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☆ India cuts windfall tax on crude oil to zero, diesel halved
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW DELHI, April 4 (Reuters) - India cut its windfall tax on crude oil to zero from 3,500 rupees ($42.56) a tonne and halved the tax on diesel to 0.5 rupee per litre, a government notification said on Tuesday. The government adjusts the tax rates twice a month according to global crude oil price movements. The windfall tax on exports of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) and petrol, which had previously been cut to zero, were left unchanged, the notification said. The government intends to withdraw the windfall tax once global crude oil prices fall firmly below $70 a barrel, a top government official told Reuters last year. Brent crude oil prices slipped last month near $70 a barrel, a 15-month low, on fears of weakening demand but this week surged above $85 after the OPEC+ group's decision to curtail production.

☆ Crude oil at $100 could soon become the new normal, top energy analyst Paul Sankey predicts
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Natalie Zhang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The new normal for crude oil could be $100 a barrel, according to leading energy analyst Paul Sankey. 1 by Institutional Investor for energy independent research in 2023, sees OPEC+'s surprise production cut paired with supply drivers as major catalysts. "Global oil production capacity really has a problem. The move comes after crude prices dropped to a 15-month low in mid-March. A CNBC PRO screen found that Schlumberger was also typically the best performer during past oil spikes.

☆ California Adds Fuel to a Gasoline Refiners’ Fire
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A majority of Californians tell pollsters they don’t want Gov. Gavin Newsom to run for President. Maybe they think he’s pushing destructive progressive policies to promote his national ambitions, such as the law he signed last week to punish oil refiners. The law establishes a new state bureaucracy empowered to cap gasoline refining profits. If refiners’ profits exceed the cap, they will pay a penalty, which will go into a special fund that legislators could use to “address any consequences of price gouging on Californians.” This is a fund for Democrats to buy votes.

"The new cuts are underpinning that the OPEC+ group is intact and that Russia is still an integral and important part of the group," SEB analyst Bjarne Schieldrop said. Higher prices will likely spell more income for Moscow to fund its expensive war in Ukraine, upsetting Saudi-U.S. relations further, Schieldrop said. "The U.S. administration may also argue that higher oil prices will counter its efforts to put out the inflation fire," he added. [1/2] An OPEC flag is seen on the day of OPEC+ meeting in Vienna in Vienna, Austria October 5, 2022. "Producing countries apparently want to see oil prices rise to $90-$100/bbl, but higher oil prices also mean higher risk of economic downturn and sluggish demand," he added.

☆ Exclusive: Russia shifts to Dubai benchmark in Indian oil deal - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Nidhi Verma | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationNEW DELHI, April 3 (Reuters) - Russia's largest oil producer Rosneft (ROSN.MM) and India's top refiner Indian Oil Corp (IOC.NS) agreed to use the Asia-focused Dubai oil price benchmark in their latest deal to deliver Russian oil to India, three sources familiar with the deal said. Rosneft's chief executive Igor Sechin said in February that the price of Russian oil would be determined outside of Europe as Asia has emerged as largest buyer of Russian oil since the West imposed progressively tighter sanctions on the export. Under the new deal, announced on March 29, Rosneft will nearly double oil sales to Indian Oil Corp (IOC.NS), two of the sources told Reuters. The European Union nations stopped buying Russian oil from Dec. 5 and the Group of Seven (G7) countries joined the EU in imposing a price cap on Russian crude of $60 per barrel. The move was aimed at cutting Russia's oil revenue while maintaining stability on the global oil market.

☆ India extends export curbs on gasoline, diesel - government
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MUMBAI, April 2 (Reuters) - India has extended restrictions on the export of diesel and gasoline, the government said in a notification, as New Delhi tries to ensure the availability of refined fuels for the domestic market. The government had imposed the curbs on gasoline and gasoil exports through Friday's end of the financial year. The extension may discourage some Indian refiners, mainly private companies, from buying Russian fuel for re-exports to countries including those in Europe that have stopped purchases of refined products from Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine. Reporting by Nidhi Verma and Rajendra Jadhav; Editing by William MallardOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

TOKYO, March 31 (Reuters) - Japan, the world's fifth-biggest carbon dioxide (CO2) emitter, will begin a carbon pricing scheme in stages from April to encourage companies to curb emissions and achieve its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. The country is the latest among Asian nations to formulate plans to create a carbon pricing mechanism and emissions trading system. The scheme, based on METI proposals and approved by the cabinet this year, consists of emissions trading and a carbon levy. The carbon levy will be introduced from around 2028/29 on fossil fuel importers such as refiners, trading houses and electricity utilities. The introduction of emissions trading and carbon surcharges mark "a significant shift in Japan's climate change policy", said Tohru Shimizu, senior researcher at the Japan's Institute of Energy Economics.

