Energy desk · Coal, crude and refined products
Barrels and tonnes where they are needed.
Thermal and metallurgical coal alongside crude oil, fuel oil, middle distillates and LPG, traded across the Atlantic and East of Suez with storage and blending at key hubs.
- Storage hubs
- 2
- Benchmarks
- Brent · Dubai · Platts
Overview
The energy book
Crude and products price as a differential to a benchmark, not as a number. A cargo is sold at Dated Brent or Dubai plus or minus a differential over a stated pricing period, and the differential — with the time spread and the freight — is where the desk earns.
Flat price is hedged on the futures market as the position is taken. Refined product is blended to the contractual specification rather than bought at it, which is the second source of margin: components that are cheap apart can be worth more inside a compliant blend.
The same desk runs the coal book: thermal grades blended to a utility's specification against the published calorific references, and metallurgical grades delivered into integrated mills in North Asia.
Storage positions at major hubs let us hold optionality on timing and blend to a buyer's specification, rather than being forced to sell a cargo as it arrives. When the forward curve pays more than the cost of carry, that storage is a position.
Every cargo is screened before it is fixed — counterparty, vessel and destination — and certified to the contractual specification by an independent inspector at load and discharge.
Products
What we trade, and to what specification.
| Product | Specification | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Crude oil | Brent and Dubai-linked grades | Term and spot cargoes into refiners |
| VLSFO | 0.50% sulphur maximum, ISO 8217 | Bunker supply at major hubs |
| Gasoil | 10 ppm and 500 ppm sulphur | Into power generation and transport |
| High sulphur fuel oil | 3.5% sulphur | Into scrubber-fitted tonnage and utilities |
| LPG | Propane and butane | Pressurised and refrigerated cargoes |
| Thermal coal | 4,200 – 6,000 kcal/kg NAR | Indonesian and South African origin, blended to specification |
| Hard coking coal | CSR 62 – 70, ash 9.5% max | Premium and second-tier Australian brands |
| PCI coal | Volatile matter 12 – 20% | Delivered into integrated mills in North Asia |
| Semi-soft coking coal | CSN 4 – 6 | Blend component for cost-optimised coke batteries |
Commercial terms
How a cargo is priced and settled.
The headline price is rarely the price. These are the terms that decide what a cargo is actually worth by the time it is discharged and invoiced.
- 01Benchmark and differential
- Cargoes are priced as a benchmark plus or minus a differential — Dated Brent or Dubai for crude, the regional product assessments for distillates and fuel oil — over a pricing period fixed around the bill of lading date or the discharge quotes.
- 02Hedging and the time spread
- The flat price leg is covered on ICE and CME futures as the physical position is taken, with swaps used to move between fixed and floating. What remains is the differential, the spread between pricing months and the freight.
- 03Blending to specification
- Components are blended to meet ISO 8217 for marine fuel, or the contractual sulphur, viscosity and density limits for industrial grades, with compatibility and stability tested before the blend is committed.
- 04Quantity and quality determination
- Shore tank figures govern where available, with vessel experience factors, on-board quantity and remaining-on-board recorded at both ends. A cargo loss allowance is agreed in the contract rather than argued after the fact.
- 05Storage and carry
- Leased capacity at hub terminals lets a cargo be held when the forward curve pays more than tank, finance and insurance cost. The same tank supplies the blending book, so the option has two uses.
- 06Sanctions and vessel screening
- Counterparty, vessel, flag, ownership and voyage history are screened against the applicable sanctions regimes before a fixture is confirmed, with attestation and documentary requirements met where a price cap applies.
Trade routes
Origin to destination.
Origin
Arabian Gulf
Destination
East Africa, South Asia
MR and LR tankers on the clean and dirty market
Origin
West Africa
Destination
Northwest Europe, India
Crude on Suezmax and VLCC
Origin
US Gulf
Destination
Latin America, Mediterranean
Refined product on MR tonnage
Execution
How the cargo actually moves.
- Storage and blending at Fujairah and Rotterdam
- Independent inspection at load and discharge
- Freight on the clean and dirty tanker market
- Dry bulk freight from Supramax to Capesize for the coal book
- Draft survey and independent sampling on coal at both ends
- Paper hedging against ICE and CME benchmarks