Petroleum industry

Australian Crude Oil Supply to Return to Normal in April, Despite Upcoming Maintenance Season

Strategic Insights

Feb 16, 2010 — 1 min read

Traders announced that Australian crude oil supply is expected to return to normal in April as Woodside Petroleum Ltd. resumes exports of Vincent crude after a two-month halt due to an outage at the Vincent field. However, the increased supply will coincide with Asian refiners' peak maintenance season in the second quarter, potentially depressing premiums. Additionally, the start of exports from new Australian oil fields operated by Apache Corp. and BHP Billiton Ltd. may dampen sentiment.

Key Takeaways:

Woodside Petroleum Ltd. will resume exports of Vincent crude in April, offering around 550,000 barrels for loading.
The company had halted shipments for two months due to an outage at the Vincent field and said the oil platform won't be fully operational until the second quarter of 2010.
Woodside will also resume exports from the Stybarrow oil field offshore Western Australia state next month after shutting it for 35 days in the first quarter for maintenance.
Mitsui & Co. Ltd. has already sold an Enfield cargo at near $4 a barrel above dated Brent to Australian buyer, down from March's $4.50 a barrel premium.
Light, sweet grades from the North West Shelf and Laminaria condensate will also be available for April, including two 600,000-barrel Cossack parcels and five 650,000-barrel North West Shelf condensate cargoes.

Statistics:

550,000 barrels of Vincent crude available for April loading.
550,000 barrels of Stybarrow crude available for April loading.
1100,000 barrels of Enfield crude available for April loading (2 x 550,000 barrels).
1200,000 barrels of Laminaria condensate available for April loading.
$4 a barrel above dated Brent for Enfield cargo.
35 days' maintenance for Stybarrow oil field.

Sources:

Traders, unnamed, quoting Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (no date provided)
Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (January 2010) - outage at Vincent field
Euclid Infotech Pvt. Ltd. (no date provided) - citing traders

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