Latest news with #MohiNarayan
Yahoo
29-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Exclusive-Indian owners of three ships ask sanctions-hit Nayara Energy to release the vessels, sources say
By Nidhi Verma and Mohi Narayan NEW DELHI (Reuters) -The Indian owners of three vessels chartered to Nayara Energy have asked the Russian-backed firm to end their contracts following recent European Union sanctions on the refiner, six sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. India-based Seven Islands Shipping Ltd and Great Eastern Shipping Co (GESCO) have asked Nayara to release the three clean products tankers, citing concerns over the sanctions, five of the sources said. The medium-range vessels are the Bourbon and Courage, owned and managed by Seven Islands, and GESCO's tanker Jag Pooja, sources said. The sources declined to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media. Mumbai-based Nayara, Seven Islands and GESCO did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Lack of access to ships is hampering efforts by the Indian refiner to sell its refined-fuel stocks, which are building up. The EU sanctions package unveiled on July 18 against Russia and its energy sector have forced Nayara to reduce operations at its 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery due to storage constraints, Reuters reported earlier on Tuesday. Privately held Nayara, which runs India's third-biggest refinery at the port of Vadinar in the western state of Gujarat, controls nearly 8% of the country's total refining capacity of about 5.2 million bpd. Nayara, majority-owned by Russian entities including oil major Rosneft, exports refined products and also supplies them domestically. Nayara operates more than 6,000 fuel stations.
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New plants, US trade worries to drive China's 2025 naphtha imports to record
By Mohi Narayan and Sam Li NEW DELHI/BEIJING (Reuters) -China's naphtha imports will hit record levels this year as new plants and caution over U.S. propane and ethane purchases will drive demand and support refiners' margins for the petrochemical feedstock, analysts and traders said. Cracker operators in the world's largest petrochemical producer, which pivoted in recent years to cheaper U.S. propane and ethane feedstock, are switching some demand back to naphtha after being ensnared in the U.S.-China trade war that disrupted their U.S. supplies, the sources said. The need to diversify supplies and to meet demand from new plants will drive naphtha imports to an all-time high of 16 million to 17 million metric tons (144 million to 153 million barrels) this year, consultancies Rystad Energy and FGE said. JLC pegs 2025 imports at about 15 million tons. China imported about 12 million tons in 2024, official data showed. "With issues in imports of ethane and propane, there is a trust factor that has come into play when it comes to U.S. cargoes," said Pankaj Srivastava, senior vice president, commodity markets at Rystad Energy. "Naphtha, on the other hand, is independent of these concerns because suppliers are varied." A total of 4 million tons per year (tpy) of ethylene capacity is slated to come online in China by end-2025, aiding import demand, and this will increase to about 6 million tpy by first half of 2026, he added. The International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its July report that China's naphtha demand is expected to rise by about 6% in 2025 and by 8.6% in 2026, significantly outpacing the combined growth of propane and ethane, which is projected at just 2.3% in 2025 and 1.3% in 2026. Following the disruption in U.S. supply, China issued a second batch of 2025 naphtha import quotas in June totalling nearly 24 million tons, nearly doubling last year's allocations. China imported nearly 6 million tons of naphtha between January and May, up 22.81% on-year and the highest level since 2015, government data showed, with Russia, the United Arab Emirates and South Korea the biggest suppliers. This compares with a 6% on-year rise in propane imports to 12.3 million tons in the first five months, while ethane imports were flat at 2.3 million tons in the same period, government data showed. China's liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) imports, which include propane, are likely to stay lower in the third quarter amid cautious buying of U.S. cargoes, Energy Aspects said in a July 4 note. The robust naphtha demand is expected to underpin Asian refiners' margins, analysts said. Naphtha margins have risen about 4% this month to $73.30 over Brent crude on hopes of healthy feedstock demand from China. "Increased pull from China will provide support to (naphtha) cracks towards the middle of third quarter to fourth quarter," Rystad's Srivastava said. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New plants, US trade worries to drive China's 2025 naphtha imports to record
By Mohi Narayan and Sam Li NEW DELHI/BEIJING (Reuters) -China's naphtha imports will hit record levels this year as new plants and caution over U.S. propane and ethane purchases will drive demand and support refiners' margins for the petrochemical feedstock, analysts and traders said. Cracker operators in the world's largest petrochemical producer, which pivoted in recent years to cheaper U.S. propane and ethane feedstock, are switching some demand back to naphtha after being ensnared in the U.S.-China trade war that disrupted their U.S. supplies, the sources said. The need to diversify supplies and to meet demand from new plants will drive naphtha imports to an all-time high of 16 million to 17 million metric tons (144 million to 153 million barrels) this year, consultancies Rystad Energy and FGE said. JLC pegs 2025 imports at about 15 million tons. China imported about 12 million tons in 2024, official data showed. "With issues in imports of ethane and propane, there is a trust factor that has come into play when it comes to U.S. cargoes," said Pankaj Srivastava, senior vice president, commodity markets at Rystad Energy. "Naphtha, on the other hand, is independent of these concerns because suppliers are varied." A total of 4 million tons per year (tpy) of ethylene capacity is slated to come online in China by end-2025, aiding import demand, and this will increase to about 6 million tpy by first half of 2026, he added. The International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its July report that China's naphtha demand is expected to rise by about 6% in 2025 and by 8.6% in 2026, significantly outpacing the combined growth of propane and ethane, which is projected at just 2.3% in 2025 