Oil and gas traders are expected to seek waivers from Beijing for tariffs on U.S. crude and LNG imports starting February 10. China’s Finance Ministry announced levies of 15% on U.S. coal and LNG and 10% on crude oil, farm equipment, and some autos, following U.S. tariffs on China. Four tankers with 6 million barrels of U.S. crude and two LNG vessels are in route to China. Companies may apply for waivers for already booked tankers, but new deals might face difficulties.
Saudi Aramco, the world’s top oil exporter, significantly raised crude prices for March shipments to Asia due to rising demand from China and India, as U.S. sanctions impact Russian supply. In a statement on Wednesday, Aramco announced an increase in the official selling price for its flagship Arab Light crude by $2.40 to $3.90 per barrel above the Oman/Dubai benchmark average. The company also hiked crude prices for March shipments to all other regions. Consequently, Chinese, and Indian refiners rushed to secure alternative supplies, pushing spot premiums for Oman and Dubai crude to their highest levels since November 2022.
Yesterday morning the Department of Energy released its official data for stockpiles in the U.S. A quite large build on crude was reported at 8.7 million barrels. Gasoline saw a build of 2.2 million barrels while diesel saw a big draw of 5.5 million barrels. Demand was relatively unchanged, and refinery utilization jumped a percent to 84.5%.
This week’s DOE report is posted below. Please contact your Energy Account Manager with any questions or needs that you may have.
Propane
The EIA reported another big draw in U.S. propane inventories of 4.820 million barrels. Expectations were for a 3.56-million-barrel draw.
Production was up 87,000 bpd at 2.592 MMB versus 2.505 last week. Exports were up 309,000 bpd at 2.137 MMB compared to 1.828 MMB/d last week. The exports were 82% of the production. Domestic demand was down 682,000 bpd compared to last week.
This week’s DOE report is posted below. Please contact your Energy Account Manager with any questions or needs that you may have.
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