Latest news with #AlexLongley
Mint
06-07-2025
- Business
- Mint
Saudis Raise Main Oil Prices for Asia a Day After OPEC Hike
(Bloomberg) -- Saudi Arabia raised prices for its main crude grade for buyers in Asia next month as demand for oil and fuels holds up. The move, a day after OPEC producers agreed to a fourth round of big output hikes, suggests the kingdom is confident about the market. State producer Aramco will raise the price for Arab Light crude, its flagship grade, by $1 a barrel to $2.20 a barrel more than the regional benchmark for Asian customers, according to a price sheet from the company seen by Bloomberg. Three refinery officials in Asia expressed their surprise at the size of the increase. Aramco was expected to raise Arab Light by 65 cents a barrel, according to a survey of traders and refiners. On Saturday, the Saudis on Saturday led the OPEC group, which includes partners like Russia, in agreeing to raise production by 548,000 barrels a day in August, in part to take advantage of strong summer consumption. The increase, faster than traders and analysts foresaw, may contribute to a crude surplus later this year with Wall Street firms such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. anticipating that prices sink near $60 a barrel in the fourth quarter. The OPEC increase puts the group on pace to unwind the layer of voluntary output cuts by eight members by September, which is one year earlier than originally outlined. The countries had announced increases of 411,000 barrels for each of May, June and July — already three times faster than scheduled. Read: OPEC Will Boost Supply Even Faster With Larger August Hike (2) Oil spiked above $80 a barrel last month as Israel exchanged missile barrages with Iran in one of the most dramatic escalations of conflict in the Middle East in recent years. Markets had largely shrugged off prior geopolitical tensions linked to Israel's war in Gaza and attacks on Hezbollah as those conflicts failed to impede the flow of oil. While a wider war involving Iran could put energy production and export infrastructure at risk, Brent crude fell back below $70 a barrel soon after US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between Tehran and Jerusalem and limited the US involvement in attacks. Demand for crude and products has largely held up amid summer use with margins for refiners rising. Still, traders see the market softening later this year as consumption wanes and the OPEC increases contribute to a surplus of crude in storage. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies are set to bring back to market 2.2 million barrels a day overall this year once it unwinds the voluntary cuts. --With assistance from Alex Longley and Alaric Nightingale. (Updates with industry reaction in third paragraph.)
Mint
06-07-2025
- Business
- Mint
Saudis Raise Main Oil Prices for Asia a Day After OPEC Hike
(Bloomberg) -- Saudi Arabia raised prices for its main crude grade for buyers in Asia next month as demand for oil and fuels holds up. The move, a day after OPEC producers agreed to a fourth round of big output hikes, suggests the kingdom is confident about the market. State producer Aramco will raise the price for Arab Light crude, its flagship grade, by $1 a barrel to $2.20 a barrel more than the regional benchmark for Asian customers, according to a price sheet from the company seen by Bloomberg. Three refinery officials in Asia expressed their surprise at the size of the increase. Aramco was expected to raise Arab Light by 65 cents a barrel, according to a survey of traders and refiners. On Saturday, the Saudis on Saturday led the OPEC group, which includes partners like Russia, in agreeing to raise production by 548,000 barrels a day in August, in part to take advantage of strong summer consumption. The increase, faster than traders and analysts foresaw, may contribute to a crude surplus later this year with Wall Street firms such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. anticipating that prices sink near $60 a barrel in the fourth quarter. The OPEC increase puts the group on pace to unwind the layer of voluntary output cuts by eight members by September, which is one year earlier than originally outlined. The countries had announced increases of 411,000 barrels for each of May, June and July — already three times faster than scheduled. Read: OPEC Will Boost Supply Even Faster With Larger August Hike (2) Oil spiked above $80 a barrel last month as Israel exchanged missile barrages with Iran in one of the most dramatic escalations of conflict in the Middle East in recent years. Markets had largely shrugged off prior geopolitical tensions linked to Israel's war in Gaza and attacks on Hezbollah as those conflicts failed to impede the flow of oil. While a wider war involving Iran could put energy production and export infrastructure at risk, Brent crude fell back below $70 a barrel soon after US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between Tehran and Jerusalem and limited the US involvement in attacks. Demand for crude and products has largely held up amid summer use with margins for refiners rising. Still, traders see the market softening later this year as consumption wanes and the OPEC increases contribute to a surplus of crude in storage. