Oil & Gas Refining

According to an announcement posted on the website of the Treasury Department on Monday, "the United States has extended through March 20 a license protecting Venezuelan-owned refiner Citgo Petroleum against creditors." Houston-based refiner will be taken over an affiliate of Elliott Investment Management following a court-ordered sale of its parent company PDV Holding last year to pay billions to Venezuelan-linked creditors. The auction winner will still need the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control to sign off, and for the protection license to be lifted before the sale order can be fully implemented. OFAC hasn't issued an opinion in this...

S&P 500 and Nasdaq sawsawed back and forth between gains and losses Monday as the markets took in a sharp drop in precious metals. This was at the beginning of a busy week that would include corporate earnings and important?economic? data. Silver and gold both fell by up to 10%, before recovering some of their losses. The CME Group increased margin requirements after a historic drop on Friday. U.S. listed gold and silver miner companies pared losses to trade higher. Jim Baird is the chief investment officer at Plante Moran Financial Advisors. Last week, the metals market plunged after U.S....

People familiar with the discussions said that the United Steelworkers union, or USW, has neither accepted nor rejected Marathon Petroleum's last offer for a four-year labor contract for U.S. chemical and refineries plants. Sources said that the offer made on Sunday would provide 30,000 USW workers with a 15% increase in pay over the duration of the contract. Marathon is the lead negotiator of 26 companies, including Exxon Mobil and Valero Energy. Marathon is the biggest refiner in the U.S. Marathon is the largest refiner in the U.S. USW-represented employees operate sites that represent nearly two thirds of the U.S....

Wall Street's major indexes were set to open lower on Monday as investors became uneasy due to a violent drop in precious metals at the beginning of a week that will be filled with earnings reports and important economic data. As a result of the CME Group increasing margin requirements, gold and silver fell as much as 10%. This was after a historic drop on Friday. Leveraged investors were forced to unwind their positions in order to meet margin requirements. Jim Baird is the chief investment officer of Plante Moran Financial Advisors. Premarket trading saw a drop in the U.S....

Chinese independent refiners have purchased discounted Iranian heavy oil to replace Venezuelan shipments which were halted after the U.S. Two people familiar with the matter said that last month, the U.S. claimed control over the OPEC producer. They said that the withdrawal of Iranian crude oil from storage makes up for the fall in Venezuelan supplies to the world’s largest crude buyer. Venezuelan shipments into China have dropped sharply since the middle of December after U.S. president Donald Trump imposed an embargo on ships sanctioned, as part of a larger campaign against President Nicolas Maduro that culminated with his capture...

?U.S. Stock index futures dropped on Monday as investors were unnerved by a violent sale of precious metals at the beginning of a week that will be filled with major economic data and corporate earnings. As a result of the CME Group increasing margin requirements, gold and silver fell as much as 10%. This was after a historic drop on Friday. Leveraged investors were forced to unwind their positions in order to meet margin requirements. Premarket trading saw a drop in the U.S. listings of gold and silver miners. Newmont fell 2.2% while Barrick Mining, Kinross Gold, and Barrick Mining...

The United Steelworkers union and Marathon Petroleum continue to negotiate on Saturday. This is just hours before a possible strike deadline at several U.S. refineries or?chemical plants. The union rejected an offer made by Marathon, who is the chief negotiator of 26 U.S. chemical and refinery companies, including Exxon Mobil and Valero Energy. According to sources who were familiar with the negotiations, the offer included a 13% wage increase over a 4-year contract. Jamal Kheiry, Marathon's spokesperson, said that "MPC is continuing to meet with USW representatives." "We're committed to negotiating in good faith, and working towards a mutually satisfying...

Exxon Mobil, Chevron and other U.S. oil companies offered investors some new insights into their thinking on Venezuela Friday. However, neither company made any 'long-term commitments' despite President Donald Trump’s ongoing push to convince American oil companies to'rebuild' the South American country's oil sector. Exxon CEO Darren Woods praised his company's ability to extract Venezuela's heavy crude, which is traditionally expensive and difficult to obtain at a cheaper price. Meanwhile, Chevron CEO Mike Wirth announced that his company would refine more Venezuelan crude in its U.S. refineries. Both CEOs stated that they needed to wait for a stable political and...

