Latest news with #Sakhalin1
Bloomberg
14-03-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Russian Oil Delivery Takes Seven Times Longer After Sanctions
The delivery of a two-million-barrel cargo of Russian oil to China took seven times longer than it would have done prior to a round of US sanctions imposed on Moscow back in January. The drawn out delivery of Sokol crude from Russia's Sakhalin 1 project into Chinese storage tanks shows how US sanctions continue to disrupt and impede — but importantly not halt — the flow of Russian oil.
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Russia's Oil Flows by Sea Surge But Cargoes Sit Undelivered
(Bloomberg) -- The amount of Russian crude oil that's stuck at sea is rising as Joe Biden's farewell sanctions on Moscow continue to snarl the nation's petroleum trade. How Upzoning in Cambridge Broke the YIMBY Mold Remembering the Landscape Architect Who Embraced the City NYC Office Buildings See Resurgence as Investors Pile Into Bonds Hong Kong Joins Global Stadium Race With New $4 Billion Sports Park US Tent Facility is Holding Migrant Families Longer Than Recommended While exports from the country's ports jumped to a three-month high, India's refiners are so far refusing to accept cargoes that have been moved on sanctioned tankers, even if only for part of their voyage. Some Chinese ports appear to be taking the same approach. The Indian decision has effectively closed off the south Asian nation as a destination for crude from the Arctic and from projects off Sakhalin Island in Russia's Far East, which all rely on specialized shuttle tankers blacklisted by President Biden on Jan. 10. The reluctance of some Chinese ports has left tankers idling for weeks, unable to offload their cargoes. That could all change if President Donald Trump reverses the Biden measures. In January, the outgoing Biden administration announced wide-ranging restrictions against Russia, including designating 161 tankers tied to the country's oil trade, including all the shuttle tankers used in the Arctic and by the Sakhalin 1 and 2 projects off Russia's east coast. About 7.7 million barrels of crude from the two Sakhalin projects have been held on tankers for more than two weeks. Prior to the latest sanctions they would typically be delivered to refiners in about a week. A further 12 million barrels from the Arctic have gone on far longer voyages than originally planned, leaving the oil at sea for months. The move has also seen the premium shipowners are charging to haul Russia's flagship oil soar. The cost of transporting 1 million barrels of Urals crude from Russia's Black Sea port to the west coast of India has increased to $7.9 million, up from $5.6 million at the end of last year. Despite the difficulties in delivering cargoes, a surge in shipments from the Black Sea last week saw four-week average crude flows from Russian ports in the period to March 2 rise to 3.09 million barrels a day, the highest since the period ending Dec. 1. Delivery Difficulties and Covert Transfers Before Biden's Jan. 10 sanctions package, India was the destination for about 60% of Russia's Arctic crude exports, taking about 64 million barrels last year. It was also the landing place for about 14 million barrels of Sokol crude from the Sakhalin 1 project in the first nine months of 2024, equivalent to almost 30% of total shipments in that period, though that trade dried up in the final quarter of last year. Arctic crude loaded after Jan. 10 has started to arrive in the Arabian Sea, close to the ports on India's west coast that were initially identified as their destinations in shipping data seen by Bloomberg. But instead of being delivered, it has been transferred covertly onto other ships off the coast of Oman. Those ships, where it's been possible to identify them, appear to be heading for China. That's stretching the supply chain for Moscow's Arctic grades even further, boosting the amount of Russian crude on the water and forcing India's refiners to seek alternatives. No cargoes of Russia's Arctic crude loaded after Jan. 10 have been delivered to India, vessel-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show. In the Pacific, only five of 19 cargoes of Sakhalin crude loaded since the latest ban have been delivered. Three of those were discharged into storage tanks at Yangshan port near Shanghai, tracking data show. The facility isn't connected to any of China's refineries, and the move could simply be designed to hide the true origin of the barrels. Shuttle tankers are continuing to transfer Sokol cargoes onto other vessels in Nakhodka Bay, with satellite imagery revealing another switch taking place today. But even after they have been transferred, Pacific cargoes are not proving easy to discharge. A supertanker that took about 2 million barrels of Sokol crude through similar transfers in the first 10 days of February is still holding its cargo after failing to discharge it at Yantai in China. Crude Shipments A total of 32 tankers loaded 24.71 million barrels of Russian crude in the week to March 2, vessel-tracking data and port-agent reports show. The volume was up from a revised 20.62 million barrels on 28 ships the previous week. Daily crude flows in the seven days to March 2 jumped by about 580,000 barrels, or 20%, from the previous week to 3.53 million. The increase reversed almost all of an 18% drop seen the previous week. Shipments of Russian crude from Novorossiysk surged to six cargoes, while flows from the Baltic slipped. Exports from the Pacific were unchanged from the previous week, while Arctic shipments rose. Less volatile four-week average flows were up by about 120,000 barrels a day from the previous week, to 3.09 million barrels a day, the highest level in three months. One cargo of Kazakhstan's KEBCO crude was loaded during the week from Novorossiysk. Export Value The gross value of Moscow's exports jumped by