At least two independent Chinese refiners have made a rare foray into the broader international crude market, snapping up cargoes of Middle Eastern oil for delivery next month. Fuhai Group Co. and Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum Group each purchased around 1 million barrels of Abu Dhabi’s Murban crude, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The trades were handled by international and Chinese firms, they added. The current trading cycle is for crude loaded in July, and any cargoes bought now for June is considered prompt. Traders were mixed on the reason behind the purchase, with some pointing to a supply overhang in the Middle Eastern market – meaning cheaper barrels – and others flagging costlier fuel oil. The two refiners didn’t respond to a request for comment. China’s smaller processors, known as teapots, typically opt for discounted crude from Iran and Russia, and often use fuel oil as a feedstock. However, the dirty fuel is trading at an unusual premium to international benchmarks, while a tax crackdown by Beijing has added to costs. “Straight-run fuel oil is simply not an economic feedstock currently,” said June Goh, a senior oil market analyst at Sparta Commodities in Singapore. “With healthy simple margins, independent refineries in China are taking this opportunity to buy incremental crude to increase run rates.” Around 12 million barrels of heavy fuel oil and residual fuels flowed into China in April, the lowest since September 2023, according to Kpler. Processing rates by teapots in Shandong, meanwhile, have edged higher since the end of February ahead of peak summer demand, OilChem data shows. Fuhai and Yanchang purchased the Murban cargoes at a premium of around $5 a barrel to August ICE Brent futures, traders said. What do you think? We’d love

The All-Energy conference is set to return to Glasgow this month as it aims to top last year’s record-breaking show. The event, hosted by RX, aims to bring people from across the low-carbon energy sector together for one of the biggest dates in the industry’s calendar this year. All-Energy was initially set to be kicked off by first minister John Swinney. However, due to “an urgent matter”, he will no longer be in attendance. In his place, deputy first minister, Kate Forbes, will join the opening session alongside UK energy minister Michael Shanks, GB Energy chairman Juergen Maier and more as they discuss ‘Britain’s Clean Power Mission’ on 14 May. However, Shanks is also not set to appear in Glasgow due to Parliamentary commitments, instead he will dial in live via the internet. © Erikka Askeland/DCT MediaEnergy Minister Michael Shanks in a recorded message for day two of Floating Offshore Wind conference in Aberdeen. Unlike its contemporaries, All-Energy does not set itself a theme for each outing, instead, it continuously focuses on “Clean Power 2030 and after 2030,” an event spokesperson explained. All-Energy is a two-day event, running Wednesday 14 May and Thursday 15 May, taking place at Glasgow’s SEC. The organisers have also arranged an evening networking get-together at Glasgow Science Centre on the first night. The spokesperson told Energy Voice that it is important that the event touches on “topics for everyone and all the sectors we serve”, these include the move towards net zero, a just energy transition, and grid upgrades, among others. Last year’s conference saw All-Energy’s previous attendance record topped by 21% and although the event’s organisers don’t make predictions on head count, it said that signups for the year were “running 16% above this time last year”. The group behind the UK’s largest renewable

Paula Kidd and Philip Reid, Partners CMS discuss two major consultations that are poised to affect the energy industry in the UK.    About partnership content Some Energy Voice online content is funded by outside parties. The revenue from this helps to sustain our independent news gathering. You will always know if you are reading paid-for material as it will be clearly labelled as “Partnership” on the site and on social media channels, This can take two different forms. “Presented by”This means the content has been paid for and produced by the named advertiser. “In partnership with”This means the content has been paid for and approved by the named advertiser but written and edited by our own commercial content team. On March 5, two consultations in relation to the future of the energy market in the UK were launched by the UK Government – Oil and Gas Price Mechanism (the “Fiscal Consultation”) and Building the North Sea’s Energy Future (the “DESNZ Consultation”). These consultations have been seeking input from various stakeholders to develop robust frameworks that support economic growth, job security and environmental sustainability. DESNZ consultation The DESNZ Consultation set out the UK Government’s vision for transforming the North Sea into a leading offshore clean energy industry while continuing to manage the increasingly maturing offshore oil and gas industry. The overarching objective of the consultation was stated to be to ensure long-term jobs, growth and investment in North Sea communities. The consultation initially set out key policy considerations and outlined its plans to invest in various clean energy industries including offshore wind, carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS), and hydrogen. Key initiatives include establishing Great British Energy (headquartered in Aberdeen) to drive clean energy jobs and investment, and supporting the development of floating offshore wind, CCUS and hydrogen projects. The

