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Sources say that Kazakhstan has not yet delivered oil output and CPC blend export cuts in March.
Five industry sources claim that Kazakhstan has not yet delivered its CPC Blend oil exports through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, its main exporting route. Almasadam Satkaliyev, the country's energy minister, said that the country was in talks with oil companies to get the supply in line with the targets set by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+). Alibek Zhamauov, deputy energy minister of Kazakhstan, said that the country will aim to reach its OPEC+ production quota in March which is about 1.5 million barrels a day. Calculations based on data from the two sources indicated that this would result in a reduction of production by about 400,000 bpd and CPC shipments as a result. Two sources reported that the oil and gas condensate produced in Kazakhstan reached 2.18 million barrels per day (bpd) on 10 March, which included 1.9 million barrels per day of crude. According to two industry sources, the average oil and gas condensate production in Kazakhstan was 2.12 million bpd. Five industry sources reported that Kazakh oil exports via CPC were on track with the initial load plan of 6.7 millions metric tons for the month of March, as of Tuesday. CPC hasn't made any cuts to the shipments so far, according to a source. A source from a Western major active in the CPC Blend Market said that there were no cancellations reported for cargoes loaded in March. The cargoes sold in March had been sold several weeks earlier. Two sources have said that Kazakhstan could possibly reduce its oil production and CPC blend exports in the second half the month. (Reporting and editing by Kiro Donovan).
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France's InVivo is looking for Ukraine silos to trade grain after the war
InVivo, a French agricultural firm, is interested in purchasing silos at the Ukrainian port of Odesa to boost its global trading and to focus on its cereal business. Odesa, a Black Sea port in the Odesa area, is one of the largest grain exporters in the world despite the massive destruction caused by the Russian invasion. InVivo CEO Thierry Blancninieres stated that InVivo is one of Europe's largest grains firms after its acquisition of French counterpart Soufflet 2021. It wants to invest in Ukraine in order to create a base of supply to compete with global merchants from the Middle East and China. Blandinieres stated in an interview that "we may consider purchasing port silos to develop a more appealing supply chain for cereals through Odesa." He said that the group could build silos, but it would prefer to buy existing facilities. InVivo expects to work with lenders such as the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) to fund deals in Ukraine once reconstruction efforts start, said Mr. Addison. He said that silos were being built on farms and land deals had been made, which suggested preparations for an after-war future. InVivo is already active in Ukraine, where it produces malt, supplies farm products and trades. InVivo, a grain trading company controlled by 167 French cooperatives, has opened offices in Saudi Arabia and other countries outside Europe to support its efforts at diversification. Blandinieres added that sourcing from outside France helped InVivo deal with the disastrous French harvest of last year. InVivo wants to increase sales in Saudi Arabia, and to regain a foothold on the Egyptian market, where French wheat is losing out to Russian and other Black Sea origins. InVivo has been focusing on grain-related business, as demonstrated by the sale of Bioline AgroSciences, to investors led Eurazeo. This transaction generated 70-75 millions euros. A downturn in France may force the group to sell its Cordier wine business. Blandinieres stated that the priority of the future will be wheat and barley in all countries and cereal processing. Soufflet malt is one of the largest producers of barley-based ingredients for beer and whiskey in the world. The unit announced on Friday a 100-million euro investment with Heineken to build a Malt Factory in South Africa.
