Argus Nefte Transport

49 Pages·2012·3.93 MB·English

Argus Nefte Transport
Oil transportation logistics in the former Soviet Union
Volume XVI, 5, May 2017
Primorsk loads first 100,000t diesel cargo
Russia’s main outlet for 10ppm diesel exports, the Baltic port of Primorsk,
shipped a 100,000t cargo for the first time this month.
The diesel was loaded on 4 May on the 113,300t Dong-A Thetis, owned by the
South Korean shipping company Dong-A Tanker. The 100,000t cargo of Rosneft
product was sold to trading company Vitol for delivery to the Amsterdam-Rotter-
dam-Antwerp region, a market participant says. The Dong-A Thetis was loaded at
Russian pipeline crude exports berth 3 or 4 — which can handle crude and diesel following a recent upgrade, and
mn b/d can accommodate 90,000-150,000t vessels with 15.5m draught.
6.0 It remains unclear whether larger loadings at Primorsk will become a regular
Transit crude Russian crude
5.0 occurrence. “Smaller 50,000-60,000t cargoes are more popular and the terminal
4.0 does not always have the opportunity to stockpile larger quantities of diesel for
export,” a source familiar with operations at the outlet says.
3.0
But the loading is significant considering the planned 10mn t/yr capacity
2.0
addition to the 15mn t/yr Sever diesel pipeline by 2018. Expansion to 25mn t/yr
1.0
will enable Transneft to divert more diesel to its pipeline system from ports in
0.0 the Baltic states, in particular from the pipeline to the Latvian port of Ventspils.
Apr Jul Oct Jan Apr
16 17 Terminal operator Primorsk Commercial Port (PCP) — part of Novorossiysk
Commercial Seaport (NCSP) — shipped a diesel cargo of nearly 60,000t for the
FsU crude exports first time in August, when Vitol loaded 57,000t supplied by Bashneft and New
Stream’s 180,000 b/d Antipinsky refinery on the 65,000t Stena Premium. The
mn b/d
8.0 standard diesel cargo size at Primorsk was previously 30,000-40,000t.
7.5 Berths 3 and 4 were originally expected to start loading 60,000-80,000t diesel
cargoes as part of the Sever expansion project. But following damage to Primor-
7.0
sk’s berth 1 in a November accident, crude was diverted to berths 3 and 4,
6.5
meaning most diesel is still exported through berths 8 and 9. The Primorsk sea
6.0
port captain issued a ruling in April last year, confirming that berth 8 can now
5.5 accommodate 76,400t tankers with 13.7m draught, while berth 9 can accept
5.0 47,100t tankers with 10.8m draft.
Apr Jul Oct Jan Apr
16 17 State-controlled Transneft plans to increase product supplies to Primorsk — the
company has a controlling stake in NCSP, alongside private-sector firm Summa
Group. Transneft completed the phase-one, 800,000 t/yr expansion of the Sever
pipeline to Primorsk to 15mn t/yr in November. First-quarter diesel loadings at PCP
were 100,000t lower on the year at 3.8mn t, while exports of 13.7mn t in 2016,
Contents
were down by 700,000t, after Lukoil diverted product to its own Vysotsk terminal.
The expansion of Sever will increase available export capacity to Lukoil’s
Red signal for Latvian rail supplies 2
365,000 b/d Nizhny Novgorod and 290,000 b/d Perm plants, Bashneft’s Ufa group
Ufa products return to rivers 3
of refineries, Antipinsky, and the 140,000 b/d Taneko and 160,000 b/d Taif
Rosneft expands floating storage 4
refineries at Nizhnekamsk. But only Taif intends to increase exports. Tatneft-
NCSP: upgrade will boost efficiency 7
owned Taneko does not export 10ppm diesel, but may start shipping the grade
FSU crude exports 31
next year, while other companies have yet to make a decision on 2018 exports.
FSU products exports 32-33
Supplies through Sever are not expected to reach 25mn t/yr until 2019-20.
Pipeline crude exports 34-36 The Dong-A Thetis and the similar-sized Dong-A Maia have been chartered by
Rail data 37-45 Vitol shipping arm Mansel for at least five years. The five-year lease rate for
Pipeline/rail tariffs 46-48 80,000-160,000t LR2-type tankers was $22,000/d early this year, brokerage Alibra
Export costs 49 says. The vessels were completed at South Korea’s Hyundai shipyard last year.
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Argus Nefte Transport May 2017
news
Red signal for Latvian rail supplies
Exporters hoping to move products by rail from Russian refineries to terminals in
Latvia are encountering severe obstacles to securing approval for shipments from
state-owned Russian Railways (RZD). The problems are apparently as a result of
unofficial restrictions imposed by the Russian rail operator.
