Poland's Orlen dives into spot crude market

Spanish Market: Crude oil
16/09/26

Poland's integrated oil company Orlen has secured 16 additional spot crude cargoes in the past few days, it said today.

The company is Saudi state-controlled Aramco's biggest European client, and the spot market activity may be because Orlen has to cover a supply gap caused by damage to Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline.

Aramco has cancelled or deferred term crude supplies to some European refiners that were scheduled to load later in September since damage to the pipeline last week.

Orlen since 11 September has secured spot cargoes from origins including Norway, the UK, Algeria, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and north and south America, it said. Crude supplies to its refineries are uninterrupted and fully meet its refineries' demand, it said.

The company operates five refineries with a combined capacity of 944,000 b/d. Its 210,000 b/d Gdansk plant in Poland is operated under a joint venture with Aramco, which is also a key supplier.

Orlen may take as much as 300,000 b/d under a term contract with Aramco, although that is unconfirmed. This would be around 40pc of all Saudi crude that arrives in Europe.

Orlen has another term supply contract, with Norway's state-controlled Equinor, which it recently renewed.

Orlen's feedstock needs changed in early 2025, when it stopped taking Russian Urals crude.

By Tomasz Stepien, Ellanee Kruck and Melissa Gurusinghe

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16/09/26

Dutch fossil exit roadmap highlights difficulties

London, 16 September (Argus) — The Netherlands has published a roadmap on transitioning away from fossil fuels, outlining the difficulties the country will face in the transition and setting no date for an ultimate halt to fossil fuel use. The plan aims at the "minimisation" of fossil fuel use by 2050, with its "ultimate" phase-out date left undefined. It identifies challenges in moving away from each of natural gas, oil and coal. The country committed to producing a roadmap to end fossil fuel use at the UN Cop 30 climate summit in Brazil last year, and recommitted to it at the Transitioning away from Fossil Fuels conference in Santa Marta in May. The latter conference was organised outside of formal UN channels and attended only by countries keen to advance on cutting fossil fuel use. The Netherlands co-hosted the meeting with Colombia. But the Latin American country's new administration has since said it plans to pursue a different approach to transitioning to cleaner energy, reopening the door to expanding oil and natural gas. The Dutch government said that the transition away from gas is made more difficult by the fuel's role in the Netherlands' energy system. "As long as full-fledged, sustainable alternatives are insufficiently available, natural gas remains essential for our society," the roadmap reads. Gas plays a large role in balancing the Netherlands' renewable-heavy power system, filling in during periods of low intermittent renewable output. Replacement of gas in domestic heating is underway, with increased electrification and insulation reducing consumption in recent years. But "uncertainties are considerably greater" on the use of gas in industry, the government said. Allocating fixed costs of the gas network to a shrinking number of users during the transition represents another difficulty. Some changes have been made which frontload costs to the coming years, when they can be spread across more users. Gas consumption would fall to around 110TWh by 2040, from around 250TWh in 2025, under the government's plan. But alternative government projections suggest consumption could fall to 140-190TWh. The government plans to prioritise domestic production of gas, citing its lower climate impact compared to imported LNG, and lower dependence on other countries. The country produces around 20 mn m³/d of natural gas, or the equivalent of 100TWh/yr. On oil, the government considers the transition to be relatively sure in mobility. But it said that phasing out of fossil fuel use in the chemical sector is more uncertain as demand for sustainable raw materials remains slow as a result of a lack of policy support. Coal use in the Netherlands is limited to the power and steel sectors. In the former, a ban will come into force in 2030, although this will negatively affect security of supply, according to the roadmap. In the steel sector the replacement of the country's two coal-consuming blast furnaces could take place in the 2030s, although this will depend on "technological and market developments," the government said. Environmental non-governmental organisation (NGO) welcomed the publication of the roadmap, but criticised the absence of phase out dates for oil and gas and ongoing gas production. By Rhys Talbot Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Mideast concerns lift US WTI crude prices to Asia

16/09/26

Mideast concerns lift US WTI crude prices to Asia

Singapore, 16 September (Argus) — Spot values of US WTI crude on a delivered northeast Asia basis hit a record high after renewed US-Iran hostilities and Mideast Gulf crude supply disruptions boosted Asian demand for US crude as an alternative supply source. Traders pegged light sweet WTI arriving in December in northeast Asia at premiums of $30-35/bl against November Dubai assessments, in line with a recent deal. This marks a record high for WTI's value on a delivered northeast Asia basis since Argus assessments started in November 2019. A South Korean refiner bought 1mn bl of December-delivery WTI at a premium of $30-35/bl to November Dubai assessments this week, market sources said. This was higher compared to earlier purchases of around 12mn-15mn bl of December-delivery US crude, primarily comprising WTI, by mainly northeast Asian refiners that were concluded at premiums of $20-30/bl to Dubai. US crude has emerged as a key source of stable alternative supply for Asian buyers after the US-Iran war disrupted crude exports originating from within the Mideast Gulf. Recent attacks on Saudi Arabia's 7mn b/d East-West crude pipeline have further tightened crude supplies available to Asian refiners. These supply fears have driven up the price of Abu Dhabi light sour Murban, pushing Asian buyers to consider stepping up their purchases of WTI crude, market sources said. WTI competes closely with Murban in the Asian market. Murban is currently around $15/bl higher on a similar delivered basis compared with the price of WTI. The steep increase in spot Murban prices has opened the arbitrage for shipping WTI to Asia, a southeast Asian refinery source said. But some buyers may not be able to completely replace Murban with WTI, either because of refinery configurations or term commitments for the Abu Dhabi crude, traders said. Elevated freight costs have also contributed to the rise in WTI prices for December arrival in northeast Asia. The Argus -assessed freight rate for a 270,000t tanker from the US Gulf coast to South Korea/Japan was at $20.78/bl on 15 September, having risen steadily from $11.65/bl at the start of September. By Reena Nathan, YouLiang Chay, Rhalain Reyes and Fabian Ng Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Venezuela bet will take time to pay off: Armstrong