The UK government has proposed changes to the way it procures offshore wind as it now needs to claw back capacity after the massive Hornsea 4 project ground to a halt. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) confirmed changes to the way it will run its contracts for difference (CfD) auctions, starting with the upcoming Allocation Round 7 (AR7), expected this year. Under the reforms, the government would no longer set a monetary budget for the various technologies across the auction, such as the £1.5 billion allocated for offshore wind in AR6, at the start of the auction. Instead, the government would publish a “capacity ambition,” stating instead the amount of power it aims to procure. However, it would still publish a budget for the auction after the process has run. In addition, the reforms envision allowing the secretary of state to see the anonymous bids, including price and capacity. They would use this information to determine how much capacity to procure and to set the final budget. AR7 The amendments will also end flexible bidding for fixed-bottom offshore wind applications. According to the proposals, flexible bids are no longer useful if the auction sets the budget after seeing the bids in advance. Finally, the proposed reforms also considered accelerating the offshore wind part of the auction if developers get their bids in on time and there are no appeals. However, the government said that legislation needed to make change could not be delivered before AR7 – though it did not rule it out for subsequent auctions. © Supplied by OrstedOrsted’s Hornsea One wind farm. It added that the government is exploring non-legislative routes to accelerate a fixed-bottom offshore wind auction in time for AR7. In comments to Energy Voice, Aegir Insights market analyst Signe Tellier Christensen

Renewable energy developments can only export the electricity they produce to the grid if they have a grid connection. This has created a large queue of developers waiting for a connection date for their projects, which can extend to over a decade in the future. This backlog is causing significant uncertainty for developers and strain on some renewable projects preventing their construction from being progressed. Once they are in it, developers rarely leave the queue even if they ultimately decide that their project isn’t viable. As the queue currently operates on a “first come, first served” basis, it means that viable and ready-to-build projects can be delayed longer than necessary. To help address these lengthy delays and enable new clean energy projects to secure grid connections, a new grid queue management system is being developed by the National Energy System Operator (NESO). Expected to be introduced this summer, this new system aims to ease the current bottleneck by allocating “confirmed connection dates, connection points and queue positions” to projects which are deemed viable and ready to progress over those which don’t meet its criteria. One of the biggest changes for developers will be demonstrating they have secured land rights to keep their place in the queue when satisfying the milestones known as “gate 2”. While this new initiative will be welcomed across the renewables sector, it raises several issues for project developers to consider including how they negotiate new land agreements. NESO has been clear that nothing short of a signed option agreement will be required for projects to qualify for a grid position under gate 2 – an exclusivity agreement or heads of terms will no longer suffice. Although NESO is clear that only projects that are demonstrably viable will keep their place in the grid connection queue, how

Aberdeen business leaders and the SNP are calling on the Prime Minister to visit the north-east of Scotland as they blamed Labour policies for yet more job losses in the oil and gas sector. On Wednesday, Harbour Energy announced that it would cut 250 jobs from its onshore operations, accounting for a 25% reduction in headcount. The UK’s largest producer of oil and gas has claimed that the hostile fiscal policy facing oil and gas businesses prompted the decision as it slows investment in the country, opting to allocate funds overseas. On the day of this announcement, Aberdeen South MP and SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn brought the news to the attention of prime minister Sir Keir Starmer. © BloombergEmissions from chimneys at the British Steel Ltd. plant in Scunthorpe, UK. He asked Starmer to “explain to my constituents why he is willing to move heaven and earth to save jobs in Scunthorpe while destroying jobs in Scotland.” The SNP leader was referring to the government’s recent move to nationalise British Steel. The UK government took control of the British steel company from its Chinese owner, Jingye Group, after losses from its steelmaking operations forced it to the brink. Now the SNP MP, alongside his colleagues in Westminster and Holyrood, has written to the Labour Party leader, inviting him to see the impacts his government’s energy policy is having on Aberdeen and its people. “We are writing to you as the local MPs and MSPs for Aberdeen, to invite you to urgently visit Aberdeen to meet with local representatives, businesses, trade unions and workers to hear about the damaging impact that Labour government policies are having on Scottish energy jobs – and to discuss the urgent investment needed to protect jobs and deliver prosperity,” the letter reads. ‘Haemorrhaging investment in