Of the requested 1.21mn t of Russian products shipments by rail to Latvia’s
Mangali, Ziemelblazma, Ventspils and Liepaja stations this month, only 115,800t
— or 10pc — had been approved by 10 May. Mangali and Ziemelblazma serve the
port Riga. Russian products supplies by rail to Latvian ports were 345,200t in
April, 135,600t lower than initially requested.
This signals the first significant disruption of rail shipments to Latvia since
September 2015, when RZD recommended that exporters maximise rail deliver-
ies to Russian ports as large-scale repair work began on routes to Latvia. But the
restrictions introduced at that time were minimal and shipments of products soon
returned to normal.
This time around, the problem appears more severe, particularly for shippers
of petrochemicals products. “There are no facilities in Russia that can accept
these cargoes,” says a source at one rail operator — only Finland and the Baltic
countries have terminals that can handle petrochemicals.
RZD insists that no limitations have been imposed on shipments to Latvia.
“Every specific case of refusal [to approve transportation] should be investigated
individually in order to understand what is really going on,” the company says.
Market participants acknowledge that no official restrictions have been imposed
by RZD or Russia’s transport ministry, although the earlier recommendation to
divert products to Russian ports remains in place.
Exporters of Russian coal and fertilizers are also facing problems. RZD ap-
proved the rail transportation of only 1.4mn t of coal to Latvian ports, of the
3.8mn t requested, in the first two weeks of April — or 37pc of the total. But it
authorised 4.1mn t out the 4.5mn t requested for rail shipments to ports in north-
west Russia over the same period — or 91pc of the total.
Companies involved in rail shipments to Latvian ports say they were told by
dispatching stations in Russia that transportation requests were being blocked
by state-controlled Latvian Railways. But both the latter and local shipping firms
in Latvia deny this. “I do not remember Latvia rejecting even a single tonne of a
transit cargo — we will take anything we are offered and would be happy to take
more,” a source at one company says.
Shippers are facing problems only with supplies to port stations, for now, and
market participants expect cargoes to be diverted to Rezekne and Daugavpils sta-
tions, close to the Latvian-Russian border, and Riga’s Skirotava marshalling yard.
Terminal problem
Rezekne was used for rail supplies to Estonian terminals last year, as a result of
unofficial restrictions on shipments from Russia, but RZD halted the use of this
route after a few months. Russian cargo shippers have faced unofficial curbs on
crude and products supplies by rail to Estonia since late-May 2016, with shipments
to the ports of Tallinn, Paldiski and Sillamae dropping to 2.4mn t last year as a
result, compared with 5.5mn t in 2015. The restrictions are still in place.
A key objective for the Russian government is to end transit of Russian prod-
ucts through ports in the Baltic states, market participants say. But this will be
impossible until the expansion of the Sever diesel pipeline to Russia’s Baltic port
of Primorsk is complete and further infrastructure for loading clean products at
Russian terminals is added.
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news
Ufa products return to river system
Rosneft started exporting fuel oil and low-viscosity marine gasoil (MGO) by river
from Bashneft’s 480,000 b/d Ufa group of refineries last month.
A combined 200,000-210,000t of fuel oil and of low-viscosity 0.7-1.5pc sulphur
MGO from Ufa, in Russia’s Bashkortostan republic, are scheduled for shipment by
river in May — with 150,000t of the former going to the Estonian port of Sillamae,
where larger cargoes can be accumulated, and 50,000-60,000t of MGO heading to
floating storage in the Kerch strait.
Monthly river shipments from the three Ufa refineries — 140,000 b/d Novoil,
150,000 b/d Ufa and 190,000 b/d Ufaneftekhim — will probably remain at around
this level until the end of September. This should enable Rosneft to ship at least
1mn t of products in total from the plants during this year’s navigation season.
Bashneft did not ship products on Russia’s inland waterway system last year,
after deciding that supplies by river would not be profitable. But Rosneft — which
took control of Bashneft in October — plans a significant increase in river exports
of Ufa products this year compared with 2015, the last year when products were
transported from the plants by river.
Big cargoes
The first two barges were loaded at Ufa on 20-30 April, with 8,120t and 7,690t
cargoes of fuel oil. These shipments were unusually large because deep water —
as a result of spring flooding on the Belaya river, which flows through Ufa — al-
lowed barges with a draught of up to 3.6m to be loaded.
But as water levels on the Belaya fall, Rosneft is expected to switch to load-
ing smaller cargoes of 2,000t on Belskaya-type barges with 1.4m draught. These
products will be reloaded onto larger barges at Nagaevsky Yar in Tatarstan,
200km from Ufa, before being transferred again to river-sea tankers at Yaroslavl
for onward shipment to Sillamae.
