Tuesday, April 1, 2025

Chinese Government News

RPT-PowerChina Unit Sues Laos Utility for $555 Million

A review of an arbitration document shows that Nam Ou Power, part of the state-owned Power Construction Corp of China has sued Laos utility Electricite du Laos for $555m in unpaid hydropower dues. According to a source with knowledge of the case, EdL has not yet responded to the filing. The source also stated that this was the first time an entity run by the Chinese government had filed a claim against a Laos-owned firm.

PowerChina Unit Sues Laos Utility for $555 Million

A review of an arbitration document shows that Nam Ou Power, part of the state-owned Power Construction Corp of China has sued Laos utility Electricite du Laos for $555m in unpaid hydropower dues. According to a source with knowledge of the case, EdL has not yet responded to the filing. The source also stated that this was the first time an entity run by the Chinese government had filed a claim against a Laos-run company.

Sinopec certifies reserves of 1.3 billion barrels at East China Shale Oil Plays

Sinopec Corp announced on Monday that the Chinese government had certified new geological resources of about 180 million tons or 1.3 billion barrels at two of their shale-oil plays. Sinopec announced that the new reserves had been tapped in the Xinxing Field in the Jiyang trough in the Bohai Bay Basin and in the Qintong Field in the Subei Basin. The shale formations of Xinxing are buried between 2…

Sinopec predicts China's oil consumption will peak in 2027

Sinopec (China Petrochemical Corp.) expects China’s petroleum consumption will peak in 2027, at no more that 800 million metric tonnes or 16 million barrels a day. The state energy group released an outlook on Thursday. The forecast is more precise than the one made by the giant refining company last year when it estimated that China's peak oil production would be around 800 millions tons between 2026 to 2030.

Canada will impose new tariffs on Chinese imports during the New Year

The government's latest fiscal update revealed that Canada will impose tariffs as soon as next year on a number of Chinese products as part of a larger investigation into the imports of the country. The government of Justin Trudeau has already placed a tariff of 100% on all Chinese electric cars and a tariff of 25% on the imports from China. The finance ministry had previously stated that it was exploring ways to increase the tariffs.

Chinese solar firms are ever-nimble and go to places where US tariffs do not reach

The U.S. tariffs on Vietnam and three other Southeast Asian nations have prompted some of the largest Chinese-owned factories to cut production and lay off workers. In the meantime, a number of Chinese-owned solar power plants are being built in Indonesia and Laos. These are outside of Washington's protections on trade. Reports show that their planned capacity would be enough to provide about half of the solar panels installed in the U.S.

Official: China hopes US climate collaboration will continue whoever wins the election

A senior official in the Chinese government said that China hoped the United States would be able continue to work with other countries to combat climate change regardless of the results of the presidential elections next week. The 2015 Paris Agreement was made possible by the cooperation between China and the United States. They are the two largest emitters of greenhouse gases that cause climate change.

US unveils first of two decisions regarding solar tariffs

The U.S. Trade officials may this week impose new tariffs against solar panels imported from four Southeast Asian countries. American manufacturers claim that these nations provide unfair subsidies, which make U.S. goods uncompetitive. The Commerce Department is expected to announce its first preliminary decision in this year on a trade case filed by Hanwha Qcells in Korea, Arizona's First Solar…

Oil continues to fall on the back of weak China data and the prospect of increased OPEC+ supplies

The oil prices continued to fall on Monday, as OPEC+ is expected to increase production in October. Meanwhile, signs of sluggish consumption in China and America, the two biggest oil consumers in the world, have raised concerns over future growth. Brent crude futures dropped 61 cents or 0.8% to $76.32 a bar by 0450 GMT, while U.S. West Texas intermediate crude fell 52 cents or 0.7% to $73.03 a bar. Last week, Brent fell by 0.3% and WTI dropped 1.7%.

Report: China's declining coal plant approvals indicate a shift in energy policy

The sharp decline in the number of new coal plants in China indicates that the world's biggest builder polluting power stations is shifting its energy policy to more renewable development. However, coal will continue to play a major part, according a report on Thursday. China approved only 10 new coal-fired plants with a combined capacity of 9 gigawatts in the first six months of 2024, a drop of 83% from the previous year.

