China NEWS

Canada has signed its first binding supply agreement with China. A small-scale Canadian liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, FortisBC has joined hands with Top Speed Energy Corp and will supply 53,000 tonnes from its Tilbury facility for two years. Though this deal is small, the nation expects much larger deals with operators of bigger new terminals.

Chinese environment ministry has revealed that greenhouse gas emissions hit 12.3 billion tonnes in 2014, an increment of 53.5% from 2005. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change requires Beijing to submit an official inventory to the UN on a systematic basis. Although the country has pledged to show “the highest possible ambition”, it is also looking to bring its total emissions to a peak by “around 2030”.

Oil prices slipped in the international market on Monday, stressed by slowest Chinese economic growth in the last 27 years. Brent crude futures were traded at $66.51 a barrel. US WTI crude futures were priced at $59.93 per barrel. With local and international demand wavering due to the Sino-US trade war, the economic growth in China decelerated to 6.2% in the second quarter from the previous year.

CNOOC China Limited has signed a Cooperation Framework Agreement with Sinopec. Three joint study agreements have been signed between both the companies, “Joint Study Agreement on Bohai basin,” “Joint Study Agreement on North Jiangsu basin and South Yellow Sea basin” and “Joint Study Agreement on Beibu Gulf basin.” This cooperation will help to scientifically optimize the potential exploration zones and targets.

With mammoth new refineries in China yielding huge fuel output, the Chinese refiners are now moving to curb their output in the third quarter. In May, private refiner Hengli Petrochemical ran its 400,000-bpd plant in northeast China to full capacity, while Zhejiang Petrochemical commenced experimental runs at a similar-sized refinery. Sources have revealed that Dongming Petrochemical Group will shut down its 240,000-bpd plant this week for two months of maintenance.

Oil prices fell on Tuesday over global demand outlook amidst ongoing trade disputes, although the potential for conflicts in the Middle East. Brent crude futures dipped by 0.3% to $63.90 a barrel. US WTI crude futures dropped by 0.4% to $57.41 a barrel. The market has been facing demand pressure due to the U.S.-China trade war. Data released yesterday showed Japan’s core machinery orders dropping to the lowest in eight months.

Oil prices on Monday struggled to remain stable amidst Sino-US trade war and its impact on the global economy. Brent slipped to $64.20 per barrel. WTI climbed up to $57.57 a barrel. The tumbling market received some support from improved US jobs data of the last week. Senior Market Analyst at ONADA said, "Geopolitical risks remain plentiful, but the start of the week could see Iran worries ease".

Oil prices dropped in the international market on Friday as the market remained cautious ahead of the scheduled meeting US-China at the G20 summit and next week’s OPEC meeting. Brent crude futures dipped by 0.6% to $66.16 per barrel. US WTI crude futures dropped by 0.7% to $59.03 a barrel. President Trump has said that a trade deal is possible when he meets Xinping at the G20 countries summit tomorrow.

Oil prices slipped on Tuesday over the signs of global economic downturn due to escalating US-China trade tension. Brent dropped by 0.3% and was traded at $60.78 a barrel. WTI went down by 0.2% and was traded at $51.92 a barrel. However, the losses from the drop in prices were restricted due to the tanker attack in Middle East last week.

Heads of Agreement has been signed between NOVATEK, Sinopec and Gazprombank. This joint venture will focus on marketing LNG and natural gas to end-customers in China. The decision of forming JV was taken during the official visit of the President of the People’s Republic of China to the Russian Federation. NOVATEK's Chairman said, "This represents another step in implementing our long-term strategy across the entire value chain”.

Oil prices tumbled on Wednesday over the US-Sino trade war concerns which can trigger global economic instability. But the market stayed tight because of the OPEC-led supply cuts and political tensions in the Middle East. Brent crude went down by 0.7% and was traded at $69.60 a barrel. WTI was down 1.1% and was traded at $58.50 per barrel.

The slowdown of the global economy led to a mixed response from the crude market on Tuesday. Surrounded by the concerns of weakening Chinese economy, the prices still seek support from the ongoing OPEC-led supply cuts and US sanctions against Iran and Venezuela. Brent was traded at $69.90 a barrel. WTI was at $59.03 per barrel and was not traded on Monday.

Government data released yesterday indicated that Chinese crude oil throughput ramped up in April to hit record daily levels. The rising production levels at private refineries buoyed up the crude oil production in the country. Refinery runs saw an increase of 5% from the previous year to 52.1 million tonnes, matching the record throughput of 12.68 million barrels per day (bpd).

Oil prices dropped on Wednesday over rising levels of US crude stockpiles, and low Chinese industrial output, however tensions in the Middle East prevented further drops. Brent crude futures dropped 0.3%, and were traded at $71.04 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 0.7%, and were priced at $61.38 per barrel. An EIA report showed that crude inventories grew by 8.6 million barrels last week.

Oil prices climbed up on Tuesday. However, the prices were pulled lower due to the increasing tension over US-China trade war. Benchmark Brent was up by 0.1% to $70.30 a barrel. WTI increased by 0.1% to $61.11 per barrel. “This ramp-up in trade tensions, which I don’t really think people saw coming, is going to have an impact, a broad impact,” said the senior economist at National Australia Bank.

Oil prices remained mixed in the international market on Monday with concerns of slow economic growth due to US-China trade war weighing heavy on the investors. Brent crude futures climbed by 0.2% to $70.73 a barrel. US WTI crude futures were up by 0.2% to $61.58 per barrel. The battle between the US and China intensified last week with the US imposing high tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods.

Amidst the fear of investors that the tariff war between the US and China would harm the global economic growth, oil prices climbed up on Friday. The price rose on the back of hope that a deal could be struck between Washington and Beijing in the near future. Benchmark Brent went up by 0.7% and was traded at $70.85 a barrel. WTI increased by 1% and was traded at $62.29 per barrel.

Elevating trade tensions between the US and China weighed heavy on the oil prices in the international market on Thursday, counteracting the fall in US crude stocks. Benchmark Brent crude dropped 0.9%, to $69.72 per barrel. US WTI crude fell 1%, to $61.52 per barrel. The US will enforce higher tariffs on Chinese goods from Friday, during the two-day visit of Chinese Vice Premier Liu He to Washington from Thursday.