A similar transportation scheme will be employed for shipments of low-
viscosity MGO, although this product will be reloaded on Volgoneft-type tankers
Russian inland waterways
Lake Refinery
Lake Onega
Ladoga Svir Lock
Nizhny-Svir
Sillamae
Unzha
LEASTTVOIANIA YarosRlyabvilnsk VolgorecheRnsUkSSIAVyatka Perm Tura
a
Moscow Ok Nizhny Novgorod Ufa
BELARUS Dnepr Ryazan Tsna hoprSySzurraan VolNSgaaomvoakruaibyBelsayahev Tobol Ishim
Seym Don SaKratov Ural
UKRAINE Donets VolgogDroand Volga KAZAKHSTAN
Rostov Kochetovsky
Kerch Strait
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news
at Nagaevsky Yar. There are two floating pumping stations Nagaevsky Yar, NPS-44
and NPS-Derbeshka, and a third may be placed there during the course of the
2017 navigation season.
The expected 1mn t of shipmnets on inland waterway system from Ufa this
year is 20pc below the quantity stipulated in Rosneft’s tender for Ufa-Yaroslavl
river transportation. Shipping company Bashvolgotanker — a subsidiary of
bankrupt Volgotanker — won the Rbs1.65bn ($28mn) contract to carry 1.25mn
t of products by river from Ufa this year, broken down into 1mn t of dirty and
250,000t of clean products.
Market participants estimate the cost of products transportation from Yaro-
slavl to Sillamae at Rbs2,080/d ($36.83/d at the current exchange rate) last year.
Based on this, total freight costs for the Ufa–Nagaevsky Yar–Yaroslavl–Sillamae
route would reach at least Rbs3,400/t, excluding the cost of reloading operations
in Nagaevsky Yar and Yaroslavl — although these costs may be included in Bash-
volgotanker’s Ufa-Yaroslavl fee.
Bashneft and trading company Somitekno supplied about 400,000t of fuel
oil by river to the Baltic port of St Petersburg in 2015, despite Bashneft plan-
ning to halt river shipments in that year. But market participants suggest that
the Bashkortostan regional government may have insisted on river shipments to
secure business for Bashvolgotanker.
news
Rosneft expands floating storage capacity
Kerch Strait floating storage tankers Rosneft placed two floating storage tankers in the Kerch strait, linking the Azov
and Black seas, at the end of April to handle products exported by river this year.
It will use the Viktor Bakaev for clean products and the La Mer for dirty
Kerch Kavkaz
products supplied from Rosneft’s Samara refineries and Bashneft’s Ufa plants,
Kerch Strait
Taman Bay market participants say (see table). Freight rates for 80,000-120,000t Aframaxes
and 120,000-200,000t Suezmaxes were $15,750/d and $19,000/d, respectively, last
Taman week, shipbroker Fearnleys says. The tankers join two other Rosneft-chartered
vessels that were deployed in the Kerch strait last year, the RN Kavkaz handling
La Mer Viktor Bakaev
clean and dirty products and the Vladimir Tikhonov handling fuel oil.
Vladimir RN Kavkaz
Tikhonov Trading firm Dukkar placed the Basilia in the Kerch strait at the end of April
Basilia Boray to handle Turkmen and Kazakh fuel oil, as well as fuel oil from Yug Rusi’s 50,000
Black Sea Sanar-8 b/d Novoshakhtinsk refinery, market participants say. Yug Rusi has three floating
Sanar-7
storage tankers in the Kerch strait, the Boray, the Sanar-7 and the Sanar-8.
Rosneft floating storage tanker
Azeri Socar Trading is buying up to 300,000t of “hydrocarbon mixture for cold
Yug Rusi floating storage tanker
Departed vessel (Sailed for Cyprus on 2 May) metal processing” — a product similar to vacuum gasoil — from Novoshakhtinsk
Terminal
in April-July, according to market participants. And trading firm Coral Energy can
buy up to 165,000t of naphtha from the plant in April-July, they say.
Lukoil trading arm Litasco plans to place a floating storage tanker in the Kerch
strait, market participants say, although the firm declines to comment.
Floating storage tankers for products supplied by river ’000 dwt
Company Product Tanker Deadweight Year built
Rosneft Fuel oil Vladimir Tikhonov 162 2006
Rosneft Gasoil, dirty products RN Kavkaz 160 2002
Rosneft VGO La Mer 162 1998
Rosneft Gasoil, low-viscosity MGO Viktor Bakaev 118 2013
Yug Rusi VGO Sanar-8 113 2000
Yug Rusi Naphtha Boray 75 2000
Yug Rusi Liquid bitumen, fuel oil Sanar-7 113 2000
Dukkar VGO, dirty products Basilia 106 1992
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news
New floating storage tanker to boost Murmansk VGO
Monthly exports of vacuum gasoil (VGO) through the Russian far north port of
New Stream rail exports ’000t
Murmansk could rise by more than 20pc this summer, following deployment of a
Product Jan-Mar Jan-Mar 16
new floating storage tanker.
