Oil & Gas Refining

Indian Oil Corp, the top refiner in India, has purchased five cargoes from non-sanctioned companies for delivery in December. Traders said that India had resumed purchases despite Washington's pressure to stop purchasing Russian oil. Washington imposed sanctions last week on Rosneft, and Lukoil - the two largest Russian oil companies - in an effort to increase pressure on President Vladimir Putin for the end of the war in Ukraine. Since then, Indian refiners, including the state-run Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd., HPCL Mittal Energy Ltd. and Reliance Industries (the operator of the largest refining facility in the world) have stopped...

PBF Energy posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss on Thursday, as higher margins helped the U.S. refiner offset downtime at its fire-hit Martinez refinery in California. The U.S. refinery margins are up from multi-year-lows. They have recovered from last year's slump, when profits dropped from their post-pandemic peaks and supply shocks caused by Russia's invasion in Ukraine 2022 faded. Valero Energy, Phillips 66 and other rival refiners also reported positive quarterly results. PBF Energy’s gross refining profit, excluding special items and other costs, was $9 per barrel during the third quarter of 2016, compared to $6.79 per barrel a year earlier....

The refiner HF Sinclair beat Wall Street expectations for its third-quarter adjusted profits on Thursday. This was due to improvements in refining margins as well as strength in the midstream segment. Shares of HF Sinclair rose 1% in premarket trade. Fuel producers in the U.S. benefited from an increase in pricing due to supply shortages resulting from geopolitical tensions affecting Ukraine. Companies such as Valero Energy, Phillips 66 and others also beat Wall Street's expectations. U.S. refinery profit margins measured by the 3-2-1 Crack Spread In the third quarter, grew by nearly 29% in average compared to a year ago,...

Lukoil announced on Thursday that it accepted an offer by global commodity trader Gunvor for its foreign assets. Russia's second largest oil company has been seeking to sell these assets after Washington imposed sanctions last week. The planned asset sales are the most significant action taken by a Russian firm in response to the Western sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine. This war began when Russia invaded its neighbor on a full scale back in 2022. Lukoil announced in a press release that it had accepted Gunvor's offer to sell Lukoil International GmbH which controls foreign assets of the oil...

Here are some details from the U.S. White House Factsheet and South Korea's Chief Policy Advisor Kim Yong Beom on the recent trade agreement between the two nations. Washington and Seoul agreed that tariffs on U.S. auto imports from Korea and auto parts will be reduced to 15% from 25%. This is to bring them in line with their Japanese counterparts who pay the same 15% tariffs after Tokyo made a deal with Washington. South Korean wood product and pharmaceutical manufacturers will have the lowest tariffs of all countries. Generic drugs and aircraft parts will be exempt from tariffs. Kim...

The only refinery in Serbia will only continue to operate until November 25, as new crude oil deliveries have been stopped due to U.S. sanction against the Russian-owned plant operator NIS. This was reported by Tanjug News Agency on Wednesday, citing the energy minister. NIS, of which Gazprom, Gazprom and the Serbian Government each own 44.9%, operates the only refinery in Serbia, located in Pancevo. The Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury placed initial sanctions on Russia's petroleum sector on 10 January and gave Gazprom a 45-day deadline to sell its NIS holdings. The sanctions had been...

The refiner Phillips 66 exceeded Wall Street expectations for its third-quarter profits on Wednesday. This was due to higher fuel margins and record volume in its pipeline business. The shares of the company increased 1% in premarket trading. The U.S. refinery margins are recovering from a multi-year slump. Profits were down from their post-pandemic peak and supply shocks caused by Russia's invasion in Ukraine 2022 have faded. Quarterly U.S. Refinery margins On average, the price of a car has risen by 25% since its multi-year lows. The recovery has helped top refiners including Valero Energy post stronger-than-expected quarterly results. Phillips...

Wall Street's major indexes hit new record highs Monday, as the excitement surrounding a possible U.S. China trade deal set a tone for a busy week of high-profile earnings from technology companies and a widely anticipated interest rate reduction. On Thursday, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping (the Chinese counterpart) will meet to discuss the future of the U.S.-China relationship. A framework This could stop the tougher U.S. Tariffs and China's export restrictions on rare earths. It would also ease market anxiety about a possible trade war, and send Wall Street's VIX "fear gauge", to a month-low. During his weekend TV...