☆ Factbox: Asia's carbon pricing and emission trading systems
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Matthew Chye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Here is a look at some of the carbon emissions trading systems (ETS) and pricing mechanisms in Asian countries aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and achieving net zero targets. * A carbon levy will be introduced from around 2028/29 on fossil fuel importers such as refiners, trading houses and electricity utilities. INDIA* Parliament in December passed the Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill 2022 that sought to establish carbon trading. * Authorities are studying the implementation of a carbon exchange and plan to set up agencies to monitor and verify emission volume. MALAYSIA* The stock exchange launched a voluntary carbon market (VCM) in December with the introduction of the Bursa Carbon Exchange, the world's first Shariah-compliant carbon exchange.

Venezuelan oil resumed flowing to the U.S. in January under a Treasury Department license granted to Chevron that allowed it to expand output there and export the oil. Refiners including Valero and Phillips 66 (PSX.N) have bought cargoes from Chevron, according to U.S. Customs and shipping data. Chevron's license - and approvals granted to European firms Eni (ENI.MI) and Repsol (REP.MC) - allow only for oil or debt swaps. Chevron's resumption of Venezuelan crude imports has not led to an increase in the country's overall exports this year, according to PDVSA schedules and Refinitiv Eikon data. 2 U.S. oil company exported some 86,000 barrels per day of Venezuelan oil in February.

LONDON, March 30 (Reuters) - A suspension of Kurdistan's oil exports has halted repayments via crude cargoes of $6 billion owed to energy traders including Vitol and Petraco by the semi-autonomous Iraqi region, trading sources told Reuters. The suspension means Kurdistan cannot repay debts with crude oil supplies and alternative schemes have not been put in place. "Let's work out a breakthrough to the oil exports issue and then other issues could be addressed under less pressure," he said. An Iraqi oil ministry legal adviser familiar with the discussions with Kurdistan said Baghdad wants to run oil exports via its state marketing firm SOMO and wants oil sales revenues to be deposited in an independent bank account. Another Iraqi oil ministry official said no progress has been yet made on the debt issue.

☆ China refiner ZPC enters strategic fuel marketing deal with Sinopec
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SINGAPORE, March 30 (Reuters) - Privately controlled Zhejiang Petrochemical Corp (ZPC), operator of China's largest refinery, said on Thursday it has reached a strategic agreement with state refining giant Sinopec (600028.SS) on the domestic marketing of its fuel. Under a deal reached earlier this week, Sinopec will handle more than 60% of ZPC's domestic refined products sales, worth about 55 billion yuan ($8.0 billion) a year, the company said in a statement posted on its WeChat account. "With the growing new refining capacity at home, the mismatch between refined fuel supply and demand will become more and more prominent," ZPC said in the statement. ZPC, controlled by private chemical group Rongsheng Petrochemical Co Ltd (002493.SZ), operates an 800,000 barrels-per-day refinery in the eastern port of Zhoushan. Earlier this week, Rongsheng Petrochemical agreed to sell a 10% stake in itself to Middle Eastern energy giant Saudi Aramco (2222.SE) for $3.6 billion.

LAUNCESTON, Australia, March 28 (Reuters) - China's crude oil imports will average 10.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2023, matching the previous record high from 2020, according to the think tank of the country's leading energy group. What is interesting with the ETRI forecasts is that they would seem to show that China's refiners are still expecting to add crude oil to stockpiles over 2023. This is some 370,000 bpd more than the ETRI forecast for refinery throughput of 14.66 million bpd. China's crude oil imports seen rebounding to new high in 2023NEW REFINERIESIt's likely that some of the oil heading for storage will go to build working inventories for new plants expected to be commissioned this year. Flows in, or indeed out of, either commercial or strategic reserves are the biggest X-factor for China's crude oil imports.

