China Starts Construction of Southern Part of China-Russia East Gas Pipeline
Construction has started on the southern portion of the China-Russia East natural gas pipeline, which carries supplies from the Power of Siberia system in Russia, China Oil & Gas Piping Network Corp (PipeChina) in a statement on Tuesday.This portion starts at Yongqing in China's northern province of Hebei and ends at Shanghai in eastern China. The full China-Russia East system is a 5,111-km (3,176-mile) pipeline pumping natural gas from the Siberia region in Russia to China.Once launched in 2025…
PipeChina to Buy $56B Worth of Pipelines
China took a major step in the reform of its national oil and gas pipeline network, with newly formed PipeChina agreeing to buy pipelines and storage facilities valued at 391.4 billion yuan ($55.9 billion).Under the deal, PipeChina, known formally as China Oil and Gas Pipeline Network, will take over oil and gas pipelines and storage facilities from state-owned energy giants PetroChina and Sinopec, in return for cash and equity in the pipeline company.The creation of PipeChina is aimed at providing neutral access to the country's pipeline infrastructure…
Gazprom Neft Sells Its First Arctic Oil Cargo to China
Russia's Gazprom Neft has sold its first ever Arctic oil cargo to China to ChemChina, two sources familiar with the deal told Reuters on Thursday.This week, Gazprom Neft said it had sent 144,000 tonnes of light Novy Port oil grade to the Chinese port of Yantai on the Bohai Sea from Russia's north-western city of Murmansk, using the Northern Sea Route (NSR) through Russia's Arctic waters.The Delta Hellas vessel used part of the NSR, a route requiring icebreakers and ice-class tankers, Refinitiv Eikon data showed, sailing west from Murmansk to reach Suez and then Ch
China Grants Zheijang First Private Fuel Export License
China has granted Zhejiang Petroleum & Chemical Co (ZPC) a license to export refined oil products, making it the first private oil refiner to win such permission, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.The license would allow ZPC to directly sell oil products to the international market, competing against state-owned refiners and helping to ease oversupply pressure in China's domestic market.However, the refiner will still need to be granted a government quota that will determine the size of its exports before it can begin shipments…
China's Saudi Oil Imports Surge to All-time High
China's crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia nearly doubled in May from a year earlier to all-time high as refineries snapped up cheap fuel, while the kingdom retained its position as the top supplier to the world's biggest oil buyer.Arrivals from Saudi last month reached 9.165 million tonnes, or 2.16 million barrels per day (bpd), up about 95% from 1.11 million bpd in May 2019 and up 71% from 1.26 million bpd in April, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.Chinese refineries have cranked up throughput to meet a recovery in fuel demand…
Sinopec Starts Up $6B Zhanjiang Refinery Complex
Top Chinese state refiner Sinopec Corp said on Tuesday it had started up a $6 billion new refinery and petrochemical plant in south China, making it the country's third integrated complex to start operations in the past 18 months or so.The Sinopec venture, situated in coastal city of Zhanjiang, comprises a 200,000 barrel per day (bpd) crude oil refinery and an 800,000 tonne-per-year ethylene facility, built at a cost of 44 billion yuan ($6.2 billion), Sinopec said in a statement.Two other complexes with combined refining capacity of 800,000 bpd have started up sin
Sinopec Adds More Oil Storage at Baishawan
China's Sinopec has started operating the second phase of its Baishawan commercial crude oil storage project in eastern province Zhejiang, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.The project had added four storage tanks with combined capacity of 450,000 cubic metres to its existing 950,000 cubic metres storage capacity, which was put in use in 2009.Baishawan commercial crude storage base is managed and operated by Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co, a subsidiary of the state-backed energy giant.(Reporting by Muyu Xu and Chen Aizhu; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
CNOOC, Shell JV sign $5.6B Ethylene Plant Expansion Deal in China
CNOOC and Shell Petrochemicals Company Ltd (CSPC), a joint venture established by China National Offshore Oil Corp(CNOOC) and Royal Dutch Shell, signed a framework agreement worth $5.6 billion with China's Huizhou city government to expand its ethylene project in the city.CSPC is expected to add 1.5 million tonnes per annum ethylene production capacity on top of its existed 2.2 million tonnes in Huizhou, according to a statement issued by CNOOC on Sunday nightThe new project will have 14 petrochemical production lines to churn out products including ethylene, prop
China Issues Second Batch Fuel Export Quotas
China has issued 28 million tonnes of refined fuel export quotas in the second allotment for this year, little changed from the first batch of 27.99 million tonnes issued last December, according to four sources with knowledge of the matter.The quotas were released last week to five state oil companies, PetroChina, Sinopec, China National Offshore Oil Corp, Sinochem Group and China National Aviation Fuel Corp, the sources said.The new quotas, of mostly gasoline…
China's Daily Crude Oil Imports Rebound in April
China's crude oil imports rebounded in April from a month earlier on daily basis as refiners ramped up output amid a recovery in fuel demand with the impact of the coronavirus outbreak easing while crude prices crashed on slumping consumption elsewhere.Crude oil arrivals were 40.43 million tonnes last month according to a full data table released by the General Administration of Customs on Thursday, equivalent to 9.84 million barrels per day (bpd).That was more than the 9.68 million bpd imported in March…
