This should be good for TGA / TGL
Brent Dips below Sour Crude as Heavy Supply Tightens
By Irina Slav - Mar 01, 2019, 8:00 PM CST tanker tough weather
The price of the Brent international crude oil benchmark dipped below two Middle Eastern benchmarks that represent heavier, sour grades, Reuters reports, citing industry sources.
Based on light sweet crude grades produced in the North Sea, Brent has traditionally traded at a premium to sour grades with a higher sulfur content that have been typically considered sort of lower quality than light sweet blends that yield higher amounts of fuels such as gasoline.
However, heavy crude blends are essential for the production of middle distillates used for other types of fuels, including bunkering fuel, where a seismic change is coming next year: the International Maritime Organization is implementing stricter sulfur emission rules that will require refiners to adjust their production accordingly. Still this adjustment does not meant demand for heavy crude will fall. In fact, it is expected to rise.
At the same time, OPEC is cutting the production of its heavier grades in its efforts to prop up prices. This, added to the latest round of U.S. sanctions against Venezuela’s PDVSA and Iran, has begun to tighten heavy crude supply and has become the reason for what may seem an unnatural price difference for light and heavy crude.
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