Oil jumped Wednesday to a level last seen in late 2014 after U.S. crude stockpiles tumbled by the most in almost two years.
Futures rose 3.2 percent in New York . Domestic crude inventories declined by 9.89 million barrels last week, as refiners boosted oil processing rates and exports soared to a record, the Energy Information Administration said. Oil stored at the key pipeline hub in Cushing, Okla., shrank for a sixth straight week.
Prices already had been rallying as President Donald Trump's administration sought to dissuade purchases of oil from Iran, OPEC's third-largest crude producer. The efforts to isolate and hobble the Islamic Republic overshadowed Saudi Arabia's plan to lift oil output to a record within weeks.
Trump's Tariffs Could Hit 15 Percent of Los Angeles Port Business, Port Official Says
Tariffs on U.S. imports of Chinese goods imposed by the Trump administration could hit up to 15 percent of goods moving through the Port of Los Angeles once they go into effect, the port's executive director Gene Seroka told Reuters on Wednesday.
Seroka said in a telephone interview that according to his data, imports from China coming through U.S. ports have slowed over the last two months and are down 3.8 percent in April and 8.7 percent in May.
Seroka said it was difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of declining imports, "but there's something there... and it's something to be mindful of as we evaluate the potential impact of tariffs."
Deloitte Survey Reveals LNG Is Shipping Companies' Preferred Fuel
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is enjoying an increasing popularity in the shipping industry as companies' preferred fuel solution, a survey by multinational professional services network Deloitte has found.
The survey revealed that a growing number of firms are switching to LNG in a bid to conform to the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) new international
emissions standards for marine bunker fuels.
Deloitte asked over 80 senior energy industry leaders across the Asia Pacific region to name the biggest barriers encountered when adopting LNG as a transport fuel at its second annual Deloitte Energy Trading Summer in Singapore.
Shipping Industry Increasingly Turning to LNG to Meet Clean Fuel Rules
With new global emissions standards looming, the marine shipping industry is increasingly looking at liquefied natural gas as alternative to high-sulfur bunker fuel, shipping and energy executives said at a global gas summit this week.
Already used to fuel ferry fleets and cruise ships, LNG is gaining traction among freight and cargo shippers, despite a reluctance by the entrenched industry to make major changes. The stakes are high: the global shipping fleet now consumes about 4 million barrels per day of high sulfur fuel oil.
Survey: Shippers More Dissatisfied with Carriers' Service Quality
The level of customers' satisfaction with the service quality of container shipping companies has dropped since 2016, according to the shipper satisfaction survey conducted by Drewry and the European Shippers' Council (ESC).
And now, the exporters, importers and freight forwarders see the service quality as more problematic, the survey finds.
Maersk Says Batteries Could Be Deployed On Container Ships By 2020
Andrew McIntosh, senior innovation manager technical innovation for A.P. Moller Maersk, told conferees at the Electric and Hybrid Marine Expo in Amsterdam that "lower battery costs and higher fuel costs related to cleaner marine fuel requirements could make the business case for batteries by 2020."
McIntosh said that Maersk believes the case can soon be made for batteries reducing fuel costs on its container ships when ships enter and leave port as well as for optimizing engine efficiencies.
This will reduce the number of auxiliary engines utilized on vessels and allow for their substitution by batteries. The result will be less fuel consumption and emissions.
