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Iran Ready to Export Natural Gas to India

After India left the IP Gas Pipeline project, a consortium of some Indian companies headed by South Asia Gas Enterprise Pvt. Ltd. (SAGE) expressed willingness to import Iran’s natural gas, Kameli told SHANA on Saturday. He went on to say that the company is waiting for the termination of anti-Iran sanctions to fund the construction of a 3000 km underwater (deep-sea) pipeline. The history of border conflicts between India and Pakistan made the Indian side opt for using a totally independent pipeline for importing gas from Iran, Kameli added. For years there has been talk of an India-Iran-Oman energy triangle, whereby an under-sea natural gas pipeline would connect Oman and India. As India’s economy grows, demand for gas will continue to exceed supply from domestic sources and imported gas will play an important role in bridging the demand-supply gap in the market. At first, India was supposed to import […]

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Liquid Gold – Qatar’s Natural Gas

Qatar has recently passed Lichtenstein to occupy the position as the world’s wealthiest nation. Despite claims from tourist sites that the country owes its economic fame to the 19th century pearl industry , the true source of Qatar’s fortunes lies under its windswept sands. Qatar, it is estimated, has the largest non-associated (i.e., not found with oil) natural gas fields in the world. The primary company charged with excavating and exporting the natural gas, is Qatar’s domestic Qatargas which, despite being partially owned by foreign investors, serves to fill the country’s coffers. Established in 1984, just 10 years after Qatar nationalized its energy resources, Qatargas pioneered the technique of creating liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the Middle East. Today, Qatargas is the largest producer of LNG on the planet. Natural gas has substantially contributed to building Qatar’s national identity. From the futuristic skyline of Doha to the extravagant lifestyle […]

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India quenches gasoline thirst with unusually high imports, shrinking exports

India’s oil product exports plunged nearly 30% to six-year lows in June as refiners diverted diesel to the domestic market to meet surging summer demand, while growing preference for petrol-driven vehicles supported gasoline consumption and triggered unusually high imports of the fuel. The sharp drop in exports occurred despite record runs at state-run and private refiners. "India’s product exports fell despite record refinery runs due to strong domestic demand. Burgeoning gasoline demand has forced Indian refineries to import gasoline. We expect gasoline demand to remain strong and hence imports to continue," said Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at Energy Aspects. India has imported 488,000 mt of gasoline in the first half of 2015, compared with just 61,000 mt in the same period the previous year, data released recently by the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell showed. Article continues below… The Platts Global Energy Awards is a competitive awards program […]

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China Stocks Suffer Sharpest Daily Fall Since 2007

China stocks suffered their sharpest daily percentage decline since 2007, as worries mount that authorities are pulling back on measures to prop up the market. The Shanghai Composite Index ended down 8.5% at 3725.56, its second-straight day of losses and worst daily percentage fall since February 27, 2007. China’s main index is up 6% from its recent low on July 8, but still off 28% from its high in June. The smaller Shenzhen Composite fell 7% to 2160.09 and the small-cap ChiNext Closed 7.4% Lower at 2683.45 Analysts say the selling came as investors fear the government is curbing its purchases of blue-chip stocks—and could even be testing whether the market can support itself. “The previous support from the government funds is apparently unsustainable,” said Fu Xuejun, a strategist at Huarong Securities. “They may withdraw support today to test whether the market has recovered its resilience. The government wants […]

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Deep-Sea Plan Fails, Leaving Korean Shipyards Struggling

Daewoo ship workers look at the Pazflor floating production, storage and offloading unit at a shipyard in Geoje, South Korea. Photographer: Jean Chung/Bloomberg The deep-ocean strategy is coming back to bite South Korean shipyards. Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. and Samsung Heavy Industries Co. — South Korea’s Big Three shipbuilders — ventured into offshore oil rigs starting around 2010. The goal was to avoid direct competition with China, where inexpensive labor could churn out low-profit tankers at cheaper rates. With oil prices climbing toward $100 a barrel, offshore rigs seemed like a savvy bet. Today the strategy seems to have backfired. Struggling with technology and a plunge in oil prices that has discouraged exploration, Korean vessel makers are racking up debt and could show billions of dollars in losses when they report earnings starting Monday. It’s the latest example of difficulties for the global […]

