Hydrocarbons
Sometimes over more than 650 million years, dead organisms were subjected to heat and pressure in the Earth’s crust to form gases, solids and liquids that vary in their carbon-hydrogen ratios to form fuels that are extracted.
Dubbed “The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight” by author Thom Hartmann, for their origins in plant photosynthesis (and the animals which relied upon those plants for food), as of 2017 the world's primary energy sources consisted of petroleum (34%), coal (28%) and natural gas (23%) - amounting to an 85% share for fossil fuels in primary energy-consumption in the world.
Contentiously, the scientific community’s consensus of opinion is that human consumption of hydrocarbon energy sources since the Industrial Revolution is primarily responsible for global climate change. Whilst ICT participates in and profits from the value chain that keeps the world turning, we also understand that mankind may have ‘stopped at the first right answer’ in discovering the usefulness of fossil fuels, and offset the realism of hydrocarbon use by investing a portion of our profits into the research and development of clean, sustainable energy sources and alternative fuels such as sugar cane ethanol.
liquid natural gas (Lng)
Liquefied or Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) is a naturally occurring gas, produced from hydrocarbon deposits in the Earth’s crust, predominantly composed of methane (CH4) and ethane (C2H6), that has been cooled to approximately −162 °C (−260 °F) for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. For large scale transport uses, the LNG is typically regassified at the receiving end and pushed into the local natural gas pipeline infrastructure. Its uses include all of the mainstream functions currently associated with natural gas (cooking, heating, etc) but LNG is also in the early stages of becoming a mainstream fuel for transportation needs.
ICT has established relationships with the senior management of several Middle Eastern concerns that are able to supply LNG to qualified buyers with both the proven financial means and the logistical and storage capacity to receive LNG - typically, such deals involve part or wholly State-owned entities, where discretion, personal relationships and integrity are key to successfully concluding a contractual supply agreement.
CRUDE
Crude oil is essentially unrefined petroleum - a yellowish-black, viscous liquid fossil fuel. The name petroleum covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude oil and petroleum products that are made up of refined crude oil.
Barrels from areas in which the crude oil's molecular characteristics have been determined and classified are used as pricing references throughout the world. Some of the common reference crude oils, which ICT is able to source for its clients, include:
West Texas Intermediate (WTI), a very high-quality, sweet, light oil delivered at Cushing, Oklahomafor North American oil
Dubai-Oman, used as benchmark for Middle East sour crude oil flowing to the Asia-Pacific region
The OPEC Reference Basket, a weighted average of oil blends from various OPEC (The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) countries
DIESEL (D2 & D6)
In terms of diesel, the names ‘D2’ and ‘D6’ refer to the refinery codes associated with specific gasoil hydrocarbons that are used as fuel for diesel engines.
Often collectively referred to as ‘bunker fuels,’ D2 refers to the second distillate product derived from crude oil - an Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) that is typically used in motor vehicles. D6 (also known as heavy oil, marine fuel or furnace oil) is a distillate residual of petroleum refining and is often used to power marine diesel engines that are crucial to worldwide shipping infrastructure.
ICT is able to source these diesel fuels of Middle Eastern and Russian origin for qualified buyers with both the proven financial means and the logistical and storage capacity to receive them.
JET-A1 AVIATION fuel
Often referred to by less savvy brokers as ‘JP54’ or ‘JP54 Colonial Grade’ - this product title is a misnomer. JP54 is an abbreviation for ‘Jet Propulsion, A1, Colonial Grade 54’ - one of several quality specifications in the class of aviation kerosene that range from commercial to military aircraft needs.
During the refining process, only 15% of crude oil is made up of JP54 - the remainder is used for the production of different types of plastic. Therefore, no airline will ever purchase ‘JP54,’ no trading desk will trade JP54 and no oil producing company will sell ‘JP54.’ The correct phraseology, used by those with track record and experience of trading in the space, is simply ‘Jet A1 fuel.’
In recent months* Jet A1 has become a much sought-after commodity, not least because global airlines need to provision reliable supply ahead of their steady demand. In this space, integrity and reliability is key - as is the ability to fix price and factor that accounting function into the cost-forecasting of ticket prices, so as to maintain market competitiveness.
ICT has established relationships with both Middle Eastern and ROSNEFT producers of Jet A1 fuel, that are ready, willing and able to supply qualified buyers with both the proven financial means and the logistical and storage capacity to receive the fuel, at competitive pricing structures against the Middle Eastern Marker (MEM) and Rotterdam price points.
Time of writing was Oct. 2019.