Antipinsky New Stream will use the 105,000t Polar Rock to boost VGO shipments through
Naphtha 312.5 294.9 its Kommandit Service terminal at the Barents Sea port to 160,000 t/month from
July, compared with 120,000-130,000 t/month in January-March, market partici-
VGO 160.5 31.2
pants say. VGO from New Stream’s 180,000 b/d Antipinsky and 32,000 b/d Mari-el
Petroleum coke 108.3 —
refineries has been exported through Kommandit Service since spring 2016. Trad-
Fuel oil 70.6 0.1
ing firms Crudex, Vitol and Litasco buy VGO at Murmansk.
Gasoil 68.1 0.1
The Polar Rock has arrived in Murmansk, but will not begin operations until
Antipinsky total 720.0 326.2 mid-June, New Stream says. The tanker was originally scheduled to arrive at the
Mari-el port in the second half of January, but was delayed by bad weather. It will be
VGO — 57.7 placed in the same position as the existing floating storage tanker, the 61,000t
Fuel oil 159.6 73.7 Kola Bay, built in 1983, which will now be scrapped. The Kommandit Service ter-
minal uses floating storage vessels in the absence of onshore tanks.
Naphtha 113.5 66.2
New Stream bought the Polar Rock from Greek shipping company Centrofin
Base oils — 15.0
for an estimated $11mn. The tanker was built in 1996. The Polar Rock has already
Mari-el total 273.1 212.6
undergone preparations for operations in low temperatures in Russia’s far north,
including the installation of an additional steam boiler for heating product. “The
vessel has been well prepared and it will not need to be docked for repair for 10
years,” an industry source says.
New Stream also exports VGO produced at the Antipinsky refinery through BLB
Baltijas Terminals at the Latvian port of Riga. It supplied 150,000t of VGO to BLB
in the first quarter, compared with 32,700t in the same period a year earlier. BLB
owner Tintrade, Vitol and Litasco buy Antipinsky VGO for export through Riga,
shipbrokers say.
Antipinsky’s VGO production has increased following the commercial start up
of a vacuum distillation unit at the refinery last autumn. New Stream also exports
naphtha, cracked fuel and petroleum coke by rail from its refineries (see table).
And it sends Antipinsky diesel by pipeline to the Baltic port of Primorsk — deliver-
ies of 209,000t in January-March were down by 22pc on the year.
The company may halt naphtha exports this autumn and start producing gaso-
line at Antipinsky after commissioning a 500,000 t/yr catalytic reforming unit at
the refinery. New Stream had originally planned to bring the unit on line in April,
but no reason has been given for the delay.
Lukoil tanker delayed
Meanwhile, the deployment of a storage tanker in Kola Bay, near the port of Mur-
mansk, to handle the offshore transfer of Varandey Blend crude for Lukoil may be
delayed until July-August because of difficulties in agreeing the positioning of the
vessel, a market participant says.
Lukoil subsidiary LC Volga — set up to operate the tanker — “exists only on
paper and there is no talk of the vessel arriving”, according to an industry source.
Negotiations with Russia’s military authorities on placement of the tanker have
been under way for a long time, the source adds.
The deployment of Lukoil’s 12mn t/yr floating storage and reloading facility
near Cape Filinsky was previously planned to begin this month and to take around
four months to complete. The facility was expected to start handling crude
shipped from Lukoil’s far north Varandey terminal in September. The Cape Filin-
sky location is northeast of the Umba storage tanker that is used by Gazpromneft
for exports of its Arctic crude grades — Novy Port Light and Arco.
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Belarus
Belarus products export hike expected
Products exports from Belarus may rise in May-June compared with April as a
result of higher crude runs at the country’s refineries.
State-owned BNK exports products from the 220,000 b/d Novopolotsk and
323,000 b/d Mozyr refineries, which are scheduled to receive a combined 6mn t
(481,000 b/d) of Russian crude in the second quarter, up from 4mn t in January-
March, Russian pipeline operator Transneft says. The rise follows the recent reso-
lution of a dispute between the two countries over payment for gas supplies.
