Oil Pipeline

The discount between the North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures and Western Canada Select futures has widened to its largest point since early March. WCS for Hardisty, Alberta delivery in January settled at $13.55 per barrel below U.S. benchmark WTI according to brokerage CalRock. This compares to $13.15 a barrel on Monday. The WCS discount recently increased after spending most of the year in the $9-$11 price range. This is due to the Trans mountain?pipeline extension which has given Canadian oil producers?additional capacity for export. * Some analysts attribute the widening differential to seasonality while others point out that...

On Friday, the discount between West Texas Intermediate and Western Canada Select futures (the North American benchmark) widened. WCS for Hardisty, Alberta delivery in January settled at $12.95 per barrel below U.S. benchmark WTI according to brokerage CalRock. This compares to $12.85 last Thursday. The WCS discount on increased Canadian oil production has recently widened after spending most of the year in historically tight levels. This is largely due to the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion, which has provided Canadian oil producers with additional export capacity. Enbridge's Mainline network, which transports Canadian crude oil to U.S. market, is allocated -- a...

The difference between the West Texas Intermediate benchmark futures and Western Canada Select futures, which is North American benchmark, has narrowed slightly on Thursday. However, it remains larger than ever before. CalRock reported that WCS for Hardisty, Alberta delivery in January settled at $12.85 per barrel, which is lower than the U.S. benchmark WTI. This compares to $13 Wednesday. The WCS discount on increased Canadian oil production has recently increased after spending most of the year in historically tight levels. This is largely due to the Trans Mountain expansion pipeline which has provided additional export capacity for Canadian oil producers....

On Wednesday, the discount between West Texas Intermediate and Western Canada Select futures (the North American benchmark) widened. WCS for Hardisty, Alberta delivery in January settled at $13 per barrel below U.S. benchmark WTI according to brokerage CalRock. This compares to $12.95 Tuesday. * After spending most of the year in historically tight levels the WCS discount has recently widened to nearly the same level as it was 12 month ago. Martin King, an analyst at RBN Energy, says that this suggests the market has accounted for all the benefits it received from the Trans Mountain expansion. * The Trans...

Colonial Pipeline, on Wednesday, requested that the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reconsider the earlier decision it made rejecting the changes the company proposed to the way in which the nation's largest fuel conduit handles gasoline shipments. The company claimed that the regulator erred by blocking Colonial's ability to modify delivery specifications, stop overlapping shipments between different grades of gas, and discontinue shipments for so-called "Grade 5" gasoline sold during winter in certain Northeastern States. Colonial said the changes were part of their efforts to improve safety, efficiency and reduce wear and tear on the pipeline system that is over...

Enbridge, the Canadian pipeline operator, forecast higher core profits for 2026 as it expects to profit from strong demand and new project entering service. The company predicted an adjusted core income of C$20.2billion ($14.49billion) to C$20.8billion, compared to expectations between C$19.4billion and C$20billion for this year. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, increasing demand for AI-fueled power centers and accelerating electrification will push U.S. electricity demand to record highs in 2025-2026. In a press release, CEO Gregory Ebel stated that "we also expect strong growth by 2026 due to recent rate settlements and cases in Gas Distribution and Gas...

On Monday, the discount between West Texas Intermediate and Western Canada Select futures (the North American benchmark) widened. WCS for Hardisty, Alberta delivery in January settled at $12.75 per barrel below U.S. benchmark WTI according to brokerage CalRock. This compares to $12.40 Friday. * The WCS Discount began the month at its largest point since March. Analysts predict that the WCS discount will continue to widen through the winter as seasonal supply increases and pipelines are used more, while OPEC+ barrels on global markets increase. The Canadian crude market began its trading cycle on Monday. This cycle runs from the...

Targa Resources, a pipeline operator, announced on Monday that it will buy Stakeholder Midstream for $1.25 billion in cash. This deal will expand its processing capacity in Permian basin. Midstream deals are increasing as companies seek to reduce costs, gain scale and access to oil and gas producing regions as well as export facilities along the U.S. Gulf Coast. Targa CEO Matt Meloy stated in a press release that the acquisition was a "nice bolt-on asset" with a significant free cash flow, a volume profile that is stable or modestly increasing and minimal capital requirements. It also came at a...