The U.S. Stock Rally faces a potentially significant week in order to maintain its momentum going into the year-end. This includes a flood corporate results, headlined by Megacap Companies and a possible interest rate reduction by the Federal Reserve following its two-day meeting. Investors may be concerned about the escalation of U.S.-China tensions in the next few days. Meanwhile, the U.S. shutdown continues to cause uncertainty. The S&P 500 posted a record-breaking closing high on the Friday after a 36% rise since the low of the year, in April. The benchmark index has risen over 15% in the past year....

Robert Fico, the Prime Minister of Slovakia, said that Slovakia would not participate in any European Union program aimed at funding military assistance for Ukraine to fight Russia's invasion. Slovakia has allowed commercial sales but stopped all state aid to Ukraine in 2023 when Fico came to power. Fico disagrees with European Union countries on the war and says that a solution cannot be found on the battlefield. The EU leaders decided on Thursday that they would meet Ukraine's urgent financial needs for the next two-years, but did not endorse a plan to fund a loan of 140 billion euros...

Exxon Mobil filed a lawsuit against California on Friday challenging two state laws requiring large companies to disclose their greenhouse gas emission and climate-related risks. Exxon filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of California arguing that Senate Bills 261 and 253 violated its First Amendment rights because they force Exxon "to serve as a mouthpiece" for ideas it does not agree with. The company asked the court to stop the state of California enforcing these laws. Exxon claims that the Californian frameworks for reporting climate change are misleading and counterproductive. The oil giant claims...

Exxon Mobil filed a lawsuit against California on Friday challenging two state laws requiring large companies to disclose their greenhouse gas emission and climate-related risks. Exxon filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of California arguing that Senate Bills 261 and 253 violated its First Amendment rights because they force Exxon "to serve as a mouthpiece" for ideas it does not agree with. The company asked the court to stop the state of California enforcing these laws. Exxon claims that the Californian frameworks for reporting climate change are misleading and counterproductive. The oil giant claims...

Two sources with knowledge of the situation said that after European Union sanctions earlier in the year, Nayara Energy, a Russian-backed Indian refiner, has increased crude processing to 90-93% capacity at its Vadinar Refinery. Sources have said that oil processing at Nayara’s 400,000 barrels-per-day western India plant fell to 70 to 80 percent after the EU sanctions it in July. This impacted its exports, and caused suppliers like Iraq and Saudi Arabia, to stop crude sales to the firm. Nayara was operating at 104% capacity before the sanctions. Nayara, a majority-owned company by Russian entities, is dominated by Rosneft. Rosneft...

A company executive said that India's state refiner Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd does not have immediate plans to purchase Russian oil because of the risks involved following the latest U.S. sanction on Moscow's major oil producers. Last week, U.S. president Donald Trump imposed sanctions against Rosneft, Russia's largest oil company, and Lukoil in an effort to pressure Vladimir Putin into ending the war in Ukraine. The MRPL executive who declined to name himself due to the sensitive nature of the issue said that it was hard for the company's to track back oil supplies and make sure they did...

Russia, which is the second-largest oil exporter in the world, is considering how it will respond to U.S. sanction against top oil companies Rosneft, and Lukoil, and to the possibility of reduced sales to India, its largest buyer. Since months, President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have been discussing a way to end the conflict. However, there has not yet been a breakthrough. What did the U.S. do? The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, imposed sanctions against Rosneft, Lukoil and several of their subsidiaries on October 22, while calling on Moscow to agree...

Three sources with knowledge of the situation said that some Indian refiners were preparing to reduce their Russian oil imports. The U.S. was pressuring New Delhi, to stop purchasing Russian crude in order to end the conflict in Ukraine. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, said on Wednesday that Prime Minister Narendra modi assured him that India would stop purchasing oil from Russia - its main source of oil imports. India's main goal, it said on Thursday, was to secure energy supply and maintain stable prices. In a volatile energy market, it has always been our priority to protect the Indian...