Belarusian dirty products are shipped mainly through ports in the Baltic states
— 913,600t of fuel oil was delivered in January-March, compared with 32,800t a
year earlier, shipping agents say. Trading firms Terrene Energy and Coral Energy
are buying Novopolotsk fuel oil this year, shipping through the Ventbunkers termi-
nal at the Latvian port of Ventspils. And Azeri firm Socar Trading is buying fuel oil
from Mozyr, shipping through the Klaipedos Nafta terminal at Klaipeda, Lithuania.
Trading firm Verum Plus had a contract to buy 1.26mn t of Mozyr fuel oil in
August 2015-October 2016, which it supplied through Klaipedos Nafta, and BNK
sold some Mozyr product on the spot market last year, mainly through the Ukrain-
ian port of Nikolaev, market participants say.
Belarusian vacuum gasoil (VGO) exports fell to 25,400t in January-March, from
126,800t in first-quarter 2016. Trading firm Tintrade exports product from Novo-
polotsk through its BLB Batijas Terminals facility at Riga, Latvia, and buys small
quantities of Mozyr VGO on a spot basis, which it ships from Riga to the Estonian
port of Tallinn, where larger cargoes are accumulated.
Clean products supplies
BNK supplies clean products mainly to Ukraine — 561,800t of gasoil and diesel
were shipped in January-March, compared with 732,200t in the same period of
last year. Vog, Galnaftogaz and BNK-Ukraine are the main importers. And Coral
supplies about 30,000 t/month of low-sulphur diesel to Ukraine from Belarus.
BNK shipped only 19,900t of diesel through Ventspils Nafta in January-March,
compared with 154,400t a year earlier, market participants say. Vitol was the
buyer. Coral will take most of the 20,000 t/month of Novopolotsk 10ppm sulphur
diesel offered in April–March 2018, although Polish firms PKN Orlen and Unimot,
and BNK unit TransBaltic Oil will take small amounts.
Belarus supplied 261,000t of gasoline to Ukraine in the first quarter, down by
15pc year on year, with Vog and Galnaftogaz the main buyers. Exports through
the Baltic states fell by 22pc to 214,700t in January-March. Vitol, Gunvor and
Trafigura buy on a spot basis, shipping agents say. Vitol ships through Klaipeda’s
Kroviniu Terminalas complex, while Gunvor and Trafigura export through Riga.
BNK is offering 2,000 t/month of Novopolotsk RT jet fuel to Ukraine in May–
April 2018. Galnaftogaz, Vog and Socar Energy Ukraine plan to participate in the
tender, market participants say. Some 2,200t of Belarusian jet fuel was shipped
to Ukraine in the first quarter, compared with none a year earlier.
Belarusian products sales '000 t/month
Product/Buyer Refinery Terminal Contract Volume
Fuel oil
Terene Energy Novopolotsk Ventbunkers Sep 16-Aug 17 100
Coral Energy Novopolotsk Ventbunkers Oct 16-Sep17 60
Socar Trading Mozyr Klaipedos Nafta Oct 16-Sep 17
VGO
Tintrade Novopolotsk BLB Jun 16-Jun 17 30
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Q&A
NCSP: upgrade will improve efficiency
Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port (NCSP), owns oil terminals at Novorossiysk on the
Black Sea and the Baltic port of Primorsk. It is completing several infrastructure
upgrade and expansion projects, and planning more. NCSP general director Sultan
Batov described them in a recent interview with Argus. Edited highlights follow:
What is the status of NCSP’s upgrade and expansion at Novorossiysk’s IPP ter-
minal to enable it to handle products supplied on river-sea tankers?
Equipping IPP to accept river-sea vessels is in the middle of the last phase of
implementation. Installation work is nearly finished and we should be ready to ac-
cept river volumes in May-June. Capacity at IPP is about 7mn t/yr and utilisation
around 5mn t/yr, which means we can load extra volumes.
We previously loaded just one diesel grade and throughput was higher. But
now we load a wider range of cargoes, so we plan to expand IPP’s tank farm
to enable loading of this range simultaneously. We aim to add at least another
100,000m³ of storage by late 2018.
Where will you place the new tanks, bearing in mind IPP’s restricted area?
We are about to close a deal to buy the 225,000m² Novorossiysk railcar repair
plant (NVRZ), adjacent to IPP, from Vagonremmash. In addition to the tank farm,
we will build seven sidings, each able to hold 71 railcars, which will relieve pres-
sure on the “Nizhny” goods yard and increase station capacity by about 4.5mn t/
yr. And we are considering construction of an edible-oils terminal within the area.
How about the expansion of approach capacity to Novorossiysk port?
Several facilities are being built, including construction of sidings on the North
Caucasus Railway and goods yard “B” at Novorossiysk railway station. This work is
being carried out by Stroiinnovatsiya.
