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Aramco offers spot crude to Europe
Aramco offers spot crude to Europe
London, 15 October (Argus) — State-controlled Saudi Aramco has begun offering prompt spot crude cargoes to refiners in Europe, according to traders, adding to a glut of Mideast Gulf supply in the region. Aramco has contacted term customers in Europe seeking bids for October-loading spot cargoes from the Mediterranean port of Sidi Kerir and the Red Sea port of Yanbu, traders said. Bids were requested against Ice Brent. Aramco declined to comment. Traders expect bids to come in at the equivalent of a discount to North Sea Dated or around parity with the benchmark, reflecting the prompt loading window. Increased availability of competitively priced Saudi crude comes as ample supplies of Iraqi Basrah have pressured Atlantic Basin crude differentials by around $1-5/bl against Dated over the past week. Aramco has historically supplied European customers exclusively through term contracts. But several refiners in the region saw their September and October term allocations severely delayed or cancelled following disruptions to Red Sea shipping and the 10 September attack on Saudi Arabia's 7mn b/d East-West Pipeline. The cargoes now being offered on a spot basis could include volumes originally earmarked for those customers. Traders said Polish refiner Orlen had purchased at least 2.4mn bl of the October-loading spot supplies, in addition to its October term allocations, although this could not be directly confirmed. Orlen was among the largest buyers of Saudi spot crude when Aramco last offered supplies to Europe in July , traders said. TotalEnergies was another major buyer. At least three Mediterranean refiners have received their November term allocations, according to market participants. Refiners in the Asia-Pacific region have so far been the main beneficiaries of Aramco's recent shift towards spot sales, buying at least 142mn bl since mid-September. Those cargoes loaded from Ras Tanura in the Mideast Gulf and were sold either on a ship-to-ship (STS) transfer basis or for direct delivery to customers. By Melissa Gurusinghe and Ellanee Kruck Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Mideast crude weakens as more sales ease Hormuz fears
Mideast crude weakens as more sales ease Hormuz fears
Singapore, 15 October (Argus) — Spot prices for Mideast Gulf crude have come under pressure this month despite escalating attacks around the strait of Hormuz, as increased export flows and competitive sales by producers in the region kept Asian refiners well supplied. Signs of a recovery in crude exports through the strait of Hormuz to near pre-war levels appeared to have intensified competition among Mideast Gulf producers. This may have prompted several producers to slash the official selling prices of their November term exports to multi-year lows, despite signs of a stronger market last month. Key producers Saudi Aramco and Abu Dhabi's Adnoc also continued to market large volumes of spot crude into Asia-Pacific. This provided ample supplies for buyers in China, India, Japan and Korea, even as surging freight cost globally eroded economics to pull arbitrage cargoes from the Atlantic basin into Asia-Pacific. Aramco sold around 40mn bl of crude consisting of Arab Light, Arab Medium and Arab Heavy loading mainly in November to buyers in Asia-Pacific on a spot basis, adding to sales of around 100mn bl last month concluded in a series of deals from mid-September. Meanwhile, Adnoc sold a further 18mn bl of December-loading crude for either delivery or on a ship-to-ship (STS) transfer basis in the Gulf of Oman in its eleventh sale tender. Adnoc's tender, which closed on 12 October, sold December-loading medium sour Upper Zakum STS cargoes at discounts between $4-5/bl to front-month Dubai assessments, while light sour Das cargoes were sold at a discount of $3/bl up to parity against Dubai. The prices were weaker compared to Adnoc's tenth tender, which closed on 28 September, when it sold December-loading Upper Zakum STS cargoes at parity to Dubai and Das cargoes at premiums between $5-6/bl to Dubai. The softer market was also reflected in regional benchmarks. The Dubai backwardation, the spread of front-month to third-month Dubai prices and a key gauge of Mideast crude demand, tumbled to a premium of $7.15/bl on 15 October. This was the lowest since 11 August and a sharp decline from the six-month high average of $19.33/bl in September , when supply concerns had underpinned Dubai prices last month after attacks forced Aramco's East-West pipeline off line. Spoiled for choice Besides Aramco and Adnoc, other Mideast Gulf