(Houston Chronicle, Sergio Chapa, Staff writer 30.Nov.2018) — New rules allowing a greater number of liquefied natural gas tankers to pass through the Panama Canal per day are expected to boost the development of the multibillion dollar industry along the U.S. Gulf Coast. The rules went into effect in October. […]
Category: Asia
Asia energy
Rosneft’s Sechin Flies To Venezuela, Rebukes Maduro Over Oil Shipments
(Reuters, Alexandra Ulmer and Marianna Parraga, 24.Nov.2018) — The head of Russian oil company Rosneft, Igor Sechin, flew to Caracas this week to meet Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and complain over delayed oil shipments designed to repay loans, two sources briefed on the conversation said on Saturday. The visit, which […]
PDVSA In Talks Over 2nd Sea-Borne Oil-Transfer Operation
(Reuters, Marianna Parraga, 22.Nov.2018) — Venezuela’s state-run oil firm PDVSA has begun talks with shipping firms to set up a second ship-to-ship (STS) operation off the country’s eastern coast in an effort to increase sagging crude exports, according to three people familiar with the matter. PDVSA this year began sea-borne […]
BP, Pan American Eye Exporting Argentina Shale Gas As LNG Via Chile
(S&P Global Platts, 15.Nov.2018) — Pan American Energy, the second-biggest oil producer and third for gas in Argentina, is working with BP on potentially exporting LNG out of Chile, a project that could prove faster to get Vaca Muerta shale gas to market than building a liquefaction facility in Argentina. […]
T&T Energy Minister: Positive Growth Forecast For NatGas Markets
(Loop News, 14.Nov.2018) — Minister of Energy and Energy Industries and President of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, Franklin Khan, said the natural gas industry is forecast to grow within the coming year, a good indicator for Trinidad and Tobago. Speaking at a media briefing after the second session of […]
Five Groups May Join Eletronuclear Complete Power Plant Project
(Reuters, 6.Nov.2018) — Five groups are considering whether to partner with Brazil’s state-controlled Eletronuclear to resume construction of nuclear power plant Angra III, already partially built by the government, newspaper Valor Econômico reported on Tuesday, citing unidentified sources. The foreign companies’ interest in the venture grew after a government agency […]
Venezuela: Oil Producer’s Slump Reflects Nation’s Decline
(Ft.com, Gideon Long, John Paul Rathbone, 28.Oct.2018) — Gideon Long in Caracas and John Paul Rathbone in Washington October 28, 2018 Print this page 95 In the lobby of the building where Iván Freites works, a photograph of an oil rig covers one wall. Emblazoned across it is the Venezuelan […]
CNOOC Says Guyana Success ‘Laid Foundation For Future Development’
(Energy Analytics Institute, Jared Yamin, 27.Oct.2018) — China’s CNOOC Limited announced that success in Guyana has laid the foundation for future development. “Successful drilling of Longtail Structure and Hammerhead Structure at the Stabroek block in Guyana further enhanced the asset value and laid a high-quality resource foundation for future development,” […]
Foreign Oil And Gas Firms Look To Play Crucial Role In Venezuela
(Energy Global, David Bizley, 19.Oct.2018) — The majority of foreign companies are not making any profit or losing money in their partnerships with PDVSA to develop and produce hydrocarbons due to inadequate investment, shattered infrastructure and US sanctions. However, in the long term, having access to the vast hydrocarbon reserves […]
Petrobras and CNPC Define Business Model For COMPERJ, Marlim Partnership
(Hydrocarbon Engineering, Alex Hithersay, 18.Oct.2018) — Petrobras has announced that it has signed an integrated project business model agreement (IPBMA) with China National Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Co. (CNODC), a subsidiary of CNPC, advancing towards their strategic partnership, as disclosed to the market on July 4, 2018. The […]
YPF In Talks To Sell Stake In Power Unit To Asian Fund
(Bloomberg, Pablo Rosendo Gonzalez, 11.Oct.2018) — YPF SA, Argentina’s state-run oil company, is in advanced talks to sell a minority stake in its power unit to an Asian fund, said two people with direct knowledge of the plan. The fund, which the people declined to name, would get a 24.99 […]
