Tagged Posts for Crude
New War Risk Insurance Premiums Expected for Middle East Gulf by March 7
Following an escalation of tensions in the Middle East Gulf, insurance underwriters are expected to issue new war risk premiums by March 7, a shipping management firm informed OPIS on Thursday. Read More
South Korea Gets Ready to Tap Internal Oil Reserves Amid Iran Crisis
South Korea is prepared to release oil from its strategic reserves and supply stored petroleum to the domestic market if the ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues and depletes private inventories, said the government in an urgent meeting to discuss the situation. Read More
Freight, Oil Volatility Pressure Asia’s rPET Market Amid Mideast Tensions
Asia’s recycled polyethylene terephthalate or rPET market is beginning to feel the ripple effects of escalating Middle East tensions, with participants pointing to rising crude prices, freight disruptions and shifting procurement strategies as key emerging risks. Read More
OPEC+ Members Agree to Increase Oil Output by Higher-than-Expected 206,000 b/d
OPEC+ member countries on Sunday said they would increase production by 206,000 b/d starting in April. Read More
European Oil Prices, Tanker Freight Rates Climb Amid US, Israel Strikes on Iran
Refined oil prices and tanker freight rates for shipping refined products into Europe from the Middle East started to climb on the last trading day of February ahead of the U.S. and Israel launching an offensive against Iran, an analyst told OPIS Sunday. Read More
Hormuz Shipping Risk Emerges as Main Market Threat After Iran Strikes: Analysts
The potential for maritime disruption in the Strait of Hormuz to trigger broad economic fallout across global trade networks is now the central focus for markets following Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iran, according to Abhi Rajendran, fellow at the Center for Energy Studies at Rice University's Baker Institute. Read More
Risk of Oil Supply Disruption ‘Significantly Heightened’ Following Strikes Against Iran: Lipow Oil Associates
Crude prices appear poised to jump when trading reopens Sunday evening after joint U.S. and Israel strikes against Iran, raising the risk of a broader supply shock in the Middle East, said Andy Lipow, President of Houston-based Lipow Oil Associates. Read More
Oil Prices Inch Higher After US and Israel Strike Iran
Oil prices were firmer early Saturday following reports that the US and Israel launched pre-emptive strikes against Iran, escalating tensions in the Middle East, according to the Wall Street Journal. Read More
EU Resumes Imports of Indian Diesel After Sanction Hiatus
The European Union has received its first cargo of Indian diesel after a six-week hiatus that coincided with the implementation of a ban on oil products based on Russian crude. Read More
Cuba Fuel Shortage Puts Mexican Government in an ‘Impossible Situation’: Analyst
The Mexican government is facing an "impossible position" on Cuba as it is limited to sending humanitarian aid to the Caribbean country, while being unable to resume crude oil or fuel exports to an island running critically low on both, according to Ricardo Torres, a research fellow at American University. Read More
HF Sinclair Hopeful on Western Pipeline Project, Forms Branded Marketing JV
HF Sinclair officials on Wednesday said the company is continuing to evaluate a refined product pipeline expansion that will allow it to serve U.S. West Coast markets and announced a fuel-distribution joint venture that would supply fuel from its refineries. Read More
Naphtha Gains Most From Lifting of Sanctions on Venezuelan Crude Oil
On Jan. 5, the U.S. launched an operation to take the then Venezuelan President, Nicolas Maduro, into custody. It also began to exert greater control over Venezuela's energy sector, lifting sanctions on crude oil and refined product exports it imposed in 2019. Read More
California Law Opens Pathway for New Kern Drilling as Refinery Capacity Declines
In less than six weeks, California's oil and gas permitting has already outpaced the entirety of 2025. Read More
Marathon Invests in New Projects to Boost Margins on Rosy Refining Outlook
Marathon Petroleum is investing in three new projects at its 638,000 b/d Garyville, La., and 140,000 b/d El Paso, Texas, facilities with an aim to increase margins and fuel production on the back of a bullish refining outlook, Chief Executive Maryann Mannen said on Tuesday. Read More
Mexico’s Dos Bocas Emerges as Pemex’s Top Refinery in December
Pemex's 340,000 b/d Dos Bocas refinery became the Mexican state-owned oil company best-performing plant in December, processing 263,402 b/d of crude, its highest output since it began running crude in 2024. Read More
European Carbon Allowances Eyed as Finance Tools Amid Rising Prices
European industrial operators have used free carbon allowances for financing purposes such as repurchasing agreements and as collateral for loans, and experts familiar with the deals say that rising carbon prices could encourage such practices. Free carbon allowances are handed to big emitters in several industrial sectors subject to the EU and UK emissions trading systems (ETSs) to stop operators from being at a competitive disadvantage to imports from countries without carbon prices. But an investigation by OPIS shows that such allowances are being used for wider financing purposes. Read More
Previously Scheduled Turnaround to Mark Start of Benicia Shutdown
A previously scheduled turnaround at Valero's 150,000 b/d Benicia refinery may mark the beginning of the end of refining operations at the Northern California facility, according to city officials and West Coast trading participants. Read More
US Gulf Coast Refining Outlook Remains Bright for Coming Years, RBN Analysis Concludes
The need for refining capacity in the U.S. Gulf Coast region is expected to grow by 400,000 b/d over the next two decades, while other regions of the country will most likely see the need to reduce capacity or see it remain flat, according to an analysis by RBN Energy released Friday. Read More
