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China, Russia's top oil buyer, has not agreed to the price cap. The light sweet crude is favoured by Chinese refiners due to their proximity and the oil's high middle-distillates yield. At current Brent levels, the $6 discount implies a price of $68 a barrel including freight and insurance costs. "They (independent plants) don't really care about the price cap. With the price cap in place, China, India and Turkey could have more bargaining power, the analysts added.

Crude inventories (USOILC=ECI) fell by 5.2 million barrels in the week to Dec. 2 to 413.9 million barrels, a decline that far exceeded analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 3.3 million-barrel drop. Meanwhile, U.S. crude production rose to 12.2 million barrels per day, highest since August. Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub (USOICC=ECI) fell by 373,000 barrels in the last week, EIA said. Refinery crude runs (USOICR=ECI) fell by 53,000 barrels per day in the last week, EIA said. Net U.S. crude imports (USOICI=ECI) rose by 1.49 million barrels per day, EIA said.

☆ Explainer: Europe set to import banned Russian diesel without knowing
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Rowena Edwards | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The European Union banned Russian crude imports from Dec. 5 and will ban Russian oil products from Feb. 5, as it attempts to deprive Russia of oil revenues. Blending Russian diesel elsewhere with a non-Russian equivalent would not change its origin, while refining Russian Urals crude into diesel elsewhere would. Russian diesel is likely to be delivered to and re-exported from countries such as India and Turkey, market sources said. Europe has already started to replace Russian diesel imports with refined product from the Middle East, but analysts also expect India to refine more Urals and increase diesel exports to Europe. Many of the larger oil companies, including BP (BP.L) and Shell have self-imposed sanctions on Russian oil and oil products.

☆ EU sanctions, Russian oil price cap cause tanker bottleneck as crude moves through Turkey
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Lori Ann Larocco | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Buddhika Weerasinghe | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesNew Turkish insurance rules on oil tankers carrying Russian crude continue to slow down the movement of tankers off the coast of Turkey and between Russia's Black Sea ports and the Mediterranean. Sixteen vessels (none Russian-flagged) are waiting for insurance clearance, according to MarineTraffic, and that number is expected to grow. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards"The majority of crude is going to Turkey, followed by Greece, Italy, and India," Ashiq said. Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates, tells CNBC that concerns about the age and quality of the shadow fleet carrying Russian crude oil through the Bosphorus will only grow. "As the EU sanctions take hold, these transit delays will impact Chinese and Indian refiners who remain the largest and grow in importance for Russian oil sales," Lipow said.

☆ Russia has 3 oil moves reportedly in mind to hit back at the G7 price cap: a sales ban, a minimum price and maximum discounts
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Zahra Tayeb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Russia could strike back at the G7 price cap in three different ways, according to reports. G7 member countries hit Russia this week with the oil price ceiling in response to Moscow's unprecedented invasion of Ukraine. Under the measure, refiners, traders, and financers won't be allowed to handle Russian oil unless it was traded below the set price. A minimum price essentially means Russia would set a price floor for its crude, two officials familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. Per Reuters, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said that any measures in response to the price cap will come into effect by the end of the year.

☆ China is snapping up Russian oil at the steepest discount in months as EU scrambles to keep a lid on Moscow's energy income
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Jennifer Sor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

China is purchasing Russian crude at the steepest discounts in months, Reuters reported. "They don't really care about the price cap. While China has said it won't abide by the price cap on Russian oil that the G7 and EU imposed, it could give Moscow's customers more bargaining power in oil deals, according to analysts from Rystad Energy in a recent note. But for now, sources told Reuters that China-Russia oil traders were doing business as usual. "They don't really care about the price cap.

