Page 9 - DMEA Week 39 2022

DMEA TERMINALS & SHIPPING DMEA

“In doing so, Russia is increasingly competing “Russia owns a very small clean tanker fleet,
directly with Iran and Venezuela for a limited and its smaller tankers are too small to make
market in covert oil, essentially just China and long haul voyages of clean products economi-
India for now,” Braemar was cited as saying. cally viable,” Braemar said. ™
“This is evident in the movement of fly-by-
night tankers that were previously plying either
the Iranian or Venezuelan trade into the Russian
trade now,” it added.
Braemar estimates that the entire dark fleet
that has carried Iranian or Venezuelan crude
at least once in the past year to be 102 aframax/
LR2s, 58 suezmaxes and 80 VLCCs.
Braemar was reported as noting that 33 tank-
ers that have previously carried either Iranian or
Venezuelan crude have loaded Russian oil or oil
products since April.
“Export volumes from Iranian and Venezue-
lan crude have slid over the past few months in
the same period where Russia to China volumes
have picked up,” the broker was further quoted
as saying. Alleged example of “dark fleet” activity in June (Photo: Twitter/@TankerTrackers)

REFINING & FUELS
Oil now flowing to Iraq’s Karbala refinery

MIDDLE EAST IRAQ’S Oil Ministry announced on September delivery of crude oil sometime in October and
25 that the Karbala refinery had begun receiving then launch trial operations before the end of
feedstock in preparation for trial production. Oil 2022.
is now flowing to the plant through a pipeline Iraqi specialists are building the refinery at a
that originates in southern Iraq, in fields near site about 110 km south of Baghdad. Construc-
Basra, the ministry noted in a statement. tion is not 100%, but gasoline-producing units
Shipments of crude oil began slightly ahead are already in place, including a poly-naphtha
of schedule, according to a separate report from unit and a fluid catalytic cracker. The poly-naph-
Argus Media. tha unit is capable of producing gasoline with
The ministry had previously said it expected 90- and 95-octane levels.
the plant, which has a throughput capacity of The plant is Iraq’s first new oil refinery in
140,000 barrels per day (bpd), to start taking decades.

The 140,000 bpd Karbala plant (shown under construction) is Iraq’s first new refinery in decades (Photo: ALE)

Week 39 29•September•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P9