CNOOC China says fossil fuels are crucial for the near future
CNOOC Ltd, a Chinese offshore oil and natural gas company, believes that fossil fuels will continue to be a stabilising force in the global energy market for a long time. The company has set a record production target for 2024. CNOOC, after reporting a record-breaking interim profit, said that the state-run firm aimed to pump 700 to 720 millions barrels of oil by 2024 or 3% to 6 percent more than last year.
Rains hit India and Pakistan, evacuating thousands
Authorities warned of further heavy rains on Thursday after heavy rains flooded parts of India's western Gujarat state, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes and causing utility lines to be cut. At least 28 people were killed. Television images showed that the army has joined in on the relief effort as people wade through waist-high water which had partially submerged roads and vehicles.
Taiwan: Fire Hits Formosa's Mailiao Refinery
Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical Corp has shut a residue desulfurizer (RDS) unit at its 540,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) Mailiao refinery after it was hit by a fire early on Wednesday, three sources close to the matter said.Mailiao is one of Asia's 10 largest standalone refining plants. The sources said its no. 2 RDS, with a capacity of 80,000 bpd, had been affected by the fire.Formosa…
Japan to Develop Offshore Wind Farms at 30 Sites in 10 years
Japan will craft new rules and support infrastructure in a drive that aims to build offshore wind farms at 30 sites during the next decade, the Nikkei business daily said on Thursday.Industry Minister Hiroshi Kajiyama is expected to announce policy measures soon to target the goal, the paper said, without identifying sources.The new policy aims for three or four projects each year with total generation capacity of 1 gigawatt (GW)…
Origin Energy to Defer Shale Drilling in Australia
Origin Energy will defer shale exploration drilling in Australia's Northern Territory until the second half of this year in a bid to protect workers from a coronavirus, the company said on Thursday.Origin, operator of a joint venture with Dublin-based Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd, resumed drilling in the Beetaloo Basin last year after a three-year break when drilling was banned…
China Opens Up to Foreign E&P Firms
For the first time, China will this year allow foreign companies to explore for and produce oil and gas in the country, opening up the industry to firms other than state-run energy giants, as Beijing looks to boost domestic energy supplies.The long-awaited opening accompanies a reshuffle of the so-called "midstream" pipeline business, but experts say it may not excite immediate interest from global drillers because of the poor overall asset quality of China's h
Pemex Struck by Ransomware Attack
A ransomware attack hit computer servers and halted administrative work on Monday at Mexican state oil firm Pemex, according to employees and internal emails, in hackers' latest bid to wring ransom from a major company.Hackers have increasingly targeted companies with malicious programs that can cripple systems overseeing everything from supply chains to payments to manufacturing…
China Issues More Crude Oil Import Quotas
China has lifted its crude oil import quotas to allow mostly private refiners to bring in a further 12.9 million tonnes this year, a document seen by Reuters showed on Tuesday, feeding a new generation of huge refineries.The third batch of quotas was allocated to 19 companies, including private refiner Zhejiang Petroleum & Chemical Co (ZPC), which was awarded 3.5 million tonnes…
Sinopec Weighs Output Cuts Due to Freight Rate Surge
Asia's largest refiner, Sinopec, is weighing plans to cut oil imports in December and reduce output at its refineries after a surge in global tanker freight rates hit margins, four sources with knowledge of the matter said.The cost of shipping crude to Asia has surged in the past two weeks after companies stopped using nearly 300 tankers for fear of violating U.S. sanctions…
ADNOC, Pertamina Ink Development Pact
The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) signed an agreement on Wednesday with Indonesia's state-owned energy company PT Pertamina for oil and gas collaboration in both countries and globally, ADNOC said in a statement.The comprehensive strategic framework (CSF) agreement was signed on the sidelines of an official visit to Indonesia by Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed.It covers projects in the United Arab Emirates' upstream oil and gas sector
Philippine Senators Ask Duterte to Disclose China Energy Plan
Philippine opposition senators have demanded President Rodrigo Duterte reveal details of joint energy exploration plans with China, warning such a deal risked affirming Chinese territorial claims that are not recognized under international law.Early this year, the two countries set up a joint panel to work out how to explore offshore oil and gas in areas that both claim…
Ship Collision; Iranian Tanker Burns; 32 Missing
A tanker carrying Iranian oil and run by the country's top oil shipping firm was ablaze and spewing cargo into the East China Sea on Sunday after colliding with a Chinese freight ship, leaving the tanker's 32 crew members missing, the Chinese government said.Thick clouds of dark smoke could be seen billowing out of the Sanchi tanker engulfing the vessel as rescue efforts were hampered by bad weather and fire on and around the ship…
Suspect Involved in N. Korean Oil Smuggling Released on Bail
A court in Taiwan has released on bail a man prosecutors allege to have made false declarations in the case of a Hong Kong-flagged tanker suspected of transferring oil to North Korea in violation of international sanctions. The man, surnamed Chen, said the vessel was bound for Hong Kong, despite knowing it was bound for international waters to traffic oil products, the prosecutors' office in the southern city of Kaohsiung said on Wednesday.
