(EnergyAsia, May 26, 2019, Sunday) — Oil prices will find support from China for the rest of 2019 if analyst Laban Yu is proved correct that the country’s oil demand growth is much stronger than estimated by the world’s leading energy agencies….
ASIA: Rising US oil exports helping to calm region’s nerves, but for how long?
(EnergyAsia, May 24, 2019, Friday) — Underpinned by Asia’s continuing strong energy appetite, US crude exports surged to a record two million b/d last year from 1.2 million b/d in 2017….
ASIA: Rising US crude exports to partly replace loss of Iran, Venezuela supplies
(EnergyAsia, May 6 2019, Monday) — The United States’s emergence as a leading global crude oil exporter in 2019 will partly help Asia cope with the loss of supply from Iran and Venezuela, two analysts said….
ASIA: Refiners under pressure from “unfavorable” industry fundamentals, says Moody’s
(EnergyAsia, May 2, 2019, Thursday) — Asia’s oil refiners will have to live off meager earnings for the rest of the year due to weak market conditions carried over from 2018, said Moody’s Investor Service….
SOUTH KOREA: Saudi Aramco strengthens grip on North Asian oil market with new refinery stake
(EnergyAsia, April 29 2019, Monday) — Saudi Arabia has taken a firmer grip on the oil markets in northern Asia with the purchase of a share in a second refining company in South Korea….
INDIA: Saudi oil investment within sight, but doubts linger
(EnergyAsia, April 22, 2019, Monday) — Perhaps the biggest litmus test of whether India is truly open for business is whether it will finally secure Saudi Arabia’s investment for its downstream oil sector….
INDIA: International oil companies eye fast-growing fuel market
(EnergyAsia, April 15, 2019, Monday) — Having overtaken China as the world’s fastest growing major economy since 2015, India has also become a huge fuel guzzler….
INDIA: Oil prices holding steady as Modi favoured to win second term as Prime Minister
(EnergyAsia, April 12, 2019, Friday) — The oil markets are once again trading in Narendra Modi’s favour as he bids to win a second term as India’s Prime Minister in the country’s current general election….
SOUTHEAST ASIA: Region’s oil products deficit projected to remain at 1.5 million b/d
(EnergyAsia, April 3, 2019, Wednesday) — Southeast Asia’s oil products deficit will remain substantial at around 1.5 million b/d despite an expected rapid increase in its refining capacity in the coming years….
SINGAPORE: ExxonMobil invests in “multi-billion-dollar expansion” of plant to produce high-value lube base stocks and distillates
(EnergyAsia, April 2, 2019, Tuesday) — US major ExxonMobil has announced a “multi-billion-dollar expansion” of its manufacturing complex in Singapore to produce 20,000 b/d of group 2 lube base stocks and 48,000 b/d of low-sulphur marine fuels….
MALAYSIA: Refining capacity on course to exceed one million b/d in 2020
(EnergyAsia, March 31 2019, Sunday) — Malaysia is on course to challenge neighbour Singapore as an oil products exporter with plans for a 60% increase in its 658,000 b/d primary refining capacity and expensive upgrades of secondary facilities over the next two years….
SINGAPORE: Bunker market to remain under pressure after last year’s 1.6% decline
(EnergyAsia, March 30, 2019, Saturday) — Singapore’s bunker fuels market is expected to remain under pressure in 2019 to follow on last year’s 1.6% decline in sales volume….
BRUNEI: Asia’s latest oil products exporter when refinery starts up in second half 2019
(EnergyAsia, March 25, 2019, Monday) — Brunei expects to soon join Asia’s crowded bandwagon of oil products exporting nations when its US$3.4-billion refinery-petrochemicals complex starts up later this year….
MALAYSIA: Petronas net profit up 22% in 2018, but worries remain on continuation of oil price slump
(EnergyAsia, March 11 2019, Monday) — Despite the good news of a 22% rise in net profit for 2018, Malaysia’s state energy firm, Petronas Berhad, held back celebrations on account of a weak fourth quarter weighed down by falling oil prices and a slowing global economy….
INDIA: A nation of oil hubs?
(EnergyAsia, March 6, 2019, Wednesday) — India is talking up the idea of becoming a nation of “oil hubs” as it dreams of building more strategic petroleum stockpiling sites along its two coastlines facing the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal….
MALAYSIA: Weak oil prices, economy weighed on Petronas’s retail subsidiary
(EnergyAsia, March 5, 2019, Tuesday) — A combination of lower oil prices, weaker margins and rising cost slashed the net profit of Malaysia’s leading domestic downstream oil company by nearly 45% last year….
CHINA: Saudi Arabia to invest in two major oil refining and petrochemical projects
(EnergyAsia, February 28 2019, Thursday) — Saudi Arabia and China have underlined their intentions for a deeper strategic tie-up through Saudi Aramco’s investments in two Chinese oil-petrochemical complexes that will cement its role as a long-term crude oil supplier to the world’s largest energy consumer….
TURKMENISTAN: Hope for economy on Russian offer to resume natural gas imports
(EnergyAsia, December 16, 2018, Sunday) — Turkmenistan’s troubled economy will receive a timely boost if Russia follows through on plans to resume importing natural gas from the Central Asian state starting January 1….
UZBEKISTAN: Politics and financing in the way of plan to double refining capacity
(EnergyAsia, December 6, 2018, Thursday) — Faced with a persistent fuel shortage that is threatening the economy, Uzbekistan wants to more than double its current refining capacity from around 11 million tons/year (225,000 b/d) over the next five years….
KAZAKHSTAN: Oil production likely at record 2 million b/d
(EnergyAsia, December 3, 2018, Monday) — Kazakhstan’s oil production has likely topped a record two million b/d in recent weeks, judging from estimates provided by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and media reports….
CENTRAL ASIA: Hydrocarbon economies to have slower growth in 2018 and 2019
EnergyAsia, November 7 2018, Wednesday) — Three of Central Asia’s four hydrocarbon-exporting nations will experience consecutive years of slower growth from 2017 to 2019, predicts the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)….
CHINA: Saudi Aramco to acquire stake in refinery-petrochemical project
(EnergyAsia, October 19 2018, Friday) — Saudi Arabia’s main state oil and gas company said it will acquire a stake in a new oil refinery-petrochemical project in eastern China as part of its global downstream expansion….
CHINA: No oil imports from the US in August
(EnergyAsia, October 17 2018, Wednesday) — True to its promise to play tough in its escalating trade war with the US, energy-deficit China did not import crude oil from the world’s largest producing country in August….
MALAYSIA: Oil refining capacity to rise 45% in 2019 with planned start-up of Petronas-Aramco refinery
(EnergyAsia, October 16, 2018, Tuesday) — Malaysia expects to increase its total oil refining capacity by 45% early next year to 958,000 b/d with the official start-up of a joint-venture 300,000 b/d plant between state-owned Petronas and Saudi Arabia’s Aramco….
ASIA: As oil prices rise, fuel subsidies are back in fashion
(EnergyAsia, October 15 2018, Monday) — Some Asian countries are reviving an old habit of raising fuel subsidies in response to rising oil prices. The Brent crude price is holding firmly at a four-year high level of over US$80 a barrel as more traders bet it will breach US$100 sometime next year….