The meeting between the global economic powerhouse and Gulf energy giant comes as Saudi ties with Washington are strained by U.S. criticism of Riyadh's human rights record and Saudi support for oil output curbs before the November midterm elections. China, the world's biggest energy consumer, is a major trade partner of Gulf oil and gas producers. Saudi Arabia is its top oil supplier and state-run Saudi Aramco has annual supply deals with half a dozen Chinese refiners. While economic ties remain anchored by energy interests, bilateral ties have expanded under the Gulf's infrastructure and technology push, part of diversification plans that have gained importance as the world turns away from fossil fuels. Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies have said they would continue to expand partnerships to serve economic and security interests, despite U.S. reservations about their ties with both Russia and China.

☆ Gulf states, looking East, to reinforce economic ties with China as Xi visits Saudi
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Rachna Uppal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Saudi Arabia is China's top oil supplier, making up 18% of China's total crude oil purchases, and state-run Saudi Aramco has annual supply deals with half a dozen Chinese refiners. Outside energy, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states provide markets for Chinese goods, construction contracts and investment opportunities in infrastructure, manufacturing and digital economies that fit Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative. Saudi Arabia and the UAE are also investing in future technologies as a pillar of economic diversification, which has gained impetus in a global transition away from fossil fuels. Online giant Alibaba has partnered with STC Group for cloud services in Saudi Arabia. BALANCING ACTHow Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states handle both Chinese and Western supply chains in sensitive areas like critical national infrastructure is likely to remain a point of friction with key security partner the United States, analysts say.

☆ California Lawmakers to Consider Penalties on Oil Companies to Fight High Gas Prices
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Christine Mai-Duc | Benoît Morenne | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said his proposal’s main goal was to deter oil companies from setting artificially high prices. California legislators opened a special session Monday to explore the possibility of levying penalties on the oil industry for what Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has called price-gouging of consumers. Mr. Newsom declined to provide specific thresholds, saying the details were yet to be worked out with lawmakers.

Saudi crude is mainly sold under long-term contracts, but these usually contain clauses that allow for variations in volumes delivered, either at Aramco's behest or the request of the clients. This dynamic can be seen in China this year, with the world's biggest crude importer dropping imports from Saudi in November, but boosting those from Russia and Angola. China imported 1.72 million barrels per day (bpd) from Saudi Arabia in November, down from 1.87 million bpd in October, according to data compiled by Refinitiv Oil Research. However, China's imports from Russia rose to 1.90 million bpd in November from October's 1.82 million bpd, while those from Angola jumped to 680,000 bpd from 480,000 bpd the prior month. Russian crude will have to be offered at a discount, possible to the point where the $60 a barrel price cap becomes irrelevant.

☆ Factbox: Saudi-China energy, trade and investment ties
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Below are some details about oil, trade and security relations between China and Saudi Arabia. OIL TRADEChina is Saudi Arabia's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade worth $87.3 billion in 2021. Chinese exports to Saudi Arabia reached $30.3 billion, while China's imports from the kingdom totalled $57 billion. REFINERIESAramco in early 2022 made a final investment decision to build a $10 billion refinery, petrochemical complex in northeast China, marking its single largest investment in China. Named Huajin Aramco Petrochemical Company, the joint venture groups Aramco, Huajin Chemical Industries Group Corporation (000059.SZ) -- a unit of defence conglomerate Norinco-- and Panjin Xincheng Industrial Group.

☆ HF Sinclair sinks after forecasting higher capital spend for 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 2 (Reuters) - Shares of HF Sinclair Corp (DINO.N) fell over 6% on Friday after the U.S. refiner forecast capital expenditure of $940 million to $1.15 billion for fiscal 2023, including its transportation business Holly Energy Partners (HEP.N). Shares fell to $57.38 in afternoon trading, their lowest level in six weeks and worst day in ten. Turnarounds made up a bulk of HF Sinclair's expected costs for next year, at $530 million to $630 million. HF Sinclair was formed as a parent company after HollyFrontier Corp bought almost all of Sinclair Oil Corp's assets for $2.6 billion. Other refiners Phillips 66 (PSX.N), Marathon Petroleum Corp (MPC.N), Valero Energy Corp (VLO.N) and PBF Energy Inc (PBF.N) were down 2%-6%.

