Iraq’s southern crude exports have been averaging 2.7 million b/d in February, in line with the country’s OPEC+ quota, the head of state-owned Basra Oil Co. said in an oil ministry statement. Iraq is committed to compliance with OPEC+ output cuts, Khaled al-Hamza said in the statement. Basra Oil Co. manages oil production from the southern fields. OPEC’s second largest oil producer pumped 3.807 million b/d of crude in January, including from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, State Oil Marketing Organization said Feb. 3, below its 3.857 million b/d quota, which ...

The Saudi Grains Organization (SAGO) has completed procedures to import 660,000 tons of feed barley. The tender will reach the Kingdom between March and April 2021 through its different ports aboard 11 ships. SAGO Gov. Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz Al-Faris said on Monday the batch of imported barley would help to meet local demand and maintain strategic stocks. The increase in imports is in order to increase the reserve stock until the private sector assumes the mission of importing and selling barley. Al-Faris pointed out that the rates and origins ...

China emerged as one of the top importers of U.S. coal in the fourth quarter of 2020 as the country banned Australian coal from entering its territories amid diplomatic tensions. U.S. coal exports in the three-month period totaled 17.4 million tonnes, down 7.3% year over year but 25.1% higher quarter over quarter, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence. China had the highest gain in coal imports from the U.S. among the top destinations in the fourth quarter of 2020. The Asian country imported 1.0 Mt of coal ...

China is poised to receive about 21 million barrels of the new Iraqi crude grade Basrah Medium by mid March, with most of these shipments expected to be processed by the country’s integrated refining complexes and newly built plants, according to latest shipping data and refining industry sources with close knowledge of the matter. In January, Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization introduced the new Basrah Medium grade to split Basrah Light into two crudes to support the stability of its crude export streams. Having a gravity of around 27.9 API ...

Venezuela is shipping jet fuel to Iran in return for vital gasoline imports for the South American nation as part of a swap deal agreed by the two state-run oil firms, three people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Iran has ramped up assistance to Venezuela since last year as the United States tightened sanctions on both countries, hitting oil exports by state-run firms Petroleos de Venezuela and National Iranian oil Company (NIOC). Iran has sent flotillas of state-operated tankers carrying gasoline and feedstock for motor fuel to Venezuela, ...

The Asian LNG buyers’ club is conservative by nature. A flicker of geopolitical risk, supply disruption or price volatility can cause sleepless nights from Tokyo to Singapore as the region’s buyers assess the potential impact. So, when freezing conditions hit the southern US last week, resulting in feedgas into LNG plants collapsing from above 10 bcfd to just below 2 bcfd, and with some Texas price markers soaring north of US$400/mmbtu, anxiety levels should have been rising. But Asian buyers barely blinked, with Northeast Asia spot prices, which had been ...

The value of Saudi Arabia’s oil exports in December dropped nearly 30%, or 19.5 billion riyals ($5.2 billion), compared with the year before, official data showed on Wednesday. The value of non-oil exports fell 7.7% in December to 18.4 billion riyals versus 20 billion riyals in December 2019. Oil’s share of total exports fell to 71.6% in December from 76.7% the year previously. China remained Saudi Arabia’s main trading partner in December, accounting for 13.5 billion riyals out of its 64.8 billion riyals of total exports. In December 2019, the ...

Qatar Petroleum has entered into a long term Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with Vitol for the supply of 1.25 million tons per annum (MTPA) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Vitol’s final customers in Bangladesh. Under the agreement, LNG deliveries will commence later this year, further demonstrating the State of Qatar’s continued commitment to meeting the growing needs of its customers for reliable LNG supplies. Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President and CEO of Qatar Petroleum, said: “We are pleased to sign this ...

U.S. coal shipments to some of the country’s top importers increased significantly in the fourth quarter of 2020, with China recording a triple-digit uptick amid its escalating trade dispute with Australia. Total U.S. coal exports during the three-month period fell 7.3% year over year to 17.4 million tonnes from 18.8 Mt, according to an analysis by S&P Global Market Intelligence. Compared to the previous quarter, the U.S. shipped 25.1% more of the commodity from October through December 2020. Despite the year-on-year slowdown, the quarterly exports figure “slightly” exceeded Moody’s projection ...

Feedgas deliveries to U.S. LNG export facilities rebounded sharply after the polar blast in Texas and other parts of the Southern U.S. that had disrupted flows to the Gulf Coast facilities. Total U.S. deliveries had bottomed out at about 2.2 Bcf/d on Feb. 16, but by Feb. 21, the flows had reached about 7.9 Bcf/d, according to pipeline flow data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The volume of deliveries Feb. 21 was the greatest in more than a week but remained below earlier flow levels that had exceeded 10 Bcf/d ...

New data by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has reported a A$3-billion, or 9%, decline in exports for the month of January, driven by a A$1.5-billion, or 10%, decline in the export of metalliferous ores. “The decline in metalliferous ores was driven by a decline in the quantity of iron-ore exported in January. Despite the decline, exports of metalliferous ores are the second highest on record behind December 2020,” said ABS head of international statistics Andrew Tomadini. Advertisement Iron-ore exports in January were down by 7%, or A$963-million, with ...

India is planning to resume the import of energy from countries such as Iran and Venezuela to counter the high crude prices by some producers, local media reported. India may make diplomatic efforts to organize oil-consuming countries against the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) as producers keep crude prices artificially high by restricting supply, and also plans to resume import of cheaper energy from countries such as Iran and Venezuela to counter the oil cartel, Hindustan Times quoted two officials as saying. India’s domestic fuel ...

China’s iron ore imports hit a record 1.17 billion metric tons in 2020, with the average import price up 7.3 percent year-on-year to $101.7 per ton, which analysts say reflects robust demand in the downstream steel market and a continued and stable recovery of the Chinese economy. The amount exceeded the previous record of 1.08 billion tons in 2017, said the General Administration of Customs. The corresponding value of imported iron ore also hit a record 822.87 billion yuan ($127 billion) last year, an increase of 17.4 percent year-on-year, also ...

Iranian crude oil exports have fallen in February by about 250,000 barrels per day, tanker tracker Petro-Logistics said Tuesday, suggesting a jump in shipments has run out of steam. The OPEC member’s oil exports climbed in January after a boost in the fourth quarter, despite U.S. sanctions, in a sign that the end of Donald Trump’s term as U.S. President may be changing buyer behaviour. But Geneva-based Petro-Logistics, which assesses the exports by tracking tanker shipments, told Reuters that shipments had fallen to levels seen in November and December, “before ...

Agricultural exports from the US have huge possibilities in markets beyond the top importing countries, according to a senior US Department of Agriculture trade official. Nearly 40% of agriculture exports from the US are sent to markets outside the top six importing regions, and those are the markets of interest and growth, Jason Hafemeister, the USDA’s acting deputy under secretary for trade and foreign agriculture affairs, said during the USDA’s Agriculture Outlook Forum. The top six markets for US agriculture exports are China, Canada, Japan, Mexico, EU+UK and South Korea. ...