HYDROCARBON
ENGINEERING
worldnews
8
Antwerp |
SETTING FREIGHT RECORDS
T
he port of Antwerp is expected to
handle a total of 198.8 million t of
freight by the end of this year. That is
an increase of 4.2% in comparison with
2013 and a new record for the port.
The previous record dates from 2013,
when the freight volume came to
190.8 million t. The record growth was
driven by container handling (up 5.6%)
and liquid bulk (up 5.4%). The other side
of the coin is the contracting volume
of labour intensive breakbulk
(down 3.3%) and dry bulk (down 4.9%).
The petrochemical cluster in the
port of Antwerp made positive news
several times over the past year. There
was the investment by ExxonMobil,
which announced a commitment of
US$1 billion to its refinery at the port.
The new facility will convert heavy,
high sulfur oil residue into cleaner oil
products and transport fuels such as
diesel and gasoil for shipping. The
French group Total for its part is
similarly investing
t
1 billion in its
Antwerp site. Further developing this
petrochemical platform is one of the
major ambitions of the Antwerp Port
Authority for the near future. For this
purpose it has set up an oil and
chemical taskforce which will
collaborate with FISCH and Essencia to
create ideal conditions for attracting
international investors in Antwerp.
UK |
INDUSTRY RISKING MILLIONS
T
he oil and gas industry is facing
major financial exposure due to the
choice of fiscal measurement point in
the supply chain. NEL, the custodian of
the UK's National Flow Measurement
Standards, is warning operators and
taxation authorities that the level of
exposure runs into millions of dollars
each year.
In the UK alone, the point of sale
for one third of oil production is
outside the country, valued at
approximately US$13 billion each year.
This is measured on systems not
subject to the Department of Energy &
Climate Change's (DECC) scrutiny, with
regulations and accuracy requirements.
NEL believes that this is a global
problem as organisations, such as
Measurement Canada, and the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
in the US, face similar issues to DECC.
Douglas Griffin, Head of Petroleum
Measurement & Allocation at DECC
said, "we are increasing scrutiny in this
area as we are unable to audit facilities
outside the UK and must therefore rely
on third parties out of our control to
apply rigorous measurement principles
and good operating practices."
PIRA Energy Group |
FLOATING STORAGE IS KEY
P
IRA Energy Group has said that over
the next several months, the cost of
storage and, in turn, the magnitute of
the market contango will be a crucial
factor in determining how low the spot
price must go. With less expensive
onshore storage expected to fill,
floating storage is likely to be the
market balancing step.
The marginal costs of storing crude
on VLCCs and Suezmax tonnage are
expected to be the critical factors in
setting the level of contango in the
crude market. So, the key quesions for
the oil and tanker sectors are how
much tonnage is available for
placement into offshore storage and
what will it cost?
17 - 19 March
StocExpo
Ahoy, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Tel: +44 (0)20 8843 8801
Email:
13 - 14 April
Tank World Expo
Dubai World Trade Centre
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Tel: +44 (0)20 7045 0900
27 - 29 April
17
th
Annual International Aboveground
Storage Tank Conference & Trade Show
Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel
Orlando, Florida, USA
Tel: +1 800 827 3515
Email:
1 - 3 June
ILTA 35
th
Annual International Operating
Conference & Trade Show
George R. Brown Convention Centre
Houston, Texas, USA
Tel: +1 703 875 2011
Email:
29 - 30 September
Tank Storage Asia
Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
Tel: +44 (0)20 8843 8801
Email:
25 - 26 November
Tank Storage Germany
Hamburg Messe
Hamburg, Germany
Tel: +44 (0)20 8843 8801
Email:
| DIARYDATES
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