• Oil shipments through the Suez Canal in the key northbound direction at 1.6mn b/d for the first 10 months of 2012 are up 22% on the same period last year. The number of VLCCs transiting northbound was 93 for January-October 2012 up from 59 a year earlier. This gives a clear indication that not only crude shipments directly using the canal but also those using the SUMED pipeline for lightering are also sharply up (see graph 1). The halting of Iranian crude shipments to Europe has seen northbound crude volumes fall 300,000 b/d from June’s post-Arab Spring high of 1.2mn b/d.
• Northbound LNG volumes have continued their long-term downward trend in 2012. The US, once an key importer of Qatari LNG, is now self-sufficient in gas and is even considering LNG exports (see p15). Volumes have averaged under 2mn t in recent months compared to typical volumes of 3-3.5mn t/mth two years earlier (see graph 2). (CONTINUED - 193 WORDS)
