Oil Markets

Nigeria's Dangote refinery, built at a cost of $20 billion and is Africa's largest, has started exporting naphtha to North Asian markets at a time when the clean tanker market is witnessing prolonged firmness. The naphtha flow from Dangote is adding to the ton-mile demand in the clean tanker sector and this could be boosting the clean tanker market in the short- to medium term.   Associate editori...

As European refineries return from seasonal maintenance, ample prompt supply in the North Sea, Mediterranean and West African crude markets suggests that the demand side of the equation remains firmly in the red. Joel Hanley is joined by crude editors Sam Angell , George Delaney and Joey Daly to discuss the implications of a crude-saturated Atlantic basin for prices in the major oil markets west o...

Diesel imports into Brazil have risen in recent months, but remains below a recent peak seen in January as the South American country deals with new payment terms for Russian barrels. Not only that, but Russian diesel supplies have tightened following drone attacks on Russian refineries by Ukraine. Will USGC refiners return to the #1 spot in supplying Brazilian diesel imports? What impact has this...

In May 2023, the world's most important oil price benchmark, Platts Dated Brent, which is used to underpin the price of significant volumes of traded crude oil, saw the addition of the first non-North Sea crude stream into its deliverable basket of grades: WTI Midland. Since then, the benchmark has seen liquidity skyrocket, the addition of new faces into the Brent complex's long list of establishe...

The spotlight on India's oil sector has never been stronger. India's role in global oil markets is set to expand at a fast pace until the end of the decade, making it the biggest center for demand growth, according to the IEA. Refining expansion remains a key priority, but with a tilt towards petrochemicals, and the country's upstream strategy aims to realize the hydrocarbon potential of offshore...

Ahead of ARDA Week 2024 in Cape Town, South Africa, S&P Global Commodity Insights reporters Matthew Tracey-Cook, Kelly Norways and Elza Turner join Joel Hanley to discuss the changing dynamics of oil products markets in West Africa following the fresh development that Nigeria's giant Dangote refinery has exported its first refined product cargo destined for Europe. In this episode of the Oil Marke...

  The Biden administration recently said it was no longer looking to buy up to 3 million barrels of crude for August and September to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which was drawn down to prevent oil price spikes following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. With oil prices lingering at $85/b to $90/b, what are the chances the Department of Energy will continue refilling US reserves? How impor...

A sharp increase in Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian energy infrastructure has those in the refined products markets looking at the near-term implications for export volumes, trade flows, freight rates and commodity prices. S&P Global estimates that Russian refineries with a combined nameplate capacity of over 1.6 million b/d nationwide have now been affected to some degree by Ukrainian attacks....

The 2024  CERAWeek by S&P Global  conference just wrapped up in Houston, where oil industry executives were talking up, often aggressively, the need for oil and gas to remain in the mix during the transition to cleaner energies. They also discussed environmental solutions which will be needed to keep that oil flowing, namely the need for large-scale carbon capture projects. Jeff Mower talks with u...

Oil industry executives at the CERAWeek by S&P Global conference were largely bullish on oil production growth, shedding recessionary concerns voiced the prior year. They were less enthusiastic about the pace of energy transition, citing the need for more certainty from governments on carbon pricing and other incentives. In this bonus episode of the Platts Oil Markets podcast, Jeff Mower is joined...

In the midst of Vladimir Putin's rubber-stamp re-election as Russian President through March 15-17, a tightening of G7 sanctions led by Washington has seen over 10 companies and dozens of vessels put on the sanctions list for price cap circumvention since October. In addition, the election coincided with a significant increase in Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries, adding further uncertainty...

Economic power-house China has set out 10 targets for 2024, which is pro-growth for oil demand, keen on energy security, and prioritizing accelerated industry modernization and development of new productive forces. In this episode of Platts Oil Markets podcast, Managing Editor for refined oil products, Wanda Wang has invited China experts Grace Lee, Asia analyst from the AltView team, Sijia Sun, A...

Once a global powerhouse of crude production, the UK's North Sea region saw its oil output decline accelerate to 12% in 2023, according to official data from the UK's Department of Energy Security and Net Zero. The new figures come as the UAE's Taqa revealed to S&P Global Commodity Insights that it plans to cease production at the Cormorant oil fields in 2024, a key component of Brent grade. In th...

