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China's teapot refiners expand aggressively to stay operational

Singapore (Platts)–1Nov2013/503 am EDT/903 GMT China’s independent teapot refineries in eastern Shandong province have significantly expanded their capacities in the last few years ahead of an end-2013 deadline set by the government to eliminate smaller plants. In an effort to cool overheated growth and promote efficient use of resources in the sector, Beijing had mandated the closure of small plants in the independent refining sector in the last few years. It originally wanted teapot refineries with under 1 million mt/year (20,082 b/d) of topping capacity to shut by the end of 2011, but intensified this in March of the same year by decreeing further consolidation, mandating the closure of refineries with crude distillation capacity under 2 million mt/year by the end of 2013. Article continues below… Request a free trial of: Oilgram News Oilgram News Oilgram News brings you fast-breaking global petroleum and gas news on and including: Industry […]

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China’s teapot refiners expand aggressively to stay operational

Singapore (Platts)–1Nov2013/503 am EDT/903 GMT China’s independent teapot refineries in eastern Shandong province have significantly expanded their capacities in the last few years ahead of an end-2013 deadline set by the government to eliminate smaller plants. In an effort to cool overheated growth and promote efficient use of resources in the sector, Beijing had mandated the closure of small plants in the independent refining sector in the last few years. It originally wanted teapot refineries with under 1 million mt/year (20,082 b/d) of topping capacity to shut by the end of 2011, but intensified this in March of the same year by decreeing further consolidation, mandating the closure of refineries with crude distillation capacity under 2 million mt/year by the end of 2013. Article continues below… Request a free trial of: Oilgram News Oilgram News Oilgram News brings you fast-breaking global petroleum and gas news on and including: Industry […]

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China seen replacing Russia as central Asia’s outside energy force

China potentially could supplant Russia as the main energy broker in central Asian countries that don’t have their own significant fossil fuel resources, suggested 10 graduate fellows from the region at Johns Hopkins University’s School for Advanced International Studies. But the relationship would be more commercial than geopolitical, the Fall 2013 Rumsfeld Fellows in the Silk Road Studies Program at SAIS’s Central Asia-Caucasus Institute added. Several countries in the region are aggressively pursuing waste energy and other biogas alternatives as well as hydropower, they said. “So the question becomes what the development of local firms pursuing green technology means alongside China’s presence,” said S. Frederick Starr, the institute’s chairman who moderated the discussion. “The people in this region are more resourceful than some outsiders believe. What’s happening on the smaller scale may mean more and be a bigger response to the fear of Chinese dominance than they expect.” An […]

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ONGC Risks First Loss on Oil as Discounts Climb: Corporate India

Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) , India’s most-profitable company, is at risk of incurring a loss at its crude oil business for the first time as subsidy payments and production expenses rise. The cost of producing crude oil has increased 5 percent, while buyers are paying 4 percent less for the product, squeezing margins, according to Chairman Sudhir Vasudeva. ONGC may give 137 billion rupees ($2.2 billion) as discounts on its crude oil sales to government-run refiners including Indian Oil Corp. (IOCL) for the three months through Sept. 30, Vasudeva said. That’s 11 percent higher than a year earlier. “The narrowing margins at some point is going to affect our growth, our capex, and our business,” Vasudeva, 59, said by phone from New Delhi . “It’s difficult to sustain, difficult to plan for the future.” Pretax margins at ONGC, which is responsible for bolstering India’s energy supplies, have […]

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Shell moves ahead with 80,000 bpd project in Alberta, Canada

THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Oct. 31 (UPI) — Royal Dutch Shell said Thursday it was moving ahead with a project in Alberta, Canada, expected to produce 80,000 barrels of oil per day. “I’m pleased we’re moving ahead with this important project,” Lorraine Mitchelmore, a vice president in charge of heavy oil developments, said in a statement. “Our decision to invest in Carmon Creek has been carefully studied with the goal of designing a project that is competitive from a commercial, technological and environmental perspective.” Shell owns a 100 percent stake in the Carmon Creek facility. Heavier grades of Canadian oil are too thick to flow naturally so Shell will use a steam injection system to heat the oil and reduce its viscosity. “Once the project is up and running the aim is to virtually eliminate the need for freshwater use for steam generation through recycling of water produced with the […]

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No Pipeline? Exxon Thinks About Taking the Train