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ConocoPhillips: US and Europe should coordinate methane
ConocoPhillips' CEO Ryan Lance stated on Tuesday that Europe and the United States should coordinate their regulations regarding methane. Methane is a powerful greenhouse-gas. He said that the European Union, and the U.S. were interpreting rules differently. "Europe is trying to achieve a different goal than the U.S." This creates many problems. The U.S. as well as Europe have both developed regulations to force oil-and-gas producers to reduce emissions of methane. Methane is the second most common greenhouse gas, after carbon dioxide, and it tends to leak undetected into the atmosphere from drilling sites, gas pipelines, and other oil-and gas infrastructure. The U.S. is a major supplier of natural gas liquefied to Europe, so it's important that the regulations are coordinated. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, European countries began to reduce their dependency on Russian energy sources and look for other sources. Last month, the U.S. Senate voted to overturn the proposed fee for methane emission developed by the former president Joe Biden's government. There is also a possibility that the Trump administration may seek to reverse the other aspects of US methane regulation from the Biden era. (Reporting and writing by Sheila Dang, editing by Deepa Babyington)
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CERAWEEK - Cairn India seeking JV partner to increase oil production
Cairn India's head for exploration stated on Tuesday that the company is working with a joint-venture partner to increase oil production from India to 500,000 barrels a day, up from 100,000 barrels a day. Sam Algar said that deepwater opportunities would allow the company to easily achieve this goal. He also called for additional partnerships. Algar, India's largest oil and gas exploration company, said that the company plans to drill deepwater exploration wells in the next year. It will then develop them rapidly to meet India's increasing demand. Four wells are being drilled in the block, and they are all discoveries. He said that he hoped to bring the wells online by 2028. "That would put us half way towards the 500,000 bpd goal," he added. Algar stated that the company would also drill its first exploratory well for shale in Rajasthan, northwestern India where it already operates in a few months. He said that the shale gas well would go down approximately 5,000 meters (16.404 ft), and was adjacent to a natural gas pipeline. He said that if the shale project does not go online soon, the company will focus on deepwater projects, and they can be brought online by 2028. The company is also aiming to reach 500,000 bpd in five years. Algar said that Cairn had secured a drilling rig for shale for a period of twelve months.
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Humber ports resume shipping operations after North Sea collision, movement affected
The shipping operations in commercial ports of Britain's Humber Estuary resumed on Tuesday, with no special precautions in place after a collision that occurred in the North Sea. However, the incident still affected movements into and out the ports. A spokesperson for ABP said that the four ports controlled by Associated British Ports – Hull, Immingham Goole and Grimsby – had allowed vessels to enter and exit since Monday night following the collision of a container vessel with a fuel tanker at sea. She did not provide any further details. During the immediate response to the North Sea incident, which happened just off the northeastern coast near the Humber Estuary on Monday, some shipping was suspended at Humber Ports. According to the ABP, Immingham is Britain's largest port in terms of tonnage. It handles around 46 million tons per year. (Reporting and editing by Peter Graff. Robert Harvey)
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Traders say Iran's SLAL has tenders for corn and barley, as well as soymeal.
European traders reported on Tuesday that the Iranian state-owned animal food importer SLAL had issued international tenders for up to 120,000 metric tonnes of animal feed barley, 120,000 metric ton of feed corn and 120,000 metric ton of soymeal. They said that the deadline for price proposals is March 12. The new tenders are viewed by traders as an indication that Iran did not make significant purchases during its previous tenders, which were closed on 26 February, for corn, barley, and soymeal. All grain must be shipped in April and may. You can source corn from Brazil, Europe or other countries in the Black Sea Region, including Turkey. Barley is available from many sources, including the European Union (EU), Russia, Ukraine, or other countries in the Black Sea Region, such as Turkey and Kazakhstan. Soymeal is only available in Brazil and Argentina. Traders said that the Western sanctions on Iran had caused payment problems for Iranian companies, which made it difficult to participate in recent Iranian tenders. The West has not sanctioned food in Iran because of its nuclear program, but the sanctions have affected Iran's financial sector, causing complex and irregular payment arrangements. The traders said that Iran offered payment for all new tenders through two banks: one in Iraq, and another in Turkey. Iran offers payment in Euros. Iran has never used dollars to pay for grain. Michael Hogan, reporting; David Goodman, editing.
