logo
Supertanker delivers oil to sanctioned Nayara Energy's Vadinar refinery, sources say

Supertanker delivers oil to sanctioned Nayara Energy's Vadinar refinery, sources say

Reuters2 days ago
SINGAPORE/NEW DELHI, July 30 (Reuters) - Supertanker Kalliopi was in the process of discharging Iraqi oil for India's Nayara Energy on Wednesday, the first delivery of crude for the refiner since it was sanctioned by the European Union, five sources familiar with the matter said.
More than half of the two million barrels of Basrah volume on board the vessel had been discharged, one of the sources said, with the unloading expected to be completed on Thursday, a second source said.
The supertanker is the first to deliver crude to Nayara's Vadinar refinery in the past 12 days, Kpler ship-tracking data showed.
Nayara did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The EU unveiled new sanctions on Russia and its energy trade that targeted the company on July 18.
Another tanker, Nusa Merdeka, has delayed discharging Russian crude oil at Nayara's port, one of the sources said. The tanker was scheduled to discharge Urals on July 26 at Vadinar but has since been hovering near the anchorage, the person said.
It was not immediately clear why the tanker did not discharge on schedule.
Last week, the oil tanker Omni carrying Russian Urals crude diverted away from Nayara Energy's Vadinar port to discharge its cargo at the port of Mundra in India.
Nayara, which is majority owned by Russian companies, has reduced crude runs at its 400,000 barrels-per-day site to 70-80%, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, product tankers carrying fuel loaded from Nayara Energy's Vadinar site are afloat without discharging cargoes as shippers and traders avoid dealing with it.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Deal or no deal?: world leaders walk tightrope in tariff negotiations with Trump
Deal or no deal?: world leaders walk tightrope in tariff negotiations with Trump

The Guardian

time3 hours ago

  • The Guardian

Deal or no deal?: world leaders walk tightrope in tariff negotiations with Trump

It was grip-and-grin time for Ursula von der Leyen as she sat across from Donald Trump in Scotland last week, with the two announcing a deal for 15% tariffs on European imports that would avert a transatlantic trade war – but came at a stiff price for the 27-country bloc. After committing to a unilateral US raise on tariffs that came on the heels of a Nato commitment to increase defense spending to 5% of national GDPs, von der Leyen then thanked Trump 'for his personal commitment and his leadership to achieve this breakthrough'. 'He is a tough negotiator, but he is also a dealmaker,' she said, as the US president beamed. The EU was one of just a number of parties to strike a deal with Trump before his temporary pause on new tariffs came to an end this week. And like many others, the guiding principle for the EU appeared to be: it can always get worse. 'This is clearly the best deal we could get under very difficult circumstances,' Maroš Šefčovič, the EU trade chief, said. Others had a far bleaker interpretation of the dynamics, as Trump has wielded the threat of sky-high tariffs to cudgel his trading partners into submission. 'It is a dark day when an alliance of free peoples, brought together to affirm their common values and to defend their common interests, resigns itself to submission,' wrote the French prime minister, François Bayrou. Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán put it another way: 'It was Donald Trump eating Ursula von der Leyen for breakfast,' he said on his podcast. Later, he called her a 'featherweight'. World leaders have been forced to adopt a position of appeasement and pragmatism as they've approached the Trump administration, which has swung between imposing staggering tariffs on imports and then announcing last minute pauses and exclusions that suggest there is little rhyme or reason to the White House's tariff strategy. But the key factor for Trump appears to be taking whatever he can get. Countries across Asia exporting to the US were quickest to begin negotiating new trade deals with the White House. Vietnam was desperate to cut a 46% tariff imposed on the country, and Trump early last month announced that he had negotiated a 20% rate with Vietnamese negotiators. Except, it turned out, they believed that they had negotiated an 11% rate, Politico reported. And treasury secretary Scott Bessent this week admitted that he had never seen the deal, which the Vietnamese authorities have never confirmed. Trump reportedly used the trade threats along with other incentives in order to broker a recent peace between Thailand and Cambodia after fighting broke out along the border between the two countries. He soon announced a 19% rate – a significant cut from 49% for Cambodia and 36% for Thailand – which appeared more motivated by international politics than trade considerations. But while many countries in the region will breathe a sigh of relief as they avert sky-high tariffs, some see a new danger in the arbitrary redrawing of the US's trade relationship with the world. 'What we felt during this negotiation is that the US trade environment is fundamentally changing,' South Korean trade minister Yeo Han-koo said shortly after a deal was made to tariff imports at 15%, down from a threatened 25%. The two sides had made a verbally agreement but had not made a formal draft, he said, because the deal had to be struck so quickly. 'I think we are entering a new normal era,' he said. 'So, although we have overcome this crisis, we cannot be relieved, because we do not know when we will face pressure from tariffs or non-tariff measures again.' Leaders who have stood up to Trump are having the hardest time. Among others, Trump has focused his ire on Canada, which he has blamed for the fentanyl crisis in the US, a charge that Canada's prime minister Mark Carney has rejected. Trump on Friday announced that he would raise tariffs on Canada, a top trading partner, to 35%, as tough negotiations between the two sides continued. Carney, who had coined the elections slogan 'Elbows up, Canada' as a signal of defiance against Trump's tariff and annexation threats, said he was 'disappointed'. 'While we will continue to negotiate with the United States on our trading relationship, the Canadian government is laser focused on what we can control: building Canada strong,' Carney said.