Mike Wirth, CEO of Chevron, said that the U.S. major oil company can refine an additional 100,000 barrels of Venezuelan crude per day at its refineries. "We have been bringing in about 50,000 barrels per day, plus or minus, to our Pascagoula refinery, Mississippi, on the Gulf Coast. Wirth stated during a conference call with analysts that we can add another 100,000 barrels per day to our system. This is true for both Pascagoula, and the West Coast where El Segundo has coking capacity. "I think you can expect to see more Venezuelan crude being used in our system, if...

Three sources familiar with the process have confirmed that U.S. Private Equity firm Carlyle is in exploratory discussions with UAE investors about bringing partners on board if a deal to purchase international assets from Russian firm Lukoil proceeds. Carlyle and Lukoil announced on Thursday a preliminary agreement that would transfer assets to the U.S. company, including oilfields and refineries located in eastern Europe and Iraq. The deal is subject to approval by the U.S. Authorities that have sanctioned the Russian producer announced a preliminary deal on Thursday. A separate source told us on Thursday that neither company had disclosed an...

Exxon Mobil's fourth-quarter earnings, announced on Friday, exceeded Wall?Street expectations. Higher oil production in the profitable Permian basin and Guyana?assets helped to boost the company. Results for the No. 1 U.S. Oil Producer. The adjusted earnings for the quarter from October to 'December' were $1.71 a share. This was higher than the consensus estimate of $1.68 based on LSEG analyst data. The company reported that the annual upstream production had reached its highest level in over 40 years, at 4.7 millions barrels of oil-equivalent per day. Brent oil futures fell 19% in the last year due to an oversupplied market....

Canada's main index fell over 2% on Friday. Mining shares plummeted, and gold dropped after U.S. president Donald Trump nominated Kevin Warsh, who is often seen as a hawkish Federal Reserve Chair. As of 10:31 a.m., the S&P/TSX composite index was down 2.3% to 32,268.84. ET, amid a wider decline, was on course for its largest?one-day fall since April 25 when Washington's universal tariff threats roiled the global markets. Despite today's?losses, which pushed the benchmark index to a weekly decline of 2.6%, the TSX rose 1.8% for the month and is poised to reach its ninth consecutive advance monthly, its...

Exxon 'Mobil 'CEO Darren Woods said to analysts on Friday that his company has the technology needed to produce barrels at higher prices from Venezuela. Woods, who had earlier in the month called the South American nation "uninvestable," made remarks at a White House event that drew a criticism from President Donald Trump. He said now he believes the U.S. government is committed to making changes to 'attract and ensure investment. Woods said that he believed the U.S. administration was committed to making changes needed to?attract and secure investment. "If you look at the current focus, it is stabilizing a...

U.S. refining company Valero Energy kicked off earnings season in the U.S. on Thursday with strong profits for the?fourth quarter,? thanks to a rebound of margins and a higher volume. Fuel manufacturers have made unexpected profits in the third quarter. Product margins, largely driven by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, recovered from multi-year lows that were seen in 2024, when earnings dipped from their post-pandemic peak. The San Antonio-based company reported that its refining margin increased by over?61% compared to a quarter ago, reaching $13.61 per barrel. Its average throughput volume also rose, from 2.9 million barrels per days a few...

Vikas Kaushal, chairman of India's Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd, said that the refiner will increase the heavy oil processing in the new fiscal year starting April. Indian refiners are Consideration Importing Venezuelan crude oil, which is offered by Vitol or Trafigura as part of a U.S. mandated sale following Washington's capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in the first half of this month. "We're trying to increase the flexibility of our system, as we have two new installations, which will allow us to process heavy crudes more efficiently,"?Kaushal said to reporters at the Indian Energy Week Conference, referring specifically to...

Indian Oil Corp, the nation's largest refining company, has committed to purchasing more Brazilian crude during the fiscal year that begins in April after reducing its?Russian?oil imports. IOC intends to buy at least 24 millions barrels of Brazilian crude between April 2026 and March 2027. This is up from 18 million barrels the previous year. The executive said this to reporters on the sidelines of Indian Energy Week. He said that the'refiner', who has just bought its first crude cargoes in Colombia and Ecuador, plans to purchase 50% of its 'crude through term contracts? in the next fiscal year. However,...

