What can satellite imagery tell you about China’s oil policy strategy?

Saudi Arabia has begun to replenish its crude inventories as production returns to normal levels following the September 14 attacks.

With fears over supply losses mostly gone, oil prices have fallen as attention returns to the global economy and concerns over weak demand.

Is this the correct response? Are fundamentals as bad as prices suggest?

Can Saudi Aramco make good on its promise to fully restore production by September 30?

That deadline is approaching fast and comes just 16 days after the attack on the Abqaiq processing facility and Khurais oil field damaged major pieces of infrastructure.

 But the oil market remains skeptical Aramco can quickly fix the damage.

It was arguably the most significant event in the oil market since Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait before the 1991 Gulf War.

The September 14th attack against Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure damaged the world’s largest oil processing facility and the country’s second-largest oil field.

The disruption to supply -- equal to 5% of global output -- sent oil futures soaring 14% higher on Monday when electronic trading resumed after the attack two days earlier.

A team from Ursa traveled this week to Singapore to attend the Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference (APPEC), one of the major events on the oil industry calendar.

There was no shortage of topics to talk about.

This year’s event took place against the backdrop of the US-China trade war, worries over the health of the global economy, the firing of the Saudi oil minister, US sanctions against Venezuela & Iran, IMO 2020, to name a few.

As Hurricane Dorian struck the Bahamas, the slow-moving storm caused severe devastation due to high winds and flooding.

People were desperate for updates, but unfortunately, getting news was very difficult.

Some of the best information about the hurricane came from satellite imagery, specifically synthetic aperture radar (SAR).

Venezuela’s crude oil inventories increased significantly in August as tougher US sanctions make it more difficult for state-owned PDVSA to sell oil overseas.

With fewer customers willing to buy Venezuelan crude, the amount of oil in storage at the main export terminal, El Jose, soared by almost a third over the three weeks ending August 22, according to Ursa measurements.

This build-up at El Jose has lifted crude inventories nationwide.