Design and engineering was conducted in 2015-16, as well as laying of rail
tracks, installation of power supply in goods yard B, expansion of the Tsemes
river channel and construction of a rail bridge. We had planned to finish construc-
tion of some facilities in 2018, but they may be delayed.
Some facilities may begin operation as soon as they are ready. Stroiinnovatsiya
plans to complete construction of the rail section from the Kirillovsky checkpoint
to the Nizhny yard by late 2018, adding 10mn t/yr to the station’s design capacity
of 28mn t/yr. Available capacity is 37mn t/yr and is expected to reach 40mn t/yr
this year, and completion of the second access track on the Kirillovsky-goods yard
‘B’ section will add a further 18mn t/yr. We will also refurbish rail infrastructure
at the terminal, contributing to overall capacity at Novorossiysk rail station.
Why are loading volumes so much higher than the nominal capacity?
It is all about traffic management. Over the past two years, we have developed
a joint dispatching scheme with Russian Railways and increased transportation of
dry cargo — the bulk of rail shipments — by more than 30pc. We plan to upgrade
rail infrastructure to accept entire trains at NVRZ and at a planned all-purpose
loading complex near the Novorossiysk ship repair yard, in which we bought a
stake from Joint Shipbuilding last year. This will help to avoid breaking up trains
at the station and significantly increase station and terminal capacity.
Does NMTP plan to build a rail approach to Primorsk port?
It is possible. Port design consultancy Lenmorniiproekt has signed a declaration
of intent to invest in construction of an all-purpose loading complex at Primorsk.
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Q&A
Based on this, we are reviewing possible construction of a terminal for bulk car-
goes and mineral fertilisers, but a final decision has yet to be made.
Possible design capacity is in line with the maximum rail capacity of 12.7mn
t/yr on the route. Without a guaranteed freight base, it does not make sense to
build a rail line, but if there is a positive decision, construction may take about
three years.
Crude and refined oil products accounted for nearly 77pc of NMTP’s group
cargo turnover last year, unchanged from 2014-15. What changes do you ex-
pect in the long term?
There is good reason why we specialise in oil loadings. The ports of Novorossiysk
and Primorsk have the deepest marine terminals in the CIS and on the Baltic Sea.
Water depth at Novorossiysk is 24m, allowing crude exports on 150,000t tank-
ers. Primorsk’s water depth of 16-18m means cargoes can be exported on very
large crude carriers — [conditional on them having] 15m draught enabling passage
through the [Danish straits]. This has made these ports the main gateways for
Russian crude and products exports.
We believe that total loadings of crude and oil products will remain at the
current level, with a slight reduction in crude and an increase in products. This
reflects increased refining depth and growth in diesel exports.
NCSP has surplus loading capacity for products at Novorossiysk and Primorsk.
Expansion of the Sever pipeline will be completed this year, increasing diesel
loading operations at Primorsk. And we are upgrading the Sheskharis oil harbour
at Novorossiysk — under the Yug diesel [pipeline] project — which will help us
increase product loading operations by 8.7mn t/yr.
What additional capacity does NCSP have at Primorsk?
The two berths at Primorsk Trading Port loaded 75mn t of crude in 2009, but
crude and products loadings at Primorsk were only 64.4mn t in 2016, through six
berths. And we can now load 100,000t tankers for products export from berths 3
and 4, so we will have no problem whatsoever loading additional volumes.
Will damage to one of the berths at Primorsk in November last year jeopard-
ise loading operations?
The phasing-out of berth 1 will not affect our capabilities. As for repairs to the
berth, there are still some outstanding issues with the parties responsible for the
accident, which need to be settled. But design and engineering work is under way
and the repairs should be finished by the end of 2018.
Russia’s federal antimonopoly service FAS says that NCSP set monopolistically
high tariffs for cargo loading operations and that it is unhappy about rates be-
ing set in dollars. What is your reaction to this?
The issue of switching from roubles to dollars is beyond the FAS’ remit — it is
something for an economic entity — and under current legislation, there is noth-
ing forbidding NCSP from setting tariffs in different currencies. Secondly, it was
federal tariff service FST that set all our rates in dollars — and that agency is now
part of the FAS.
As for tariff growth, overall we have reduced tariffs rather than increasing
them. Measures for regulating tariffs should be selective and should be taken only
against companies that take advantage of their monopoly or dominant position in
the market — we have neither. We disagree with FAS’ decision and NCSP plans to
challenge it in court.
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Argus Nefte Transport May 2017
BALTIC STATES
Baltic blending boom
Exports from Baltic states ’000t
Port/Terminal/Product Jan-Mar Jan-Mar 16 In the face of declining clean products exports from Russia, oil terminals in the
Baltic states are increasingly offering storage and blending services.
