(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….
INDIA: Dubai’s ENOC Group and Indian Oil Corporation to jointly develop and market high-end lubricants for ships for ships
(EnergyAsia, February 26 2019, Tuesday) — Dubai’s ENOC Group said it has formed a strategic alliance with Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to develop and supply high-end lubricants to the shipping industry in support of tougher environmental standards on marine fuels from January 1, 2020. The two state-owned companies of their respective countries will jointly invest...
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….
CENTRAL ASIA: Russia, Iran respond to US threats with watershed Caspian Sea deal
(EnergyAsia, September 27, 2018, Thursday) — For once, Donald Trump will not be eager to claim credit for what could turn out to be a geopolitical and energy deal of global significance….
INDIA: Proposed refinery-petrochemical project still far from certain even with Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi participation
(EnergyAsia, August 20 2018, Monday) — The most notable feature of the recent agreements between Saudi Aramco, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (Adnoc), and a consortium of Indian oil companies to build a US$44-billion refinery-petrochemicals complex on India’s west coast was the absence of a deadline for the proposed project’s completion….