China's Crude Imports from Saudi Slip, Russia Up 31%
China's March crude oil imports from top supplier Saudi Arabia fell 1.6% from a year earlier, while purchases from No.2 supplier Russia rose 31%, Reuters' calculations based on customs data showed on Sunday.China's March crude oil imports rose 4.5% year on year to 9.68 million barrels per day (bpd) as refiners stocked up on cheaper cargoes despite falling domestic fuel demand and cuts in refining rates due to the impact the COVID-19 pandemic.Shipments from Saudi Arabia were 7.21 million tonnes…
Sinopec Building LNG Storage Tanks at Tianjin Terminal
China's energy giant Sinopec has started building storage tanks in the second phase of its Tianjin terminal project to receive liquefied natural gas (LNG), the company said in a statement.The plan for the second phase is to have five LNG tanks, with storage capacity of 220,000 cubic metres each, and a new berth for LNG vessels.After the project is completed in end-2021, the LNG receiving capacity at the terminal will expand to 10.8 million tonnes per annum from the current 6 million tonnes.So far, the terminal has received 11.21 million tonnes of LNG since the fir
CNOOC to Trim 2020 Spending by Up To 15%
China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) will trim annual investment by 10% to 15% in 2020, while maintaining its goal of increasing domestic crude oil and natural gas production for the year, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.CNOOC Ltd, a listed arm of the national offshore energy producer, said during a media briefing in late March the firm will "significantly" cut capital expenditure.Oil and gas companies worldwide are reducing spending this…
PetroChina Resumes Guangdong Refinery Construction
Asia'a largest oil and gas firm PetroChina resumed construction of its oil refinery and petrochemical project in southern Chinese province of Guangdong, as the number of new coronavirus cases fell for a second straight day.In an attempt to curb the spread of the virus, China had extended Lunar New Year holidays and asked companies to put workers returning from their hometown into a 14-day quarantine.With workers and machineries gradually in place, the $10 billion refinery project in Jieyang city is expected to fully restart construction by end-February, the compan
Coronavirus Paralyzes Oil, Gas Sales into China
Short-term sales of crude oil and liquefied natural gas into China almost ground to a halt this week as the coronavirus slows economic activity and cuts demand and buyers ponder legal action to avoid having to honor purchase agreements, trade sources said.Typically, trade would have revived after the Lunar New Year holiday at the end of January, but China has extended the break into February to try to contain the fast-spreading coronavirus, which has claimed nearly 500 lives.As a result…
'Power of Siberia' Pipeline Begins Flow to China
China has started to consume Russian gas via the newly launched "Power of Siberia" pipeline, said CNPC-backed Kunlun Energy Ltd, operator of the pipeline in China, on Wednesday.The company receives 250,000-300,000 cubic meters of pipeline gas daily from Russia, helping to ease tight gas supply in winter season in Harbin, provincial capital of the north-most region Heilongjiang.The 3,000-km (1,864 mile) pipeline, launched in December, is expected to transmit 4.6 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas from Russia's Siberian gasfield to China, rising to 10 bcm in
CNPC Finds Reserves From Pre-salt Field at Tarim
China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) said it has found oil and gas reserves from a pre-salt area, where the resources are trapped under a layer of salt, for the first time in the country.Daily oil production from the area, located at Tarim oilfield in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, is estimated to be 133.46 cubic meters and daily gas output to reach 48,700 cubic meters.The pre-salt oil is found from a 8,882-metre well, the deepest onshore well in Asia, CNPC said in a statement on Monday.CNPC expects total oil reserves at the pre-salt oilfield in the Tarim Ba
China Opens Up to Foreign E&P Firms
For the first time, China will this year allow foreign companies to explore for and produce oil and gas in the country, opening up the industry to firms other than state-run energy giants, as Beijing looks to boost domestic energy supplies.The long-awaited opening accompanies a reshuffle of the so-called "midstream" pipeline business, but experts say it may not excite immediate interest from global drillers because of the poor overall asset quality of China's hydrocarbon resources.From May 1, foreign firms registered in China with net assets of 300 million yuan ($
CNPC Pulls Staff from Iraq Oilfield
China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), a top investor in Iraqi oil, has withdrawn about 20 employees from the West Qurna-1 field operated by U.S. major Exxon Mobil because of tensions in the region, a company source familiar with the matter said.CNPC made the move on Sunday after last week's killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq, the Beijing-based source said, adding that the state firm has kept staff in place at two other fields.Tehran retaliated with missile attacks on U.S.-led forces in Iraq on Wednesday…
China to Launch State Pipeline Group
China plans to launch its long-awaited national oil and gas pipeline company on Monday, part of a sector-wide reform aimed at providing fair market access to infrastructure and boost investment in oil and gas production.Most of the country's pipeline infrastructure is controlled by energy giant PetroChina, CNPC's listed arm, and small, non state-owned oil and gas producers and distributors often don't have access to the pipelines at competitive rates, analysts have said.This also hinders companies from investing in oil and gas exploration as they are concerned abo
