Vortexa’s Innovation Series 2024 kicked off in Singapore during APPEC week, bringing together over 300 industry experts to share their insights on the evolving energy landscape.
The event, which took place on Tuesday, September 10, began with our inaugural LNG Market Keynote Panel, moderated by Felix Booth (Global Head of LNG, Vortexa) and featuring Abhishek Rohatgi (Head of APAC Gas and Global LNG Research, BloombergNEF) and Toby Forrest (Head, Chartering & Shipping Operations, Pavilion Energy).
The panel explored the latest outlook for the LNG and shipping markets, focusing on key factors behind the slowdown in LNG transits through the Panama Canal and the growing influence of the emerging “dark” LNG fleet on global trade flows.
LNG Keynote Panel sharing insights at Innovation Series Singapore 2024
The spotlight then shifted to the oil market, with Vortexa’s market analysts – David Wech, Serena Huang, Emma Li, and Xavier Tang – dissecting recent trends. The global economic slowdown has notably impacted motor fuel demand, which has stagnated for the past 10 months. China remains a focal point, where economic challenges are dampening oil demand, leaving refiners bracing for weaker margins, barring seasonal upticks. As trading margins narrow, cost-saving strategies such as refinery feedstock optimisation and supertanker clean-ups are taking centre stage. Recently the focus of refinery run cuts was in Northeast Asia, but with the start-up of Dangote and Dos Bocas, the pressure is likely to expand to the Atlantic Basin and gasoline markets.
China’s implied refinery runs (mbd)
David Wech, Chief Economist at Vortexa, speaking to the crowd at Innovation Series Singapore 2024
Following this, David moderated the Oil Market Panel, “Navigating the new realities of global trade dynamics”, which brought together Anoop Singh (Global Head of Research, Oil Brokerage), Carmen López-Contreras (Trading Research & Analysis Head, Repsol), Russel Robertson (Chief Commercial Officer, Gulf Mercantile Exchange (GME)), and Vandana Hari (Founder & CEO, Vanda Insights).
The panel explored the complexities of today’s global trade environment, the challenges in interpreting market signals and the growing reliance on data analytics to inform trading decisions. Data availability as such is not anymore the main difficulty – it is rather interpreting the masses of information effectively, allowing for immediate reactions to new trading signals. While the global outlook has been largely pessimistic, the panel noted potential tailwinds, including a possible boost in VLCC freight rates in Q4, and wildcard factors that could sway market conditions.
The Central Oil Markets Panel speaking at Innovation Series Singapore 2024
The evening concluded with a networking reception, where participants connected and engaged in lively discussions on market opportunities. We extend our sincere thanks to all our guests who have attended the event.
We welcome you to join us at our next Innovation Series events in Houston (17 Sep) and New York (19 Sep), and finally in London (26 Sep).