Klaipeda
Russian clean products exports through the Baltic states, including motor fuels
Klaipedos Nafta
and octane-enhancing components, fell by 28pc on the year to 4.57mn t in the
10ppm diesel 295.2 375.3
first quarter, because of unofficial restrictions imposed on shipments by Rus-
Gasoline 461.9 664.6 sian Railways. But trading firms are keen to use spare storage capacity to blend
Krovinu Terminalas gasoline and gasoline components from refineries in Russia, Belarus and Lithu-
10ppm diesel — 7.6 ania to meet specifications for export markets such as Europe, west Africa, Latin
Gasoline 341.4 264.7 America and the US. Gasoil and diesel are blended to adjust sulphur content.
High-octane components — 8.0 Trading firm Vitol is the largest supplier of blended export-grade gasoline,
Naphtha 12.6 — mainly from its Ventspils Nafta (VN) terminal at Latvia’s Ventspils, but also from
Paldiski Lithuania’s Klaipeda and Tallinn, Estonia. Vitol blends A-92 gasoline with high-oc-
tane components supplied by sea to VN from other Baltic states’ terminals to pro-
Alexela Logistics
duce gasoline of different specifications. The trading company leases 46,000m³
Gasoline 291.3 289.7
of capacity in four tanks at the nearby Ventall terminal for storing MTBE, market
Naphtha — 24.8
participants say, with blending taking place in the tanks of vessels loaded at VN.
Riga
Vitol buys 6,000-9,000 t/month of pyrolysis condensate on a spot basis from
Naftimpeks
trading company Coral Energy at the Pars terminal at Riga, Latvia, for supply to
10ppm diesel 186.4 949.3
Ventspils for blending with gasoline. The product comes from petrochemicals
Gasoline 67.0 —
producer Polimir — part of Naftan, operator of Belarus’ 220,000 b/d Novopolotsk
OVI refinery. Vitol also butane to boost the octane rating of gasoline.
Gasoil 28.0 8.0 At the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda, Vitol uses Kroviniu Terminalas to blend
Pars T2 Belarusian gasoline bought on a spot basis with octane-enhancing components,
Gasoil 138.3 140.5 including alkylate, reformate and pyrolysis condensate, which are supplied to
Gasoline 118.9 226.0 Klaipeda from Riga. It then makes up 25,000-30,000t gasoline cargoes for export to
Naphtha 8.6 56.6 Puerto Rico, Angola and Morocco. Vitol also supplies small seaborne cargoes of Be-
Woodison larusian gasoline from Klaipeda to VN for blending with high-octane components.
Polish oil firm PKN Orlen subsidiary Orlen Lietuva supplies gasoline from PKN’s
Gasoil — 33.2
267,000 b/d Mazeikiai refinery in Lithuania through Klaipeda’s Klaipedos Nafta
Jet-kerosine — 51.8
terminal to Vitol and trading firm Trafigura. The latter ships Lithuanian gasoline
Ventspils
mainly to the Alexela Logistics terminal at Paldiski, Estonia. Alexela Logistics has
Ventspils Nafta
four tanks with blending equipment and a total capacity of 60,000m³.
Gasoil 1,524.8 1,676.3
The Vopak EOS terminal in Tallinn offers tanks for products blending. It has
Gasoline 449.4 608.3
storage capacity for 130,000m³ of clean products and all tanks have blending
Naphtha 143.4 325.2
equipment. Vitol is the main gasoline-exporting customer for terminal, supplying
Ventamonjaks product to VN for blending and export to west Africa.
Gasoline 48.6 208.4
High-octane components 3.0 47.2 Suppliers and buyers
Naphtha — 20.0 In addition to Polimir, sellers of blending components include Belarus’ 323,000
Ventbunkers b/d Mozyr refinery, which supplies alkylate. Bashneft ships alkylate from its
Gasoil 360.1 237.9 140,000 b/d Novoil refinery to Riga and Klaipeda, while Russian petrochemicals
Tallinn firm Sibur supplies MTBE to Vitol at Ventall and small amounts to Paldiski. Trafig-
ura buys reformate from Shell’s 70,000 b/d Fredericia refinery in Denmark for use
Vopak EOS
at Paldiski and imports alkylate and toluene from Sweden and the Netherlands.
