The Crude Report podcast series examines the critical forces impacting global crude oil markets, including discussions on price trends, supply and demand shifts, trade flows, geopolitical and regulatory developments and regional matters that can ultimately alter the global landscape.
Like all Argus podcasts, The Crude Report podcast episodes are available on the Argus Blog, where each episode can be streamed and is provided with a full transcript, along with podcast platforms Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Stitcher. To stay updated with the latest crude oil content such as podcasts, news, blogs and digital events, subscribe to our free newsletter.
The Crude Report episodes
28 July 2021
The Crude Report: Opec’s row resolved
Editor-in-Chief Jim Washer talks to Dubai Editorial Manager Nader Itayim about the Opec+ alliance’s new output agreement, the Saudi-UAE row that nearly derailed it, and the challenges the group could face, not just through to the end of this current deal, but even beyon...
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21 July 2021
The Crude Report: Argus introduces Canadian High-TAN assessments
A podcast episode highlighting the introduction of a new Canadian High-TAN price assessment at Houston and Cushing, as well as providing updates about Argus WCS Houston and ICE ARV.
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14 July 2021
The Crude Report: DJ Light hosts Cushing crude party
As increasing and more diverse light sweet Denver-Julesburg (DJ) crude volumes are delivered into Cushing, Oklahoma, from the Rocky Mountains, a need for better pricing has become all the more important.
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08 July 2021
The Crude Report: Iran crude to India post sanctions
Indirect talks between Iran and the US have not yet resolved disagreements over a roadmap toward lifting US sanctions and enforcing Tehran's nuclear compliance. But refiners are watching the developments closely, and the eventual lifting of US sanctions is expected to t...
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30 June 2021
The Crude Report: The Brent basket’s burden: Part 2
The staple crude oil price benchmark Dated Brent needs reinforcements, but how should the North Sea maintain its status in the global oil markets?
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23 June 2021
The Crude Report: IFAD Murban – a maturing crude oil benchmark?
Murban futures traded on the ICE Futures Abu Dhabi (IFAD) exchange have raised multiple dreams and aspirations.
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16 June 2021
The Crude Report: Midland narrows in on Houston
More than one year after the Nymex Cushing benchmark sank below zero for the first time ever, crude oil demand remains weak as a poor arbitrage from the Permian basin limits sell-side opportunities.
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08 June 2021
The Crude Report: The move to renewables – a concern for Russian Urals
Several key European customers of Russian medium sour Urals have been making steady progress towards co-processing renewables along with crude supplies at their refineries.
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02 June 2021
The Crude Report: The Brent basket’s burden
The physical basis of Dated Brent is not what it used to be, and BFOET production volumes have continued to fall.
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26 May 2021
The Crude Report: China taxes out Venezuelan barrels
A new Chinese tax on esoteric oil products poses a challenge for heavy sour crude, particularly from Venezuela.
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19 May 2021
The Crude Report: China’s sweet and sour story
China is back in the market for sweet crude oil ahead of the release of new import quotas for independent refiners — but demand for the sourer grades favoured by state-owned firms looks weaker.
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12 May 2021
The Crude Report: India's demand reversal
In this episode of The Crude Report, Argus’ vice president Alejandro Barbajosa and head of forecasting Francis Osborne discuss the impact on India’s oil sector and how it may affect global crude oil and refined products markets more widely.
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05 May 2021
The Crude Report: Biden’s first 100 days
In this episode of The Crude Report, senior reporter Chris Knight and associate editor Haik Gugarats discuss the outcomes of Biden’s energy, climate and foreign policy priorities in his first 100 days in office and what to expect in coming months.
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28 April 2021
The Crude Report: Canada’s great escape
Much has been said about US president Joe Biden’s rejection of the Keystone XL project. The now-suspended project would have provided 830,000 b/d of pipeline capacity from Canada’s oil sands to the US midcontinent, but after years of delays, Canadian crude oil producers...
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21 April 2021
The Crude Report: WTI pricing at the USGC nears uniformity
The transparency of locational spreads between the various US Gulf coast terminals that make up Argus AGS has proven quite popular, as it helps to highlight each connection’s unique market fundamentals.
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14 April 2021
The Crude Report: Revisiting negative oil prices with the CFTC
It has been nearly one year since 20 April 2020, a turbulent day for oil markets when WTI crude prices fell to a settlement price of negative $37.63/bl, which left some producers in the unusual position of paying someone to take their oil.
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07 April 2021
The Crude Report: Opec+’s Spring surprise
Last week's Opec+ meeting surprised markets with an agreement to lift production quotas by over 1.1mn b/d between May and July, not including Saudi Arabia’s own pledge to unwind its own 1mn b/d of additional voluntary cuts over the same period.