The chief of staff to Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that talks were ongoing regarding the possibility that MOL, a subsidiary of Hungary's MOL, could purchase a stake in Serbian NIS's Russian owned refinery. Serbia must find a buyer of NIS. This company is subject to U.S. Sanctions due to its Russian ownership. They have stopped crude oil supplies from Croatia's JANAF pipe. Belgrade warned that Serbia’s sole oil refinery would have to close this week if sanctions were not postponed. Orban of Hungary, who will meet Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on a trip to Serbia, wrote in a post...

Energy companies are racing to build a major pipeline that will carry fuel to the U.S. West Coast. This could be a lucrative endeavor, as the closure of two Californian refineries is expected to drive up gasoline prices on this isolated market. West Coast motorists have been paying some of the highest fuel prices in the nation due to a lack of regional production and connectivity to the Gulf Coast refinery hub. According to the Energy Information Administration, there are no pipelines that deliver fuel from the Gulf Coast to California and few pipelines that deliver fuel from the Rocky...

Energy companies are racing to build a major pipeline that will carry fuel to the U.S. West Coast. This could be a lucrative endeavor, as the closure of two Californian refineries is expected to drive up gasoline prices on this isolated market. West Coast motorists have been paying some of the highest fuel prices in the nation due to the limited regional production and the lack of connectivity to the Gulf Coast refinery hub. According to the Energy Information Administration, there are no pipelines that deliver fuel from the Gulf Coast to California and few that do so from across...

On Thursday, the discount between West Texas Intermediate and Western Canada Select futures (the North American benchmark) decreased slightly. WCS for Hardisty, Alberta delivery in December settled at $11.65 per barrel, which is $1.65 below the U.S. benchmark WTI. This was down from $11.70 a barrel on Thursday. Michael Berger, Enverus analyst, stated that Canadian crude storage levels are below the average for the past five years. Trans Mountain, the pipeline that exports Canadian crude via the Pacific Coast to U.S. markets and Asian ones, has not been apportioned in November. This is another factor contributing to the narrow differential....

After a drone attack that severely damaged the loading infrastructure and halted oil exports, Kazakhstan asked Ukraine to stop attacking its Black Sea terminal, which is used by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium. This terminal handles more than 1 percent of all global oil. CPC, which has shareholders from Russia, Kazakhstan and the United States, announced that it had stopped operations after an attack by a Ukrainian drone on a mooring in its Russian terminal at the Black Sea caused significant damage. In an effort to undermine the Russian war economy, Ukraine launched a wave of attacks this year on Russia's...

Tengiz is Kazakhstan's biggest oilfield. It increased its oil production from November 1 to 23, by 8.5% month-on-month, reaching 787,300 barges per day. However, this was still below the planned level by the Energy Ministry, according to a source with knowledge of the statistics. Yerlan Akkenzhenov, Kazakhstan's energy minister, said on Tuesday that Tengiz is currently undergoing maintenance without giving any details. Tengizchevroil is the U.S. oil giant Chevron that operates this field. They did not respond to our request for comment. The field was also maintained last month. The overall oil production in Kazakhstan fell by 10% last month...

Two industry sources and LSEG data show that the Russian port of Novorossiysk resumed oil loadings Sunday, after a suspension lasting two days due to a Ukrainian drone and missile attack. Novorossiysk temporarily halted oil exports on Friday, equating to 2.2 millions barrels of oil per day or 2% global supply. According to two anonymous industry sources, loadings have resumed. According to LSEG, two tankers - the Suezmax and Aframax classes Rodos - are loading oil on the port's berths. Two oil berths were damaged by a Ukrainian drone at the Russian Black Sea port Novorossiysk on Friday, which forced...

Transneft's pipeline network is not experiencing a reduction in supplies from Russian oil companies, according to a senior Transneft executive. Deliveries this year will be on par with those of 2024. Maxim Grishanin is the first vice president of the company. He told reporters that the company had enough capacity to handle a possible rise in supply. Russia will increase its output to meet the demands of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies. Transneft transports over 80% of the oil produced by the country. Grishanin stated that Transneft had a growing cash deficit due to an...