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies are set to bring back to market 2.2 million barrels a day overall this year once it unwinds the voluntary cuts. --With assistance from Alex Longley and Alaric Nightingale. (Updates with industry reaction in third paragraph.) More stories like this are available on
Bloomberg
30-06-2025
- Automotive
- Bloomberg
Oil Tanker Suffers Unexplained Blast Weeks After Russia Call
By , Alex Longley, and Weilun Soon Updated on Save A tanker hauling 1 million barrels of oil suffered an explosion while near Libya, its manager said Monday. The Vilamoura is being towed to Greece, where damage will be assessed upon arrival. The blast caused water intake and the vessel's engine room is flooded, a spokesperson for TMS Tankers said. Exactly what caused the explosion was unclear, they added.
Bloomberg
19-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Diesel Passes $105 a Barrel on Mideast Worry and Key Spreads Rip
By and Alex Longley Save Diesel soared for a fifth day — topping the equivalent of $105 a barrel in Europe — with spreads that traders view as measures of market strength spiraling higher. Concern about imports from the Middle East, where Israel's conflict with Iran is roiling wider oil markets, is compounding what was already a tight market. Europe has become increasingly reliant on the region's fuel since losing Russian supply.
Mint
17-06-2025
- Business
- Mint
Oil Freight Rates Jump in Mideast as Iran Conflict Fans Risk
(Bloomberg) -- Oil-shipping rates for Middle Eastern routes have spiked after some tanker owners and managers paused offering vessels as they assess risks from Israel's conflict with Iran, fueling concerns over flows from the region. Key rates for supertankers voyaging from the Middle East to East Asia rose almost 60% in less than a week, according to shipbrokers and charterers, as exporters who had been trying to book ships were met with few offers. They asked not to be identified as they're not authorized to speak publicly. Meanwhile, some owners with tankers that had been provisionally chartered as of Friday, pending confirmation of the booking, chose not to extend the agreements into the weekend, one of them said. The global oil market has been transfixed by the conflict in the Middle East, with Israeli strikes on Iranian energy and nuclear infrastructure roiling prices. While the likelihood of significant supply disruptions may be remote at this stage, the stability of shipping in and around the Middle East will be closely watched. The region is home to about a third of the world's production, and major exporters such as Saudi Arabia have limited scope to divert exports if needed. As hostilities have intensified, tanker owners are monitoring conditions for navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway that links the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean. Though ship diversions haven't yet been spotted, owners are holding back on fixing new voyages in the Gulf, setting the stage for higher freight rates and the possibility of disruptions. The benchmark rate for a supertanker capable of hauling 2 million barrels of crude from the Middle East to China — the TD3C route — jumped to 70 to 71 Worldscale points on Monday, up from about 44 last Thursday, before Israel struck Iran, according to shipbrokers. Worldscale points are a percentage of an underlying flat rate, which is set for each major route at the start of the year. On a per-day basis, chartering costs were near $46,000 on Monday, according to data from the Baltic Exchange. That's up by more than $12,000 from the prior session, the biggest gain since February last year. Forward-freight agreements — a derivative that allows buyers to lock in future rates — have increased as an indication of caution across the sector. FFAs for the TD3C route rose to around $14.50 a ton at one point on Monday, compared with about $11 before Israel's attacks on Iran. --With assistance from Alex Longley and John Deane. (Updates throughout with latest rates.) More stories like this are available on