Phillips 66 CEO Says Venezuelan Heavy Crude Imports to Gulf Coast Could Reshape Market
Phillips 66 said the return of Venezuelan heavy crude to the U.S. Gulf Coast could reshape North American heavy crude flows and compete with Western Canadian Select oil in the near term. Read More
Sheinbaum Says Mexico Will Remain Key Fuel Supplier to Cuba As Venezuela Exports Decline
Mexico will continue to send crude oil and gasoline to Cuba, President Claudia Sheinbaum said Wednesday, after Venezuelan energy exports to the island nation were curtailed by U.S. sanctions and actions and may be halted. Read More
PBF Energy Says it Plans to Conduct Turnaround Work at Most of its Refineries in 2026
PBF Energy is planning turnaround work at nearly all of its refineries this year and expects plant outages in the first, second and fourth quarters. Read More
2026 Preview: Dangote, Dos Bocas Impacts Eyed in Gulf Coast Gasoline Market
U.S. Gulf Coast gasoline market participants say their key focuses in the new year will be the potential effects of increased production from Nigeria's 650,000 b/d Dangote and Mexico's 340,000 b/d Dos Bocas refineries. Read More
Oil Surplus Outlook, Uncertain Geopolitics Led OPEC+ to Pause Hikes: Rystad
A looming global crude oil surplus, uncertainties over U.S. policies toward Venezuela and the continuing war between Ukraine and Russia led OPEC and allied producers to pause further production increases in the first quarter of 2026, analyst Rystad Energy said Sunday. Read More
Oil Markets on Edge as Sanctions Against Lukoil, Rosneft Kick In
U.S. sanctions on Lukoil and Rosneft entered into force on Friday, potentially reducing Russia's ability to export crude oil and refined products into global markets even further. Read More
Oneok Reports Third Quarter Refined Product Shipments Increased 1-3% from Q2
Oneok on Wednesday reported its third quarter financial results, which showed refined product shipments in the quarter were up by about 1-3% from quarter two. Read More
Phoenix to Receive Half of Proposed Product Pipeline’s Volumes: Phillips 66
Phillips 66 expects about half of the refined product volumes shipped on its proposed Western Gateway pipeline from the U.S. Midcontinent to Arizona and California would be shared equally by both states, Brian Mandell, the company's executive vice president for marketing and commercial said on Wednesday. Read More
As Reliance on Imported Gasoline Rises, California Adapts to a ‘New World’
California's gasoline imports over the first 10 months of 2025 have already exceeded totals for any year since at least 2004, according to Energy Information Administration data. Read More
China to Levy Retaliatory Special Port Fees on US Vessels
China's Ministry of Transport said Friday it will begin imposing special port service fees on U.S.-owned and -operated vessels calling at Chinese ports starting Oct. 14 in response to a similar move by the U.S. Read More
US-Mexico Energy Trade Drops 21% in 2024 as Crude Imports Decline
The value of energy trade between the U.S. and Mexico in 2024 dropped to its lowest level since 2020 amid falling fuel prices and reduced Mexican oil output, according to a recent report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration using data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Read More
Judge Says Biden Exceeded His Authority With Offshore Drilling Ban
A federal judge has reversed a last-minute effort by former President Joe Biden to permanently ban drilling off several sections of the U.S. coast. Read More
Russia’s Diesel Exports Plunge Amid Ukrainian Attacks on Refineries
Russia’s diesel exports plummeted in September to an eight-year low for the month as a recent wave of Ukrainian drone attacks has significantly disrupted the country’s refining system. Read More
OPIS Forum: Energy Transition is about Diversification, Not a Linear Shift
The simultaneous rise in consumption of both fossil fuels and renewables is making energy transition less a simple phase-out of traditional fuels and more an expansion of power sources, with the process likely to take longer than expected, given varying stages of development across the world, said panelists at the OPIS Energy and Chemicals Forum on Wednesday. Read More
OPIS Forum: China’s Primary Energy Consumption Forecast to Grow at Slower Rate
China’s primary energy consumption is expected to maintain its growth momentum till around 2040, albeit at a decelerating pace, according to Sinopec Economics and Development Research Institute at the OPIS Energy and Chemicals Forum in Singapore on Wednesday. Read More
Oil Price to Fall Sharply in Coming Months on Stock Buildup, OPEC Hikes: EIA
The Energy Information Administration said on Tuesday it expects the price of crude oil to decline significantly in the coming months, weighed down by large oil inventory builds as OPEC and its allied members increase oil production. Read More
Will European Refinery Run Rises Boost Diesel Yields and Support Margins?
The International Energy Agency’s July Oil Market Report says that European refinery throughput in July 2025 is projected to be 11.3 million barrels/day, up from 11 million b/d in June and 10.9 million b/d in May. The IEA added “the current strong margin environment and rising crude supplies increase the chances that runs will surprise to the upside in the coming months.” Read More
OPEC+ Production August Increase Covered by Current Production
On July 5, the eight members of OPEC+—the grouping of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and ten other oil exporters—that agreed last December to an additional voluntary cut of 2.2 million barrels/day over a two-year period, announced the final stage of the unwinding of these cuts one year ahead of schedule by agreeing to a production increase of 548,000 b/d effective Aug 1. Read More
Insolvent UK Lindsey Refinery Continues to Operate but Closure Looms
The U.K. government confirmed that it is funding operations at the 113,000 b/d Lindsey refinery for the time being while it assesses options for the future of the site after owners Prax Group filed for insolvency. Read More