Turkey’s top oil refiner, Tupras, has resumed purchasing Russian Urals crude oil after a brief halt earlier this year prompted by U.S. sanctions on Moscow. According to trading sources and shipping data reviewed by Reuters, the company restarted imports following a drop in Urals prices below the G7’s price cap, …
Read More »German Refinery’s Plight Prompts Calls for Return of Russian Oil
No Russian oil has been delivered via the Druzhba pipeline to the PCK refinery in Germany in more than two years because of sanctions levied against Moscow following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. But with the plant in the town of Schwedt on the border with Poland struggling to adapt …
Read More »China’s Independent Refiners Boost Run Rates
Independent refineries in China, often called teapots, raised their run rates in March in a positive sign for oil demand from the world’s largest importer but worry remains about the immediate outlook. The average run rate for the independents last month was 46%, Reuters reported, citing figures from Chinese energy …
Read More »Indian Refiners Seek Alternatives to Russian Crude after Trump Tariff Threat
Indian oil refiners have started looking for alternative supplies of crude after President Trump threatened secondary sanctions on Russian energy exports if Moscow refuses to sign a ceasefire deal for the Ukraine. Bloomberg reported that companies such as Bharat Petroleum Corp. and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. were looking for oil cargoes …
Read More »Indian Refiner BPCL Seeks to Buy U.S. WTI Oil in Four Consecutive Months
India’s state-owned refiner Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) prepares to issue a tender to buy U.S. WTI crude in four consecutive months this summer, a source with knowledge of the plans told Reuters on Friday. Indian refiners are looking to boost U.S. crude imports to diversify purchases, as the availability …
Read More »Chinese CNOOC to Launch $2.7-Billion Upgraded Refinery Complex
State-controlled China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) is set to launch a refinery and petrochemicals complex later this year, following a $2.74-billion upgrade, Reuters reported on Tuesday, quoting industry sources. The upgraded joint venture complex on the Daxie Island in Ningbo will feature a 120,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) crude unit, which …
Read More »Gulf Refiners Shun Watery Pemex Crude
Refiners on the Gulf Coast are shunning crude oil cargos from Mexico that feature an excessively high water content that makes the feedstock unfit for the production of gasoline and diesel fuel, Bloomberg has reported. Instead, refiners are buying more Colombian and Canadian crude, or asking for discounts on the …
Read More »Chinese Refiners Slash Run Rates as Sanctions Cripple Russian Crude Supply
China’s independent refiners have slashed their processing rates to the lowest level in nearly five years as costs to procure crude soared amid dwindling Russian supply following the latest U.S. sanctions. Crude supply became more expensive for the private Chinese refiners, concentrated in the Shandong province, and dragged refining margins …
Read More »Refinery Throughput at Sinopec Dipped in 2024 amid Weaker Chinese Demand
China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec, saw its refinery throughput drop by 2.03% in 2024 from a year earlier, the biggest Chinese refiner said on Friday. Sinopec’s refinery throughput fell to 252.3 million tons last year, amid an overall decline in Chinese crude processing rates, for the first time …
Read More »Chinese Refiners Scramble for Oil as Russian Sanctions Bite
For much of the past year, oil traders were desperate to find a bullish thesis. Now, in the span of just a few weeks, they have two. On one hand, amid mounting fears of a supply and inventory glut, Biden’s parting gift of accelerated sanctions against Russian oil exporters and …
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