Mideast Oil Boost Gathers Pace as Qatar Sells Crude to Asia
(Bloomberg) -- Qatar has joined other Gulf nations in reviving crude oil sales, with regional producers cranking up activity as peace talks between the US and Iran progress.
A shipment of the nation’s Al-Shaheen grade was sold this week to Taiwan’s Formosa Petrochemical Corp., which sought supplies for August to September, according to traders familiar with the matter. The volumes were sold by trading house Mercuria Energy Group Ltd., they said.
Some of the same grade, as well as Qatar’s Marine and Land varieties, were sold to an Indian refiner last week, said the traders, who asked not to be named as they may not speak publicly.
The deals represent the first observed transactions for Qatari crude to refiners in Asia since the war began, although the country has been much more active in reviving production and exports of liquefied natural gas.
In addition, state-owned QatarEnergy on Thursday issued its first crude oil sell tender since the Iran war began. It’s offering cargoes over July and August, which can either be picked up within the Gulf or via ship-to-ship transfer at locations just outside the Strait of Hormuz.
Oil futures have cratered this month, although prices ticked higher on Thursday after an attack on a cargo ship in Hormuz, renewing concerns about safe passage through the waterway. Increased activity through the strait had seen crude exports from the United Arab Emirates rebound, as well as sales from Iraq and Kuwait.
Qatar has been able to get LNG tankers into and out of the Gulf through the strait. It plans to rapidly boost production of the super-chilled fuel once the waterway fully reopens, restoring most export capacity in two months, said other people familiar with the matter.
There’s been increased tanker activity near Qatar’s Ras Laffan facility. The Kiku, a Greek-owned supertanker, was loading 2 million barrels of Qatari crude from the Al-Shaheen floating storage and offloading terminal, ship-tracking data show.
Kiku appeared in the Gulf on June 19, after last broadcasting from the Gulf of Oman on June 13, making the very large crude carrier one of the first mainstream tankers to enter the gulf since the US-Iran deal.
Separately, state-owned QatarEnergy had also offered a cargo of gasoline for export next month, from its Mesaieed refinery in the Gulf, in a sign that wider processing operations are ramping up.
QatarEnergy — which is responsible for the country’s energy supply, including oil, products and LNG — didn’t respond to a request for comment. In addition, Apex Shipping & Energy Ltd. in Greece, listed as manager of Kiku on the Equasis database, didn’t respond to emails seeking comment.
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