Description

OOO "GAZOYLPROM SHIPPING" is involved in the shipment of oil, and Vessel Agency (SHIPOVA), transporting via pipelines, storage, distributing, sourcing, exporting , selling and trading of crude oil, petroleum products such as D2 gas oil, Mazut M**0, jet fuel, fuel oil, gasoline, bitumen, sulphur, fertilizer and renewable energies, metals, metal ores, pet coke and coal.

Gazoylprom Supertanker oil tanker is docked at a pier at Kozmino port in the Russian Far East.

Aframax ships that ply the route between the Russian port of Kozmino and North Asia in three days, compared with journeys of a month for supertankers from the Middle East, are carrying the most ever East Siberian Pacific Ocean Pipeline oil to China, South Korea and Japan. The demand has pushed ESPO\'s price to the highest since July versus benchmark Dubai crude, according to industry consultant KBC Energy Economics.

"Russia is sending more and more crude to Asia at the expense of Europe, while interest in offshore storage has returned and freight rates have increased," Ehsan Ul-Haq, a senior market consultant at KBC in Walton-on-Thames, England, said by phone.

Stronger demand for Russian crude helped ESPO fetch as much as $3.*0 a barrel more than the benchmark Dubai grade for cargoes loading in March, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, up from a $2 premium in January.

An Aframax sailing from Kozmino to Japan\'s Chiba port was fixed at a rate of *0 cents a barrel this month, little changed from what it cost in October, according to Seatown Shipbroking Pte.

Front-month futures for Brent, the benchmark for more than half the world\'s crude, averaged $5.*6 a barrel below six-month contracts during January, compared with a $2.*7 premium in June, data compiled by Bloomberg show. They were at a $3.*9 discount at *2:*4 p.m. London time. This market structure, known as contango, may make it worthwhile for traders to store oil and petroleum products to sell later.

As many as *5 tankers were booked for time charters with capacity to store as much as *6 million barrels of oil, according to three shipping reports compiled by Bloomberg on Feb. 7. More than half of the vessels were fully fixed for periods of six months to two years.

Siberian Pipe

"Asia is the only market that is witnessing any increases in oil demand," said Hong Sung Ki, a commodities analyst at Samsung Futures Inc. in Seoul. "With Russia and OPEC producers both eyeing the Far East, the price war has begun for bigger market share and we\'re likely to see more and more of it."

The proximity of the Kozmino port to Asia presents ESPO with a benefit versus Middle East crude, which takes about a month to arrive in the Far East.

"For the Russian grade, immediate demand from the regional refiners could be met because of the geographical advantage," the Korea Petroleum Association, a Seoul-based group that represents the country\'s refiners, said in an e-mail. "As a result, we\'re seeing the crude getting more and more attention."