China To Import Record Amounts Of Crude Oil From West Africa

04/06/17 •lweb.es/f2759 •bit.ly/2qfYdIN

West African producers led by Angola and Nigeria are set to send crude to China at the rate of 1.48 million barrels a day in April, the most since Bloomberg began compiling the data in August 2011, according to loading programs and traders. Overall Asian imports of West African crude are poised to reach 2.4 million barrels a day this month, also a record. Asia’s increasing purchases of West African crude provides a valuable source of income for Angola and Nigeria, both of which rely heavily on oil revenues to fund government spending.

The Americas Has The Potential To Become A Global Oil Trading Hub

04/06/17 •lweb.es/f2758 •bit.ly/2oxu3EB

China’s largest crude oil refiner Sinopec aims to ship more cargoes from Brazil, the United States and Canada to help ensure stable crude supplies. Asia, which will account for a third of the world’s refining capacity by 2020 will have to look beyond the traditional markets Middle East and Africa for crude supplies. China will soon import its first Southern Green Canyon and Thunderhorse crude from the United States, and Brazil overtook Venezuela as the top South American crude supplier to China in the first two months of this year.

South China Sea: Beijing’s Military Bases Are Ready For Use

03/30/17 •lweb.es/f2695 •bit.ly/2ojz8Po

According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, major construction at three of China’s large man-made islands in the disputed South China Sea is wrapping up, allowing Beijing to deploy fighter jets and mobile missile launchers to the area at any time. China has continued to militarize the waters as it seeks to reinforce effective control of much of the waterway, through which $5 trillion in trade passes each year. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also have overlapping claims.

PetroChina: Record-Low Profit But Capex To Rise Over 40%

03/30/17 •lweb.es/f2687 •bit.ly/2nOos7y

PetroChina’s profit fell 78% to the lowest on record as the oil price crash punished the country’s biggest oil and gas producer for a third year. Net income dropped to 7.86 billion yuan (US$1.1 billion). While PetroChina expects its crude production to fall a second year in 2017, it sees gas sales rising 10% this year and to be its main growth driver to the end of the decade. PetroChina expects its 2017 global crude production to be 879 million barrels, down 4.5%.

China’s Sinopec Buys Its First Major Refinery In Africa

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

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.

Gazprom And China Broadening Cooperation In Energy Sector

lweb.es/f2662 02.16.2017

Meetings have recently been held between Russia and China on energy: one between Gazprom and the State Council of the People’s Republic of China covering the collaboration between Gazprom and Chinese energy companies and financial organizations; and the other between Gazprom and CNPC which looked at the current progress and future prospects for gas deliveries from Russia to China, the possibilities for underground gas storage facilities and gas-fired power generation in China, as well as the use of LNG as a vehicle fuel along the Europe-China international transport route.

China’s Oil Production Drop Helps OPEC Cut Global Supply

lweb.es/f2609 01.17.2017

China’s production is forecast to fall by as much as 7 percent this year, extending a record decline in 2016. This is about the same size as the recent output cut agreed by OPEC member Iraq. China’s output slumped in 2016 as state-owned firms shut wells at mature fields that had become too costly to operate after the crash. Crude production fell 6.9 percent in the first 11 months of 2016 to about 4 million barrels a day, the first decline since 2009 and the biggest in data going back to 1990.

China’s CNPC Forecasts Record Oil Demand

lweb.es/f2615 01.12.2017

China’s crude oil demand will grow by 3.4 percent this year to a record of 11.8 million barrels per day, according to a China National Petroleum Corporation forecast. Total refinery throughput will rise by 3.3 percent to 11.2 million bpd, with refiners adding 702,000 bpd of net capacity. This rising refinery demand will lift crude imports by 5.3 percent to 7.95 million bpd. CNPC predicted that net exports of diesel will surge by 55 percent this year to about 450,000 bpd.