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ADNOC cuts Upper Zakum oil exports greatly after diverting supply to refinery

Exports of Upper Zakum crude from the United Arab Emirates fell sharply in March after ADNOC diverted more supply to its own refinery and improved shipments of its lighter Murban oil, according to traders, experts and shipping information.

The swap in oil grades at Abu Dhabi National Oil Business's. ( ADNOC's) Ruwais refinery has actually tightened up medium-sour crude supply. in Asia, limiting the number of Upper Zakum freights that can be. provided throughout S&P Global's rate assessment process for. Middle East crude Dubai and supporting the criteria.

They invested a great deal of money over at least 3-4 years. upgrading Ruwais to run much heavier grades so it makes a lot of. sense to run Upper Zakum and offer Murban, said Adi Imsirovic,. director of Surrey Clean Energy.

Barrel-for-barrel, Murban brings more income for equivalent. compliance, he added, referring to production quotas that the. United Arab Emirates has actually consented to as a member the Organization. of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

ADNOC declined to comment.

In 2018, ADNOC invested $3.5 billion to upgrade its. 837,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery to process approximately 420,000. bpd of heavier and more sour crude including Upper Zakum,. according to the business's website.

ADNOC started shipping Upper Zakum crude to its refinery in. September, with volumes reaching 200,000 to 300,000 bpd in. February and March, according to traders.

Kpler information revealed the share of Upper Zakum crude to Ruwais. hit 366,000 bpd in March, or 40% of overall deliveries, up from. 152,000 bpd in February. Rystad projections Upper Zakum exports at. about 650,000 bpd in March, below a monthly average of. 940,000 bpd in 2023.

Middle East medium-sour crude exports have actually fallen as brand-new. refineries in Kuwait, Oman, the UAE and Saudi Arabia need. regional crudes, stated Janiv Shah, Rystad's vice president of oil. markets.

The biggest importer of Upper Zakum and Middle Eastern. medium sour barrels is China, who should pivot to importing. comparable grades as Chinese nation level refinery runs boost. through 2024 on demand increases, yield shifts and brand-new refinery. capacity, he added.

Exports of Upper Zakum to China, India, South Korea,. Thailand and Singapore fell about 50% or more in March from a. year previously, Kpler data revealed, while supply to Japan slipped. 13%.

ADNOC notified term consumers late last year that their. Upper Zakum supply for 2024 will be decreased and provided to. replace it with Murban, its flagship grade.

With less Upper Zakum supply and more Murban in the market,. the medium-sour Dubai benchmark has tightened up while Murban. futures, the light-sour cost marker, has actually compromised, Imsirovic. stated.

Asian refiners have actually turned to similar quality oil from Qatar. and Saudi Arabia to change Upper Zakum, traders said, as Murban. is of a lighter quality.

Recently, ADNOC increased Murban export forecasts from June. to October to between 1.631 million bpd and 1.658 million bpd. Kpler data showed exports averaged at 1.1 million bpd in 2023.

The dive in Murban supply has actually weighed on rates, narrowing. its gap with Upper Zakum to about 10 cents a barrel, versus the. common 80-cent space, a Singapore-based trader said.

(source: Reuters)