Updates
December 23, 2015: Vitol will be the first (?) to export US light crude oil under the relaxed rules on US exports.
Original Post
The link is here but requires a subscription. Vitol buys out oil tank partner's stake in VTTI BV for $830 million. Ah, but one can access it without a subscription through googling.
In a long note like this, there will be factual and/or typographical errors. If this information is important to you, go to the linked articles.
Some data points:
- Vitol is the world's largest energy trader
- with a purchase announced today, Vitol now has greater control of the global network of almost 400 crude oil tanks
- a glut of crude oil globally has led oil traders to look for additional space to store supplies
- access to oil storage facilities gives traders greater flexibility
- Kinder Morgan and 3i infrastructure have also bought storage facilities in recent months
- private equity players have been looking at a BP-owned terminal in Amsterdam
- futures today suggest more oil may be moved into storage, allowing tank operators to earn higher fees
- Vitol paid $830 million for MISC Berhad's 50% stake in the VTTI BV oil storage business
- buying the Petronas-controlled shipping group's half of hte venture gives Vitol greater control over a global network of almsot 400 tanks
- VTTI currently has storage capacity of 35.5 million bbls (North America, United Arab Emirates, Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp oil hub, and in Malaysia)
- VTTI started building a new facility in Cape Town in July; South Africa has emerged as an increasingly important way station for oil, with traders able to easily flip bbls east and west from that location depending on regional demand
- South Africa's giant Saldanha Bay storage facility, 45 million bbls, was filled to capacity last month
- storage companies include Vopak NV, Kinder Morgan, Oiltanking GmbH, Magellan Midstream
- US stock levels of crude oil at an 80-year high, 459 bbls, may soon test the limits of the US tank capacity
- RBN Energy has provided updates on new storage facilities along the Gulf Coast
- storage facilities take advantage of contango: a relatively rare situation in which forward prices are higher than current prices
- recently, the one-year forward -- a measure of contango -- stood at a minus $12.59/bbl, close to the highest since crude prices started falling last year
- generally, storage fees in the US run 20 to 50 cents/bbl/month
- Vopak: world's largest independent oil storage company; owns 210 million bbls of crude oil/refined products; enough to supply German for three months
This little bit of trivia should make me a hit at tonight's social event. LOL.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.