about $210 million, or 16%, to $1.52 billion in the week to March 2. Export values of Russian Urals crude fell by about $2.10-$2.50 a barrel, while the price of key Pacific grade ESPO dropped by about $2.10/bbl. Delivered prices in India were down by about $1.40, all according to numbers from Argus Media. On a four-week average basis, income rose in the period to March 2 to about $1.35 billion a week, up from a revised $1.31 billion in the period to Feb. 23. Flows by Destination Observed shipments to Russia's Asian customers, including those showing no final destination, rose to 2.91 million barrels a day in the four weeks to March 2, bringing them 8% below the average level seen during the most recent peak in October. Turkey is now the only short-haul market for shipments from Russia's western ports, with flows in the 28 days to March 2 recovering the previous week's drop to average about 180,000 barrels a day. Turkey's biggest refiner confirmed it has halted purchases of Russian oil after earlier signaling that it would restrict them to avoid falling foul of US sanctions. NOTES This story forms part of a weekly series tracking shipments of crude from Russian export terminals and the gross value of those flows. The next update will be on Tuesday, March 11. All figures exclude cargoes identified as Kazakhstan's KEBCO grade. Those are shipments made by KazTransoil JSC that transit Russia for export through Novorossiysk and Ust-Luga and are not subject to European Union sanctions or a price cap. The Kazakh barrels are blended with crude of Russian origin to create a uniform export stream. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Kazakhstan has rebranded its cargoes to distinguish them from those shipped by Russian companies. Bloomberg classifies ship-to-ship transfers as clandestine if automated position signals appear to be switched off or falsified — a tactic known as spoofing — to hide the two vessels involved coming together to make the cargo switch. Vessel-tracking data are cross-checked against port agent reports as well as flows and ship movements reported by other information providers including Kpler and Vortexa Ltd. If you are reading this story on the Bloomberg terminal, click for a link to a PDF file of four-week average flows from Russia to key destinations. --With assistance from Sherry Su and Rakesh Sharma. Rich People Are Firing a Cash Cannon at the US Economy—But at What Cost? The Mysterious Billionaire Behind the World's Most Popular Vapes Snack Makers Are Removing Fake Colors From Processed Foods The US Is Withdrawing From Global Health at a Dangerous Time Trump's SALT Tax Promise Hinges on an Obscure Loophole ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Russia offering US deal on natural resources, access to Arctic
Russia is offering the Trump administration a deal on Russian natural resources and access to the Arctic, The Moscow Times reported on Feb. 18, citing Kirill Dmitriev, one of the Russian delegates in recent Saudi Arabia talks. A Russian delegation led by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met on Feb. 18 with a U.S. delegation led by State Secretary Marco Rubio, marking the highest-level meeting between the two sides since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russian and the U.S. delegates in Riyadh also discussed economic cooperation, including global energy prices. Moscow is suggesting that American oil companies may return to the country and is interested in joint projects with the U.S. in the Arctic, Dmitriev said before the talks started. The statement comes as Kyiv announced it is not ready to sign the U.S.-proposed deal on Ukraine's natural resources. President Volodymyr Zelensky commented that Ukraine is open to investment but argued that the memorandum, presented by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Feb. 12, needs more work as it does not include any concrete security guarantees. "We believe that at some point, they (American companies) will come back because why would they start giving up the opportunity to access Russian natural resources that Russia gave them?" Dmitriev said, adding that large American oil companies had "very successful businesses" in Russia. "We should also do joint projects, including, for example, in the Arctic and other areas. Joint projects will allow us to be more successful," Dmitriev added. U.S. companies allegedly lost $300 billion from sanctions against Russia, and Joe Biden's administration "gave a lot of wrong messages" about the state of the Russian economy, Dmitriev claimed. Before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, only one major U.S. company, Exxon Mobil, was producing oil in Russia. The company also owns 30% of the Sakhalin 1 oil project. Following the imposition of sanctions against Sakhalin 1, Exxon Mobil tried to sell its stake but failed, according to The Moscow Times. After the outbreak of the all-out war, the leading American oilfield service companies, including Halliburton, Schlumberger, and Baker Hughes, also announced their withdrawal from Russia. Russia is also expecting the U.S. to unfreeze Russian state assets, including those owned by the Central Bank, which were previously invested in American ones. The assets are valued at about $6 billion, the outlet reported. Altogether, nearly $300 billion of the Central Bank's foreign exchange reserves have been frozen, of which over $200 billion are in Europe. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly assured European allies that the U.S. would maintain sanctions against Moscow at least until an agreement is reached to end the Russia-Ukraine war. Yet, following talks between the U.S. and Russian delegations, Rubio suggested that lifting sanctions against Russia would be part of any peace process, saying that "concessions" would have to be made by "all sides" to bring an end to "any conflict." Read also: 'You can't kill your way out of this war' — Kellogg calls for sanctions against Russia's shadow fleet, concessions from Ukraine to end war We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Russia's Sakhalin Island Oil Is Backing Up After US Sanctions
