China Crude Imports at Record High
Feb daily crude imports jump 20 percent from year ago. China's February crude oil imports jumped 20 percent on year to their highest ever on a daily basis, as prices at their lowest in more than a decade drove buying from a group of new importers and state and commercial stockpiling. The world's second-largest oil consumer imported 31.80 million tonnes of crude last month, or a record 8.0 million barrels per day (bpd), data from China's General Administration of Customs showed on Tuesday. China's robust crude demand has been supported by independent refiners…
CNOOC Tenders Offshore Blocks, Some in South China Sea
China National Offshore Oil Company, or CNOOC, has issued a tender inviting foreign firms to bid for 18 blocks off China's northern, eastern and southern coast, according to a company statement. The blocks have a total size of 52,257 square km, including three blocks in the Bohai Bay area, one in East China Sea and 14 in the northern part of the South China Sea, the company said on its website www.cnooc.com.cn. CNOOC said it would offer flexible contract terms when it comes to the exploration period and withdrawal in the geologically more challenging deepwater, high-temperature and high-pressure blocks.
Sinopec to Shutter Four Shengli Oilfields
China's state-owned Sinopec will shut four oilfields this year at Shengli in the eastern province of Shandong, a company newspaper said late on Tuesday, as low global oil prices take a toll on output of the country's ageing fields. The Shengli Daily cited a meeting that ended on Tuesday, but did not say how much production would be cut, or when the four fields - Xiaoying, Yihezhuang, Taoerhe and Qiaozhuang - would be shut. Sinopec, whose listed flagship is Sinopec Corp , did not immediately provide any comment.
China's January Crude Imports Recede from Record High
China's crude oil imports fell 20 percent in January from record high volumes the previous month to their lowest level since October, official customs data showed on Monday. January crude oil imports were also down 4.6 percent on a year earlier at 26.69 million tonnes, or 6.29 million barrels per day. China's imports reached a record 7.81 million bpd in December to close out 2015 with an average 6.71 million bpd - a figure well above China's still growing demand for oil. China took advantage of low global oil prices last year to add up to 185 million barrels to its reserves…
China 2016 Oil demand to Grow 4.3 Pct
China's oil demand will grow 4.3 percent this year to surpass 11 million barrels per day, compared to 4.8 percent growth last year, the country's top energy group forecast on Tuesday. State-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) sees the country's oil demand rising to 566 million tonnes, or 11.32 million bpd in 2016, some 460,000 bpd higher than last year. The forecast, in an annual report released by CNPC's research institute, also put the country's net crude imports up 7.3 percent this year to 7.14 million bpd.
China Pull Online Rig Location after Vietnam Complaint
Chinese maritime officials on Friday removed an online notice giving the location of a $1-billion deepwater oil rig in the South China Sea two days after issuing it, following a warning from Vietnam about drilling in disputed waters. Vietnam closely tracks the movement of the oil rig, which in mid-2014 caused the worst diplomatic rift between the neighbours in decades, when China parked it for 10 weeks in waters Vietnam considers its own. Annual trade between the communist neighbours exceeds $60 billion but anti-China sentiment is strong in Vietnam…
China: Rig Not Drilling in Disputed Waters
In mid-2014, rig caused worst breakdown in ties in decades. China's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that a $1-billion deepwater oil rig was not drilling in disputed territory in the South China Sea, in response to a warning from Vietnam against such activity. Vietnam closely tracks the movement of the oil rig, which in mid-2014 caused the worst diplomatic breakdown between the neighbours in decades, when China parked it for 10 weeks in waters Vietnam considers its own. This week Vietnam said Beijing had steered the rig, the Haiyang Shiyou 981, into a stretch where jurisdiction is unclear.
PetroChina-Chevron Sour Gas Project Begins Production
PetroChina and Chevron began production at an onshore natural gas field in China's southwest at the end of 2015, PetroChina's parent said on Monday, after years of delays. The Luojiazhai field, whose 'A' well began operating on Dec. 30, has an annual production capacity of 3 billion cubic metres of gas, the state-controlled China National Petroleum Corporation said in a statement on its website. Luojiazhai is part of the $6.4 billion Chuanbeidong project, a tricky sour gas development in the Sichuan basin that contains a high level of hydrogen sulphide…
China Sees Energy Consumption Rising in 2016
China expects its energy consumption to grow in 2016, the official Xinhua news agency of the world's largest energy consumer said on Tuesday. China's apparent demand for crude oil will reach 550 million tonnes (11 million barrels per day) and apparent demand for natural gas will hit 205 billion cubic metres, Nur Bekri, head of the National Energy Administration (NEA), said, according to Xinhua. Electricity consumption will rise to 5.7 trillion kilowatt-hours and coal consumption will be 3.96 billion tonnes.
China Sees 2016 Energy Consumption Rising
China expects its energy consumption to grow in 2016, the official Xinhua news agency of the world's largest energy consumer said on Tuesday. China's apparent demand for crude oil will reach 550 million tonnes (11 million barrels per day) and apparent demand for natural gas will hit 205 billion cubic metres, Nur Bekri, head of the National Energy Administration (NEA), said, according to Xinhua. Electricity consumption will rise to 5.7 trillion kilowatt-hours and coal consumption will be 3.96 billion tonnes.
