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UPDATE 1-China Dalian Port receives first VLCC after blast

July 30, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

300,000-tonne oil berth resumes operations

* Tanker discharging at a pace one third of normal rate

* Slow speed due to temporary pipeline installed after blast (Adds details of first VLCC discharging now)

HONG KONG/BEIJING, July 29 (Reuters) – China’s Dalian Port is receiving the first very large crude carrier nearly two weeks after a pipeline blast that spilled oil into the sea and forced its only 300,000-tonne berth to shut, state media said on Thursday.

The resumption of oil discharging from China-flagged tanker “Yuanshanhu” started at midnight on Wednesday but it would be at a slower pace than before the accident after PetroChina, operator of the Xingang oil terminal, installed a temporary crude line.

A Dalian-based shipping agent told Reuters that the new crude line only allowed 5,000 cubic metres of oil flow each hour. That compares with a normal rate three times as fast, which means further potential delays in offloading arriving vessels or more cargoes being diverted.

“The idea is to lighten up the big tanker first before moving to the nearby smaller berth which can offload about 8,000 cubic metres per hour,” said the shipping official.

The vessel carries Middle Eastern crude for PetroChina’s WEPEC refinery, the 200,000 barrel-per-day plant close to the site of the accident that was forced to cut production and halt fuel exports after the explosion damaged two main pipelines and a crude tank at the port.

Dalian Port (2880.HK) said earlier on Thursday it had resumed operations at all its terminal and ground facilities, including the largest berth of 300,000 dead weight tonnage (dwt), the port said in a filing with the Hong Kong bourse.

Dalian Port also said it would start operating in the near future a super large crude berth, No. 22, designed to handle 450,000 dwt tanker, which will be the country’s largest. (Reporting by Donny Kwok in Hong Kong and Chen Aizhu in Beijing; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: BEIJING, berth, bourse, cargoes, China Dalian, crude carrier, cubic metres, Dalian Port, jacqueline wong, Oil Flow, Oil Terminal, petrochina, pipelines, refinery, resumption, reuters, Shipping Agent, Slow Speed, tonnage, vlcc

PetroChina diverts oil tanker to S.Korea from Dalian

July 21, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

July 20 (Reuters) – PetroChina (0857.HK) has diverted the Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) “Mogamigawa” from fire-hit Dalian port in northeast China to Daesan in South Korea, a shipbroker said on Tuesday.

AIS Live ship tracking system showed the 270,000-deadweight tonne vessel has already reached Daesan port.

Data showed that the ship’s draft is at 19.3 metres (63 ft) indicating that it is still fully loaded.

PetroChina’s shipping arm Glasford chartered the VLCC to load on June 26 crude oil in the Middle East, a shipping fixture showed.

China closed the Dalian Xingang oil port, home to the country’s largest oil reserve bases and a major source of crude oil imports to PetroChina’s northeastern refineries, after crude pipeline explosions spilled oil into the sea.

Industry sources are divided on how long the port will stay shut, with some estimating between seven and more than 10 days. Local officials said it could be shut for around five days.

The closure is expected to delay crude oil imports as well as exports of gasoline and diesel. [ID:nTOE66I02V] [ID:nSGE66I0AZ]

Shipping sources said on Monday as many as six Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) or 12 million barrels of crude due to be discharged in August, are set to be diverted from the Dalian port after the incident.

Latest data showed that three VLCCs are still slated to arrive in Dalian within the next two weeks from the Middle East.

PetroChina has leased from Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) [KOILC.UL] some 2 million barrels of crude oil storage in Seosan, on the west coast of South Korea, the sources said. (Reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Ramthan Hussain)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: crude carrier, Crude Carriers, crude oil imports, Crude Pipeline, Dalian Port, Deadweight, industry sources, Knoc, national oil, northeast china, Oil In The Middle East, Oil Port, Oil Reserve, Oil Storage, oil tanker, petrochina, Pipeline Explosions, reuters, Shipbroker, South Korea

China closes oil port after spill; PetroChina cuts output

July 20, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

July 19 (Reuters) – China closed the Xingang oil port in Dalian after a crude pipeline explosion that spilled oil into the sea, an oil industry executive said on Monday.

