Latest news with #refinery
Reuters
7 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
Chinese refiner Yulong buys first Canadian TMX crude oil cargoes
SINGAPORE, July 30 (Reuters) - China's Shandong Yulong Petrochemical has bought its first Canadian crude oil cargoes exported via the Trans Mountain pipeline (TMX) for September and October delivery, trade sources said, as the new refiner diversifies its supplies. Yulong bought an Access Western Blend (AWB) cargo for September delivery at a discount of about $1.50 a barrel to November ICE Brent from Macquarie, two of the sources said, and another cargo for October delivery from Totsa at a similar discount to December ICE Brent. Each cargo is about 550,000 barrels. Yulong did not immediately respond to a Reuters' email seeking comment. Macquarie and TotalEnergies do not comment on commercial matters. These were Yulong's first purchases of Canadian oil since the new refiner started its 200,000 barrel per day crude processing last September. AWB is a type of heavy and highly acidic diluted bitumen produced by Canadian Natural Resources and MEG Energy. Yulong has also recently made a rare purchase of Russia's Urals crude, trade sources said. The refiner normally buys Russian Far East ESPO grade and West African crude, they said.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Austria's OMV finds chloride contamination in Azeri crude
By Robert Harvey LONDON -Austrian energy group OMV has found organic chloride contamination in Azeri crude cargoes planned for delivery to its oil refineries, it said, adding it had prevented it from causing any disruption. Organic chloride contamination in Azeri BTC crude cargoes was discovered last week, sending price differentials to a four-year low and causing several days' delays to loadings from Turkey's BTC Ceyhan terminal. In its statement on Friday, OMV said the contaminated crude had been discovered through its quality control procedures. It said it had not reached its refineries, and there had been no disruption of its refining operations or of its supply of fuel to the market. OMV said it had worked to secure alternative crude from other sources to "ensure continuity and security of fuels supply," but it did not clarify what it planned to do with the contaminated Azeri crude. Organic chlorides are used in the industry to boost extraction from oilfields by cleaning oil wells and to accelerate the flow of crude, but the compounds must be removed before oil enters pipelines. In large concentrations, they can pose risks to refinery equipment, OMV said. Italy's Eni told Reuters last week that it had detected organic chloride contamination in oil already in its systems. 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
Reuters
a day ago
- Business
- Reuters
Indian refiner Nayara trims crude runs in wake of EU sanctions, sources say
NEW DELHI, July 29 (Reuters) - Russia-backed Indian refiner Nayara Energy has reduced operations at its 400,000-barrel-per-day refinery in the aftermath of new European Union sanctions that targeted the firm, five sources familiar with the matter said. 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. The sanctions package unveiled on July 18 against Russia and its energy sector has made it tougher for Nayara to export its refined products, resulting in storage constraints, two of the sources said. Since the EU curbs on Nayara, traders have grown cautious in dealing with its fuel, trade and industry sources say. Last week, Reuters reported that at least two tankers skipped planned loadings at Vadinar while a tanker carrying a cargo of Russian crude was diverted away from the refiner. One source said Nayara was operating the refinery at 70% of capacity, while another put the figure at 80%. Nayara ran at more than 100% of its nameplate capacity in each of the three months through June, the most recent government data shows. All the sources sought anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media. Nayara did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Nayara typically exports at least four million barrels of refined products each month, including diesel, jet fuel, gasoline and naphtha, through traders. India has become the biggest buyer of seaborne Russian crude in the aftermath of Moscow's Ukraine invasion. Nayara, majority-owned by Russian entities including Rosneft ( opens new tab, is a key buyer of Russian oil. Nayara's chief executive resigned after the sanctions and was replaced by Sergey Denisov, who had been its chief development officer, Reuters reported on Friday. On Monday, Nayara said it filed legal proceedings against U.S. software giant Microsoft following its suspension of services to the refiner. Nayara, based in the commercial capital of Mumbai, operates more than 6,000 fuel stations.
Reuters
2 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Serbia secures fifth postponement of US sanctions against NIS oil firm
BELGRADE, July 28 (Reuters) - Serbia has secured a fifth postponement of planned U.S. sanctions against Russian-owned oil firm NIS ( opens new tab, which operates the country's only oil refinery, Serbian Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said on Monday. The postponement would be a month long, and a longer extension was not possible, she said in a written statement. "Our top priority is to maintain a stable supply of oil derivatives, and ... to remove NIS from OFAC sanctions list. The most important factor for that is progress in the dialogue between the U.S. and Russia," Djedovic Handanovic said. The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control initially placed sanctions on Russia's oil sector on January 10, and gave Gazprom Neft 45 days to exit ownership of NIS. The U.S. Treasury Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. On Thursday, Belgrade sought an additional 180-day postponement from the U.S. NIS - in which Gazprom Neft ( opens new tab owns a 44.9% stake, Gazprom ( opens new tab 11.3%, and the Serbian government 29.9% - operates Serbia's sole refinery, in the town of Pancevo, just outside Belgrade. The facility has an annual capacity of 4.8 million tons and covers most of the Balkan country's needs. Sanctions could jeopardise its supplies of crude. Serbia sold a 51% stake in NIS to Gazprom in 2008 for 400 million euros ($464 million). On February 26, Gazprom Neft transferred a stake of around 5.15% in NIS to Gazprom in an attempt to ward off sanctions. NIS imports about 80% of its oil needs through Croatia's pipeline operator Janaf. The remainder is covered by its crude oil production in Serbia.
Reuters
2 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Serbia secures fifth postponement of US sanctions against NIS, official says
BELGRADE, July 28 (Reuters) - Serbia has secured a fifth postponement of planned U.S. sanctions against Russian-owned oil firm NIS ( opens new tab, which operates the country's only oil refinery, a Belgrade government official told Reuters on Monday. The postponement would be a month long, said the official, who asked not to be named, without elaborating further. The U.S. Treasury Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. On July 24 Serbian energy minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said Belgrade had sought an additional 180-day postponement from the U.S. NIS - in which Gazprom Neft ( opens new tab owns a 44.9% stake, Gazprom ( opens new tab 11.3%, and the Serbian government 29.9% - operates Serbia's sole refinery, in the town of Pancevo, just outside Belgrade. The facility has an annual capacity of 4.8 million tons and covers most of the Balkan country's needs. Sanctions could jeopardise its supplies of crude. Serbia sold a 51% stake in NIS to Gazprom in 2008 for 400 million euros ($464 million). The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) initially placed sanctions on Russia's oil sector on January 10, and gave Gazprom Neft 45 days to exit ownership of NIS. On February 26, Gazprom Neft transferred a stake of around 5.15% in NIS to Gazprom in an attempt to ward off sanctions. NIS imports about 80% of its oil needs through Croatia's pipeline operator Janaf. The remainder is covered by its crude oil production in Serbia.