China Nov Crude Runs Climb to New Record
China's refinery throughput rose 3.3 percent in November from a year earlier to 43.92 million tonnes, or 10.69 million barrels per day (bpd), a Chinese record, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Saturday. The daily run rate is up 2.6 percent compared with the 10.42 million bpd recorded in October. (1 Tonne=7.3 barrels) (Reporting By Adam Rose)
China's Oct Diesel Exports up 166.2% on year
China's October diesel exports rose 166.2 percent on a year earlier to 920,000 tonnes, the country's General Administration of Customs said on Saturday, reaching their second-highest level this year. (Reporting By Adam Rose)
Sinopec Net Profit Plungs Almost 50 pct
China's Sinopec Corp, Asia's largest refiner, posted a 47.8 percent fall in net profits in the first nine months of the year, as oil prices fell. The state-controlled company's net profit was 27.0 billion yuan ($4.25 billion), compared to 51.8 billion yuan a year earlier, it said in a filing with the Shanghai bourse. The company plans to cut back operations at its refineries by around 5 percent in the fourth quarter compared with the first half of the year as fuel inventories rise and demand for diesel slows, industry sources told Reuters.
Sinopec Gets Nod for Coal-to-Gas Pipeline
China has approved a pipeline to transport synethic gas from coal-to-gas projects in the country's far west to the southern coast, energy giant Sinopec said on Wednesday. The pipeline, which would run 8,400 kilometres (5,200 miles) from the restive region of Xinjiang to the manufacturing hub of Guangdong province, carrying up to 30 billion cubic metres (bcm) gas a year, has a price tag of over 130 billion yuan ($20.5 billion), Sinopec said in a statement. The pipeline could eventually also transport conventional gas, shale gas and coal-bed methane, the statement said.
China August natural gas output up 6.0 pct y/y
China's natural gas production rose 6.0 percent in August from a year earlier to 10.4 billion cubic metres (bcm), data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Sunday. For the first eight months of the year, gas output grew 3.0 percent over the same period a year earlier to 83.5 bcm, slowing from a 6.9-percent rise for all of 2014 and growth of 11.5 percent in 2013. A dramatic slowdown in demand growth for the cleaner-burning fuel has seen state energy companies curbing natural gas output at major conventional fields in southwestern Sichuan basin.
PetroChina H1 Profit Plunges 63 Percent
PetroChina, China's biggest oil and gas producer, reported a 63 percent drop in first-half profits, with earnings upstream and in the marketing segment hit by lower prices, while earnings from natural gas jumped. Net profit declined to 25.4 billion yuan ($3.97 billion) in the first six months of 2015, from 68.1 billion yuan a year earlier, the state-controlled company said on Thursday in a filing with the Hong Kong bourse. Operating profits at the exploration and production segment shrank 68 percent to 32.9 billion yuan compared to the same period last year on low international crude prices…
Sinopec H1 Profit Slips 22 pct
China's Sinopec Corp , Asia's largest refiner, posted a 22 percent fall in first-half profit on a sharp decline in international crude prices that hit upstream earnings. The state-controlled company's net profit was 25.4 billion yuan ($3.96 billion), compared to 32.5 billion yuan a year earlier, it said in a filing with the Hong Kong bourse. Sinopec said last month that it expected an 11-fold jump in quarterly net profit in the second quarter compared to the first. The company plans to cut back operations…
China Keeps on Drilling in Disputed Vietnam Waters
A Chinese oil rig at the centre of last year's standoff between China and Vietnam will continue drilling not far from Vietnam's coast, China's maritime safety authorities said on Tuesday. The deployment of the $1 billion deepwater rig last year about 120 nautical miles off Vietnam's coast, in what Vietnam considers its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), led to the worst breakdown in relations since a brief border war in 1979. China said at the time the rig was operating completely within its waters. The rig…
Controversial China Rig Completes Drilling off Vietnam
The Chinese oil rig at the centre of last year's standoff between China and Vietnam over oil exploration in the South China Sea has completed drilling of a well not far from Vietnam's coast, the official Xinhua News Agency said on Monday. Xinhua did not give coordinates for the well, but the China's Maritime Safety Administration website earlier put the drilling site just over 100 nautical miles from the coast of Vietnam and 75 nautical miles south of the resort city of Sanya on China's Hainan Island. China claims most of the potentially energy-rich South China Sea…
China's June Crude Imports Soar
June imports at 7.18 million bpd, up 31 pct over May; imports in first half up 7.5 pct to 6.59 million bpd. China's June crude oil imports rose 27 percent on year, customs data showed on Monday, putting the world's second largest economy into contention again for topping the United States as the biggest buyer of the commodity on international markets. China imported 29.49 million tonnes, or 7.176 million barrels per day (bpd) in June, data from the General Administration of Customs showed, up 31 percent from a 19-month low in May as demand remains strong amid weak global oil prices.