PetroChina (0857.HK), which operates two major refineries and a major crude reserve base there, has set up a contingency plan for oil supplies to cope with one week’s port closure, including scaling back refinery operations at one of the plants, the executive told Reuters.

(Reporting by Chen Aizhu; Editing by Ken Wills)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: 0857, China, closure, Contingency Plan, Crude Pipeline, Dalian, Hk, ken wills, Oil Industry Executive, Oil Port, Oil Spill, oil supplies, petrochina, Pipeline Explosion, plants, refineries, Refinery Operations, reuters

China battles large oil slick after pipeline blast

July 20, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

July 19 (Reuters) – Chinese authorities are battling to contain a 50 sq km oil slick after two crude oil pipelines exploded in the northeastern port of Dalian, state media reported on Monday.

Hundreds of firefighters battled for more than 15 hours to extinguish the blaze that started late on Friday when a pipe transporting crude oil from a ship to a storage tank blew up, causing a second pipeline nearby to explode. [ID:nTOE66G007]

There were no casualties, but state television said oil had contaminated the ocean off the port city in Liaoning Province.

The storage facility is jointly owned by Dalian port and China’s top oil company, China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC).

Workers are using skimmers and dispersants to break up the oil slick and stop it spreading, the official China Daily said. The pollution is concentrated about 100 km (62 miles) offshore.

“By Sunday evening, about 7,000 meters of floating booms had been set up and at least 20 oil skimmers were working to clean the spill,” the newspaper quoted local officials as saying.

There are no residents within 3 km (1.8 miles) of the affected site, and little “marine farming”, the report added.

The Xingang oil storage site, where the explosion happened, is home to one of the country’s first government-held emergency crude stockpiles.

It is also a transfer spot for two nearby major refineries, Dalian Petrochemical Corp and West Pacific Petrochemical Corp (WEPEC), both operated by PetroChina (0857.HK) with a combined crude processing capacity of 600,000 barrels per day.

It was not immediately clear if the spill caused suspensions of new cargo offloadings at the port, oil traders said.

The blast happened when a Liberian-flagged tanker was off-loading oil, the China Daily said.

The cause of the blast is under investigation, and CNPC, the parent of PetroChina (PTR.N)(0857.HK), said monitoring of the air and sea environment had been stepped up in the affected areas.

The incident has drawn the attention of top Chinese officials, including President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and security chief Zhou Yongkang, who all issued statements and instructions during the blaze. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Chen Aizhu, editing by Jonathan Thatcher)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: china daily, chinese authorities, cnpc, Crude Oil Pipelines, Dispersants, Liberian, Loading Oil, national petroleum, Oil Skimmers, Oil Slick, Oil Storage, Oil Traders, Petrochemical Corp, petrochina, Petroleum Corp, processing capacity, Sea Environment, state television, storage facility, Storage Tank

China’s CNPC seeks to contain oil spill after pipe blast

July 19, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

July 18 (Reuters) – China’s largest oil company, China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), sought to contain ocean pollution and other impacts from an explosion of two crude oil pipelines in the northeastern port of Dalian, state media reported on Sunday.

There were no casualties, but state television CCTV reported that oil had contaminated a 50 sq km area of the ocean off the port city in Liaoning Province.

Xinhua, citing company officials, said a valve had been closed and oil had stopped leaking into the sea, adding that the spill area had been “fenced off and contained”.

But it was not immediately clear how much oil had leaked into the sea.

Calls to the company on Sunday went unanswered.

CNPC, the parent of PetroChina (PTR.N)(0857.HK), said that monitoring of the air and sea environment had been stepped up in the affected areas.

The incident drew the attention of top Chinese officials, including President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and security chief Zhou Yongkang, who all issued statements and instructions during the blaze.

The cause of the blast was under investigation.

