected to last through the peak demand winter months, traders close to the situation said, although the canal's regulator said it had made changes to speed up transit.The price of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and shipping rates have hit record highs because of the bottleneck, supply constraints and heavy demand from Asia
Freezing temperatures across Asia and Europe are driving liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices to record highs and pushing up the cost of shipping the fuel globally as buyers grapple with tight inventories and a shortage of tankers.Demand for super-cooled natural gas has surged in recent years as buyers, particularly China and India, move away from dirtier coal-polluting power plants.
Oil traders are scouting for newly built supertankers to store diesel for the next few months as they brace for lower demand in Europe amid renewed restrictions aimed at battling the COVID-19 pandemic, shipping and trade sources said.Trading companies, including oil majors, are making enquiries to charter very large crude carriers (VLCC) to carry diesel with 10 parts-per-million (ppm) sulphur
Australia is investigating media reports that China has stopped taking its coal shipments, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Tuesday, adding that such import quotas to support China's market were "not uncommon".Trade industry reports late last week suggested that some Chinese ports had been told not to accept Australian thermal and metallurgical coal
More than half a dozen liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers were waiting to enter U.S. export plants in the Gulf of Mexico as Hurricane Delta marches toward the Gulf Coast.Most tankers were located outside of Cheniere Energy Inc’s Sabine Pass and Cameron LNG’s Cameron plants in Louisiana, according to data from Refinitiv. There were also a few outside of Freeport LNG’s Freeport plant in Texas.
A stalled global economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic is leading to a fresh build-up of global oil supplies, pushing traders including Trafigura to book tankers to store millions of barrels of crude oil and refined fuels at sea again.The use of so-called floating storage onboard tankers comes as traditional onshore storage remains close to capacity as supplies outpace demand.
U.S. crude oil shipments to China will rise sharply in coming weeks, U.S. traders and shipbrokers and Chinese importers said, as the world’s top economies gear up to review a January deal after a prolonged trade war.Chinese state-owned oil firms have tentatively booked tankers to carry at least 20 million barrels of U.S. crude for August and September, the people said, moves that may ease U.S.
Armed pirates have reportedly kidnapped 13 seafarers from a Liberian-flagged product tanker in the Gulf of Guinea off West Africa, continuing a rise in attacks on vessels in the world's most dangerous piracy hot spot.The Curcacao Trader was approached by eight armed individuals aboard a single speedboat and boarded 232 nautical miles southwest of Lagos, Friday.
Leading tanker operator Euronav posted record high first-quarter results on Thursday and expects strong demand for oil storage at sea to continue in 2020, driving its shares up 8.5%.The world is still struggling with an oil glut due to a drop in demand caused by the coronavirus even after top oil producing countries have cut output.
China is set to release its first-ever quotas to export very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) with total volumes of 10 million tonnes for this year, six industry officials with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday.The quotas, which came in the wake of Beijing’s policy in January to offer tax sweeteners to boost local production of the fuel
Traders are storing an estimated record 160 million barrels of oil on ships - double the level from two weeks ago as they seek to tackle a glut of stocks created by a slide in global demand from the coronavirus, shipping sources say.Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers including Russia have agreed a record cut in output from May of 9.
Dozens of tankers holding jet fuel and gasoline are at anchor in sea lanes around Europe's main storage hubs, unable to discharge their cargoes as onshore tanks are full to capacity following the collapse in demand linked to the coronavirus crisis.Nearly 1 million tonnes of refined products are parked on around 30 tankers off Europe's coast, Reuters calculations found.