and 1.3% in 2026. Following the disruption in U.S. supply, China issued a second batch of 2025 naphtha import quotas in June totalling nearly 24 million tons, nearly doubling last year's allocations. China imported nearly 6 million tons of naphtha between January and May, up 22.81% on-year and the highest level since 2015, government data showed, with Russia, the United Arab Emirates and South Korea the biggest suppliers. This compares with a 6% on-year rise in propane imports to 12.3 million tons in the first five months, while ethane imports were flat at 2.3 million tons in the same period, government data showed. China's liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) imports, which include propane, are likely to stay lower in the third quarter amid cautious buying of U.S. cargoes, Energy Aspects said in a July 4 note. The robust naphtha demand is expected to underpin Asian refiners' margins, analysts said. Naphtha margins have risen about 4% this month to $73.30 over Brent crude on hopes of healthy feedstock demand from China. "Increased pull from China will provide support to (naphtha) cracks towards the middle of third quarter to fourth quarter," Rystad's Srivastava said.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Oil prices take breather after prospect of increased supply triggered selloff
By Mohi Narayan NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Oil prices steadied in early Asian trade on Thursday, finding footing a day after a steep decline triggered by signs that Saudi Arabia could increase output and data showing the U.S. economy contracted. Brent crude futures gained 7 cents, or 0.1%, at $61.13 a barrel as at 0318 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 1 cent or 0.02%, at $58.22. WTI closed at its lowest since March 2021 on Wednesday. "In the near term, the path of least resistance remains tilted to the downside," said Sugandha Sachdeva, founder of SS WealthStreet, a New Delhi-based research firm. "The dual impact of deteriorating demand and looming supply expansion has created a pessimistic outlook for crude, with Brent crude appearing vulnerable to test $55 per barrel," Sachdeva said. Saudi Arabia is telling allies and industry experts that it is unwilling to prop up the oil market with supply cuts and can manage a prolonged period of low prices, sources told Reuters. Several OPEC+ members will suggest the group accelerates output hikes in June for a second consecutive month, three people familiar with OPEC+ talks have said. Eight OPEC+ countries will meet on May 5 to decide a June output plan. "Any surprise in the pace or scale of production adjustments could significantly influence volatility in the sessions ahead," Sachdeva said. In the U.S., the world's biggest oil consumer, the economy contracted for the first time in three years in the first quarter, swamped by a flood of imports as businesses raced to avoid higher costs from tariffs and underscoring the disruptive nature of President Donald Trump's often chaotic trade policy. Trump's tariffs have made it probable the global economy will slip into recession this year, a Reuters poll suggested. A demand outlook clouded by trade disputes coupled with an OPEC+ decision to increase supply will weigh on oil prices this year, a Reuters poll showed on Wednesday. Analytics firm Kpler has revised its 2025 global oil demand growth forecast to 640,000 barrels per day from 800,000 bpd, citing rising Sino-U.S. trade tension and weak Indian demand. A survey of 40 economists and analysts in April projected Brent crude to average $68.98 a barrel in 2025, versus March's estimate of $72.94. They expect U.S. crude to average $65.08 a barrel rather than $69.16 seen last month. U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell by 2.7 million barrels last week on higher export and refinery demand, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday. That compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 429,000 barrel rise. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump tariffs poised to exacerbate woes of ailing petchems sector
By Mohi Narayan NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Sweeping new U.S. import tariffs threaten to further erode demand for global petrochemical producers and accelerate capacity cuts in an industry plagued by weak margins, industry officials and analysts said. Tariffs announced by President Donald Trump on Wednesday are expected to drive up prices for goods such as electronics, appliances and packaging, denting consumption and curbing demand for the petrochemicals used to make plastics and industrial chemicals. While imports of oil, gas and refined products were exempt from Trump's tariffs, refining margins in Asia for key petrochemical feedstock naphtha plunged 13% to $73.07 per metric ton over Brent crude on Thursday, their lowest since January 17. "In the short-term, say two to three years, demand is going to be hit in export-based economies and if tariffs are imposed without further changes, the recovery in margins will be pushed out by six months to one year," said Pankaj Srivastava, senior vice president at Rystad Energy, said. "Those economies will be under pressure to lower utilisation rates at their plants and shut some of the existing loss-making assets," he added. Naphtha margins reached as high as $257 per ton in March 2022 amid fears of supply disruptions on the Black Sea route due to the Russia-Ukraine war. Since then, margins have collapsed as global petrochemical demand has softened while new capacity has come online, mostly in China. Several consultancies forecast a recovery only by 2027-28, when Chinese capacity additions slow. Major producers in Asia and Europe have been offloading assets and shutting aging plants, while U.S. operators have switched to cheaper feedstocks such as ethane over naphtha to weather the downturn. Industry insiders now expect further industry pain in the aftermath of Trump's tariffs, with some producers in Asian economies including export powerhouses Taiwan, South Korea and Japan likely facing added pressure to shut. Plants are already running at minimum rates due to the weak margins and tariffs might force them to make the tough decision to shut down, said an official at a global petrochemical trader, declining to be identified as he was not authorised to speak with media. Import levies could also force a costly reshuffling of trade flows and supply chains already upended by sanctions on Russian oil exports and Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. China and the European Union have vowed countermeasures. Sign in to access your portfolio
