CORN ISLAND HULL 295

Shandong Port Group has banned U.S.-sanctioned tankers from calling into its ports in the eastern Chinese province, home to many independent refiners that are the biggest importers of oil from countries under U.S. embargo, three traders said.The province imported about 1.74 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil from Iran, Russia and Venezuela last year, accounting for about 17% of China's imports, ship tracking data from Kpler showed.If enforced, the ban would drive up shipping costs for independent refiners in Shandong, the main buyers of discounted sanctioned crude from the three countries, the traders added.

Advisers to U.S.President-elect Donald Trump are urging him to take a patient approach to restarting approvals for liquefied natural gas export licenses, fearing rapid approvals will only get overturned in court, according to two sources familiar with the discussions.The recommendations offer a preview of the challenges Trump will face as his bold campaign promises to slash regulation and unfetter industry crash into the reality of governing an unwieldy bureaucracy.In an election-year move, current President Joe Biden halted new LNG export licenses and ordered his administration to conduct a review of the U.S.

As geopolitical tensions rise globally, and President Trump prepares to reenter the White House later this month, focus turns to the maritime sector and China's growing dominance. So when the U.S. Department of Defense released on the Federal Register on January 7, 2025 a "Notice of Chinese military companies operating in the United States," a trio of prominent maritime companies Cosco Shipping Holdings Co.; China State Shipbuilding Corp. and China Shipbuilding Trading Co. made the list, as "the Deputy Secretary of Defense has determined that the entities listed ... qualify as “Chinese military companies” in accordance with the William M.

President Joe Biden is set to ban new offshore oil and gas development across 625 million acres (250 million hectares) of U.S. coastal territory, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.The ban, to be announced on Monday, rules out the sale of drilling rights in stretches of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and the eastern Gulf of Mexico, said the report, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.Biden is leaving the possibility open for new oil and natural gas leasing in the central and western areas of the Gulf of Mexico, which account for around 14% of the nation's production of these fuels, the report said.

The shipping industry has been watching the dual-fuel engine choices made for newbuildings as an indicator of what many see as an uncertain fuel future.In December, DNV’s Alternative Fuels Insights platform counted 27 ammonia and 322 methanol-fueled vessels currently on the orderbooks.Methanol has raced ahead of ammonia, which currently lags in both engine and regulatory development.As the years tick by, 2025 is here and 2030 is rapidly approaching, eyes are now turning to the existing fleet – to the potential for engine retrofits. Again, methanol is ahead of ammonia.