IEA Urges Opec to Open Taps as Oil Markets Enter ‘Red Zone’
(Bloomberg, Javier Blas, Grant Smith & Francine Lacqua, 9.Oct.2018) — Oil prices have rallied to a four-year-high due to US sanctions on Iran and the Venezuelan crisis, even as Saudi Arabia moved slow on filling any shortfall. The International Energy Agency (IEA) made a direct appeal to Organization of the […]
Guyana May be the Next Big Beast in Global Oil
(The National, Robin Mills, 8.Oct.2018) — One of the few major new conventional oil provinces discovered this century could see the country emerge as the top per capita producer. Who will be the world’s largest oil producing country per person in the 2020s? Kuwait perhaps, with 3 million barrels per […]
Venezuela’s Oil Exports Are Falling Even Faster Than Expected
(OilPrice.com, Irina Slav, 3.Oct.2018) — A delay in port repairs following a tanker collision is putting additional pressure on already pressured Venezuelan crude oil exports, Reuters quoted anonymous sources close to PDVSA as saying this week. It seems that Venezuela’s woes are only multiplying as time goes by, although news […]
OPEC’s Decade of Turmoil Leaves Cartel Seeking a New Way Forward
(Bloomberg, Christopher Sell, 20.Sep.2018) — A global recession, both $140 and $30 oil, the U.S. shale revolution, a market-share war, and output cuts. OPEC’s 60-year history has rarely confronted a more challenging period than the past decade. Now, instead of enjoying the higher prices resulting from 18 months of joint […]
Venezuela’s Maduro Says Relationship With China ‘Win-Win’
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 18.Sep.2018) — In terms of bilateral cooperation, Venezuela and China are seeking a ‘win-win’ scenarios. “Relations with China are very clear and have been framed around mutual respect and under the premise of win-win, which has allowed for the reactivation of financial funds, and revival […]
Maduro Looks to China to Bolster Venezuela’s Collapsing Economy
(Afp, 12.Sep.2018) — Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro departed Wednesday for China in search of agreements to bolster the oil-exporting country’s collapsing economy. Maduro said the trip was “very necessary, very opportune and full of great expectations.” “We are leaving under better conditions, having activated a program of economic recovery, growth […]
Petrobras Targets China with New Crude Oil
(Reuters, Florence Tan and Alexandra Alper, 27.Jul.2018) – Brazil’s state-controlled energy company Petrobras plans to push more crude oil to top importer China by marketing a new medium-sweet grade that could be shipped from October, two sources with knowledge of the matter said. Petrobras expects to start pumping pre-salt oil […]
China Gives New Life to Venezuela Despite US’ Ire
(Sputnik News, 5.Jul.2018) – China is lending its helping hand to Venezuela to stabilize the country’s oil sector, analysts told Sputnik, adding that Beijing’s economic activities in Latin America are apparently getting on Washington’s nerves. China is about to breathe new life into Venezuela’s collapsing oil sector regardless of Washington’s […]
China Throws Venezuela’s Oil Industry $5B Lifeline
(OilPrice.com, Irina Slav) – China’s Development Bank has approved a US$5-billion loan for Venezuela’s oil industry, Bloomberg reports, quoting the troubled South American country’s Finance Minister Simon Zerpa. “We’ve received the authorization for a direct investment of more than $250 million from China Development Bank to increase PDVSA production, and […]
Venezuela to Get $250 mln from China
(Reuters, 3.Jul.2018) – Venezuela will receive $250 million from the China Development Bank to boost the OPEC nation’s oil production, the South American country’s Finance Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. ***
China Generates Energy, Controversy in Argentina
(Inter Press Service, Daniel Gutman, 22.Jun.2018) – As in other Latin American countries, in recent years China has been a strong investor in Argentina. The environmental impact and economic benefits of this phenomenon, however, are a subject of discussion among local stakeholders. One of the key areas is energy. A […]
Venezuela Oil Exports to China Slump
