China's Sinopec Finds Shale Oil at Shengli Field
A unit of state-run oil Chinese and gas major Sinopec Corp has found an initial 458 million tonnes (3.34 billion barrels) of geological shale oil reserves at its Shengli field, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday.Shengli, in Shandong province, is one of China's largest conventional oil and gas fields but Sinopec, has been exploring the Jiyang trough at the deposit for unconventional resources in a bid to bolster production.In 2019, the company, which operates China's biggest shale gas project in Chongqing, agreed to study shale oil potential in the Dongying trough at Shengli with Royal Dutch Shell.The
PipeChina to Buy $56B Worth of Pipelines
China took a major step in the reform of its national oil and gas pipeline network, with newly formed PipeChina agreeing to buy pipelines and storage facilities valued at 391.4 billion yuan ($55.9 billion).Under the deal, PipeChina, known formally as China Oil and Gas Pipeline Network, will take over oil and gas pipelines and storage facilities from state-owned energy giants PetroChina and Sinopec, in return for cash and equity in the pipeline company.The creation of PipeChina is aimed at providing neutral access to the country's pipeline infrastructure…
Country-by-Country Look at Dropping Fuel Demand
It's hardly news that the COVID-19 pandemic has sent most every market into tumult, most notably the oil and gas market as political power plays flood the world with oil precisely when demand has plummeted. Here we provide some recent insights on just how steep falls in fuel demand has been as lockdowns to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus limit the movement of more than 4 billion people.UNITED STATESU.S. fuel demand has dropped 28% in the last four weeks, the Energy Information Administration…
China's Crude Imports from Saudi Slip, Russia Up 31%
China's March crude oil imports from top supplier Saudi Arabia fell 1.6% from a year earlier, while purchases from No.2 supplier Russia rose 31%, Reuters' calculations based on customs data showed on Sunday.China's March crude oil imports rose 4.5% year on year to 9.68 million barrels per day (bpd) as refiners stocked up on cheaper cargoes despite falling domestic fuel demand and cuts in refining rates due to the impact the COVID-19 pandemic.Shipments from Saudi Arabia were 7.21 million tonnes, or 1.7 million bpd…
CNPC Finds Reserves From Pre-salt Field at Tarim
China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) said it has found oil and gas reserves from a pre-salt area, where the resources are trapped under a layer of salt, for the first time in the country.Daily oil production from the area, located at Tarim oilfield in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, is estimated to be 133.46 cubic meters and daily gas output to reach 48,700 cubic meters.The pre-salt oil is found from a 8,882-metre well, the deepest onshore well in Asia, CNPC said in a statement on Monday.CNPC expects total oil reserves at the pre-salt oilfield in the Tarim Basin region to reach 310 million tonnes and gas reserve
CNPC Pulls Staff from Iraq Oilfield
China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), a top investor in Iraqi oil, has withdrawn about 20 employees from the West Qurna-1 field operated by U.S. major Exxon Mobil because of tensions in the region, a company source familiar with the matter said.CNPC made the move on Sunday after last week's killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq, the Beijing-based source said, adding that the state firm has kept staff in place at two other fields.Tehran retaliated with missile attacks on U.S.-led forces in Iraq on Wednesday…
China's Longest Ethane Pipeline Starts Operation
China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) said its Xinjiang oilfield unit has delivered 500,000 cubic meters of ethane after being put into operation a week ago, the company stated on its website on Wednesday.Construction work on the 371 kilometer-long pipeline, which is expected to be China's longest ethane pipeline, began on June 20. It links CNPC's gas field in Junggar Basin and Dushanzi petrochemical complex, the company said.The gas field in Junggar Basin, which started operation in October, has annual ethane capacity at 38.5 million cubic meters…
China to Launch State Pipeline Group
China plans to launch its long-awaited national oil and gas pipeline company on Monday, part of a sector-wide reform aimed at providing fair market access to infrastructure and boost investment in oil and gas production.Most of the country's pipeline infrastructure is controlled by energy giant PetroChina, CNPC's listed arm, and small, non state-owned oil and gas producers and distributors often don't have access to the pipelines at competitive rates, analysts have said.This also hinders companies from investing in oil and gas exploration as they are concerned about access to the pipelines.Beijing started considering
CNPC's $8.5 Bln Gas Storage Project Starts Construction
China National Petroleum Corp's (CNPC) unit Liaohe Oilfield of CNPC kicked off construction of its gas storage group project in Panjin city in Liaoning province on Wednesday, the state-backed China News Service said.The project, jointly invested in by Liaohe Oilfield of CNPC and the Panjin government to the tune of about 60 billion yuan ($8.5 billion), is aiming for storage capacity of 11.5 billion cubic meters, according to China News.The Liaohe project is expected to become the biggest underground natural gas storage center in northeast China and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the media said, without mentioning w
Big Oil Stuns Brazil in Back-to-back Auction Flops
Major global oil firms snubbed a second Brazilian oil auction in a row on Thursday, passing up offshore blocks and forcing officials to reconsider a bidding system that gives a privileged position to state-run Petroleo Brasileiro SA.The only block awarded in Thursday's bidding went to Petrobras, as the Brazilian state-run firm is known, and Chinese state firm CNODC, a unit of China National Petroleum Corp, which offered the minimum bid. Four other blocks received no bids.The result, following a lack of foreign interest in an even bigger Wednesday round…