REUTERS By Daniel Gilbert Exxon Mobil Corp.’s ambition of boosting production depends in large part on wringing more crude from the oil sands of Western Canada. One challenge: Getting that crude to market to get paid. With room on Canadian oil pipelines in short supply, and the future of the proposed Keystone XL project in doubt , Exxon is considering building a rail terminal in Edmonton, Alberta to haul crude into the U.S. on trains, a company executive said on Thursday. “We are looking at a number of logistical opportunities that we have,” David Rosenthal, Exxon’s head of investor relations, said of routes out of the oil sands, including Keystone XL. “But, as would be prudent, we are looking at other options” like the rail terminal. Some big refiners have pooh-poohed the importance of TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL pipeline expansion, which would carry crude to the hub of refineries […]

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Canada Approves ConocoPhillips Test Oil Drilling in Arctic North

CALGARY, Alberta—Canada’s federal energy regulator on Wednesday approved an application by ConocoPhillips COP +0.11% ConocoPhillips U.S.: NYSE $ 73.33 +0.08 +0.11% Oct. 31, 2013 4:00 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 5.44M AFTER HOURS $ 73.30 -0.03 -0.04% Oct. 31, 2013 6:27 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): 118,539 P/E Ratio 12.16 Market Cap $89.59 Billion Dividend Yield 3.76% Rev. per Employee $3,383,200 10/31/13 What WSJ Canada Is Reading Thu… 10/31/13 ConocoPhillips’ Profit Jumps o… 10/30/13 Canada Approves ConocoPhillips… More quote details and news » COP in Your Value Your Change Short position to begin exploratory drilling for oil in the Northwest Territories, the first such permission granted for hydraulic fracturing of horizontally drilled wells in the Canadian Arctic north. The National Energy Board authorized the company to drill two exploratory wells near the town of Norman Wells, which is 684 kilometers (425 miles) northwest of the provincial capitol of Yellowknife. ConocoPhillips […]

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Phillips 66 to Build Texas Terminal to Export Propane, Butane Overseas

Phillips 66 PSX -1.23% Phillips 66 U.S.: NYSE $ 64.43 -0.80 -1.23% Oct. 31, 2013 4:05 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 3.57M AFTER HOURS $ 64.43 0.00 0.00% Oct. 31, 2013 5:11 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): 212,797 P/E Ratio 11.11 Market Cap $39.86 Billion Dividend Yield 2.42% Rev. per Employee $11,771,600 10/31/13 Phillips 66 to Build Texas Ter… More quote details and news » PSX in Your Value Your Change Short position plans to build a terminal in Texas aimed at exporting propane and butane overseas to meet growing demand for those inexpensive fuels, which are being produced in the U.S. alongside oil and natural gas. The company’s terminal will be built at the company’s existing site in Freeport, Texas, on the coast south of Houston, and will be capable of exporting 4.4 million barrels of fuel a month. “There are attractive markets outside of the United States for […]

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EIA: U.S. August Lower 48 Natural-Gas Output Up 0.3% to Record High

By David Bird NEW YORK–U.S. natural-gas output in the Lower 48 states climbed 0.3% in August from an upwardly revised July level to a record high of 74.82 billion cubic feet per day, preliminary government figures released Thursday show. The Energy Information Administration data show August output was up 3.1% from a year earlier. That is the largest year-on-year growth for any month since output rose by 5% on this basis in September 2012. The EIA revised July output up to 74.62 billion cubic feet per day from the preliminary level of 74.52 billion cubic feet per day reported a month earlier. The biggest rise in output in August came from what EIA refers to as “other states,” or those outside the traditional producing areas of Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Wyoming. Output from this region rose 2.4%, or 0.64 billion cubic feet per day, as new wells […]

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Chevron inks shale gas deal in Ukraine

KIEV, Ukraine, Oct. 31 (UPI) — The Ukrainian government announced it approved a draft agreement with Chevron for shale natural gas extraction in the western part of the country. Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said under the draft deal Chevron would invest $350 million in shale exploration at the Oleske field in western Ukraine, the National Radio Company of Ukraine reported Wednesday. NRCU reported the field is expected to hold more than 100 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The announcement comes after Russian energy company Gazprom said Ukraine was late in paying off its natural gas debt. Gazprom cut natural gas supplies to Ukraine most recently in 2009 because of payment concerns. Ukraine says it’s paying more for Russian gas than its regional counterparts. Ukraine is one of the Eastern European countries thought to be rich in shale natural gas. The government said there may be enough natural […]

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