producers, including Kuwait, Qatar and Iraq, also continued to sell crude exported from within the Mideast Gulf. Demand for STS cargoes loading in the Gulf of Oman was healthy because sellers were shouldering the bulk of the risk by bringing cargoes out of the strait of Hormuz, market participants said. Aramco and Adnoc in particular are expected to continue directly offering spot cargoes in the near term despite falling prices and intensifying attacks in the strait because of the importance of crude sales to their economies, the participants added. Meanwhile, both Iraq and Qatar appeared to be mainly relying on trading companies to move their crude. The increased availability and flexibility of these spot sales, with many recent deals concluded on a delivered basis, have helped Asian refiners cope with surging freight rates that have mostly closed off the eastward arbitrage for usual supplies from the Atlantic basin, including US WTI crude that typically competes with light sour Murban. Buying activity for January-arrival WTI by key northeast Asian buyers had been subdued, with thin interest in particular for shipments transported on very large crude carriers (VLCCs) after rates soared to historic highs last week. Competitive prices of Mideast Gulf spot crude also enticed strong buying interest from Chinese refiners , as they favoured such prompt volumes over more expensive forward supplies from the Atlantic basin. State-owned refiners snapped up large amounts of Saudi spot crude, which curbed their interest in Russian ESPO Blend. Smaller independent refiners in Shandong also benefited from availability of competitively-priced Basrah crude that plugged a gap caused by tighter availability of their usual Iranian crude feedstock. By YouLiang Chay and Fabian Ng Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Eni CEO calls for ETS suspension to help refineries
Eni CEO calls for ETS suspension to help refineries
Milan, 14 October (Argus) — The chief executive of Italy's integrated Eni has called on the EU to suspend its emissions trading system (ETS) until the conflicts in Ukraine and the Gulf are resolved. "[The ETS is] a cage that is too expensive for our industry," Claudio Descalzi said on Wednesday. He said Europe is unable to produce the jet fuel and diesel it needs, and pointed to "a 30-40pc drop in Russian refining output… while products going through Hormuz are around 50pc what they were pre-war." Descalzi said extra costs for chartering tankers and securing insurance, triggered by the US-Iran war, had added $20-30/bl to the cost of crude. His comments come a day before European leaders are scheduled to meet in Brussels to discuss a series of issues, including energy and institutional reform. Italy's prime minister Giorgia Meloni said today that she and other member states would call for reform of the ETS mechanism to prevent high energy costs triggering permanent damage to European industry. The European Commission said in March that the US-Iran war would not prompt reform of the ETS, although it also said there would be no release from emergency oil stocks, which has since happened. "Given that [commission head Ursula] von der Leyen has said we need to find a way to revitalise our refineries, Europe has to include them in its taxonomy scheme so as to boost access to funding, remove the taxes and have less stringent rules for emissions," Descalzi said. "We need to convince those who want to invest in refineries here that Europe is serious," he said. "We need a long-term strategy… for the next 15-20 years." By Stephen Jewkes Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Container ship sinks in strait of Hormuz: Update
Container ship sinks in strait of Hormuz: Update
Adds Iranian navy statement London, 14 October (Argus) — A container ship has sunk in the strait of Hormuz after hitting a mine, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy said according to state news agency Irna. The vessel was earlier identified as the GFS Pride by Pakistan navy's Navarea IX service, which said it was involved in a security incident in Omani waters. This is the second vessel to sink in the area in two days, after dry bulk carrier Cape Dao, whichhad been drifting since being hit on 23 September. Attacks on commercial shipping in the strait have escalated in the past few days. Six vessels came under attack on 11 October. The IEA today said oil exports from the Mideast Gulf through Hormuz increased by 3.7mn b/d on the month to 10.9mn b/d in September, contributing to a sharp rebound in global supply. By Ben Winkley Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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