Saudi Arabia: Long-Term Strategy For Asian Investment

03/23/17 •lweb.es/f2703 •bit.ly/2peKLnK

Asia, Investments, Oil, Saudi Arabia

Saudi King Salman’s lavish tour of Asia had a mission – to cement the kingdom’s place as leading oil supplier to the world’s biggest consumer region. The string of deals inked on his three-week tour to Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, and China – the big prize – also point to a fresh strategy: growth in the downstream. Chief executive officer of Aramco, Amin Nasser, said on this: “The growth in that sector is very important, and anything integrated between refining, petrochemical, with marketing and distribution, is of interest to us.”

China’s Sinopec Buys Its First Major Refinery In Africa

03/23/17 •lweb.es/f2699 •bit.ly/2oTNcwJ

Africa, China, Oil, Refinery

China’s Sinopec has agreed to pay almost $1 billion for a 75 percent stake in Chevron’s South African assets and its subsidiary in Botswana, securing its first major refinery on the continent. The assets include a 100,000 barrel-per-day oil refinery in Cape Town, a lubricants plant in Durban as well as 820 petrol stations and other oil storage facilities. They also include 220 convenience stores across South Africa and Botswana. With a growing middle class, demand in South Africa for refined petroleum has increased by nearly 5 percent annually over the past five years.

Oil Majors Drive Down Costs In The Offshore Wind Industry

03/23/17 •lweb.es/f2689 •bit.ly/2oQnlJ1

Clean Energy, energy, Offshore, World

Royal Dutch Shell, Statoil and Eni are moving into multi-billion-dollar offshore wind farms in the North Sea and beyond. The oil companies have many reasons to move into the industry. They’ve spent decades building oil projects offshore, and that business is winding down in some areas where older fields have drained. Returns from wind farms are predictable and underpinned by government-regulated electricity prices. Current projects entering operation are delivering power at about half the price of farms finished in 2012 helping the technology start to compete with traditional forms of energy.