☆ Biden EPA Proposes to Bump Share of Renewable Fuels in Blended Gasoline
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Benoît Morenne | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday issued a draft proposal that would force oil refiners to use more biofuel to blend with their products. The proposal sets the volumes of renewable fuel that refiners are required to blend with transportation fuel under federal standards to 20.82 billion gallons in 2023 up from 20.63 billion gallons in 2022, an amount that would gradually rise to reach 22.68 billion gallons in 2025.

☆ China is buying Russian oil at a bigger discount using yuan as price cap looms, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Chinese oil refiners have bought Russian oil cargoes at steeper discounts than just weeks ago, according to Bloomberg. Price cap talks remain underway but the deadline is meant to be December 5. The purchases come ahead of the December 5 start date for a Russian oil price cap as well as the European Union's ban on seaborne Russian crude imports. The Treasury Department has said that ships with Russian crude loaded before December 5 and unloaded at their destination before January 19 wouldn't be subject to the price cap. Meanwhile, talks among EU nations on the exact level of the price cap are ongoing.

"I remember reading a book once called, 'Sacred Cows Make the Best Burgers,'" Poirier said at the company's investor day. Calgary, Alberta-based TC is widely known for its Keystone oil pipeline, a critical artery for moving Canadian oil to U.S. refiners that dominated headlines over the past decade for an expansion that ultimately failed. Keystone could fetch TC C$12.8 billion, said CIBC analyst Robert Catellier in a note. He added that reducing TC's oil exposure would help it reach its emissions-reduction goals. TC's stake in the Millennium natural gas pipeline in New York state is another logical sale candidate and could fetch $1 billion, said Scotiabank analyst Robert Hope.

The Biden administration last week authorized Chevron to expand operations in Venezuela and resume taking prized heavy crude to the United States. Valero Energy Corp (VLO.N), PBF Energy (PBF.N) and Citgo Petroleum have shown interest in getting access to the oil Chevron is expecting in coming weeks, according to the people. No Venezuelan oil officially has been allocated to Chevron yet and no chartering contracts have been signed to transport cargoes to the United States, according to Venezuelan export schedules and Refinitiv freight data. Valero, PBF and other U.S. independent refiners would not need any new authorization to buy Venezuelan oil from Chevron. The primary effect will be to allow some Venezuelan oil to flow back to the United States, "which will help the U.S. refining system," Wirth said.

☆ More finance needed for Africa's energy transition opportunities
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Bate Felix | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

DAKAR, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Africa's transition to cleaner fuels and power generation presents investors with opportunities across the value chain, but more direct financing is needed on projects, the head of a South African independent power producer, said on Thursday. The South African government has unveiled a five-year $84 billion transition plan to cut carbon emissions and harness other economic opportunities from the energy transition. "We want to build an African energy champion based on clean energy. POOL OF CAPITALHowever, a key question that remains to be answered on African's energy transition and its capacity to adapt to the impact of climate change, is that of finance. Anibor Kragha, executive secretary of the African Refiners and Distributors Association, acknowledged that projects on the continent were struggling to tap available finance for energy transition.

The EPA is expected to announce multiple years of renewable fuel obligations, Reuters has previously reported. The agency is also expected to include in the announcement a request for comment for provisions regarding electricity use under the law, the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), the sources said. Under the RFS, oil refiners are required to blend billions of gallons of biofuels into the nation's fuel mix, or buy tradeable credits from those that do. Reuters previously reported that the EPA is expected to propose that electric vehicles be eligible for renewable fuel credits, according to sources. Earlier this year, the EPA set biofuel blending mandates for 2022 at 20.63 billion gallons and retroactive volume mandates for 2021 at 18.84 billion gallons and for 2020 at 17.13 billion gallons.

The United States on Saturday granted Chevron a six-month license to operate in Venezuela, reinstating oil trading privileges it had, while preventing exchanges of cash and requiring the crude cargoes go to U.S. refiners. Executives at Venezuelan state firm PDVSA initially welcomed the authorization for a partial return to the United States, once the country's most important market. In addition, European oil companies Eni (ENI.MI) and Repsol won U.S. approvals to take Venezuelan crude for debt repayment. Chevron's Venezuelan oil cargoes face potential seizures by creditors that have arbitration claims and court judgments, said trading experts and lawyers. Washington placed tight reins on the oil imports to win support from a Congress skeptical of deals with Maduro.