Asian oil flows could witness drastic changes for the remainder of the decade amid growing belief that India will cater to the biggest share of incremental growth in demand in the region. The International Energy Agency has recently said that India's role in global oil markets will likely expand substantially, fueled by strong growth in its economy, population, and demographics, making the country...

Latin American crude production is on the rise, with countries like Brazil, Guyana and Argentina leading the way. However, Latin American heavy sour crude output is expected to decline, and flows will be reshuffled as Canada's Trans Mountain crude pipeline expansion starts up and as operations begin at Pemex's Olmeca refinery. Why is heavy sour crude output declining, and what does the output decl...

As the European ultra-low sulfur diesel complex rallies on concerns around Eastern resupply unable to pass through the Red Sea, gasoil – its high-sulfur counterpart – is under unusual pressure. In this episode of the Platts Oil Markets podcast, editors Natasha Tan and Nadia Bliznikova discuss recent trends with Francesco Di Salvo. Further reading: Med ULSD-gasoil spread at 14-month high on tight d...

Following a 1 million b/d growth in US oil output in 2023, oil producers and service companies have been warning of slowing growth this year during their fourth quarter earnings calls. Will production surprise to the upside? And what would that mean for US refiners? In this episode of the Platts Oil Markets podcast, senior upstream editor Starr Spencer, senior refinery editor Janet McGurty and mid...

In the face of continued security issues in the Red Sea stemming from Houthi attacks on commercial vessels, European trade patterns for oil products across the barrel are changing. S&P Global Commodity Insights' Robert Perkins, Nadia Bliznikova and Takis Gounaris join Joel Hanley to discuss the impacts the Red Sea disruption are having on the European supply-demand balance for key oil products

Asia so far, has not witnessed any dramatic changes to near-term oil supplies amid the ongoing Red Sea crisis, but refiners are chalking out alternative plans to ensure steady feedstock flows in the event of an escalation -- a move that could inflate insurance costs and crimp refining margins. There has been a strategic push among Asia's top importers to massively diversify their import baskets ov...

With OPEC suggesting in its monthly oil market report that global oil demand growth will outweigh an expected increase in non-OPEC supply across 2024 and 2025, market watchers will be keen to see how the group and its allies respond to still slumping oil prices. In this episode, S&P Global Commodity Insights' Jim Burkhard, Rosemary Griffin and Charlie Mitchell join Herman Wang to discuss the key p...

For the first Oil Markets episode of 2024, S&P Global Commodity Insights' oil experts team up across pricing, news and research to provide a fresh look at the crudes everyone is talking about — the new grades from Guyana's Stabroek Block. Jeff Mower  speaks with  Ha Nguyen ,  Felipe Perez  and  Pat Harrington  about how Liza, Unity Gold and Payara Gold are helping drive global production growth ou...

In the final episode of the Oil Markets podcast for 2023, S&P Global Commodity Insights crude and refined products directors Joel Hanley and Richard Swann round up the biggest events and trends of the year.  They provide an across-the-barrel retrospective of the year in oil markets, including shifting trade flows, developing markets for Russian oil, the emergence of Guyana as a crude powerhouse an...

The UK's Grangemouth refinery is set to cease operations in the coming years to be converted into a fuel import terminal, owner Petroineos has said, with current operations to continue into at least early 2025. The refinery supplies close to 86,000 b/d of transport and heating fuels to the UK market and has a direct pipeline of supply from Forties crude, though has in recent years it has seen its...

A reduction in daily transits at both the Neopanamax and Panamax lock systems have resulted in longer wait times to transit the Panama Canal. These limits to daily transits are expected to continue into 2024, leading shipowners to raise freight costs as they look for reimbursement for higher transit and demurrage fees. As the price of auction slots continues to rise, owners are looking at alternat...

The new year looks set to see a seismic shift in China's oil industry, as concerns grow about the future of crude oil imports and by extension product exports from the country, amid headwinds in the country's refining sector. Questions abound about the impact of China's reduction in crude imports and the knock-on effect it might have on product exports from the swing exporter.  In this podcast, S&...