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Latest oil products news
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Hormuz traffic Monday still low amid attacks
Hormuz traffic Monday still low amid attacks
New York, 1 September (Argus) — Vessel traffic through the strait of Hormuz remained low on Monday amid increased attacks on commercial vessels transiting the waterway, according to data from maritime security firm Windward. A total of 13 vessels transited the strait of Hormuz on Monday, split between six inbound transits, including four tankers, and seven outbound transits, including three tankers. All vessel transits on Monday took place on the northern Iranian-controlled traffic lane, Windward data shows, with no vessels in the southern US-protected lane. Iran appears to have struck a Saudi Arabian very large crude carrier in the strait late on Monday, while it was transiting in the southern US-protected traffic lane . This was the second attack on a commercial vessel transiting through the southern lane in three days. By Charlotte Bawol Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
EPA grants 18 full refinery biofuel exemptions
EPA grants 18 full refinery biofuel exemptions
Houston, 31 August (Argus) — The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) granted exemptions from 2025 biofuel blending requirements to 18 refiners on Monday and partial exemptions to 11 others, many of which had been pending for more than a year. The agency exempted a total of 1.76bn credits by granting 18 full small refinery exemptions (SREs) and 11 partial exemptions. It denied three petitions and ruled two ineligible. In a supplemental document, the EPA said it would propose reallocating 100pc of the difference between projected and actual exempted volumes from the petitions that were fully or partially granted. Prior to deciding on the 2025 compliance year SREs, EPA estimated 990mn RINs would be exempted. SREs are a form of temporary exemption from Renewable Fuel Standard obligations for petroleum-based refineries with a nameplate capacity of 75,000 b/d or less. To receive a partial or full SRE, refiners must demonstrate that compliance would cause disproportionate economic hardship to qualify for an exemption. The EPA gave notice of the action ten days prior , when it outlined its intentions to delay the 2025 compliance deadline for RFS obligations while signaling it would first clear the backlog of unprocessed SRE petitions. In the meantime, speculation within Renewable Identification Number credit markets caused sharp swings in prices and liquidity. Concerns that total SRE volumes could reach 1.8bn credits pushed prices down to 175¢/RIN for current-year ethanol D6 credits and 188.5¢/RIN for biomass-based diesel D4 credits. RINs are credits produced and traded by refiners and importers to comply with the RFS program. Obligated parties generate credits when renewable fuels are blended into conventional transportation fuels or they can purchase credits from other RIN producers to meet their obligations. Immediately following the announcement, biofuel and agricultural industry groups voiced overall displeasure with the substantial exemptions but welcomed the EPA's intention to reallocate 100pc of the remaining volume. RIN markets moved higher sharply as well, with current year D6 credits trading at 225¢/RIN while concurrent D4 RINs last offered at 240¢/RIN. The EPA also set the date for 2025 RFS compliance at 1 October 2026, extending the deadline 30 days. By Matthew Cope US EPA 2025 Small Refiner Exemptions Refinery Location Capacity b/d 2025 SRE decision Delek Kortz Springs, Louisiana 80,000.0 Full Grant Delek Big Spring, Texas 73,000.0 Full Grant America Refining Group Bradford, Pennsylvania 11,000.0 Denial Big West Oil Salt Lake City, Utah 31,664.0 Partial Grant Calumet Great Falls, Montana 15,000.0 Full Grant Calumet Shreveport, Louisiana 57,000.0 Full Grant Chevron Salt Lake City, Utah 54,720.0 Full Grant CHS Laurel, Montana 62,500.0 Full Grant Countrymark Mount Vernon, Indiana 36,700.0 Full Grant Delek Tyler, Texas 74,000.0 Full Grant Ergon Vicksburg, Mississippi 25,000.0 Partial Grant Ergon Newell, West Virginia 22,000.0 Denial HF Sinclair Artesia, New Mexico 110,000.0 Ineligible HF Sinclair Evansville, Wyoming 31,000.0 Partial Grant HF Sinclair Sinclair, Wyoming 85,000.0 Partial Grant HF Sinclair Tulsa, Oklahoma 70,300.0 Full Grant HF Sinclair West Bountiful, Utah 41,700.0 Denial Hunt Tuscaloosa, Alabama 50,000.0 Full Grant Kern Bakersfield, California 26,000.0 Full Grant Delek El Dorado, Arkansas 83,000.0 Full Grant Marathon Mandan, North Dakota 74,000.0 Partial Grant Par Billings, Montana 61,500.0 Full Grant Phillips 66 Billings, Montana 66,000.0 Partial Grant Placid Port Allen, Louisiana 75,000.0 Partial Grant San Joaqin Bakersfield, California 15,000.0 Partial Grant Silver Eagle Evanston, Wyoming 3,000.0 Full Grant Silver Eagle West Bountiful, Utah 15,000.0 Partial Grant Cenovus Superior, Wisconsin 49,547.0 Full Grant Lazarus San Antonio, Texas 20,000.0 Full Grant Par Tacoma, Washington 40,700.0 Partial Grant United Refining Warren, Pennsylvania 67,000.0 Full Grant Vertex Saraland, Alabama 88,000.0 Ineligible CVR Wynnewood, Oklahoma 74,500.0 Full Grant HF Sinclair Sinclair, Wyoming 75,000.0 Partial Grant US Environmental Protection Agency Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US Group II base oil margins diverge slightly