15/09/26

Venezuela bet will take time to pay off: Armstrong

Houston, 15 September (Argus) — Veteran oil wildcatter Bill Armstrong, who has secured a deal to explore 5mn acres off the coast of Venezuela, said it will take years to reach first production if successful. Denver-based Armstrong Oil & Gas, the company he founded, is ready to carry out seismic testing in the region after reaching an agreement with the interim Venezuela government, he said. "It won't be fast," Armstrong said today at the Super DUG 2026 conference in Houston, Texas. "The data quality is old — vintage seismic — and it's almost all 2D data, so you have to shoot it all with 3D, and that is not fast nor is it cheap." He said it could take five years to deliver the first volumes, though that was a "wild guess" and it hinges on the company making a commercial discovery in the first place. Armstrong was among the almost two dozen oil executives who attended a White House meeting in January as President Donald Trump pushed for the industry to invest as much as $100bn to help kickstart Venezuela's long-neglected energy sector. Deals announced so far have largely centered on smaller US independents, while bigger firms such as ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, which had their assets seized under previous Venezuelan governments, have adopted a more cautious approach. Armstrong, who helped revive interest in Alaska's North Slope after the Pikka discovery in 2013, said he never thought he would get an opportunity to tap Venezuela's oil riches. "Venezuela is like a Mecca for oil and gas," he said. "It's like going into Saudi Arabia or something, you know, where it's just like so prolific." That said, there were still risks involved and he cautioned that wildcatting was not for the faint-hearted. "The politics are good right now," Armstrong said. "You got to make sure the Venezuelans want you there. Right now, they do." By Stephen Cunningham Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Valve closure shuts small Libyan oil fields

15/09/26

Valve closure shuts small Libyan oil fields

Antalya, 15 September (Argus) — Crude production has stopped at a cluster of Libyan oil fields with combined capacity of around 10,000 b/d after an armed group forcibly closed a pipeline valve in the Hamada region. State-owned NOC said a group from the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG), which is responsible for protecting oil infrastructure, illegally closed a valve on the pipeline linking the fields to the 120,000 b/d Zawia refinery. The closure caused a sudden pressure surge in the pipeline, forcing the shutdown of the Agoco-operated Hamada and Tahara fields and the NC5 pumping station, NOC said. The company also said "certain actors" had threatened to shut the 10,000 b/d North Hamada field, operated by its subsidiary Nafusah Oil. "NOC announces that it may be compelled to declare force majeure should the valve remain closed or if other fields face similar forced shutdowns," it said. The affected fields feed into a pipeline that also carries crude from the Repsol-led 300,000 b/d El Sharara field to Zawia. NOC made no mention of El Sharara in its statement, but the field has been affected by previous valve closures along the pipeline route. A source said the Tripoli-based government of Abdelhamid Dbeibeh had sent representatives to negotiate with the PFG group, which is demanding that its members be formally incorporated into the state payroll. Another source said the closure could be part of a broader power struggle between the Dbeibeh government in western Libya and the Haftar family, which controls eastern Libya. Libya's oil facilities have suffered repeated politically driven closures since the 2011 civil war, although the country has experienced no major production outages since 2024. Crude production stood at 1.4mn b/d in August, according to Argus estimates. By Aydin Calik Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Aramco defers, cancels some European Sep crude: Sources

15/09/26

Aramco defers, cancels some European Sep crude: Sources

London, 15 September (Argus) — Saudi state-controlled Aramco has cancelled or deferred term crude supplies to some European refiners that were scheduled to load in late September, according to market sources. At least three European refiners have had cargoes cancelled or pushed from the final 10 days of this month to as late as November, the sources said. Two others expect to be notified of delays or cancellations to their September cargoes in the coming days. One source said all Saudi cargoes scheduled to load in the final 10 days of September are at risk of being cancelled and added that around five days of Saudi crude inventories remain at the Red Sea port of Yanbu. This was not directly confirmed, and Aramco declined to comment. The delays point to a prolonged outage on Saudi Arabia's 7mn b/d East-West crude pipeline, which has been shut since an attack on 10 September. Aramco began notifying some European customers last week, before the pipeline attack, that early September exports from Sidi Kerir were delayed by around two weeks. Sources at the time linked this to attacks by Yemen-based Houthi militants on Saudi shipping in the Red Sea. The damage to East-West pipeline has probably worsened those delays. The line moves crude from oil fields near the Mideast Gulf to Yanbu for export to Ain Sukhna in Egypt, before the crude moves through the 2.5mn b/d Sumed pipeline to Sidi Kerir on the Mediterranean coast. Saudi exports from Sidi Kerir have been around 1.95mn b/d in the first two weeks of September, and arrivals at Ain Sukhna have been around 1.40mn b/d, according to trade and analytics platform Vortexa. No Saudi crude has departed Yanbu since 11 September. This data may not include tankers that turned off AIS transponders for security. European term customers are waiting for October allocations from Aramco, which typically surface around the 10th of the month before loading. Some European term customers, like Polish state-controlled Orlen, have stepped up spot buying to cover the shortfall in Saudi supply. Orlen has issued at least eight tenders since 11 September for grades from the Mediterranean, the North Sea and west Africa. By Melissa Gurusinghe and Ellanee Kruck Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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