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China stocks tumble, suffer biggest one-day loss in eight years

An investor looks at an electronic board showing stock information at a brokerage house in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, China, July 24, 2015. Chinese shares tumbled more than 8 percent on Monday amid renewed fears about the outlook for the world’s No. 2 economy, reviving the specter of a full-blown market crash that prompted unprecedented government intervention earlier this month. Major indexes suffered their largest one-day drop since 2007, shattering a period of relative calm in China’s volatile stock markets since Beijing unleashed a barrage of support measures to arrest a slump that began in mid-June. The CSI300 index .CSI300 of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen plunged 8.6 percent, to 3,818.73, while the Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC lost 8.5 percent, to 3,725.56 points. While the falls followed lackluster data on profit at Chinese industrial firms on Monday and a disappointing private factory sector survey on Friday, there […]

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Sudden Drop in Crude-Oil Prices Roils U.S. Energy Firms’ Rebound

U.S. energy companies are planning more layoffs, asset sales and financial maneuvers to deal with a recent, sudden drop in U.S. crude-oil prices to under $50 a barrel, the lowest level in four months. The companies had been banking on a rebound in oil prices in the second half of 2015 after falling sharply late last year. Prices began to regain ground in the spring, rising so quickly that some American producers started hiring back drilling rigs to pump more crude. That speedy return to the oil patch and the threat of new Iranian oil production have pushed down prices more than 20% over the past six weeks to $48.14 as of Friday , bringing storm clouds back to the energy patch. Oil-field services providers that help drill wells have quietly revealed job cuts that were deeper than initially announced, and warned of more layoffs to come. Halliburton Co. […]

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Companies to Pledge $140 Billion in Efforts to Cut Carbon Emissions

WASHINGTON—More than a dozen U.S. companies on Monday will pledge to invest more than $140 billion in efforts to cut carbon emissions as part of a new Obama administration initiative leading up to the United Nations climate-change summit later this year. As soon as next week, the Environmental Protection Agency is set to issue final rules cutting carbon emissions from U.S. power plants. These regulations are the biggest driver behind the administration’s efforts to forge a global agreement at the U.N. conference in Paris to cut carbon emissions. Monday’s event is important because the administration sees corporate support for climate action as key to building momentum for the Paris talks in December. “It’s significant because they are carbon-intensive, energy-consuming companies making a bottom-up commitment to address climate change,” said Kevin Book, managing director at ClearView Energy Partners, a Washington-based analysis firm. None of the companies taking part in Monday’s […]

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Oil Heading for Fall as Diesel’s Engine Sputters

If you want to understand why oil is back below $50 a barrel and likely headed much lower once summer ends, start with PetroChina PTR -1.50 % ’s stock prices. Mainland-listed shares in China’s national oil champion are up 27% so far this year, while their Hong Kong-listed equivalents are down 9%. The former have, of course, been juiced by Beijing’s desperate measures to prop up the mainland stock market. The latter are more reflective of what is really happening with oil supply and demand. China is showing signs of strain. While official gross-domestic-product data continue to helpfully meet Beijing’s targets, other numbers—and the stock-market panic— point downward. The latest, preliminary reading of the Caixin China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index hit a 15-month low . The State Council promptly announced measures to boost trade. Broad-based drops in the prices of industrial commodities from iron ore to copper serve as […]

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Arch Coal’s Future Gets Darker

One of the world’s largest coal companies in terms of reserves, Arch has seen its stock slump some 99.7% in the past five years to 20 cents recently. That should be a more respectable $2 or so after Monday—but only because the number of shares will fall due to a reverse stock split . Big Coal is at once a faint shadow of itself yet still vital economically. Mainly used for power generation and metallurgy, the percentage of U.S. electricity from coal-fired plants recently fell to 30% , just below the share from natural gas, according to SNL Energy. Five years ago, coal had twice the share of gas at 44%. But years of cheap, abundant shale output and tightening environmental standards have led many utilities to shut coal plants. That shift hasn’t been enough to absorb the glut of North American gas, something that would be a relief […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple