Oman’s oil minister said on Sunday he was excited to be part of a Sri Lanka oil refinery project in a sign that plans for the sultanate’s involvement may be back on track. Sri Lanka said last week that Oman Oil Co had made clear it was interested in taking a 30 percent stake in the new refinery on Sri Lanka’s south coast. But an Omani official denied the Middle Eastern country had agreed to invest in the project. Rumhy joined Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe at the laying ...

China’s oil majors are filling up at the right time. PetroChina’s losses on gas imports swelled last year, thanks to low rates at home. Yet the $200 billion behemoth and rivals are preparing to buy more liquefied natural gas from the United States anyway. It’s a good way to help defuse trade tension, of course. More importantly, the purchases can lock in supply before an expected shortfall. PetroChina said on Thursday that it took a 24.9 billion yuan ($3.7 billion) hit on its gas imports last year, 960 million yuan ...

Asia’s top refiner China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) boosted spending on exploration and production by 41 percent last year as crude oil reserves tumbled at its biggest oilfield. Sinopec’s upstream capital expenditure rose to 59.6 billion yuan ($8.9 billion), its highest since 2014, as the company prepares to ramp up exploration at the Shengli oilfield and shale gas blocks in the southwestern Sichuan province. The jump in spending was partially in response to Beijing’s call for energy security, while untapped proven crude reserve from Shengli fell to 16 million ...

Asian gas customers are paying less than their European counterparts for the first time in years as swelling global LNG supplies pressured the region’s main index below Europe’s benchmark hub price this week. Deliveries of liquified natural gas on the Japan/Korea Marker last settled at USD 4.73/MMbtu (EUR 14.20/MWh), less than half where they stood in October and some of their lowest levels in nearly three years. By comparison, the relevant May contract on the Dutch TTF gas hub last closed at EUR 14.65/MWh. Though trading at its lowest level ...

Refinery maintenance works remain the focus in Europe, although attention has shifted to upgrades in preparations for the upcoming lower global marine fuel sulfur cap, and industrial action also threatens refinery operations. Under global IMO regulations, it will be mandatory to cut sulfur emissions from marine fuels used in international waters to 0.5% from next year, down from the current 3.5%. Industrial action is increasingly in the spotlight in the refining sector. The Unite union in the UK will ballot its members at the Essar Stanlow refinery for possible industrial ...

In the $40 trillion global oil-trading market, the smallest clue can be worth millions. Take the number of people working at a refinery: Outside contractors are brought in for routine maintenance or to handle accidents that could limit demand for crude oil or curb the supply of fuels. While oil companies rarely reveal such sensitive information, traders can gain insight into refinery operations by tracking the number of mobile phones at the plant, a proxy for the arrival of support crews. It’s the latest example of how traders, rival companies ...

Since 2012, when horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques became more common, U.S. production of natural gas plant liquids (NGPL) has significantly increased, averaging 4.3 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2018, up from 2.5 million b/d in 2012. Nearly three-quarters of U.S. NGPL production is concentrated within six producing regions. The Permian, Eagle Ford, and Appalachian regions made up more than half of all U.S. NGPL production in 2017. An additional one-quarter of NGPL production was located in three other regions—the Anadarko Basin in western Oklahoma and Texas; the ...

The global gas market sees and will continue to see dramatic increases in the supplies of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the upcoming years. The three big producers – Qatar, Australia and the U.S. – as well as others are expected to increase their production capacities, sending out copious amounts of resources and vying for a larger share in the market with fierce competition. This abundance, without a doubt, will offer advantageous terms for importers like Turkey that has foreseen the coming age of LNG and reinforced its storage and ...

British wholesale gas prices were mostly lower on Friday morning due to strong supply, especially from liquefied natural gas. * Within-day gas price down 0.45 pence at 36.60 p/therm at 0942 GMT. * April gas declined by 0.50 pence to 36.50 p/therm * Strong supplies, especially from expected arrivals of liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers was weighing on prices, a trader said. * Seven LNG tankers are expected to arrive in Britain in the next two weeks. * Asian spot prices for LNG this week hit $4.65 per million British ...

Russian liquified natural gas (LNG) is well positioned to compete with North American projects to reach new markets in Asia and the Atlantic Basin, global commodities information provider S&P Global Platts quoted a Shell executive as saying. LNG is a fuel that has been cooled to liquid form so it takes up less volume and is cheaper to store and ship. Russian LNG can offer at least three location options to produce the fuel, Platts quoted Shell’s senior deal lead Stuart Bradford as saying at the LNG Congress in Moscow. ...

Singapore’s onshore middle distillate commercial inventories fell to a three-month low last week, amid stock drawdowns and a decline in imports. According to data out late Thursday from Enterprise Singapore, the stocks fell 9.87% week on week to 10.865 million barrels in the week ended March 20 — the first time these levels fell below the 12-million-barrel mark since February 13. The data indicated that Singapore was a net importer of jet fuel/kerosene that week, with total combined inflows of 64,427.42 mt, up from the previous week when imports were ...

Russia’s Gazprom and Novatek should develop an integrated strategy to supply their final consumers amid fierce competition, according to Tatiana Mitrova, director at the Skolkovo Energy Center. Speaking at the LNG Congress in Moscow this week, Mitrova described the global LNG market as a “cruel battlefield,” pointing to new suppliers competing with Russia, including in Qatar, the US and Australia. At the same time, demand has become highly unpredictable, with buyers now seeking more flexibility and short-term commitment. “I was in Singapore last week and Asian participants were talking about ...

The leaders of Greece, Cyprus and Israel on Wednesday reaffirmed their support for the planned 1,900 km EastMed gas pipeline to bring gas from the East Mediterranean via Cyprus and Crete to Greece by 2025, but stopped short of announcing a formal intergovernmental agreement. The EastMed pipeline — under development by a 50:50 joint venture between Italy’s Edison and Greece’s DEPA — would link into other planned pipeline projects in Europe so that Cypriot and Israeli gas could be piped onward to Italy and southeast European markets. An intergovernmental agreement ...

Asian spot prices for liquefied natural gas (LNG) broke below the $5 per million British thermal unit (mmBtu) mark this week following a 13-week price slide that reflects the absence of growth in demand or any major outages. Spot prices for May delivery to Northeast Asia dropped 80 cents to $4.65 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) this week according to traders although there were few actual transactions with Asia’s biggest buyers, Japan, Korea or China. Asian LNG spot prices are now at their lowest level since May 2016 and ...

A $2 billion coal seam gas project that could ease a looming gas shortage in eastern Australia is at risk of becoming a casualty in a weekend election in the country’s most populous state. The Narrabri project, owned by Santos Ltd, could supply up to half of New South Wales’ gas needs and help ease soaring energy prices, but has faced fierce opposition from farmers and green groups in a campaign that has resonated widely, particularly in key Sydney city electorates. A failure to proceed will offer a fillip to ...