Saudi Still China's Top Oil Supplier
Saudi Arabia held its position as China's largest crude oil supplier in September helped by demand from new refineries and as imports from Iran and Venezuela continued to fall due to U.S. sanctions, customs data showed on Friday.The drone and missile attack on oil-processing plants in Saudi Arabia on Sept. 14, knocking out half of the country's production, will likely have an impact on deliveries in October.At the height of the disruption, Saudi Aramco asked customers to switch their crude grades…
Asian Producers to Boost Winter Gas Supply
China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, known as Sinopec, said it has secured 8.81 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas for northern China for the upcoming winter heating season, state-owned Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday.That was up 15.5% from 7.63 bcm in the previous heating season.CNOOC Group, China's largest offshore oil and gas producer, plans to supply around 24.5 bcm gas, or 1.5 bcm more than last year, across the country, Xinhua reported.The country's top oil and gas producer, China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) did not give the amount of gas it will supply in the winter, but said that it will boost out
Venezuela, China Expanding Crude Oil JV
A Venezuelan oil joint venture with a state-owned Chinese company has started an expansion project to boost output to 165,000 barrels per day (bpd), President Nicolas Maduro said on Thursday, from a current capacity of 110,000 bpd.Sinovensa, owned by PDVSA subsidiary Venezuelan Petroleum Corp (CVP) and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), produces extra-heavy Orinoco crude and blends it with lighter oil to produce medium-grade Merey."Thanks always to China, for all of this effort and all of this cooperation…
Vitol Builds Refinery for New Ship's Fuel
Vitol, the world's largest independent oil trader, has started building a small oil refinery at its storage terminal in Malaysia that will provide low-sulfur fuel for ships, a senior company official said on Monday.The project consists of a crude distillation unit that can process 30,000 barrels per day of crude and is located on the same site as Vitol's oil storage terminal at Tanjung Bin in the southern Malaysian state of Johor, Vitol Asia's President and Chief Executive Officer Kho Hui Meng said.A…
BP Plans to Exit China's Shale Gas
European oil major BP plans to exit from two production sharing contracts (PSC) for projects drilling for shale gas in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan, three sources with the knowledge of the matter said this week.BP is the last of the international oil majors, including Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips and ENI, to quit exploring for shale gas in China because of poor drilling results. Its departure leaves the sector firmly in the hands of domestic companies.In March 2016…
PetroChina Boosts European LNG Activity with Yamal Cargoes
China's top oil and gas company PetroChina is selling spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes on the European market from Russia's Yamal plant, adding to a flood of volumes to the continent amid subdued Asian demand, trade sources said.PetroChina's increased presence in Europe is an example of how Asian energy companies are expanding their role as LNG traders, engaging in LNG transactions globally.The early start-up of Yamal LNG's second and third trains, or production lines, in 2018 raised spot volumes from Russia and helped PetroChina boost its European market presence…
Petrobras Resubmits Agreement with CNPC
State-controlled oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA said in a document resubmitted on Tuesday to Brazil's securities regulator it has signed an agreement with China National Petroleum Corp to study the economic viability of completing construction of the Comperj refinery in Rio de Janeiro.Petrobras originally announced the move in an October 16 statement.(Reporting by Gram Slattery; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
Oil Falls as U.S. Crude Enters 'Bear Market'
Oil prices fell to multi-month lows on Friday as global supply increased and investors worried about the impact on fuel demand of lower economic growth and trade disputes.Benchmark Brent crude fell below $70 a barrel for the first time since early April, down more than 18 percent since reaching four-year highs at the beginning of October.Brent dropped $1.52 to a low of $69.13 before recovering to around $69.55 by 1430 GMT, down 4.5 percent for the week and 16 percent this quarter.U.S. light crude fell for a 10th successive day, dropping under $60 a barrel to its lowest in eight months. The U.S.
China Oil Majors Eyeing Arctic Onshore Blocks
China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) have expressed interest in bidding for onshore oil and gas blocks in Greenland to be offered in 2021, officials from the island said on Tuesday.The Arctic island, a self-ruling part of Denmark, is shifting its oil and gas licensing strategy from offshore to onshore in an effort to generate revenues faster, they said.The next blocks to be tendered will be on the Disko Island and Nuussuaq Peninsula area of West Greenland…
China Move to Drop Crude off Tariff List a Relief for Sinopec
China's decision to remove crude oil from its latest tariff list in an escalating trade war with the United States was a relief to state oil firms prompted by a strong lobbying effort by main importer the Sinopec Group, Beijing-based oil sources said.Dropping crude oil from the final tariff list on $16 billion in U.S. goods announced late on Wednesday underscores the growing importance of the United States as a key global producer and critical alternative supply source for top importer China, which is seeking to diversify its oil purchases.Removing crude imports…