(Reuters, 17.Jun.2018) – Reuters) – China’s imports of Venezuelan crude oil could sink to their lowest in nearly eight years in July as the OPEC producer struggles with shrinking output and mounting logistics issues, according to people familiar with the matter and shipping data. State-controlled PetroChina expects June loadings from […]
China Looks to Invest $10 Billion in Peru Over 3 Years
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 1.Jun.2018) — China plans investments of $10 billion across various sectors in Peru over the next three years. The Asian giant is planning to focus investments on sectors including energy, mines, telecommunications, construction and finance, reported the daily newspaper El Comercio, citing China’s Ambassador to […]
Fact Sheet: Peru LNG
(Shell, 1.Jun.2018) — Peru LNG is the first natural gas liquefaction plant in South America and began operations in 2010 with a 4.45 mtpa capacity. It receives dry gas through a 408km pipeline that stretches from the highlands in the Peruvian Andes to the coast. Shell acquired 20% equity in […]
PetroChina, Rosneft Leave Venezuela Refining Projects
(Kallanish Energy, 28.Mar.2018) – Chinese and Russian state oil companies PetroChina and Rosneft will not pay the costs of repairing and modernizing Venezuela’s Cardón and Amuay refineries for PDVSA, according to union sources. Ivan Freites, senior official of the Venezuelan Unions Federation of Oil Workers, told local newspaper El Nacional […]
Venezuela, China Sign 8 Oil Deals
(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 17.Feb.2017) – Venezuela signed 22 agreements with China, including eight (8) related to heavy and extra heavy oil ventures in the OPEC-member country, with an estimated value of $2.7 billion, announced Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during a signing ceremony in Caracas. ***
Venezuela, China Hold High Level Commission
(PDVSA, 13.Feb.2017) – The 15th China-Venezuela High Level Joint Commission took place at the José Félix Ribas Hall of Teresa Carreño Theater in Caracas, with the aim of discussing the progress of the Economic Agenda for Binational Cooperation and continue strengthening relations between the two nations throughout the year. The […]
Venezuela Signs Eight Agreements with China
(PDVSA, 13.Feb.2017) – PDVSA ratified its cooperation with the People’s Republic of China with the signing of eight agreements at the 15th China-Venezuela High Level Joint Commission, which was held at the José Félix Ribas Hall of the Teresa Carreño Theater in Caracas. The event was headed by Venezuela’s President […]
Venezuela in Talks with China About Grace Period
(Energy Analytics Institute, Jared Yamin, 14.Jun.2016) – Venezuela continues to discuss matters with China regarding a grace period for the South American country to pay back loans to the Asian country, reported Reuters, citing three sources familiar with the discussions. During the period Venezuela would pay back only the interest […]
Petrobras Signs Credit with China Exim Bank
(Petrobras, 9.May.2016) – Petrobras signed a term sheet with China Exim Bank (Export-Import Bank of China) containing the main terms and conditions for a $1 billion loan. The final loan agreement is already being negotiated, anticipating the funding planned for 2017. The agreement is related to supply contracts for equipment […]
IFC, China-Mexico to Invest $200 Mln in Citla
(IFC, 21.Apr.2016) – International Finance Corp. (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, and the ChinaMexico Fund (CMF), a $1.2 billion private equity fund managed by the IFC Asset Management Company (AMC), will invest $200 million in Citla Energy, SAPI de CV (Citla or Citla Energy), a Mexican independent […]
Ecuador’s Refinery Dream Seems More A Fantasy
(S&P Global Platts, 15.Feb.2016) — It was supposed to be the biggest investment ever in Ecuador: $12 billion for a 300,000 b/d refinery and a kick-start to industrialization with a major petrochemical complex. After $1.2 billion and eight years of broken promises, the Eloy Alfaro Refinery of the Pacific near […]
Ecuador, China Advance Refinery Plans
(OGJ, 24.Jan.2014) — China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) and the Ecuadorean government have reached an agreement regarding cooperation in a plan to construct a long-delayed refinery on Ecuador’s Pacific Coast. On Jan. 21, Ecuador’s Vice-President Jorge Glas and CNCP Chairman Zhou Jiping reached a joint-approval of the feasibility report for […]