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29 March 2021
The Crude Report: Dirty tanker rates to face “painful” recovery
We welcome a special guest from Gibson Shipbrokers in this next installment of The Crude Report podcast series.
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24 March 2021
The Crude Report: Counting down to Murban futures
The highly-anticipated IFAD Murban futures contract will be launching next week, on Monday, 29 March 2021.
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17 March 2021
The Crude Report: Dated's U-turn
A U-turn on plans to transform the Dated Brent benchmark has left its future more uncertain than ever.
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09 March 2021
The Crude Report: China cooling?
First in, first out. Although Chinese oil demand was first to be affected by Covid-19, it was also the first to recover, ending 2020 higher by 1.3mn b/d. Despite the recovery, there are now signs that Chinese crude buying is cooling.
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03 March 2021
The Crude Report: Changing the Dated game
Last week’s expected announcement that Argus competitor Platts would add WTI into the Dated Brent basket starting July 2022 took a surprising turn when it was also revealed that the assessment will become a delivered-Rotterdam benchmark.
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24 February 2021
The Crude Report: Texas’ cold snap boosts US Aframax spot, futures prices
Aframax tonnage has been tight in the Atlantic basin thanks to heavy demand for fuel oil loadings in Europe, but demand grew even more this past week as charterers rushed to secure vessels for US loadings in response to Texas’ unusual winter weather.
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17 February 2021
The Crude Report: The rise of WCS Houston and ARV
The Ice ARV paper swap, which settles on Argus WCS Houston, has seen a rapid rise in open interest and trade volume over the past 6 months. What in the physical market is supporting this growth?
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10 February 2021
The Crude Report: The Biden administration
President Joe Biden’s executive actions on energy policy have won praise from environmentalists and progressive Democrats, while surprising some in the oil and gas sector who hoped Biden would moderate his ambitious campaign promises on climate after taking office.
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03 February 2021
The Crude Report: Potential changes to benchmark prices
Crude oil price benchmarks are facing some degree of change across all regions, from the various forms of WTI in the US and Brent in Europe, to the incoming IFAD Murban contract in the Middle East.
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27 January 2021
The Crude Report: Iraq exports new Basrah Medium stream
Iraq’s state-owned marketer Somo has split the exports of key Iraqi Basrah crude from two into three grades, now Basrah Light, Basrah Medium (the newest classification) and Basrah Heavy, and also made adjustments in the quality of Basrah Light and Basrah Heavy.
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20 January 2021
The Crude Report: Russia’s Far East Sokol and ESPO Blend
Russia’s Sokol and ESPO Blend crude oil grades, produced in the country’s Far East, have relatively easy access to the world’s largest crude oil buyer, China.
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13 January 2021
The Crude Report: Asian heavy demand lures Canadian railcars, US exports
Transportation arbitrage economics from Canada to the US Gulf coast began improving in the back half of 2020 as international demand for Canadian heavy crude oil grades picked up.
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06 January 2021
The Crude Report: AGS locational spreads tighten
Locational WTI spreads are tightening across the US Gulf coast as new connectivity options boost total liquidity, ultimately paving the pathway for Argus AGS to succeed as a future benchmark for light sweet crude in global markets.
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30 December 2020
The Crude Report: Asian plant closures to weigh on light sweet grades
Covid-19 continues to wreak havoc, as three Asian refineries are on the brink of shuttering thanks to weakened refined product demand.
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23 December 2020
The Crude Report: The effects of Opec+, vaccines and piracy on WAF markets
Will a new year bring WAF markets old concerns?
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16 December 2020
The Crude Report: Alaskan oil demand surfaces in China
Alaskan North Slope (ANS) crude oil exports to China surfaced this year on an interim trade deal signed by Beijing and Washington and as US west coast refining slackens on Covid-19 demand destruction.
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09 December 2020
The Crude Report: CHOPS outage sends sour grades to Louisiana
The Cameron Highway Oil Pipeline System (CHOPS) has been offline since late August, when Hurricane Laura’s damage halted Texas Southern Green Canyon (SGC) deliveries and diverted medium sour flows to Louisiana.
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02 December 2020
The Crude Report: China’s year-end buying spree
In this episode of The Crude Report, we look at oil markets through the prism of China, where life seems to generally be back to normal, as even their energy consumption has come roaring back.
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25 November 2020
The Crude Report: Opec+ looks at 2021
Opec+ ministers will meet w/c 30 November to discuss next steps for their production agreement, the decisions of which will obviously have impacts on global crude oil trade flows.