☆ Oil drops as oversupply concerns overshadow demand hopes
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Shariq Khan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Brent crude futures fell 46 cents, or 0.6%, to $76.23 a barrel by 2:15 p.m. EDT (1815 GMT), while the U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures slid by 57 cents, or 0.8%, to $70.33 a barrel. Oil benchmarks were slightly higher before the news on hopes that a lower dollar and higher gasoline prices would spur more demand for the commodity. A weaker greenback makes dollar-denominated oil more attractive to holders of foreign currencies, lifting demand. Higher gasoline demand will encourage refiners to use more crude oil to turn it into the road transportation fuel, Mizuho analyst Robert Yawger said. Also supportive, Goldman Sachs on Thursday said demand from China, the world's biggest oil importer, continued to surge across the commodity complex, with oil demand topping 16 million barrels per day.

☆ Oil crawls up as dollar weakens, gasoline demand surges
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Shariq Khan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Brent crude futures rose 15 cents, or 0.2%, to $76.84 a barrel by noon EDT (1600 GMT), while the U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up by 6 cents, or 0.1%, to $70.96 a barrel. A weaker greenback makes dollar-denominated oil more attractive to holders of foreign currencies, lifting demand. Further support for crude oil came from RBOB gasoline futures trading at a 10-day high on Thursday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration said stockpiles of the product fell by the most last week since September 2021. Higher gasoline demand will encourage refiners to use more crude oil to turn it into the road transportation fuel, Mizuho analyst Robert Yawger said. Also supportive, Goldman Sachs said on Thursday that demand from China, the world's biggest oil importer, continued to surge across the commodity complex, with oil demand topping 16 million barrels per day.

☆ Falling US gasoline stockpiles signal a repeat of last summer's high prices
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Shariq Khan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Companies Exxon Mobil Corp FollowMarch 22 (Reuters) - U.S. motorists face a repeat of last summer's high gasoline prices, analysts warned on Wednesday, with fuel stockpiles heading towards multi-year lows ahead of the peak summer driving season that begins in two months. Retail gasoline prices, now averaging $3.44 a gallon nationwide, hit a record $5.02 a gallon last June as crude oil prices jumped on Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the waning of COVID-19 travel curbs unleashed pent up travel demand. Vehicle travel in the U.S. started the year 5.6% higher than last year, leading to a drop in gasoline stockpiles for five straight weeks. Rising travel coupled with declining inventories could lift retail prices again this year, said Yawger, with last summer's $5 a gallon a possibility again. When fully operating this month, it will be able to process 250,000 additional barrels of crude daily into gasoline and diesel.

Very little green hydrogen, or hydrogen produced from green energy sources, exists today, as most current hydrogen is made using natural gas, and known as blue hydrogen. But several firms have committed to scaling up green hydrogen output over the coming decade, using solar or wind energy to power electrolysers that will split water into its constituent parts, hydrogen and oxygen. In turn, that should drive the cost of renewable-powered electrolysis below that of other forms of hydrogen production, and allow for a rapid global surge in green hydrogen output. FEASIBLE FUTUREWhile industry analysts can see a viable path to greater hydrogen supply, it is less clear how the demand side pans out. Such businesses are more likely to receive government support for energy system overhauls than factories due to their importance to the local and international economy.

NEW DELHI, March 20 (Reuters) - India plans to extend restrictions on the export of diesel and gasoline after the current fiscal year ends this month to ensure the availability of refined fuels for the domestic market, two government sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. That forced state refiners to fill the void and meet demand at home by selling fuels at government-capped lower prices. "We would like to extend it ... we want private companies to sell diesel and petrol in the Indian market. Why should only state-run companies suffer when all Indian refiners are buying discounted Russian oil," the official said. Reporting by Nidhi Verma and Nikunj Ohri; Editing by Jacqueline WongOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

SYDNEY, March 20 (Reuters) - China still added more crude oil to inventories in the first two months of the year, despite lower imports and higher refinery processing rates. About 270,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude was added to commercial or strategic inventories over January and February, according to calculations based on official data. This was down from the 1.19 million bpd in December and the 740,000 bpd for 2022 as a whole. The total volume of crude available from imports and domestic production in the first two months of the year was 14.63 million bpd, consisting of imports of 10.4 million bpd and local output of 4.23 million bpd. This equates to about 1.72 million bpd of exports, using the BP conversion factor of 8 barrels of product per tonne.

☆ Factbox: Russia's tighter energy ties with China since Ukraine war
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

In February 2022, China also agreed to buy up to 10 bcm of gas annually by around 2026 via a pipeline from Russia's far east island of Sakhalin. Russia's gas exports to China are still a small fraction of the record 177 bcm it delivered to Europe in 2018-19. Since the start of the Ukraine war in February 2022, volumes to Europe have shrunk, reaching about 62 bcm in 2022. - China's seaborne imports of Russian oil are set to hit a record in March as Chinese refiners take advantage of cheap prices as domestic fuel demand rebounds. - China has largely ignored the sanctions imposed by Western nations on seaborne Russian crude since Dec. 5.