Sources in the trade said that traders offering Russian oil are now asking Indian refiners to make payments in Chinese Yuan. They see recent signs of improved relations between New Delhi, China and Beijing as an opportunity to simplify transactions with Indian buyers. Indian Oil Corp, India's largest refiner and state-controlled company, paid in Chinese currency recently for two or three cargoes worth of Russian oil. Indian Oil has not responded to the request for comment immediately. Western sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 have led to a greater use of alternative currencies such as the...

The head of Serbia's state gas company, RTS, told the public broadcaster on Tuesday that Serbia will sign a deal for a three-year supply of gas with Russia. Dusan Bajatovic, Srbijagas, said that Serbia already has daily gas supplies of 2.5 millions cubic metres from Azerbaijan. It also receives 9.5 million cubic meters daily from Russia. Bajatovic said that Serbia has a single gas storage facility which holds 780 millions cubic metres of gas. If needed, an additional 200,000,000 cubic metres can be obtained from a storage in Hungary. Serbia is one of the few European countries that still buys...

Iraq's oil exports have increased following the gradual unwinding voluntary production cuts made under the OPEC+ Agreement, said the country's official oil marketing SOMO on Sunday. Eight members of OPEC+ have agreed to increase production by 137,000 barrels a day from October. OPEC+ increased production in April, after years of cutting to support the oil markets. Ali Nizar Al-Shatari, director general of SOMO and Iraqi state media agency, said that the increase in Iraqi exports will generate additional revenues of hundreds of millions at current prices. He did not specify how much the government's exports would increase, but he said...

Two industry sources reported on Monday that one of Russia's biggest oil refineries in the town of Kirishi (northwest) had halted an important processing unit after a Ukrainian drone attacked over the weekend. Ukraine intensified its attacks on Russia's infrastructure to damage Moscow's war effort, as the talks to end the conflict have stagnated. Russian officials have said Surgutneftegaz's Kirishinefteorgsintez plant, one of Russia's top two refineries, was among the targets attacked by Ukrainian drones last Sunday. Alexander Drozdenko is the Governor of Leningrad Region. He said that three drones had been destroyed in the Kirishi region and that a...

Three people with knowledge of the situation said that Russian-backed Indian refiner Nayara Energy was seeking Indian government assistance to obtain equipment and materials for maintenance, as European Union sanctions are making it difficult to procure key items. Sources said that the private refiner had approached the Centre for High Technology (a advisory body within the Indian oil ministry) to seek assistance in locating specialised equipment, catalysers, and other raw material. Nayara, and the Centre for High Technology, did not respond immediately to comments. Sources said that Nayara, which is majority owned by Russian companies, including Rosneft oil giant, operates...

Two analysts and a trader reported on Tuesday that Chinese refineries had purchased 15 cargoes for delivery in October and November as Indian demand for Moscow’s exports has declined. India is the largest buyer of Russian oil by sea. It has been sold at a discounted price since Western nations have shunned purchasing and placed restrictions on Russian exports due to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Indian state refiners stopped buying Russian oil last month as the discounts shrank. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, has also threatened to punish countries that buy Russian crude. Richard Jones, an Energy Aspects...

Peter Magyar, the leader of Hungary's opposition party, has asked Russia to refrain from interfering in its politics. He said that there was no way for meaningful co-operation without respecting his country's sovereignty. The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service published a statement earlier this week in which it described Magyars as loyal to the "globalist elites", and claimed that the European Commission is considering "regime changes in Budapest." Magyar's Tisza Party, which is ahead of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz at the polls in the majority of polls before the parliamentary elections next spring, has published an open-letter to Russia's ambassador...

Reliance Industries will likely return to its Middle Eastern oil sources if India succumbs to the pressure of U.S. president Donald Trump, who wants to reduce Russian imports. India is being heavily pressured by Washington to cut off its energy ties with Russia after Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022. Reliance, India's largest buyer, operates at Jamnagar, Gujarat, the world's most advanced refining facility. It can process 1.4 million barrels of oil per day. Due to their geographic proximity, Reliance will likely switch to Middle Eastern crude suppliers if they stop buying Russian crude. Anh Pham is a senior analyst with...