US Group II base oil margins diverge slightly
Houston, 31 August (Argus) — US Group II base oil margins compared with feedstocks rose, but they fell relative to competing fuels, tracking along a more volatile crude market. Base oil premiums to both remain near record highs, which continues to support elevated operating rates. The Argus US domestic spot Group II N100 premium to four-week average low-sulphur vacuum gas oil (VGO) rose to $3.97/USG during the week ended 28 August, up from $3.95/USG the previous week. Margins remained above year-earlier levels of $1.28/USG. The Argus US domestic spot Group II N100 premium to four-week average US Gulf coast diesel fell to $2.55/USG last week, down from $2.58/USG the previous week. Margins remained above year-earlier levels of 95¢/USG. Base oil margins have been relatively steady in August alongside prices because of growing concerns around demand destruction. US refiners continue to prioritize building inventories for the ongoing US Atlantic coast hurricane season, rather than discounting prices to move more volumes. More availability of South Korean- and Indian-origin cargoes into South America and the US is putting some pressure on US base oil sellers to consider discounts if Atlantic basin hurricane disruptions remain minimal or non-existent. Base oil margins over diesel narrowed for the seventh consecutive week because of surging diesel values and shortages of the fuel. Market participants still see base oil crack spreads above diesel crack spreads. However, market participants are growing increasingly concerned that growing shortages of diesel will continue to narrow the spread and could push refiners to reduce base oil output in favor of fuels. Feedstock VGO prices fell during the week alongside lower crude. Market participants continue to see VGO margins at elevated rates from fuel-producing units. Four-week average VGO moved to a premium of $32.78/bl during the week ended 28 August, down from $33.63/bl the previous week. That spread was $14.61/bl a year earlier. By John Dietrich Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Trump to meet with US refiners on fuel prices
Trump to meet with US refiners on fuel prices
Houston, 31 August (Argus) — US president Donald Trump will meet with "small, mid-size, and large" US refiners at the White House on Tuesday to discuss fuel prices, interior secretary Doug Burgum said. The discussions will include supply chain issues as well as "getting back to a policy where we're actually supporting refiners as opposed to try to run them out of business", Burgum said Monday in a broadcast interview with Fox Business. The White House meeting comes as US fuel prices, especially distillates, have soared since late February because of global supply shortages caused by the US-Iran war, as well as Ukraine's drone campaign against Russian refineries. US refiners, who have helped fill the gap in global supply, reported bumper profits in the second quarter with margins doubling from a year earlier. US refiners are running at utilization rates above 97pc in recent weeks, trying to take advantage of the higher prices, according to US Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates. Some US refiners have also postponed maintenance projects to next year to keep running plants at high levels. The Trump administration has taken steps that it believes will ease domestic fuel prices ahead of the midterm elections in November, including a continuing waiver of the Jones Act shipping law and large releases from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, but prices continue to average far above year-earlier levels. US retail gasoline prices averaged $4.085/USG in the week ended 24 August, up by $1.15/USG from the week ended 23 February, before the US-Israel strikes on Iran, according to EIA data. US diesel prices averaged a four-year high of $5.652/USG in the week ended 24 August, up by $1.84/USG from the week ended 23 February. Burgum said that the Jones Act waiver helped lower the prices of gasoline in the US northeast but that there is a "series of other red tape and regulations" that have been added in some states, like California, that are "designed to choke out refining of hydrocarbons in America". The Jones Act waiver, which was extended by another 90 days on 10 August with some new requirements, allows shippers to transport oil and other energy-related products from one US port to another without using US-built, US-crewed and US-flagged ships, as the 1920 Jones Act requires. The Trump administration also issued an emergency waiver earlier this month allowing winter gasoline blends to be sold about two weeks earlier, in another attempt to tackle the surge in fuel prices. By Eunice Bridges Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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