Damage to US Gulf platform boosts Mars: Correction

: Crude oil
21/09/03

Corrects some 2 September prices and adds 3 September prices.

News of Hurricane Ida damage to a key US Gulf Shell pipeline transfer station helped continue to boost medium sour Mars' crude price relative to the light sweet crude benchmark in Cushing, Oklahoma.

Shell said yesterday it saw damage to its West Delta-143 transfer station that takes crude from multiple deepwater platforms, including Mars, Olympus and Ursa, while doing an initial flyover of the offshore facilities.

The Mars price moved to an 8¢/bl premium to the Cushing benchmark yesterday, rising by 33¢/bl from 1 September on top of a 75¢/bl gain from 31 August. Yesterday's Mars premium of 8¢/bl was the highest Mars has been relative to the basis since 21 May.

Mars rose by even more today against the basis, moving to a 25¢/bl premium to Cushing, the highest since 18 May.

Yesterday's gain may have been tempered somewhat by news that the US had approved a loan of 1.5mn bl of crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to ExxonMobil's 500,000 b/d refinery in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Since the beginning of the October trade month on 26 August through yesterday, Mars has risen by $1.67/bl relative to its Cushing basis, and now it is up by $1.84/bl. During the same time its discount to December Ice Brent has tightened by $1.40/bl to $2.34/bl. Today, the Mars discount to Ice Brent widened slightly to $2.44/bl.

The Mars pipeline downstream of West Delta-143 has a nominal capacity of 400,000 b/d. Louisiana Department of Natural Resources data shows that total volumes traveling on the Mars pipeline not initially sourced from the Amberjack pipeline averaged 233,000 b/d each month this year through July. The Mars pipeline carried a monthly average of 376,000 b/d of crude to LOOP facilities in Clovelly, Louisiana, during the same time period.

Fellow deepwater medium sour Louisiana-delivered Poseidon has risen by about $1.70/bl through yesterday since the trade month started last week when then tropical storm Ida was already threatening to reach hurricane strength. Poseidon gained nearly another 20¢/bl today against the Cushing price. Texas-delivered medium sour Southern Green Canyon (SGC) has risen by $1.80/bl during the same time period through yesterday, slightly more with Texas refinery demand unimpacted by the storm. Today, the SGC discount to WTI Cushing was little changed from yesterday.

Other offshore streams carried to the Louisiana coast showed significant gains against the Cushing benchmark in the last week. Light sour Thunder Horse gained $1.55/bl relative to the basis and Heavy Louisiana Sweet (HLS) rose by 97¢/bl versus the benchmark. Meanwhile, Light Louisiana Sweet (LLS) only rose by about 90¢/bl against the Cushing basis. LLS is a blend that can include offshore crude, but typically has large volumes of Texas onshore crude production.

Today's price gains since the beginning of the trade month were $1.65/bl for Thunder Horse, 90¢/bl for HLS, and $1.28/bl for LLS.

By Amanda Smith

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25/12/12

Seized oil tanker likely heading to Houston

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Japan’s energy demand falls on economic slowdown

25/12/12

Japan’s energy demand falls on economic slowdown

Osaka, 12 December (Argus) — Japan's energy consumption in the April 2024-March 2025 fiscal year fell again from a year earlier, pressured by slower industry activity. The country's 2024-25 final energy use totalled 292mn kiloliters, or 1.84bn bl of oil equivalent (boe), down by 1.7pc from a year earlier, according to preliminary data released on 12 December by the trade and industry ministry Meti. This marks the third consecutive annual decline. Coal use in final energy consumption fell by 3.7pc from a year earlier to 172mn boe in 2024-25, while oil demand declined by 3.7pc to 841mn boe. This came as energy consumption in the manufacturing and transportation sectors declined by 3.2pc to 766mn boe, and by 1.5pc to 445mn boe respectively. But demand for natural gas and city gas rose by 1.5pc from a year earlier to 167mn boe. Power demand also edged up by 1pc to 517mn boe. Coal-fired power generation edged up by 0.9pc to 283.4TWh during the period, while oil- and gas-fired power dropped by 2.7pc to 71TWh and by 2.4pc to 315.7TWh. Zero-emission power supplies, including renewables and nuclear power, rose by 3.9pc to 322.1TWh. Japan's energy-derived CO2 emissions fell by 1.4pc from a year earlier to 908mn t in 2024-25, supported by the increased use of renewable and nuclear power supplies. The 2024-25 emissions represented a 26pc fall compared with the country's 2013-14 baseline, or the lowest level since 1990-91. The lower energy consumption, as well as increased use of domestic renewable and nuclear energy, helped lift Japan's energy self-sufficiency rate to 16.4pc in 2024-25, up by 1.1 percentage points from a year earlier, based on International Energy Agency methodology. By Motoko Hasegawa Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

More than 30 sanctioned tankers in Venezuela

25/12/11

More than 30 sanctioned tankers in Venezuela

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IEA ups global crude runs forecast, driven by OECD

25/12/11

IEA ups global crude runs forecast, driven by OECD

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Seized oil tanker 'falsely' carrying Guyana flag

25/12/11

Seized oil tanker 'falsely' carrying Guyana flag

Kingston, 11 December (Argus) — An oil tanker seized by the US off Venezuela's coast on Wednesday was falsely carrying the Guyana flag, Guyana's maritime agency Marad said. The very large crude carrier Skipper is part of "the proliferation of an unacceptable trend of the unauthorized use of the Guyana Flag by vessels that are not registered in Guyana," Marad said. The ship was seized as a large US naval force remains stationed offshore Venezuela that Washington said is intended to stop drug shipments. Venezuela has protested against the naval presence, saying is intended to topple the administration of president Nicolas Maduro, and called the seizure of the ship "an act of international piracy." The US told Marad it encountered Skipper , which has gone by other names and has been used in moving sanctioned Iranian crude, in international waters, Marad said. The ship appeared to be destined for Cuba before the seizure, but since then has been moving slowly to the northwest and is showing a destination of Georgetown, Guyana. Marad said it will continue to work with other organizations and governments to identify and take action against unauthorized use of the Guyana flag. By Canute James Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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