(Reporting by Ken Wills; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: chinese officials, cnpc, Crude Oil Pipelines, Hu Jintao, ken wills, Liaoning Province, national petroleum, Ocean Pollution, Oil Spill, petrochina, Petroleum Corp, premier wen jiabao, President Hu Jintao, reuters, Sea Environment, security chief, Spill Area, state television, Storage Tank, Yongkang

Arrow approves takeover by Shell-PetroChina

July 15, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – Arrow Energy (AOE.AX) shareholders approved a $3.05 billion takeover by Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) and PetroChina’s (0857.HK) on Wednesday, clearing the way for a final legal go-ahead due later this week.

Shareholders voted to demerge Arrow’s international assets into Dart Energy, a newly listed entity, and to sell the bulk of the company, including the coveted coal-seam gas assets to a consortium of Shell and PetroChina in an agreed deal.

The deal cleared a major regulatory hurdle on Wednesday after the National Development and Reform Commission of China recommended the offer and waived a requirement to obtain clearance from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange of China.

The last hurdle for the deal will be approval from the Federal Court of Australia, which is due to rule on the spin-off on July 16.

The Shell-PetroChina joint venture will integrate Arrow’s Australian assets with Shell’s existing CSG assets and Shell’s site for a planned Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant on Curtis Island, Queensland, the companies said previously.

Shell and PetroChina will each own 50 percent of the gas produced by the LNG plant and the Anglo-Dutch oil major said it was likely to sell its gas to China.

^> Shell and PetroChina offered A$4.70 a share for most of Arrow’s domestic coal seam gas assets. Arrow shareholders are also set to receive one share in Dart Energy, for each share in Arrow.

Arrow shares, which have risen more than 20 percent so far this calendar year, last traded at A$4.99.

(Reporting by Michael Smith; Editing by Ed Davies and Balazs Koranyi)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: anglo dutch, AOE, Balazs, Coal Seam Gas, Curtis Island, Domestic Coal, Dutch oil, Ed Davies, Federal Court Of Australia, gas assets, Gas Lng, International Assets, Last Hurdle, Liquefied Natural Gas, petrochina, rdsa, Regulatory Hurdle, reuters, Royal Dutch Shell, state administration of foreign exchange

UPDATE 2-Arrow approves takeover by Shell-PetroChina

July 15, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

SYDNEY, July 14 (Reuters) – Arrow Energy (AOE.AX) shareholders approved a $3.05 billion takeover by Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) and PetroChina’s (0857.HK) on Wednesday, clearing the way for a final legal go-ahead due later this week.

The last hurdle for the deal will be approval from the Federal Court of Australia, which is due to rule on the spin-off on July 16.

Shell and PetroChina will each own 50 percent of the gas produced by the LNG plant and the Anglo-Dutch oil major said it was likely to sell its gas to China. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ For Factbox on Australia coal seam gas [ID:nSGE62703Z] For graphic: link.reuters.com/fan64j ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^> Shell and PetroChina offered A$4.70 a share for most of Arrow’s domestic coal seam gas assets. Arrow shareholders are also set to receive one share in Dart Energy, for each share in Arrow.

Arrow shares, which have risen more than 20 percent so far this calendar year, last traded at A$4.99. (Reporting by Michael Smith; Editing by Ed Davies and Balazs Koranyi)

CNPC to level ground for Yunnan refinery in October-media

July 10, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

July 9 (Reuters) – State-owned oil company China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), parent of PetroChina (0857.HK) (601857.SS)(PTR.N), plans to begin leveling ground in October for its first refinery in southwestern Yunnan province, local media reported on Friday.

The proposed 200,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery would be the first main facility to process crude oil from the China-Myanmar crude pipeline, construction of which was officially launched last month and is expected to be operational in 2012 amid a drive to diversify oil imports routes.

“CNPC plans to acquire land from farmers from September and start leveling ground from October,” the vice-mayor of Anning was quoted as saying by the Du Shi Times.

The project would be located in Anning, 32 km west of Kunming, capital of Yunnan province, the report said, adding that early-stage work of the 23 billion yuan ($3.39 billion) refinery was proceeding well.

