ADNOC Issues Eighth Spot Tender Since June as UAE Ramps Up Crude Exports

The national oil company of the United Arab Emirates has issued its eighth spot tender since June, trade sources told Reuters on Tuesday, as the Gulf producer that has just left OPEC pushes to sell increased crude volumes to international markets.Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) is offering in the latest spot tender cargoes of the Upper Zakum, Umm Lulu, and Das crude grades for loading in October and November, according to Reuters’ sources. These crudes are produced within the Persian Gulf but ADNOC offers buyers the optionality to buy cargoes on a free-on-board basis at UAE’s Fujairah Storage, Zirku, and Das Island, or to arrange transfers at the Fujairah-Sohar range outside the Strait of Hormuz or in Malaysia.In the previous spot tender at the end of July, ADNOC expected to sell millions of barrels of oil between August and October, both from within and outside the Persian Gulf.ADNOC is estimated to have sold more than 90 million barrels of crude to buyers in spot tenders since early June, by running a kind of shuttle service to ship crude onto tankers outside the Strait of Hormuz.The UAE has managed to boost its oil exports to pre-crisis levels as early as June, as it has kept pushing crude through the Strait of Hormuz and outside it.The UAE, which left OPEC on May 1, has found workarounds to the blockage at the Strait of Hormuz.It has been shuttling crude through the chokepoint to load it on larger vessels outside the Strait, maximizing the use of its onshore pipeline to ship crude from the west to the east of the country, bypassing Hormuz, and shipping tankers through the Strait in dark mode.The UAE has managed to ship over June and July the most crude oil out of the Strait of Hormuz than any other Gulf producer, according to vessel-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg last week.The UAE is estimated to have produced 4.1 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil in June, its highest output ever.By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.comMore Top Reads From Oilprice.comUniper Profits Surge as Germany Prepares to Sell Energy GiantHormuz Traffic Sinks to Six Vessels Monday as Iran Talks Stall AgainOPEC Output Climbs Again, But Still Trails Quota Targets