Iran building oil pipeline to terminal outside Gulf
Iran is building a $1.8 billion oil pipeline to its port of Jask outside the mouth of the Gulf, the country's oil minister said, as part of plans to protect its exports against potential problems in the region and to boost shipments of Caspian oil.Iran has been planning since at least 2012 to set up the terminal on the Gulf of Oman, just outside the Strait of Hormuz.Tehran has threatened to block the vital Gulf oil shipping route during its standoff with the United States…
Sinopec: South Africa Gives Conditional Approval for Chevron Assets
South Africa will stick with China's Sinopec Corp as the preferred contender to buy Chevron's assets in South Africa and Botswana after it made a fresh commitment to future investments in the country, the Chinese oil major said on Thursday. State-owned Sinopec is competing for the assets with commodities trader and miner Glencore, which swooped in last October with a $973 million bid following delays to Sinopec's original agreement. Asia's largest refiner said…
Full Tanks & Tankers: A Stubborn Oil Glut Despite OPEC Cuts
After the first OPEC oil production cut in eight years took effect in January, oil traders from Houston to Singapore started emptying millions of barrels of crude from storage tanks. Investors hailed the drawdowns as the beginning of the end of a two-year supply glut - raising hopes for steadily rising per-barrel prices. It hasn't worked out that way. Now, many of those same storage tanks are filling back up or draining more slowly than investors and oil firms had expected…
China to Supply Petroleum Products to Landlocked Nepal
China has agreed to supply petroleum products to Nepal, a landlocked and impoverished country which has been trying to lessen its dependence on India, its large neighbour to the south. After a visit to Beijing by Nepali Prime Minister K.P. Oli, the two countries said on Wednesday they have "agreed to conclude a commercial deal on the supply of petroleum products from China to Nepal". Kathmandu says it wants to import 33 percent of Nepal's annual demand of 1.8 million tonnes of petroleum products from China…
S.Korea Plans to Boost Iran Oil Imports
South Korea plans to boost imports of Iranian oil, especially condensate, this year to meet growing demand after sanctions on the Islamic nation were lifted in January. The world's fifth largest importer of crude is also a big buyer of condensate, a super light oil that can be processed into fuels and petrochemicals. Iran's return would help ease tight condensate supply in a market dominated by fellow OPEC producer Qatar. "We will increase oil and natural gas (liquids) imports from Iran…
ArcLight, Freepoint to Buy Hovensa St. Croix Refinery
Boston-based private equity firm ArcLight Capital, together with commodities trader Freepoint, unveiled plans on Tuesday to buy the Hovensa refinery complex in St. Croix in the Caribbean and turn it into a massive oil storage hub. The partners also said China's Sinopec, Asia's largest oil refiner, has leased 75 percent of Hovensa's existing crude oil storage capacity in a 10-year strategic deal for one of Asia's biggest oil market players, according to a statement on Tuesday. Existing capacity at Hovensa is for 13 million barrels of crude and oil products.
UAE Open to Meeting Indian Oil Demand
The United Arab Emirates is open to meeting any demand for oil from India, the Gulf OPEC member's economy minister Sultan bin Saeed al-Mansouri told Reuters on Monday. Mansouri was speaking after meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in the UAE on a two-day visit. "India is importing oil now and the UAE is open to meet demand for any oil from India," Mansouri said, adding that the issue would be discussed further by representatives of the two sides.
Tianjin Resumes Commodity Port Ops
Oil, gas and iron ore imports resume after disruptions; Strategic oil reserves in the region not affected. Many operations have resumed at China's Tianjin port, trade sources said, after explosions last week that killed more than 100 people and disrupted business at what is an important oil, gas and bulk import harbour for Asia's biggest economy. The explosions on Aug. 12 led to the disruption of all chemical and oil tanker discharges at the port, and imports of iron ore were also affected.
Oman to Build Refinery, Petchem Plant in Indonesia
Oman has committed to invest $7 billion to build oil storage facilities, a petrochemical plant and a refinery in Indonesia, an Indonesian minister said on Thursday. Oman also agreed to supply crude oil to the former OPEC member but details on the amount and price were not disclosed. Energy Minister Sudirman Said said the refinery would be built in Indonesia's Riau province, with the oil products being purchased by state-owned Pertamina. "We are now in the process of issuing the permits…
First Supertanker Docks at Vopak-Dialog Terminal
A supertanker carrying about 1 million barrels of Middle East crude docked on Monday at a terminal jointly run by Vopak and Dialog Group in Malaysia, the companies said. The arrival of tanker MT Mesdar marked the start of operations at southeast Asia's first commercial crude oil tank farm. The tanker had been chartered by CSSA, the shipping arm of French oil major Total, and it loaded the crude cargo at Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates in February, Reuters shipping data showed.
Brightoil Reports Steady Growth in Interim Results
Brightoil Petroleum (Holdings) Limited announced its interim results for the six months ended December 31, 2014, reporting steady growth over the period. During the period, profit attributable to the owners of the group increased 3% year-on-year to HK$561 million. Basic earnings per share amounted to 6.41 HK cents, up 3% from a year ago. Total revenue climbed 11% from HK$40.3 billion in 1HFY2014 toHK$44.9 billion for the period as the twin-engines business model (upstream and mid-downstream businesses) enabled the group to secure steady growth amid volatile oil prices.
Russia No Help in Oil Price War
Russia needs oil price of $100 to balance budget. Oil prices at four-year low of $78 and Russia can't cut output, has no storage to limit exports. Russia can do little to shore up slumping global prices even if OPEC wants it to. Russian wells will freeze if they stop pumping oil, and the country cannot store the output it would otherwise export. Before next week's meeting of OPEC, Russia has already spoken to group member Venezuela about the need to "coordinate actions in defence" of oil prices and it plans to send a high-ranking delegation to press the message.