Three market sources reported that the Black Sea port in Russia, Novorossiisk, has reached its export capacity limit. This leaves traders scrambling to find a new route for crude oil, which it is unable to refine at home and can only produce because of increased OPEC+ quotas. Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies have been easing up on output restrictions. In addition, Russia's refining facilities carried out record amounts of maintenance in August, and September. This was partly due to damage caused by Ukrainian drones. As a result, its ability to process crude oil domestically has...

Ursula von der Leyen, EU Commission chief, said that the European Union invited Serbia to participate in the group's collective gas buying initiative. The aim is to reduce Serbia's dependence on Russian fossil fuels. In 2023, the EU created a platform for joint gas purchases to allow participants to negotiate better deals. This was after Russia cut its gas supplies to Europe in 2022 and pushed European energy prices up to record levels. The bloc wants to completely phase out Russian gas and oil by January 2028, to deny the Kremlin revenues it could use to fund its war against...

Aleksandar Vucic, Serbia's president, said that Serbia would do all it could to protect its own interests if the U.S. imposed sanctions on Serbian-based NIS oil company, which is owned by Russia. Washington announced sanctions against NIS in January, Serbia's largest oil importer, and one of Russia’s last remaining energy assets within Europe, for Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. NIS announced last week that there would be no further delays. "Our Russian Friends have understood our message." We knew their interests. We will do all we can, both tactically and strategically, to serve the interests of Serbia", said Vucic...

Sources told AFP that Serbia has enough crude oil and fuel to meet its demand for the near future, but the U.S. Sanctions set to take effect on October 1, cast a cloud over the nation's energy security in the long term. The Russian-owned NIS oil company said it had sufficient crude and fuel stock after Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic announced that the U.S. wouldn't extend a waiver of sanctions originally announced in January. NIS has not disclosed inventory levels or the length of time supplies will last. Four sources with knowledge of the situation said that the refinery can...

The General Staff of Kyiv said that Ukraine's military had struck two Russian oil-distribution facilities in the Bryansk region and Samara on Tuesday. Telegram reported that the Samara military had attacked a production line mixing Russian oil with its flagship Urals oil to be exported. It said that it had hit a production line of a pipeline crucial for Russian Army supplies in Bryansk. The extent of damage is still being assessed, it said. In recent weeks, Ukraine has renewed its long-range drone attack campaign on Russian oil production facilities. It targets key sites to reduce Moscow’s export revenues and...

Industry sources say that the differential between Urals crude and Brent crude dated Tuesday remained unchanged, but Russia is on its way to cutting oil production due to drone strikes. Transneft, the monopoly Russian oil pipeline company, has warned that oil producers may be forced to reduce oil production following Ukraine's drone strikes on key export ports and refineries. Oil prices rose by over $1 a barrel Tuesday as traders assessed the risk that Russian oil supplies could be disrupted if Ukrainian drones attack its ports and refineries. They also awaited Federal Reserve's interest rate decision. PLATTS WINDOW On Tuesday,...

Janaf's CEO said that Croatian pipeline operator Janaf can cover the needs of two refineries in Hungary and Slovakia of Hungarian oil company MOL, which currently rely on Russian oil via the Druzhba pipe to meet their requirements. MOL warned of possible fuel shortages last month in Central Europe after Ukrainian attacks on Druzhba, which caused a temporary suspension there. MOL, who signed a February contract with Janaf for the delivery of 2.1 millions tons of oil to the end of 2025 has expressed doubts that the Adriatic Pipeline could provide enough oil even if Druzhba shipments were stopped completely....

Two industry sources said that the Ust-Luga oil terminal in Russia will only be able to export 350,000 barrels of oil per day, which is about half its normal capacity, due to damage caused by Ukrainian drones on pipeline infrastructure. This disruption shows that recent Ukrainian attacks on key energy facilities have caused Russian exports to be affected and could lead to supply disruptions. Drone strikes in Russia's Bryansk Region earlier in August caused problems at the Unecha pumping stations. Unecha is an important transit point for crude oil heading to Ust-Luga. The Druzhba Pipeline, which supplies Belarus to Slovakia...