The China-Myanmar oil pipeline, which helps cut oil cargos’ long detour through the congested Malacca Strait, will have a capacity of 240,000-bpd in its first phase. ($1=6.776 Yuan) (Reporting by Jim Bai and Aizhu Chen; Editing by Chris Lewis)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: bai, crude oil, Crude Pipeline, Local Media, Malacca Strait, national petroleum, oil company, Oil Imports, oil pipeline, petrochina, Petroleum Corp, phase 1, Pipeline Construction, Ptr, refinery, reuters, Stage Work, Vice Mayor, Yuan, Yunnan Province

China majors’ fuel stocks down 3.2 pct in June -source

July 10, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

July 9 (Reuters) – Combined inventories of gasoline, diesel and kerosene held by China’s top two oil firms were down around 3.2 percent in June versus May, due to stronger domestic sales, an industry official said on Friday.

Diesel stocks held by Sinopec Corp (0386.HK) and PetroChina (0857.HK) were down a sharp 6.3 percent last month from May, while that of gasoline rose 1.9 percent, said the official with knowledge of the data.

Domestic sales of the three main fuels rose 1.9 percent to about 20.4 million tonnes. (Reporting by Chen Aizhu; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: 0386, 0857, China, Fuel Stocks, gasoline diesel, Hk, inventories, jacqueline wong, kerosene, majors, Oil Firms, pct, petrochina, reuters, Sinopec, Sinopec Corp

China May crude imports off peak, fuel stocks down

June 11, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – China’s May crude oil imports fell from a peak in April, while net fuel imports were also down sharply from the previous month, as oil firms cut stocks after earlier frenzied oil purchases.

Hot Stocks

China imported 17.84 million tonnes of crude last month, or 4.2 million barrels per day (bpd), up 4.3 percent over May 2009 in the slowest growth in 13 months, preliminary customs data showed on Thursday.

The amount fell from an all-time high in April of 5.15 million bpd, but imports for the first five months rose by a strong 29.3 percent on the year at 95.96 million tonnes, or 4.64 million bpd, powered by a strong economic recovery and the country’s expanding refining capacity.

The world’s second-largest oil user remained a net buyer of refined fuel, though net fuel imports last month fell 42 percent from April, as oil firms extended heavy exports of gasoline and diesel while keeping domestic operations near peak rates.

Meantime, combined stocks of gasoline, diesel and kerosene held by Sinopec Corp (0386.HK) and PetroChina (0857.HK) were down for the third straight month in May versus April and March, an industry official with knowledge of the data told Reuters.

Though the oil majors total domestic sales dipped from April, demand was bolstered by the country’s surprisingly strong export sector and massive infrastructure building that has spurred diesel consumptions.

“We were surprised to see a double-digit growth in our sales this year, above our forecast of a normal growth of 6-8 percent,” said a fuel marketing executive with PetroChina, referring to the firm’s sales of gasoline, diesel and kerosene.

While gasoline stocks climbed 4.3 percent over April, diesel fell 3.7 percent following a steep 12.4 percent fall in the previous month, the industry official said.

China is due to release the official production data on Friday.

A Reuters monthly poll has shown China’s top oil plants were running at their second-highest ever rate in May, or close to 94 percent of utilization, inspired by a largely guaranteed refining margin.

(Editing by Ed Lane)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: bpd, crude oil imports, Domestic Operations, Double Digit Growth, export sector, Fuel Imports, Fuel Stocks, gasoline diesel, Gasoline Stocks, Hot Stocks, kerosene, Oil Firms, Oil Majors, oil plants, Oil Purchases, Peak Rates, petrochina, s sales, Sinopec, Sinopec Corp

Mideast sovereign funds eye China’s AgBank IPO

May 31, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – Several Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds are holding talks with the Agricultural Bank of China ABC.UL about investing in its IPO in Shanghai and Hong Kong this year, the China Business News reported on Monday.

Deals | China

The Kuwait Investment Authority intends to invest about $1 billion to become a cornerstone investor in the Chinese bank’s $30 billion initial public offering, which would be the world’s largest IPO, the newspaper reported, citing a source at one of the underwriters.