Sources in the industry said that Trafigura sold its first cargo of Venezuelan crude oil as part of a 50 million barrel supply agreement between Caracas, Washington and Spain. The shipment was taken by Spanish refiner Repsol. Two sources confirmed that the cargo will be delivered in Spain to Repsol in February. Trafigura did not respond immediately to a comment request. Repsol refused to comment. This deal marks the first time that Venezuelan oil has been sold to Europe since the United States seized?the South American nation's leader earlier this month, and struck agreements with Caracas for the export of...

Indian refiners have redrawn their crude import strategies in order to move away from top supplier Russia, and increase imports from the Middle East. This could?help New Delhi to clinch a deal with the United States for lower tariffs. India became the largest buyer of discounted Russian crude oil after the outbreak of the Ukraine war in 2022. However, the trade was met with a backlash by Western nations who targeted Russia's energy industry with sanctions. Middle East producers are keeping global markets well-supplied with the help of higher production quotas set by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries....

Petroperu workers in Peru launched a 72 hour strike on Monday to protest the plan to privatize a part of the firm. The company claimed that operations were normal and the government declared the walkout illegal. Jose Luis Saavedra is the general secretary of the union of administrative workers. He said that at least 30% of their 2,200 unionized employees had taken part in the strike on Monday. Saavedra said by phone that "the speed at which the government wants privatize Petroperu" is shocking. Petroperu, however, said that its facilities were all operating normally. It also guaranteed that fuel supplies...

The Venezuelan parties in the?court ordered auction of Citgo Petroleum's parent company have asked a U.S. The board of supervisors of the refinery said that a court of appeals should vacate the ruling of a 'judge' who ordered the sale to an affiliate of Elliott Investment Management. After?two years? of bidding, Delaware Judge Leonard Stark has approved a bid for $5.9bn from Elliott's Amber Energy to purchase Citgo Holding's parent company, PDV Holding. This was after?two rounds?of bidding in a sale that was organized to pay creditors up to $19bn?for debt defaults?and expropriations?in Venezuela. The sale order triggered opposition by...

Exxon Mobil is still interested in visiting Venezuela, and it's prepared to send a team of assessors there, according to a source who knows the company strategy. This was reported on Monday, just a day after?U.S. Donald Trump has said that he may keep Exxon Mobil out of Venezuela. Darren Woods, Exxon's CEO, said that Venezuela had to change its laws and protect investment before Exxon was willing to operate in the country. Days later, Trump said to reporters aboard Air Force One that "he didn't like Exxon’s response," and that he would prefer to keep the oil major out....

Friday, the premium for high-sulfur fuel oil in Asia over the West reached its highest level in eight months as traders expect more Venezuelan crude oil and fuel oil to be shipped to the United States than to Asia in the coming months. LSEG data show that the East-West 380cst HSFO swap for the first month of 2026, a measure used to compare HSFO prices in Asia, Europe and America, has risen above $27 a barrel, a price last seen in May 2025. This value has nearly doubled since the beginning of 2026. It is more profitable for traders to...

Marathon wants to bid for Venezuelan crude oil, said the company on Thursday. The U.S. government is preparing to increase imports after the ouster of President Nicholas Maduro in January. The company declined to confirm if there would be an auction. Caracas, Washington and other Venezuelan oil producers reached an agreement this week for the export of up to $2 billion in Venezuelan crude to the United States. This is equivalent to 30 million to 50 million barrels. Citgo Petroleum, a Venezuelan-owned refiner, also wants to take part in any auctions of Venezuelan crude, the board decided Thursday, according two...

Investors bet on President Donald Trump's decision to take action against Venezuela's government, believing that it would give American companies greater access the world's largest oil reserve. Shares of Chevron - the only U.S.'major' currently operating in Venezuelan oil fields - climbed 7.3%. Meanwhile, refiners Phillips 66 and Marathon Petroleum, Valero Energy, PBF Energy, and Valero Energy all saw gains between 5% to 16%. After President Nicolas Maduro was arrested, Trump stated that the U.S. required "total" access to Venezuela's vast reserves of oil. This heightened expectations in Washington regarding the possibility of easing restrictions on Venezuelan crude exports. Trump...