Tampa: A truck fire at Tampa Bay’s Port Manatee nearly ignited a massive nearby sulfur mound on April 17, local news outlets reported. Three small sulfur piles caught fire before emergency responders extinguished the blaze. A dump truck driving on the sulfur pile was blamed for sparking the fire.
The second-quarter contract price of molten sulfur delivered to Tampa is $70/lt DEL, $5/lt below the first quarter’s $75/lt DEL.
Domestic refining capacity rose again last week, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the sector’s fifth consecutive increase stretching back to mid-March. Utilization swelled to 92.9 percent for the week ending April 19, a 1.9 percent spike from the prior week’s 91.0 percent, and also higher than both the year-ago 89.4 percent and the five-year average of 89.7 percent.
Daily crude inputs were clocked at an average 16.938 million barrels/d, a 241,000 barrel/d jump from the last reported 16.697 million barrels/d level.
U.S. Gulf: Sources put recent Gulf export transactions in the $79-$85/mt FOB range, down from $80-$85/mt FOB at last report.
Vancouver: Vancouver market players called last-done spot tons in the $83-$87/mt FOB range. Recent Chinese market softening was predicted to pressure Vancouver in the next round of business, although the Mexican and Australian markets are also expected to play sizable roles in setting prices at Vancouver.
Chinese refiners processed an average 11.21 million barrels/d through first-quarter 2017, Reuters reported, a 4.5 percent increase from the same period in 2016. March refinery output was tabulated at 11.19 million barrels/d, a 5.9 percent year-over-year jump, but below the record set in December 2016. Sources put recent dry sulfur sold to China in a $90-$95/mt CFR range, flat from the previous report.
Tightness persisted in the Alberta market thanks to ongoing curtailments at Oil Sands producer Syncrude. Production at Syncrude’s Mildred Lake facility has been cut to unspecified levels following a March 14 fire. The 350,000 barrels/d facility is scheduled to return to full production by the end of June, the Edmonton Journal reported.
Observers called Alberta producer netbacks flat at (-)$55-$20/mt FOB.
India: A refinery planned for India’s western coast is drawing investment interest from Saudi Aramco and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC), numerous sources reported. The two-stage project is slated to start with the construction of a massive 850,000 barrels/d facility, with an additional 50 percent capacity later.
Aramco and ADNOC’s potential levels of investment were unclear. Indian state-owned Indian Oil Corp. (IOC) currently owns 50 percent of the project, while Bharat Petroleum Corp. (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. (HPCL) own 25 percent each.
IOC also plans to boost production at its Paradip refinery, located in the western state of Odisha, according to local reports. IOC is targeting an approximate 463,000 barrels/d output, a 33 percent jump from the current 346,000 barrels/d capacity. No timeline for the upgrade was announced.