Gasoline 35.0 33.0
Blending of gasoil to adjust sulphur content is often done in vessel tanks,
High-octane components 35.0 11.0
because not all Baltic terminals have licences for blending. The main export
Gasoil 29.9 43.0
destinations for gasoil are Rotterdam, which receives 10ppm sulphur diesel, Latin
Pakterminal
America which takes 350ppm and 10ppm fuel, and west Africa, which receives
Gasoil — 34.5
10ppm, 50ppm and 0.1pc product, traders say. Flash point is also a factor, with a
Gasoline — 31.3 minimum of 62°С for exports to Africa and 55°С for Europe. Wax anti-settling ad-
Total 4,578.7 6,376.1 ditive is often added to product destined for Germany, particularly in winter.
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Argus Nefte Transport May 2017
Dirty PrODUCtS EXPOrtS
VGO drives 1Q rise
Russian exports of fuel oil and vacuum gasoil (VGO) hit 17mn t in the first quarter,
Dirty product exports ’000t
an increase of 1.64mn t against the same period last year. The rise was a result of
Jan-Mar Jan-Mar 16
a more favourable tax environment and increased VGO production.
Fuel oil 12,672.3 12,313.3 The base export duty on dirty products fell slightly at the start of this year,
VGO 4,320.0 3,041.4 following a reduction in the tax rate for crude, against which rates for other
products are calculated. Meanwhile, Russian VGO output was 24pc higher on the
total 16,992.3 15,354.7
year at 7.8mn t in the first quarter.
Fuel oil exports through Russia’s northwest ports rose by 200,000t on the year
to 6.5mn t in January-March, according to rail freight forwarding companies. The
main suppliers through these outlets are Lukoil, Gazpromneft and Slavneft, which
ship 2-3pc sulphur cracked product to the bunker fuel market in northwest Europe
and for blending. Surgutneftegaz is the only company supplying straight-run prod-
uct. Fuel oil is sold mainly under long-term contracts, with the biggest buyers
including Total and trading companies Crudex and Gunvor.
Exports of fuel oil from Black Sea ports grew by 1.3mn t on the year to 5.53mn
t in the first quarter, because of higher supplies from Yug Rusi’s 50,000 b/d Novo-
shakhtinsk refinery to Taman and through floating storage tankers in the Kerch
strait. The leading Black Sea fuel oil exporters are Rosneft, Kuban Oil and Gas
(KNGK), Neftegazindustriya and Yug Rusi, which ship mainly low-sulphur (1-1.2pc)
and high-sulphur (1.7-2.5pc) straight-run product.
VGO exports through Black Sea ports rose by 100,000t to 2mn t in the first
quarter. One of the main exporters is Yug Rusi, which supplies Novoshakhtinsk
product through Taman to trading companies Glencore, Coral Energy and Exmore,
and through the Sanar-7 floating storage tanker in the Kerch strait.
Rosneft’s 240,000 b/d Tuapse refinery is the second-largest Black Sea VGO
supplier and the company increased exports through its terminal at the port of
Fuel oil exports by route russian fuel oil exports ’000t
mn t Supplier 1Q 1Q16 Supplier 1Q 1Q16
5
Kirishi refinery 1,790.0 1,775.1 No data 181.1 159.0
4
Jan-Mar 16 Jan-Mar 17
3 Ryazan refinery 1,253.2 1,163.3 Ukhta refinery 163.4 122.6
2 Novoshakhtinsky refinery* 1,192.0 601.0 Mari-el refinery 160.0 163.0
1 Yaroslavl refinery 917.8 875.6 Perm refinery 97.3 114.7
0 Tuapse refinery 852.9 568.0 Angarsk refinery 96.1 405.0
Afipsky refinery 636.0 638.9 Salavat refinery 79.5 —
Nizhny Novgorod refinery 602.8 616.5 Antipinsky refinery 70.0 712.5
Taif refinery 517.9 108.7 Volgograd refinery 41.3
Novokuibyshev refinery 478.8 403.8 Astrakhan GPP 25.6 80.8
Kuibyshev refinery 416.1 503.9 Yaisky refinery 24.9 40.1
Achinsk refinery 396.2 493.1 Ufaneftekhim 24.6 —
Ilsky refinery 364.1 290.9 Khabarovsk refinery 15.3 50.5
Omsk refinery 332.9 196.7 Komsomolsk refinery 14.4 469.4
Slavyansk-Eco refinery 285.8 127.7 Anzhersky refinery 10.0 —
Syzran refinery 266.5 321.8 Novokuibyshevskaya Petchem 8.0 0.1
Saratov refinery 261.5 184.8 Piter 8.0 —
Ufa refinery 250.2 70.8 Kaspiy-1 2.3 —
Novatek 224.0 266.0 Soyuzneftegaz 1.9 —
Orsk refinery 220.3 38.8 Taneko refinery — 103.4
Krasnodar refinery 201.0 150.8 total 12,672.3 12,313.3
Moscow refinery 188.5 496.1 — freight forwarding firms, energy ministry, *customs
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