China’s National Development and Reform Commission imposed further port restrictions on coking coal and thermal coal until the end of 2018 at ports across China, market sources said. Sources said that NDRC had verbally informed General Administration of Customs during a meeting in Jiangsu held Wednesday that any imported coal would no longer be able to clear customs until the end of 2018. Under current restrictions, cargoes which have been booked earlier were allowed to unload at Chinese ports, but were not allowed to clear customs. Furthermore, users are expected ...

Brazil’s record soy exports to China could grow further, an Agriculture Ministry official told Reuters, as the Asian nation’s trade war with the United States boosts its demand for South American beans. Odilson Ribeiro e Silva, vice minister of international affairs, traveled to China this month and said he hopes the high demand will also open the country up to Brazilian soymeal. Brazilian exports of the oilseed soared after China slapped a 25 percent tariff on U.S. soy in July in response to Washington’s tariffs on billions of dollars worth ...

Iraq restarted exports on Friday of Kirkuk oil, halted a year ago due to a standoff between the central government and Kurdistan’s semi-autonomous region, after a new government in Baghdad agreed a tentative deal with Erbil. The development is a win for the U.S. government, which has been urging both sides to settle the dispute and resume flows to help address a shortage of Iranian crude in the region after Washington imposed new sanctions on Tehran. Flows resumed at a modest level of around 50,000-60,000 barrels per day (bpd) compared ...

The boom in U.S. oil and gas production over the past decade has exerted a moderating force on what is a large domestic merchandise trade deficit by helping reduce the country’s net petroleum imports, a new report by business information provider IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO) says. Continued U.S. production growth is now on track to make the country a net-exporter of petroleum for the first time since at least 1949. The total U.S. merchandise trade deficit in 2017 was nearly $250 billion lower than it otherwise would have been if ...

India’s Nayara Energy, part-owned by Russian oil major Rosneft , shipped in about 37 percent less Iranian oil in October than the previous month at about 34,300 barrels per day (bpd), according to data from the shipping industry and sources. Under pressure from U.S. sanctions, Nayara has been reducing its intake of Iranian oil from June, people familiar with the plan have previously told Reuters. The company has no plans to import Iranian oil from November. Overall, Nayara imported 18 percent less oil in October compared with the same month ...

Malaysia’s gas exports have been severely impacted since the second quarter of the year due to a supply disruption at a gas field in the eastern state of Sabah, the finance minister said on Friday. “Major repairs and assessment works are still ongoing and production is only expected to return to full capacity by the middle of next year (at) the latest,” Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said in a statement. The supply disruption has affected the country’s economic growth and petroleum income tax revenue received by the government, he ...

Ukraine increased imports of coal and anthracite coal (HS code 2701) by 15.5 percent, or 2.343 million tonnes, in January-October 2018 year-over-year, to 17.426 million tonnes. Coal shipments over the period under review were estimated at $2.461 billion, which was 14.4 percent more than in January-October 2017 ($2.151 billion), Ukraine’s State Fiscal Service said. In particular, coal bought from the Russian Federation (62 percent of all imports) was estimated at $1.526 billion, from the United States (30.04 percent) at $739.278 million, Canada (5.16 percent) at $126.946 million, and other countries ...

Pan American Energy, the second-biggest oil producer and third for gas in Argentina, is working with BP on potentially exporting LNG out of Chile, a project that could prove faster to get Vaca Muerta shale gas to market than building a liquefaction facility in Argentina. The project is in the conceptual design phase and would involve delivering supplies over an existing Argentina-Chile pipeline to the Quintero LNG regasification terminal in Chile, said Alejandro Lopez Angriman, vice president of reserves development at Pan American. The Quintero terminal “can be turned around ...

The economics are clear – importing US shale oil has been a winning proposition for Mexico, the outgoing head of its state oil company said. Two weeks ago, Pemex controversially received its first shipments of crude from abroad in more than two years – a cargo of light, sweet Bakken oil — improving the efficiency of its key refineries and boosting margins, CEO Carlos Trevino said in an interview Tuesday. It is a move that his successor should continue, for the health of Pemex and the benefit of Mexico’s citizens, ...

Japan’s Inpex-operated Ichthys project is expected to make its first LPG shipment in coming days, industry sources said Thursday, which would add to growing LPG supply in Asia following the rush of arrivals from the US since 2014 driven by the shale boom. A Very Large Gas Carrier time chartered by France’s Total is in the midst of loading the first LPG cargo from the Ichthys LNG project off northwestern Australia, according to sources familiar with the matter and cFlow, S&P Global Platts trade flow software. The 48,022-dwt Malta-flagged Hellas ...

Jordan’s three oil marketing companies (OMCs) are seeking gasoil and gasoline cargoes for 2019, according to a tender notice seen by Reuters. The three companies – Jordan Modern Oil And Fuel Services Co Ltd (Manaseer), Total Jordan PSC and Jordan Petroleum Products Marketing Co – are looking for 10ppm gasoil, 90 RON gasoline and 95 RON gasoline cargoes. * The quantities required for January-June 2019 would be a total of 3.5 million barrels of 10ppm gasoil, 338,000 metric tonnes (MT) of 90 RON gasoline, and 74,200 metric tonnes of 95 ...

South Korea imported no Iranian crude in October for a second straight month due to the re-imposition of US sanctions on Tehran, according to preliminary data released by the Korea Customs Service. In September, South Korea’s imports of Iran oil fell to zero for the first time since September 2012 amid then US-led sanctions on Iran. South Korea has sharply reduced imports of Iranian crude and condensate since May this year to brace for the re-imposition of the US sanctions. It received just 2 million barrels from Iran in August. ...

China will cut imports of West African oil to the lowest in seven months in November due to the higher cost of shipments, while South Korean imports from West Africa will reach to an 11-year high as U.S. sanctions hit Iranian crude supplies. West African loadings to Asia will fall to about 2.33 million barrels per day (bpd) this month, equivalent to 70 percent of total exports from Angola, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Ghana and Equatorial Guinea, based on Reuters calculations, shipping brokers and Refinitiv Eikon data. This compares to ...

Finland could in future receive gas from Norway via a network of pipes being planned through the Baltic countries and Poland, as part of an effort to reduce its dependency on gas imports from Russia. Helsinki and Tallinn are constructing a gas pipeline under the Gulf of Finland to Estonia, called Balticconnector and with a capacity to transport 7.2 million cubic metres of gas per day. “The plan is for Finland to get fully connected to the European gas network and access gas from other sources such as … Norwegian ...

Saudi Arabia’s state grain buyer SAGO said on Thursday it was seeking 475,000 tonnes of hard milling wheat in an international tender. The wheat should be of 12.5 percent protein content and is for delivery during January to March, 2019, a statement by SAGO said. The tender deadline is Friday, Nov. 16. SAGO Governor Ahmad Al Fares said in a statement the wheat is sought in eight individual consignments. The shipments are sought for delivery to the ports of Jeddah (240,000 tonnes), Dammam (180,000 tonnes) and Jizan (55,000 tonnes). In ...