[1/4] A view of a construction site where concrete pouring work is suspended due to a nationwide strike by truckers in Seoul, South Korea November 25, 2022. "We need to establish a rule of law between labour and management," Yoon said on Monday, according to the presidential office. Yoon will personally preside over a cabinet meeting on Tuesday which will consider a 'work force order' demanding striking truckers return to their jobs, his office said. According to South Korean law, during a serious disruption to transport the government may issue an order to force transport workers back to their jobs. While stations secured inventory before the strike, about 80% of truckers for major refiners such as SK Innovation's (096770.KS) SK Energy and S-Oil Corp (010950.KS) are striking union members.

NEW YORK, Nov 28 (Reuters) - The global oil market is signaling a potential shift, as traders and analysts worry about reduced crude demand and an oversupplied market in the coming months. On Dec. 5, a European Union ban on Russian crude imports is set to start, along with a plan by the G7 nations to force shippers to comply with a price cap on Russian oil sales. In the last week, crude futures contracts have flipped in and out of contango, where the prompt price of a commodity is lower than the future price, which suggests short-term weakness. Offers of Angolan and other West African crude oil to China, a main customer, are a barometer of physical crude demand from the country. In addition, European refiners have found themselves oversupplied with crude as an expected shortage owing to the looming EU ban on Russian oil has yet to materialise.

POLITICAL TALKSFollowing oil sanctions on Venezuela in 2019, Chevron received an exemption to trade its Venezuelan crude to recoup pending debts. Chevron's four PDVSA joint ventures produced about 200,000 barrels per day of crude oil and exported the crude around the world prior to the sanctions. It also allows the U.S. company to import supplies to help process the country's crude oil into exportable grades. That limits any wider expansion of Venezuelan oil production. Chevron and other U.S. oil refiners could benefit from supplies of Venezuela's heavy crude flowing to their U.S. Gulf Coast processing plants.

The decision allows Chevron to revive existing oil projects in the U.S.-sanctioned country and bring new oil supplies to refiners in the United States. However, it restricts cash payments to Venezuela, which could reduce the amount of oil available to Chevron. License terms are designed to prevent Venezuelan state-run oil firm PDVSA from receiving proceeds from Chevron's Venezuelan petroleum sales, U.S. officials said. A Chevron spokesperson said the company was reviewing the license terms and declined immediate comment. Proceeds due Venezuela from Chevron's oil sales would go into a humanitarian fund rather than to PDVSA.

And a freight rail strike could cost the US economy $1 billion in its first week alone, according to a new analysis from the Anderson Economic Group. But that’s nothing compared to what would happen with a prolonged rail strike. CommutingOnly the nation’s freight rail lines face a pending strike, but commuters would likely be affected, too. Many commuter trains travel on tracks maintained and operated by the freight railroads and passenger railroads expect they’ll have to shut down their operations once the freight strike starts. Many commuter railroads also move over freight rail lines and could not operate if a strike was called.

☆ BP wins contract to market Guyana's share of oil production
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Lee SmithNov 25 (Reuters) - BP Plc (BP.L) will market Guyana's share of crude oil produced over the next year from two offshore production platforms, the South American country's Ministry of Natural Resources said. The London-based oil company agreed to market the state's share produced from the Liza Destiny and Liza Unity platforms at no charge per barrel, according to a ministry statement on Thursday. Through mid-year, Guyana's share of oil production from the consortium composed of Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), CNOOC Ltd (0883.HK) and Hess Corp (HES.N) was worth $307 million. The group markets two crudes: a medium to light sweet oil called Liza, and an even lighter grade called Unity Gold. BP will market crude to refiners, provide benchmark and performance comparisons, and help the government understand the behavior and yields of the Liza blend, the ministry said.

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