☆ Escalating Demand for Soybean Oil Hits Possible Slowdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Bob Henderson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Soybeans are a source of meal used mostly for animal feed, as well as soybean oil. Farmers and refiners are worried that a nascent boom in the market for soybean oil is being stalled by a challenge from an unexpected source: the Environmental Protection Agency. Prices for soybean oil, a byproduct left over after crushing the beans for animal feed, soared to records last year owing to growing government incentives to make it into diesel fuel. Then, in December, the EPA proposed to mandate less use of biomass-based diesel through 2025 than many had expected, pruning the value of credits the agency issues to makers of biofuels. Soybean oil futures dropped more than 15% in the week after the announcement.

The rising spending on infrastructure and signs of less weakness in property investment are already showing up in China's iron ore imports. China's steel output also rose in the first two months of 2023, gaining 5.6% from the same period last year to reach 168.7 million tonnes. Rather, the data seems to be broadly supportive of a solid start to achieving China's stated economic growth target of 5% for 2023. It's likely that China's crude imports will accelerate from the second quarter onwards as the country continues to reopen after abandoning its strict zero-COVID policy. This would be up from February's 4.96 million tonnes and also above the 4.77 million from March last year.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) gained 98 cents, or 1.4%, to $72.31 a barrel. "The OPEC upgrade in Chinese oil demand outlook also lent support, though investors were still concerned over a cascading financial crisis after the recent collapse of U.S. banks," he said, noting that whether WTI can stay above $70 a barrel is being closely watched. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC on Tuesday further raised its forecast for Chinese oil demand growth in 2023 due to the relaxation of the country's COVID-19 curbs, although it left total global demand steady, citing potential downside risks for world growth. China's demand recovery is bullish for oil prices, said Stefano Grasso, a senior portfolio manager at 8VantEdge in Singapore. U.S. crude oil inventories rose by about 1.2 million barrels in the week ended March 10, in line with a Reuters poll, while fuel stockpiles fell, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday.

☆ U.S. Crude Slips Below $70 a Barrel
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( David Uberti | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Crude-oil prices have tumbled since the collapses of two banks sent tremors through financial markets. A dayslong selloff in oil dragged crude prices to 15-month lows Wednesday, intensified by new fears that banking-sector turmoil signals broader challenges ahead for the world’s largest economy. Oil prices have tumbled in the sessions since the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank sent tremors throughout financial markets, pushing investors in recent days to unload risky assets and powering a historic rally in safer government bonds. Energy stocks also lost 5.9% Wednesday, making the sector the S&P 500’s worst performer, with shares of international oil majors, refiners, Texas wildcatters, oil-field services firms, rig owners, Appalachian gas producers, coal miners, crude shippers and pipeline operators all sliding.

TOKYO, March 15 (Reuters) - Oil prices rebounded more than 1% on Wednesday, recovering from the previous day's plunge, as a stronger OPEC outlook on China's demand helped offset bearish global investor sentiment in the wake of the recent U.S. bank failures. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC on Tuesday further raised its forecast for Chinese oil demand growth in 2023 due to the relaxation of the country's COVID-19 curbs, although it left the global demand total steady, citing potential downside risks for world growth. China's demand recovery is bullish for oil prices, said Stefano Grasso, a senior portfolio manager at 8VantEdge in Singapore. "The consensus is that the oil supply-demand balance will tighten in the second half, driven by China rebound, unless a severe global recession hits," he added. Meanwhile, U.S. crude oil inventories rose by about 1.2 million barrels in the week ended March 10, in line with a Reuters poll, while fuel stockpiles fell, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday.

☆ India using SWIFT global payment system to settle Russia dollar trade - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Shivangi Acharya | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW DELHI, March 15 (Reuters) - Indian companies are using the SWIFT global payment system to settle dollar payments with Russia, a top trade official said on Wednesday, even though many Russian banks are blocked from the network due to Western sanctions. The West blocked access to SWIFT for several Russian banks, including Sberbank and VTB, soon after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February last year to target Russian trade, making it harder for Russian companies to do business. “We are using SWIFT for dollar payments," the official, who did not want to be named, said, when asked about the payment gateway being used for Russian payments. The official did not give more details about the banks that Indian traders were using to make the dollar payments. India has been using varied currencies to settle trade with Russia since the war in February last year.

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