Senate Panel Set to Advance Quest for Oil in Alaska Refuge
Oil drilling in a vast Alaskan wildlife refuge could move a step closer to reality on Wednesday as a Senate panel votes to open part of the reserve coveted by conservationists. Republicans, who control Congress and the White House, have long wanted to prise open a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on the north coast known as the 1002 area. Senator Lisa Murkowski…
Pertamina Signs Amended PSC for Mahakam Gas Block
Indonesia's Pertamina on Tuesday signed a production-sharing contract amendment for the Mahakam block, an energy ministry official said, before it takes over operating the country's top producing gas field in January 2018 from French oil major Total. The amendment allows Pertamina to recover any costs on the Mahakam operations in 2017, when the state-owned energy company plans to spend an estimated $180 million to drill 19 wells…
China's Hebei Province Sees Growth at 6.8%
China's biggest steel-producing province, Hebei, expects to achieve economic growth of 6.8 percent in 2015 from the previous year, state media said on Sunday, as the area grapples with tougher anti-pollution measures and slowing demand. The province surrounding the capital, Beijing, churns out nearly a quarter of Chinese steel output, but is now taking the brunt of a campaign to cut dependence on heavy and polluting industrial capacity.
Beijing to shut 2,500 firms to fight pollution
Beijing will close 2,500 small polluting firms this year in its latest effort to combat pollution, state news agency Xinhua reported on Saturday, citing the municipal government. Pollution is a sensitive topic in China, with thousands of protests sparked every year by concerns about environmental degradation, particularly from factories. Four districts in the capital, which has been hit by bouts of choking smog this winter…
S.Korean officials visit Iran to seek post-sanction deals
South Korean government and corporate officials are visiting Iran this week to hunt out possible deals in the oil, gas and construction industries since an agreement was reached to lift sanctions on Tehran. Iran is targeting oil and gas projects worth $185 billion by 2020, after reaching a nuclear deal last month with six major world powers, under which sanctions set by the United States, the European Union and the United Nations are due to be lifted.
California Gas Pipeline Explosion, Fire injure 15
A construction crew on Friday accidentally ruptured a natural gas transmission line in Fresno, California, sparking an explosion and fire that injured up to 15 people, four of them critically, officials said. The 12-inch (30-cm) pipeline, belonging to Pacific Gas & Electric Corp, was struck by a backhoe near state Highway 99, unleashing a fireball that injured members of the construction team and a jail inmate crew nearby…
India Rejects Low Winning Bids for 4 "outlier" Coal Mines
India has rejected winning bids for four of 33 coal mines put up for auction in the past two months, the top civil servant in the country's coal ministry said on Saturday, in a decision that will most hurt Jindal Steel and Power Ltd. The ministry had examined nine blocks whose surprise low bids prompted the designation "outliers". But bids for five of those mines were accepted, Coal Secretary Anil Swarup said in a tweet message early on Saturday.