China General Nuclear signs agreement with Laos for renewable energy base

The state-run People's Daily, which is a daily newspaper published by the Chinese government, reported that the power company China General Nuclear had signed an agreement to expand a renewable energy base planned for the northern region of Laos. The new deal includes a second phase that will include 580 Megawatts (MW) of wind and solar power in Luang Namtha Province and a solar plant with a capacity of 420 MW in Oudomxay Province.

Bangladesh Puts to use China-built Crude Oil Offloading Facility

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Bangladesh started in recent days a large crude oil receiving and offloading facility built by China that allows the south Asian oil importer to significantly reduce the cost of shipping in crude oil.The single-point mooring facility at Chattogram port last Sunday offloaded 82,000 tons (about 600,000 barrels) of crude oil from a 100,000-ton tanker, said an official with state-run Bangladesh Petroleum Corp (BPC).The project is majority-funded by the Chinese government and

China Aims to Boost Natural Gas Production

© qiujusong / Adobe Stock

Following several years of natural gas consumption outpacing local production growth, China is introducing incentives to spur several forms of domestic production in hopes of reducing its reliance on imports.China’s natural gas imports, both by pipeline and as liquefied natural gas (LNG), accounted for nearly half (45%) of China’s natural gas supply in 2018, an increase from 15% in 2010, according to the U.S.

Chinese, Russian Majors Ink Arctic LNG Deal

Russia's second largest natural gas producer Novatek, Russian maritime shipping company specializing in petroleum and LNG shipping Sovcomflot, Chinese state-owned shipping and logistics services supplier company COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited, and the Chinese government owned investment fund Silk Road Fund, signed a four-party agreement to establish a joint venture Maritime…

Natural Gas Consumption Up 10% in China

According to the preliminary estimate, the consumption of natural gas in China exceeded 27 million cubic meters in 2018, registering a YOY increase of more than 10%, said a report.The growing Chinese economy and stricter environmental protection policies drive the growth of natural gas consumption in China. In 2018, the Chinese government introduced several environmental protection…

China’s Oil and Gas Industry to Focus on Environment Impact

China’s oil and gas industry is set to reinforce efforts to reduce environmental impacts of its projects and operationsin 2019, said a research.According to a new research from DNV GL, six in ten (61%) senior oil and gas professionals in China say their organizations are actively preparing for the transition to a lower carbon energy mix compared to 51% globally. Industry leaders’…

Sinopec Adds LNG Tank at Tianjin Terminal

(File photo: Chen Feng / Sinopec)

China's Sinopec Corp completed adding a third tank to store liquefied natural gas at its receiving terminal in Tianjin, marking the completion of construction of the first phase of the import facility, the state oil and gas group said on Tuesday.The terminal, in the northern port city Tianjin, near Beijing, began operations last February. It has an annual receiving capacity of 3…

Asian Refiners Rush to Secure Feedstock as Trade War Looms

U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods came into effect Friday; China retaliates, duty on U.S. crude possible. Asian oil refiners are racing to secure crude supplies in anticipation of an escalating trade war between the United States and China, and as Washington plans tough sanctions against Iran aimed at shutting the country out of oil markets. As part of a wave of retaliation for Friday's U.S. tariffs, China has threatened a 25 percent duty on imports of U.S. crude.

China's Ethanol Push in Doubt as U.S. Trade Dispute Widens

Beijing slows approval process for new ethanol plants; ationwide roll-out of E10 fuel by 2020 in doubt. China's ambitious push to use biofuel in cars nationwide by 2020 is in doubt amid concerns about supplies of raw material such as corn, complicated by an escalating trade dispute with Washington, producers and analysts say. In September last year, the government outlined radical plans to roll out the use of ethanol in gasoline nationally by 2020…

East China LNG Terminal Records 93% Sales Increase

© philipus / Adobe Stock

A liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in east China operated by China National Offshore Oil Company, or CNOOC, recorded an increase of 93 percent in gas sales in the first five months of this year, the state oil company said on Monday,CNOOC's LNG sales from the Ningbo terminal in Zhejiang province hit 2 million tonnes by the end of May, nearly doubling the amount from a year ago, according to a statement posted on CNOOC's website.The gas sales are expected to hea

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