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Solvang cited
US Coast Guard port inspections result in detention of Norwegian gas carrier, OSG tanker, ER Schiffart boxship and others.
Vitol revenues set new record
Vitol saw revenues jump by 44% to a record $297bn last year on the back of strong oil prices and higher turnover.
Ian Taylor
Vitol said oil prices averaged $111.26 a barrel last year versus $79.50 in 2010, an increase of $32/barrel.
The Swiss-based oil trader, which is privately held, did not disclose any other financial figures in its 2011 annual report.
Crude oil trading remained the largest part of Vitol’s trading portfolio, with 135mt of crude traded in 2011.
This was supported by “substantive volumes” from all petroleum product businesses, as well as power, natural gas, carbon and coal.
VTTI, Vitol’s 50% terminal joint venture with MISC, saw further growth with the completion of phase 3 of the ETT Rotterdam terminal.
The first quarter of 2012, will see phase 1 of the new terminal at Tanjung Bin, Malaysia, completed, with an initial capacity of 841,000-cbm.
In the USA, Vitol announced plans to build a crude oil terminal and loading facilities in Midland, Texas, with initial capacity of around 1m barrels.
“2011 was a year in which the world experienced some significant, unpredicted events, causing major price increases in energy markets as well as changes in energy policy and trade flows,” said chief executive Ian Taylor.
“Political uncertainty combined with a major loss of crude supply from Libya, contributed to Brent crude oil prices rising from $94/bbl and ending the year $14/bbl higher.”
“The environment for shipping and refining remained weak due to global oversupply and short term prospects remain difficult in both sectors.”
“Despite challenging trading conditions in 2011, Vitol delivered a strong performance in the core trading activities,” Taylor said.
“Economic uncertainty makes it challenging to predict demand and supply for oil in 2012, the key determinants of price.”
Vitol is a major participant in global shipping markets, chartering around 5,500 voyages in 2011, delivering both crude oil and products.
Last year the company was the fifth largest spot charterer of dirty tankers, according to figures compiled by Poten & Partners.
It was the third largest spot charterer of suezmaxes and aframaxes and the fourth largest spot charterer of panamaxes.
In 2010, the most recent figures available, it was the second largest charterer of clean tanker tonnage. Shell was number one.
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