CHINA: Wison Engineering completes six projects for PetroChina’s integrated refinery and petrochemical complex in Sichuan

(EnergyAsia, March 28 2013, Thursday) — China’s Wison Engineering Services Co Ltd said subsidiary Wison Engineering Ltd has safely and successfully completed scheduled work on six projects at PetroChina’s integrated refinery and petrochemical complex in Sichuan province. China’s largest privately owned chemical engineering procurement and construction (EPC) contractor said it built the project’s integrated paraxylene-aromatic (more…)

CHINA: Sinopec, PetroSA agree to build Africa’s largest oil refinery by 2020

(EnergyAsia, March 28 2013, Thursday) — China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) and South Africa’s state-owned PetroSA have signed a framework agreement to build Africa’s largest oil refinery with a 400,000 b/d processing capacity. The agreement for the US$10 billion project to be developed in Port Elizabeth’s Coega industrial zone was signed in Pretoria in...

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MARKETS: Global crude oil flows to shift from west to east by over four million b/d by 2020, says ESAI

(EnergyAsia, March 28 2013, Thursday) — North America’s rising oil production and Asia’s growing energy demand will lead to a drastic shift in the direction of the world’s oil flows through 2020, said US consultant ESAI Energy. The Boston-based consultant predicts that by the end of the decade, crude oil flows west of Suez will (more…)

CHINA: Oil demand rose 1.9% to 10.19 million b/d in February, says Platts

(EnergyAsia, March 28 2013, Thursday) — China’s February oil demand rose 1.9% over the same month last year to an average 10.19 million b/d, said US energy media Platts. In an analysis of Chinese government data, Platts said the latest data represented a slow-down in the 6.7% growth reported in January. It attributed the slower...

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US: Gains in hydrocracker refining capacity will flood diesel market, says ESAI

(EnergyAsia, March 27 2013, Wednesday) — A significant expansion in US Gulf Coast hydrocracking capacity will increase diesel output to easily meet Latin America’s diesel import requirement in 2013, predicts US-based consulting firm ESAI. In its recently published Global Refining Outlook, ESAI is forecasting a more than 100,000 b/d rise in US Gulf Coast diesel (more…)

IRAQ: Amid the gloom, IMF says economy to grow 9%, and oil production to rise 10% this year

(EnergyAsia, March 27 2013, Wednesday) — Ten years after the US-led military invasion to oust former dictator Saddam Hussein, war-battered Iraq is expected to enjoy rapid oil production and economic growth, and slower inflation in 2013. In a statement last week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted Iraq’s oil production would surge 10% to 3.3 (more…)

CHINA: Wison Offshore & Marine to provide services for two European firms developing LNG projects in North America

(EnergyAsia, March 27 2013, Wednesday) — A subsidiary of China’s Wison Group has agreed to provide support services to two European firms developing export-oriented liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects in North America. EDF Trading and Exmar NV are looking to export LNG by using offshore barge-mounted natural gas liquefaction facilities that have been jointly developed (more…)

CHINA: Sinopec Corp to pay US$1.5 billion for parent’s upstream assets

(EnergyAsia, March 27 2013, Wednesday) — China’s largest oil refiner, China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, or Sinopec Corp, has agreed to form an equal joint venture with its parent firm, Sinopec Group, to take over some of the latter’s upstream assets for a total of US$3 billion. The move is aimed at beefing up Sinopec...

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ASIA: EIA provides update on South China Sea’s hydrocarbon reserves and development

(EnergyAsia, March 26 2013, Tuesday) — The following is an edited version of an analysis by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) on the hydrocarbon reserves and development in the South China Sea. Note: Reserve totals do not include Gulf of Thailand or onshore reserves. Reserve estimates are based on field ownership status. Sources: EIA,...

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MARKETS: IEA sticks to forecast for global oil demand to exceed 90 million b/d in 2013

(EnergyAsia, March 26 2013, Tuesday) — Don’t tell the oil industry about the gloom and doom afflicting the global economic condition. Global oil consumption will still reach a new record high of 90.6 million b/d this year, notwithstanding the continuing economic turmoil in Europe and Japan, and calls for slower growth in China and the...

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MARKETS: EIA said world drew down oil stockpile in first two months of 2013 as demand exceeded supply

(EnergyAsia, March 26 2013, Tuesday) — The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said global liquid fuels consumption exceeded production in the first two months of 2013, resulting in a 1.1‐million b/d average draw in global oil stocks Despite the gloom surrounding the European and Japanese economies, the agency has kept its forecasts for record world (more…)

RUSSIA: Rosneft invites China to participate in Arctic oil and gas development

(EnergyAsia, March 26 2013, Tuesday) — Russia has opened the door for Chinese firms to participate in the development of its coveted Arctic oil and gas reserves, further raising bilateral ties in the wake of last week’s successful meeting between the Presidents of the two countries. China, the world’s largest energy consumer, has the cash...

