Repsol confirms Venezuela crude deal restart
Spain's integrated Repsol has resumed its crude-for-debt deal with Venezuela, and said the arrival of around 3mn bl of Venezuelan crude at its Spanish terminals this month will help to partly offset a weakening of its refining margins.
Repsol chief executive Josu Jon Imaz said the return of Venezuelan heavy crudes, after a near two-year hiatus, fits the firm's refinery configuration, replaces dwindling supplies of its staple Mexican Maya blend and adds to the increasing amount of heavy grades it is sourcing from Canada and Colombia.
"Venezuela oil is going to help us use our cokers better," Imaz said. "The use of heavy oils is going to provide higher capacity to fill our cokers and optimise better the conversion units we have."
Repsol expects the Venezuelan crude to boost its refining margin in the second half of the year, after it was at just an 80¢/bl premium to the record indicator margin of $23.30/bl in the April-June period. The extra heavy cuts from distillation will allow Repsol to run its cokers harder, and that is already coming through. It ran its conversion units at 105pc of capacity this month, compared with 97.2pc in the second quarter.
This will help underpin Repsol's margin, which the firm anticipates will narrow sharply in the rest of this year. Repsol said the indicator margin is at $12.8/bl in July, and it expects this to average $10.00/bl in the second half as a whole with a narrowing in the fourth quarter as summer kerosine demand tails off.
Repsol halted receipts of Venezuelan crude in September 2020, under pressure from the US government to comply with sanctions. In the 12 months prior, Repsol imported from 83,000 b/d Venezuela. Imaz said the 3mn bl received this month means Repsol has recovered about 75pc of what it is due from Venezuela's state-owned PDdV for its joint ventures with the company in the first half of the year.
Italian integrated Eni, Repsol's partner in Venezuela, has also resumed crude imports from the Latin American country, according to Argus tracking.
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ACT to partner with LR, Wartsila, and UECC on CNSL
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Baltimore bridge collapse to raise retail fuel prices
Baltimore bridge collapse to raise retail fuel prices
Houston, 27 March (Argus) — The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, is more likely to increase regional gasoline prices than diesel due to additional freight costs and certain route restrictions. Suppliers in the region have so far signaled that the effect on broader markets will be minimal, but regional prices will likely rise, especially as peak summer demand season begins with Memorial Day weekend in late May. The bridge closure could pose more problems for gasoline supply than diesel, since gasoline cannot be transported through the Fort McHenry (I-95) and Baltimore Harbor (I-895) tunnels — the two other major roads that cross the Patapsco River at Baltimore — while there are no restrictions on diesel, according to the Maryland Transportation Authority (MTA). Fuel wholesaler Global Partners said yesterday that it would like to see hours of service waivers for trucking in the region to minimize fuel supply disruption to customers, but the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is yet to issue one. Elevated retail prices are likely to be limited to the immediate Baltimore area but could spill over into neighboring markets should trucking markets remain tight due to rerouting, market sources told Argus . Fuel markets in eastern Maryland can be supplied by PBF's 171,000 b/d Delaware City, Delaware, refinery and two further plants in Pennsylvania — Monroe Energy's 190,000 b/d Trainer refinery and PBF's 160,000 b/d Paulsboro refinery. To the north, United Refining runs a 65,000 b/d plant in Warren, Pennsylvania, and along the Atlantic coast Phillips 66 operates the 259,000 b/d Bayway refinery in Linden, New Jersey. PBF, Monroe and United did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the bridge collapse is affecting refinery operations. Phillips 66 declined to comment on commercial activities. Still, the five nearby refineries — representing all the Atlantic coast's 850,000 b/d of crude processing capacity — are unlikely to see their operations curtailed by limits in shipping products to Maryland. With no refinery in the state of Maryland, most fuels are delivered to Baltimore by Gulf coast refiners on the Colonial Pipeline. Global Partners, which operates a terminal just west of the collapsed bridge, said yesterday it is primarily supplied by the pipeline and expects product flows to continue. Several terminals in the Baltimore Harbor and the nearby Port Salisbury can also receive small vessels and barges of road fuels from Delaware and Pennsylvania, according to the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA). The Port of Baltimore — which remains closed since the collapse — took delivery of 24,000 b/d of gasoline and under 2,000 b/d of distillates from barges and small vessels in 2019, about three percent of the Atlantic coast's refining capacity. "A closure of the Port of Baltimore while the Colonial Pipeline is open would not significantly disrupt fuel supply," the MEA wrote in a 2022 analysis of liquid fuels supply in the state. By Nathan Risser Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US breaks $79/bl ceiling in latest SPR purchase
US breaks $79/bl ceiling in latest SPR purchase
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South Sudan crude output halves on pipeline blockage
South Sudan crude output halves on pipeline blockage
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