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Ukraine claims it has struck oil installations in Russia's Moscow and Oryol regions
Ukraine announced on Tuesday that it had hit an oil refinery in the vicinity of Moscow, as well as a facility located in Russia's Oryol Region which is part of Druzhba Pipeline System exporting oil into Europe. Hungarian Foreign minister Peter Szijjarto stated on Tuesday that crude oils were no longer being shipped via the Druzhba pipeline system after an attack by a Ukrainian drone on a metering facility. "Explosions...were...recorded...in the area of? The Steel Horse linear production dispatch (Oryol Region, Russia) manages the technological processes for Druzhba Oil Pipeline," Kyiv General Staff stated in a press release. The facility is "an important component of supplying oil to Ust-Luga Seaport in Leningrad Region". Russian officials announced on Tuesday that Ukraine launched its largest drone attack ever on Moscow. At least three people were killed and the four airports of the Russian capital were briefly shut down. The Druzhba Pipeline, which transports Russian crude oil through Belarus, Ukraine and Hungary to Hungary and Slovakia. Reporting by Olena Hartmash, Editing by Andrew Heavens, Peter Graff
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Salvage crews arrive at the scene of a jet fuel tanker crash near UK
Salvage crews headed for a damaged tanker of jet fuel off the coast of England, on Tuesday. A day earlier it had been hit by a container vessel in an unsolved collision which has raised fears of an environmental catastrophe. The coastguard reported that both crews abandoned the ships after the accident and brought 36 people ashore. Rescue teams called off their search for a crew member of the Portuguese flagged container ship Solong on Monday. Stena Immaculate was at anchor and carrying jet fuel for the U.S. Military when the smaller Solong struck it, causing massive fires and explosions as well as releasing fuel in the sea. The aerial TV footage from Tuesday showed that the Stena Immaculate had a large hole in its hull and fire damage all along the vessel's length. However, the flames which engulfed it after the collision seemed to have died down. The Solong is not visible in this footage. Dutch marine company Boskalis was appointed to salvage the oil tanker. Four ships with foam and extinguishing agent were heading to the scene. The British government said that equipment to minimize pollution at sea such as spray dispersants and containment booms for oil spills were ready. According to the government, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and a group of environmentalists from East of England are assessing the potential environmental impact and monitoring the situation by air. ENVIRONMENTAL HARM The authorities and operators of the vessel have not yet explained how the accident happened or why the multiple safety systems aboard modern vessels failed in their attempts to prevent it. MarineTraffic, a maritime analytics site, reported that the 140 metre Solong was on its way to Rotterdam when it struck the 183 metre Stena Immaculate, anchored near Immingham in northeast England. British officials stated that the incident was not treated as an issue of national security and at this point, there were no signs of foul play. According to two maritime security sources, there were no signs of malicious activity or involvement in the incident. Crowley, the U.S. Logistics group that operated the vessel said Monday it is unclear how much jet fuel was spilled after at least one cargo tank was damaged. According to a report by maritime data provider Lloyd's List Intelligence, 15 containers of sodium-cyanide were found on board the Solong, a toxic chemical mainly used in gold mining. Also, an unknown amount of alcohol was also present. These cargoes may pollute the ocean, causing harm to large colonies of seabirds, such as puffins, gannets, and the fish that they feed on. The accident occurred in the early morning hours of Monday on a busy waterway. British rescue teams, including aircraft, lifeboats, and other vessels, were called to respond. The U.S., and Portuguese authorities are responsible for the overall investigation of the crash. Reporting by Phil Noble and Sarah Young; Writing by William James and Sarah Young; Editing by Paul Sandle, Bernadettebaum, and Bernadette Baudette Baum.
Panama Canal considers pipeline for gas transport with an eye towards Asian clients
Canal administrator Ricuarte Vaquez announced on Monday that the Panama Canal is looking into the construction of an LPG pipeline across the trade passage. Japan was identified as the top client for U.S.-sourced gas.
Why it's important
After a court decision last year, the canal, which is one of the busiest passages for maritime trade in the world, wants to diversify its operation. A drought has limited crossings, and officials plan to build a nearby reservoir.
Japan is the largest LPG consumer in the world, and uses the fuel both for domestic use and industrial purposes.
KEY QUOTE
Vasquez said after a press conference that "we're exploring the possibilities of rolling out an infrastructure with a capacity up to one million barrels per daily (bpd), however, the market is larger."
Vasquez stated that "meeting the growing demand for gas through Panama" is a top priority but also a complex task.
CONTEXT
The move is a response to the escalating tensions that have been sparked between the U.S.A. and Panama by U.S.President Donald Trump's claims regarding reclaiming of the Panama Canal.
Despite the pushback by Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino, who rebuffed Trump's claim, the U.S. president and officials have praised a recent deal, led by U.S. company BlackRock, to purchase the majority of the ports business from Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison. This includes its assets near Panama Canal.
By the Numbers
Vasquez said that initial studies indicate "possible capacity of traffic through the Panama Canal (of LPG in a decade) could reach 2,000,000 bpd."
What's Next?
Vasquez stated that the canal anticipates making a decision on the pipeline within the next year.
The canal is already set to receive $8 billion worth of infrastructure and sustainability investments over the next ten years. (Reporting and writing by Elida Moreno, editing by Lincoln Feast.
(source: Reuters)