The newspaper also said an institutional investor from the United Arab Emirates was holding talks, but it did not name the other sovereign wealth funds involved in the discussions.

AgBank, set to become the last of China’s big four banks to list its shares, has cleared a preliminary hearing with the country’s securities regulator, local media reported last week.

The bank received a $19 billion capital injection from Central Huijin, an investment arm of China’s sovereign fund, at the end of 2008. It also hived off 800 billion yuan ($117.1 billion) of bad loans to clean up its books in preparation for the listing.

China’s National Social Security Fund has invested 15 billion yuan ($2.20 billion), Ji Guoqiang, an official with the fund, said this month.

The fund hopes AgBank will list as soon as possible, Ji said, although big swings in stock markets locally and globally have cast some doubt over whether the bank might postpone its share issue to wait for market conditions to improve.

AgBank is expected to get regulatory approval for the IPO in early June, the China Business News reported on Friday, citing a banking source.

Another local newspaper, the Securities Daily, said last week that PetroChina (0857.HK), the country’s biggest oil and gas producer, could be brought on as a strategic investor for AgBank’s IPO.

If it does not bring on any foreign strategic investors, AgBank would be the only one among China’s “big four” banks to go public without doing so, underscoring how the global financial crisis has dented the reputation of some foreign banks in China.

(Reporting by Langi Chiang and Jason Subler; Editing by Ken Wills)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: agricultural bank of china, Bank Of China, China Abc, china business news, chinese bank, citing a source, gas producer, Initial Public Offering, institutional investor, Investment Arm, Kuwait Investment Authority, National Social Security, petrochina, Preliminary Hearing, regulatory approval, Securities Regulator, share issue, Social Security Fund, stock markets, United Arab Emirates

Shares fall on weak commodities

March 23, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Local shares are losing value, with weaker commodity prices dragging the market down.

The All Ordinaries Index was down 35 points, or 0.75 per cent to 4,855 just before midday (AEDT), and the ASX 200 was 34 points lower at 4,838.

Shares in Arrow Energy have fallen more than 3 per cent, despite an improved takeover offer from Royal Dutch Shell and PetroChina.

BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto were both down around 1.5 per cent shortly after midday.

The big four banks are also under pressure.

ANZ had the biggest losses in the morning, down 0.9 per cent just after midday, while NAB was performing best – it was down only 2 cents at $26.88.

The Australian dollar was also weaker at 91.42 US cents.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: AEDT, arrow, Asx 200, Australia, Australian dollar, banks, bhp billiton, business-economics-and-finance, commodities, commodity prices, currency markets, Finance Markets, losses, midday, nab, petrochina, rio tinto, Royal Dutch Shell, stockmarket, takeover

CNPC plans to issue China’s first dollar-bond

April 21, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

SHANGHAI, April 20 (Reuters) – China National Petroleum Corp plans to issue a $1 billion three-year floating-rate bond in the interbank market soon, the nation’s first dollar-denominated issue by a non-financial institution in China’s interbank market, several sources told Reuters on Monday.

CNPC, the parent of PetroChina (601857.SS)(0857.HK), has registered dollar-denominated bill issuances of up to $3 billion with the National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors (NAFMII), the sources said.

“Once the registation process with the industry association has been completed, issuance in the interbank market will start very soon,” said one of the sources.

An official at NAFMII, who was contacted by telephone by Reuters, declined to comment on CNPC’s issue but said information related to all bond registrations would be posted on NAFMII’s website.

The state-run oil firm said on Friday it had entered a $5 billion financing deal with Kazakhstan’s state oil company. [ID:nPEK11166]

($1 = 6.83 yuan)

(Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: 0857, 1 Billion, cnpc, company id, dollar bond, Financial Institution, Hk, institutional investors, interbank market, issuance, jacqueline wong, national petroleum, Oil Firm, petrochina, Petroleum Corp, registrations, reuters, shanghai, state oil company, Yuan