Song of Oil and LNG - Нефть и СПГ

🇺🇸 Trump extends Jones Act waivers by 90 days as Iran war keeps supply chains tight The Trump administration on Aug. 10 extended Jones Act waivers for another 90 days, allowing foreign-flagged vessels to keep moving oil, fuels and other critical commodities between US ports. The extension takes effect Aug. 17 and runs through mid-November. Washington has also narrowed the program from blanket exemptions to energy and agricultural cargoes, while adding tighter oversight through Pentagon consultation with the US Maritime Administration before waivers are granted. The waiver regime was first launched on Mar. 18 as a 60-day emergency response after the war in Iran disrupted flows through the Strait of Hormuz and pushed up global oil prices. It was already extended once in May. Over the 4.5-month period ending Aug. 3, the administration granted 208 exemptions, and the White House says the policy increased domestic deliveries of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. API backs the extension as a tool to reduce regional shortages and price volatility, while the US maritime lobby continues to warn that repeated waivers undermine domestic shipbuilding and the Jones Act fleet. This is a clear sign Washington still sees shipping flexibility between US ports as a necessary buffer against Middle East supply shocks and domestic fuel price risk. 🔎 Source @songofoil

Refined products market tightens again as global runs and exports fall Global refined product markets are moving back into a supply squeeze. S&P Global Energy estimates refinery runs in July were 7.5 million b/d below July 2025 levels, with second-half 2026 global runs now seen averaging 80.1 million b/d, down 2.4 million b/d versus the previous outlook. Exports from key suppliers have fallen 30%, or 4 million b/d, since the start of the conflict versus the same period of 2025, while gasoline, diesel and jet fuel prices are back near $130-170/bbl. The pressure points are concentrated and mutually reinforcing: renewed hostilities in the Strait of Hormuz, a collapse in Russian product supply, Russia’s July 8 diesel export ban, and China maintaining export constraints. In the Middle East, crude runs are expected to average about 8 million b/d in 2026, roughly 1.6 million b/d below 2025. Russian diesel exports had already dropped about 500,000 b/d year on year before the ban, and the restriction has now removed 10% of waterborne diesel supply from the market. China is not filling the gap either, with July crude throughput almost 2.9 million b/d below year-ago levels. That leaves US refiners, running at a record 96% utilization, as the main balancing source just ahead of hurricane season and fall maintenance. The refined products complex is now trading a capacity problem rather than a crude problem, and the buffer to absorb the next disruption is close to exhausted. 🔎 Source @songofoil

🇸🇦 Aramco delays Jazan restart Saudi Aramco has pushed back the restart of its 400,000-bpd Jazan refinery to August 30, extending an outage at one of the kingdom’s major refining assets. The delay prolongs the period in which Jazan remains offline and keeps a sizeable volume of refining capacity out of the system. For products markets, the implication is straightforward: a longer outage at 400,000 bpd tightens available supply of refined fuels and adds pressure to already sensitive global fuel balances. Even without changing crude production, the delay matters for trade flows because it reduces immediate conversion capacity and can increase reliance on alternative product supply from other regional refiners. The near-term signal is supportive for fuel cracks and keeps attention on Middle East refinery reliability heading into the August 30 restart date. 🔎 Source @songofoil