(Bloomberg) -- Crude shipments from Russia's Sakhalin Island projects aren't being discharged after the tankers carrying them were sanctioned by the US. About 6.3 million barrels of Pacific crude is being held on vessels that have been stationary for at least a week. Nice Airport, If You Can Get to It: No Subway, No Highway, No Bridge Saudi Arabia's Neom Signs $5 Billion Deal for AI Data Center Sin puente y sin metro: el nuevo aeropuerto de Lima es una debacle The Forgotten French Architect Who Rebuilt Marseille In New Orleans, an Aging Dome Tries to Stay Super The disruption comes as Russia's wider oil exports have plunged — albeit following an unusually long storm that halted flows from another port in Asia. Only one of eight Sokol shipments that loaded since the shuttle tankers used to move the grade were blacklisted has discharged. Two have been switched onto a supertanker anchored near the Russian port of Nakhodka, while the others are idling. Unless more cargoes are moved off shuttle tankers, the Sakhalin 1 energy project is about to run out of empty ships to load its crude. It's a similar picture for Sakhalin 2. A fourth tanker, the Galaxy, has been used to haul the grade, in addition to the dedicated fleet of three shuttles, which are all idling. But it, too, is now floating, showing a speed of one knot off the Japanese island of Hokkaido while signaling a destination of Gulei in China. In the west, the first sanctioned cargoes from Murmansk are still at least a week from destinations on the west coast of India. Several ships are now signaling 'North China,' having previously been identified as heading to India. It's unclear whether this is to generate confusion, or whether it reflects an unwillingness on the part of India to take crude carried on blacklisted vessels. If cargoes aren't accepted at receiving terminals, floating storage of Russian oil will build up quickly. Already, one of the post-sanctions cargoes from Murmansk is on a ship signaling OPL Oman — a potential storage site — as its destination. Russia is avoiding the use of sanctioned tankers at its key Baltic ports. Only one vessel blacklisted by the US has loaded in the region since the latest curbs were announced on Jan. 10. The Akademik Gubkin, which loaded at Ust-Luga on Jan. 29, is heading across the Atlantic. It briefly signaled its destination as Matanzas in Cuba, then changed that to the Suez Canal. It appears that the Caribbean destination was accurate. Key Pacific grade ESPO is also being moved only on ships that haven't been blacklisted. But a five-day storm, with winds gusting at more than 40 miles an hour, severely hampered operations at the port last week. That cut Russia's total seaborne crude exports to their lowest in more than two years. Crude Shipments A total of 21 tankers loaded 16.1 million barrels of Russian crude in the week to Feb. 9, vessel-tracking data and port-agent reports show. The volume was down from a revised 21.34 million barrels on 29 ships the previous week. Daily crude flows in the seven days to Feb. 9 fell by about 750,000 barrels, or 25%, from the previous week to 2.3 million. A five-day storm at Kozmino, with winds gusting above 40 miles an hour, prevented ships from mooring at the export berths for most of the week. Less volatile four-week average flows were down by 180,000 barrels a day from the previous week's revised number, to 2.83 million barrels a day. One cargo of Kazakhstan's KEBCO crude was loaded during the week from Novorossiysk. Export Value A decline in the price of Russian crude added to the decrease in exports to leave the gross value of Moscow's exports down by about $380 million, or 28%, to $990 million in the week to Feb. 9. That's the lowest since December 2022. Export values of Russian crudes were down week-on-week by between $1 and $3 a barrel. Delivered prices in India were down by about $2.20, all according to numbers from Argus Media. On a four-week average basis, income slipped to about $1.31 billion a week, from $1.43 billion in the period to Feb. 2. Flows by Destination Observed shipments to Russia's Asian customers, including those showing no final destination, fell to 2.52 million barrels a day in the four weeks to Feb. 9, slipping to about 19% below the average level seen during the most recent peak in October. Turkey is now the only short-haul market for shipments from Russia's western ports, with flows in the 28 days to Feb. 9 falling to 287,000 barrels a day, their lowest in five weeks. NOTES This story forms part of a weekly series tracking shipments of crude from Russian export terminals and the gross value of those flows. The next update will be on Tuesday, Feb. 18. All figures exclude cargoes identified as Kazakhstan's KEBCO grade. Those are shipments made by KazTransoil JSC that transit Russia for export through Novorossiysk and Ust-Luga and are not subject to European Union sanctions or a price cap. The Kazakh barrels are blended with crude of Russian origin to create a uniform export stream. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Kazakhstan has rebranded its cargoes to distinguish them from those shipped by Russian companies. Vessel-tracking data are cross-checked against port agent reports as well as flows and ship movements reported by other information providers including Kpler and Vortexa Ltd. If you are reading this story on the Bloomberg terminal, click for a link to a PDF file of four-week average flows from Russia to key destinations. --With assistance from Sherry Su. Trump's Tariffs Make Currency Trading Cool Again After Years of Decline Trump Promised to Run the Economy Hotter. 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