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SINGAPORE: Halliburton opens new completion technology and manufacturing centre

(EnergyAsia, March 25 2013, Monday) — Upstream equipment and services company Halliburton said it has opened a newly constructed completion technology and manufacturing centre in Singapore. Completion Tools, a product service line in the company’s Completion and Production division, enables customers to economically and efficiently complete their wells by providing the design, selection and provision (more…)

RUSSIA: China to import 1 million b/d of crude, overtake Europeans as largest oil customer

(EnergyAsia, March 25 2013, Monday) — China and Russia have wrapped up a number of energy agreements, worth more than US$600 billion, to mark a successful first overseas trip for newly-installed President Xi Jinping to Moscow to meet his counterpart Vladimir Putin. In one of the world’s biggest long-term oil-supply contracts in memory, Russia’s state-owned...

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SHIPPING: Drewry Maritime expects LNG freight to stay weak through 2015, recover in the second half of decade

(EnergyAsia, March 25 2013, Monday) — After the “dream run” of 2011 and 2012, shipping demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) could be headed for the doldrums through 2015, predicts Drewry Maritime Research. In its latest LNG Insight report, the UK-based firm said its LNG Freight Index fell four percent in February as a result (more…)

ASIA: Sabah crisis sharpens focus on Spratly Islands and regional territorial disputes over oil and gas reserves

(EnergyAsia, March 25 2013, Monday) — With the February 12 invasion of Malaysia’s Sabah state by a Filipino militia group, another quiet corner of the world risks being sucked into renewed age-old territorial and ethnic disputes fuelled by a growing regional race for oil and gas reserves. The Malaysian government responded by ordering its troops...

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INDIA: BG Group secures long-term contract to supply LNG to Gujarat State Petroleum Corp

(EnergyAsia, March 22 2013, Friday) — UK’s BG Group Plc said it has secured a 20-year agreement to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to India’s Gujarat State Petroleum Corp (GSPC) from 2015. The Reading-based company said it will initially supply 1.25 million tons a year in 2015, potentially doubling the volume after two years. The (more…)

AUSTRALIA: BREE sees LNG exports rising more than five times to A$61 billion by 2017

(EnergyAsia, March 22 2013, Friday) — Liquefied natural gas (LNG) will become Australia’s second-largest export earner after iron ore, rising more than five times from A$12 billion in 2011 to over A$61 billion by 2017, said the Bureau for Resources and Energy Economics (BREE). (US$1=A$0.96). The start-up of several LNG projects in coming years will (more…)

US: Domestic crude oil production to surpass imports for first time since 1995, says EIA

(EnergyAsia, March 22 2013, Friday) — Thanks to the shale-inspired rise in domestic crude production, US is on course to become a net oil producer from as early as the end of this year for the first time since 1995, said the Energy Information Administration (EIA). In its March 2013 short-term energy report, the agency...

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SAUDI ARABIA: World’s largest petroleum producer and net exporter in 2012

(EnergyAsia, March 21 2013, Thursday) — Saudi Arabia was the world’s largest producer and exporter of crude and petroleum liquids last year, said the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). The kingdom produced an average of 11.6 million b/d and exporting an estimated 8.6 million b/d. The total figure covers crude oil, natural gas liquids, condensates,...

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RUSSIA: Agreement in sight for China to provide credit for additional oil, gas supplies

(EnergyAsia, March 21 2013, Thursday) — Russia is looking to conclude agreements this year to provide China with additional oil and gas supplies in exchange for credit and loans, said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich. Briefing reporters in Moscow, he said he expected Russia to add to the 15 million tonnes/year of oil it...

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SINGAPORE: CAO secures 18-month to supply 120,000 metric tons of aviation fuel to Air China in London, Madrid and Los Angeles

(EnergyAsia, March 21 2013, Thursday) — China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corporation Ltd (CAO), Asia’s largest physical jet fuel trader, said it has secured 18-month contracts to supply a total of 120,000 metric tons of aviation fuel to Air China planes at international airports in London, Madrid and Los Angeles starting April 1. CAO said it (more…)

INDIA: State oil companies expected to jointly bid for 20% stake in Mozambique field

(EnergyAsia, March 21 2013, Thursday) — Two Indian state-owned upstream companies are expected to jointly bid for a 20% stake in Mozambique’a Offshore Area 1 oil and gas field. According to Indian news reports, ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) and Oil India Limited (OIL) are believed to be preparing to acquire the combined stake from operator...

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RUSSIA: Tax breaks for shale, offshore oil to help boost long-term production by two million b/d

(EnergyAsia, March 20 2013, Wednesday) — The world’s second largest oil producing country is joining the unconventional oil and gas revolution by offering companies tax breaks to develop shale and offshore reserves from next January 1. Anxious about sustaining its own production above 10 million b/d for the rest of the decade amid potential supply...

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JAPAN: JAPEX to take 10% stake in Petronas-led LNG project in Canada

(EnergyAsia, March 20 2013, Wednesday) — Japan’s second largest upstream company has joined the bandwagon to acquire a piece of a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Canada. Japan Petroleum Exploration Co (JAPEX) said it has agreed to buy a 10% stake in a C$11-billion project led by Malaysia’s state energy firm Petronas to...

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