Low global prices are helping India’s LNG appetite to rebound faster than expected, after a countrywide lockdown kept demand in negative territory for a few months in the first half of 2020, with most analysts expecting the year to end with positive year-on-year growth. The sharp fall in consumption that India saw after New Delhi imposed the lockdown in late March in its battle against coronavirus pulled cumulative demand down into the red for most of H1. But the first signs of positive growth are starting to emerge, sending a ...

Japan’s banks and public agencies have funnelled nearly $25 billion into liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects since 2017 but the investments may sour as prices plummet from the COVID-19 pandemic and as climate change risks rise, a new study shows. Spurred on by the government to boost energy security since the 2011 Fukushima disaster shut down the country’s reactors, Japan’s investment in LNG rivals that for coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, while more evidence is emerging of the high climate impacts from LNG and gas. The backing of high-risk projects ...

The collapse in oil demand from the COVID-19 pandemic is hastening the reckoning for those refiners already struggling as new capacity overtakes demand, posing an existential threat to many, particularly Europe’s ageing plants. Even before the pandemic struck, which at its height destroyed over 20% of global oil demand, analysts expected global refining capacity would have to rationalise, particularly in Europe. According to consultants WoodMac, 1.4 million barrels per day, or around 9%, of refining capacity is under threat of rationalisation in Europe in 2022-2023. WoodMac declined to name specific ...

The North Sea oil and gas industry is stepping up efforts to reduce its emissions and run offshore facilities from renewable power sources, with a rapid build-out of Norwegian projects serving to underscore the greater challenges faced by the UK’s aging oil sector. Emissions from the process of oil and gas production, including drilling, injecting gas and water into depleted fields, and the daily needs of offshore platforms, account for a relatively modest share of overall emissions, amounting to 4% of UK greenhouse gas emissions, according to industry group Oil ...

Global stock markets rallied to four-week highs and China’s yuan headed for its best day against the dollar since December on Monday as investors counted on a revival in China to boost global growth, even as surging coronavirus cases delayed business re-openings across the United States. MSCI’s All-Country World Index, which tracks shares across 49 countries, rose 0.7% to its highest since June 6, by midday in London. European shares jumped, with the pan-European STOXX 600 index rising 1.4%. Stocks exposed to China — carmakers, industrials, energy firms and luxury ...

The pound fell against the euro and held steady against the U.S. dollar, as traders looked ahead to this month’s Brexit negotiations and more government support measures expected later this week. Traders expect more clarity by the end of July on whether Britain will agree a trade deal with the European Union. Britain left the EU in January, but it has full access to the bloc during a transition that runs until the end of December. Britain and the EU need to make progress on access to EU financial markets. ...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel pushed for a quick agreement on a recovery fund aimed at pulling the European Union out of the coronavirus recession, arguing that “every day counts.” Germany, which has the EU’s biggest economy and most populous country, took over the rotating EU presidency for six months on Wednesday. That gives it a key role in cajoling others in the 27-nation bloc to compromise on the recovery fund and the EU budget for the next seven years — ideally when EU leaders meet July 17-18 for their first ...

U.S. trade fell a startling 29.83% from the same month last year and, for the first time, gold was the most valuable import, according to Census Bureau data released Thursday for the month of May. While the trade data is riddled with troubling data — the May decline is nearly 50% greater than the 20.91% decline in April — it stood in stark contrast to employment numbers also released on Thursday. The government announced the U.S. economy added 4.8 million jobs in June, initially sending a stubbornly upbeat market upwards. ...

Europe’s tourism-dependent economy is being hard hit by the lack of some 15 million US tourists this summer. This due to the ongoing travel ban dished up by the EU last week. It’s already hurting, with billions of dollars in losses predicted. Particularly in the countries who rely most heavily on them: France, Italy, Germany and Spain. But across the EU, the economic ripples are being felt. US Is Europe’s No. 1 Long-Haul Tourism Market “Tourism contributes 10% to EU GDP and creates jobs for 26 million people,” notes the ...

Oil demand destruction, reduced refinery run rates and overall economic slowdowns amid the coronavirus pandemic have intensified the typical slow period in the Americas tanker markets and positioned the third quarter to be bearish, as barrels sold out of floating storage will increase global tonnage avails. The VLCC, or Very Large Crude Carrier, freight market has been on a downward trajectory since mid-April, when OPEC+ made the decision to implement crude production cuts of 9.7 million b/d over May and June. Freight for the benchmark VLCC 270,000 mt USGC-China route ...

China is almost out of space to hold the oil that domestic traders bought at bargain-basement prices earlier this year when the Covid-19 pandemic crushed global crude demand. As of Wednesday, China had used up 69% of its crude oil storage capacity with the 33.4 million tons it had stockpiled, up by 24% from the previous year, according to data from energy information provider Oilchem China. That’s only 1 percentage point away from the 70% threshold that experts view as the country’s capacity limit. The dwindling storage space is a ...

Following an incident where a crew member was diagnosed with COVID-19 upon arrival in Singapore, the Singapore Shipowners Association is reiterating the importance of self-quarantine. Facilitating crew change in Singapore has been possible with various restrictions since 22 May. Since the release of the new crew change regulation, 14 days of self-quarantine has been a requirement for all crew arriving in Singapore due to the perceived incubation period of COVID-19. Recently, a crew member was diagnosed with COVID-19 upon arrival and the health authorities in Singapore were engaged to trace ...

Oil prices fell on Friday 3rd July, amid surging new coronavirus infections in the United States, which had market participants worried about the U.S. oil demand recovery trend. Oil prices were still headed for a weekly gain last week as low supply from OPEC, encouraging economic data from the U.S. and China, and a drop in U.S. commercial inventories had supported prices earlier during the week. However, the U.S. reported on Thursday its highest level of new daily coronavirus cases so far—at more than 55,000, raising fears that a surge ...

The English Court handed down a judgment on two related actions which provided guidance on the requirements imposed by the International Group of P&I Clubs’ Letter of Indemnity (‘LOI’) wording and the position of parties in a back-to-back charterparty chain. Facts The ship, Miracle Hope, was time chartered to Trafigura. Trafigura sub-chartered the vessel to Clearlake, who then sub-chartered to Petrobras on back-to-back terms for a voyage of crude oil from Brazil to China. A clause in the charterparties allowed for the discharge of the cargo without the production of ...

“Vehicle Carriers ” coming g from ports at North West t of Europe till Santander port a nd heading to port o f Singapore and its Eastern ports at South East of Asia and the Fa r East shall be granted a rebate o f 8 % fro m Suez Canal normal tolls. Any operating company wishing to benefit from this circular must submit a request through its shipping agency before sailing from port of origin. The request must state: vessel’s particulars, origin port, sailing date, destination port, ETA to ...