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18 November 2020
The Crude Report: Freight loses some Covid-19 weight
After an unprecedented rise earlier this year thanks to a surge of floating storage demand, the weight of freight – freight's share of the delivered cost – has returned to the more typical 5pc - 10pc range for US-to-China shipments.
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11 November 2020
The Crude Report: Why penalize running the lights?
The six stand-alone splitters designed to refine ultra-light crude oil condensate at the US Gulf coast should have operating advantages in an environment where gasoline is king – but this theory hasn't quite panned out.
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04 November 2020
The Crude Report: Libyan production strikes back
After an eight-month slump in crude oil production, Libyan volumes are expected to strike back in full force.
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28 October 2020
The Crude Report: WAF demand revival
West African crude is seeing a demand revival from its key market in China and also, to a lesser extent, from some more unexpected sources.
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21 October 2020
The Crude Report: Mind the (small) gap between light and heavy sour prices
The price spread of light to heavy sour crude has tightened in the last several months amid changes in market dynamics on the light crudes and also on the heavy sour crude side.
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14 October 2020
The Crude Report: Dated volumes problem returns
With annual output of key grade Forties falling to a 44-year low, the grades making up the Dated benchmark are seeing continued production declines.
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07 October 2020
The Crude Report: From Canada to Asia, with a Texas layover
Record volumes of Canadian crude oil are arriving in Texas, and while some are staying onshore, a fair amount is being exported to markets such as China, India and South Korea.
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30 September 2020
The Crude Report: Brazil-China trade ebbs and flows
Chinese imports of Brazilian crude hit a record 1.2mn b/d in June, as grades such as Tupi (formerly known as Lula) continue to be popular with Shandong refiners. But like many others, Brazil is also susceptible to China’s recent demand lull.
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23 September 2020
The Crude Report - Opec: 60 years and counting
It’s been 60 years since Opec was formed by founding members Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Venezuela.
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16 September 2020
The Crude Report: Sour price cuts provide sweet relief to refiners?
Saudi Aramco announced its official prices for October-loading crude exports last week, and this episode discusses the impact of these prices on the Asian market.
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09 September 2020
The Crude Report: Covid-19 downturn not Canada's first rodeo
Covid-19 and its related demand destruction has challenged the Canadian oil sands sector with losses, but producers have been well-prepared for turbulence after overcoming previous challenges.
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02 September 2020
The Crude Report: Guyana sweet on Liza
Earlier in August, the third lift of Guyana’s Liza crude was loaded from the ExxonMobil-operated Stabroek block.
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26 August 2020
The Crude Report: Nigeria losing European market share to US
In this episode of The Crude Report, a podcast series on global oil markets, we look at the drop in Nigerian crude demand to Europe and the role of China in relieving the pressure.
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19 August 2020
The Crude Report: Opec+ meets again
With Opec+ slated to meet this week to discuss the state of the global crude oil industry and adjust their plans as needed, this episode of The Crude Report podcast evaluates the situation thus far.
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12 August 2020
The Crude Report: Chevron gets a Noble deal
In this episode of The Crude Report, a podcast series on global oil markets, we discuss Chevron’s $13bn acquisition of Noble Energy and what we’ve heard from other US oil companies regarding future M&A.
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05 August 2020
The Crude Report: Understanding China’s weak third quarter
In this episode of The Crude Report, a podcast series on global oil markets, we discuss how China’s crude oil purchasing activity has changed alongside oil prices and politics.
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29 July 2020
The Crude Report: Coastal lights orbit closer to Mars
Over the past few months, the discount of the sour grade Mars has narrowed considerably against sweet grade LLS.
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12 June 2020
Chinese crude oil markets reawaken
The global oil market is looking toward China for tangible signs of a worldwide revival. Still the world’s largest oil demand center, China is seeing a healthy return of crude demand, particularly in Shandong, their main import hub.
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27 May 2020
A market view of US crude exports
Although the volume of US crude exports is falling, there is still international demand for US crude, most notably in Europe, which has overtaken Asia as the largest regional buyer.
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13 May 2020
Narrow arb blocks Canadian crude from USGC
Production cuts have supported Canadian crude prices at Edmonton and Hardisty, with the consequence of closing the arbitrage to the US Gulf coast.
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Crude oil North America English06 April 2020
Podcast: Oh Canada – and its crude
The Alberta government’s recent announcement to partner with TC Energy on the northern part of the Keystone XL pipeline sparks a wider conversation on the current state of Canadian crude oil markets.
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Crude oil North America English22 March 2020
Podcast – Upside down: New price relationships in the US Gulf coast crude markets
Podcast: Long-stable crude oil price relationships at the US Gulf coast have been upended by the global crude supply/demand imbalance.
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