Canada's Imperial Oil posts lower quarterly profit; announces first production from renewable diesel plant
Canada's Imperial Oil posts lower quarterly profit; announces first production from renewable diesel plant

Reuters

time3 hours ago

  • Reuters

Canada's Imperial Oil posts lower quarterly profit; announces first production from renewable diesel plant

Aug 1 (Reuters) - Canadian oil producer Imperial Oil ( opens new tab posted lower second-quarter profit on Friday, hurt by weaker crude prices and a decline in refinery throughput. The Calgary, Alberta-based company — which is majority-owned by U.S. oil and gas major ExxonMobil (XOM.N), opens new tab — also announced the first production of renewable diesel from its new Strathcona plant near Edmonton, Alberta. On a conference call with analysts, Imperial CEO John Whelan said the company completed construction and commissioning of the Strathcona facility, which is the largest renewable diesel plant in Canada, during the second quarter. The C$720-million facility will use vegetable and agricultural oils as feedstock to produce lower-emission fuels for Canada's transportation sector. The facility was designed to have the capacity to process more than 1 billion litres of renewable diesel annually, but Whelan said production levels will depend on supplier capabilities as the facility ramps up. At the time of the project's announcement in 2021, Imperial said it planned to source "blue hydrogen," or hydrogen produced from natural gas using carbon capture and storage, for use at the facility. While the company has sufficient "grey hydrogen" — which is produced from natural gas without the use of carbon capture and storage, resulting in higher greenhouse gas emissions — to start up and operate the facility, longer-term hydrogen supplies are uncertain. "The viability of further hydrogen supplies and blue hydrogen will impact the speed of the ramp-up of the asset," Whelan said. Benchmark Brent crude prices were lower during the April-June quarter compared to a year earlier, pressured by weak global demand, market volatility due to tariffs, and increased oil supply from OPEC+. Imperial said its net income fell to C$949 million ($684.31 million), or C$1.86 per share, in the quarter ended March 31, from C$1.13 billion, or C$2.11 per share, a year earlier. Imperial's total throughput volumes, or the amount of crude processed, fell to 376,000 barrels per day during the second quarter, from 387,000 bpd a year ago. The company's total refinery utilization stood at 87%, down from 89% in the same quarter last year. Upstream production for the April-June quarter was 427,000 gross barrels of oil equivalent per day, higher than the 404,000 gross boepd a year earlier. ($1 = 1.3868 Canadian dollars)

Exclusive: Pakistan to buy first-ever US oil cargo in Cnergyico deal with Vitol
Exclusive: Pakistan to buy first-ever US oil cargo in Cnergyico deal with Vitol

Reuters

time3 hours ago

  • Reuters

Exclusive: Pakistan to buy first-ever US oil cargo in Cnergyico deal with Vitol

KARACHI/SINGAPORE, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Pakistan's largest refiner Cnergyico ( opens new tab will import 1 million barrels of oil from Vitol in October, Cnergyico's Vice Chairman Usama Qureshi said on Friday, the country's first-ever purchase of U.S. crude following a landmark trade deal. The West Texas Intermediate light crude cargo will be loaded from Houston this month and is expected to arrive in Karachi in the second half of October, he said. "This is a test spot cargo under our umbrella term agreement with Vitol. If it is commercially viable and available, we could import at least one cargo per month," Qureshi told Reuters, adding that Vitol was its long-term trading partner. The deal follows months of negotiations that first began in April, he said, after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose 29% tariffs on imports from Pakistan. Qureshi said Pakistan's finance and petroleum ministries encouraged local refineries to explore U.S. crude imports after the April tariff announcement. Vitol did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside of office hours. On Thursday, Pakistan hailed a trade deal struck with the United States, its top export market, and said the agreement would increase investments. The White House said on Thursday the U.S. would charge a 19% tariff on imports from Pakistan. A key China ally, Pakistan has been wooing Trump after he threatened tariffs. It credited U.S. diplomatic intervention for ending recent hostilities with neighbouring India and nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. Oil is Pakistan's biggest import item and its shipments were valued at $11.3 billion in the year ended June 30, 2025, accounting for nearly a fifth of the country's total import bill. The import deal will help Pakistan diversify its crude sourcing and reduce reliance on Middle Eastern suppliers, which account for nearly all of its oil imports. "Gross refining margin is on par with Gulf grades, and no blending or refinery tweaks are required," Qureshi said. Cnergyico could consider buying at least 1 million barrels of U.S. oil a month after it evaluates the first shipment, given its current monthly demand stands at 4.6 million barrels, he said. "It aligns well with domestic market requirements. Demand typically strengthens in the October–November period," Qureshi said. Cnergyico can process 156,000 barrels of crude per day and operates the country's only single-point mooring terminal near Karachi, enabling it to handle large tankers unlike other refiners in Pakistan. The company plans to install a second offshore terminal to allow larger or more frequent shipments, and to upgrade its refinery over the next five to six years, Qureshi said. The refiner, which has been operating at an average refinery run rate of 30% to 35% due to tepid local demand, is betting on growth in demand for oil products. Trump said on Wednesday the U.S. would also cooperate with Pakistan to develop the South Asian country's "massive oil reserves", without providing further details.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store