China NEWS

In a major accident in the South China Sea, an offshore tanker rammed into the pipelay vessel, Star Centurion, and sank the £77 million ship. The collision punctured a hole in Star Centurion, making it tip onto its side. Tanker owner, Bernhard Schulte Ship Management stated that all crew members on the vessel were accounted for. The course of pipelay vessel is thought to have been charted out for Indonesia.

China’s trade fell flat on the weakening imports and exports, revealed Chinese data. This led to a steep decline in the crude market weighing down oil prices on Monday. China is the world’s biggest trading nation and second-largest crude oil consumer and thus, its weak market position has affected the global market. Brent slipped by 0.9%, to $59.91 per barrel. WTI went down by 0.9%, to $51.12 a barrel.

Oil prices dropped down on Thursday amidst the hopes that US and China trade dispute might end soon. The US supply increased which led the market to stumble. WTI futures slipped by 1.2%, at $51.75 per barrel. Brent crude went down by 1% and was traded at $60.81 per barrel. The US Bank, Morgan Stanley has commented that “Balancing the market would require OPEC discipline to continue well into 2020,”

Signs of improvements in US-China relations sent oil prices uphill today. Benchmark Brent crude futures leaped 1.3%, to $59.47/barrel. US WTI crude futures jumped 1.5%, to $50.53/barrel. WTI has crossed the $50 a barrel-mark for the first time this year. Talks between Beijing and Washington continued for a third day on Wednesday. According to China Daily, Beijing is keen on to put an end to the trade war.

Crude market started the week with optimism as oil prices increased substantially on Monday. US- China trade talks which were scheduled to start from Monday are expected to resolve the prolonging dispute between the two nations. The supply cuts from major producers has also supported the prices. Brent went up by 1.2% and was traded at $57.75 per barrel. WTI was up by 1.3%, at $48.60 per barrel.

An overnight crash of US dollar by more than 3% against Japan’s yen led to a state of chaos in the stock and currency market. Amidst all this turmoil and increase in crude supply, oil prices tumbled on Thursday. WTI was weighed down by 1.3% and was traded at $45.93 per barrel. Brent slipped by 0.7% and was traded at $54.55 per barrel.

Oil prices dropped on Wednesday owing to surging US output and sign of shrinkage in China’s factory activity. This slowdown in China’s factory activity has occurred for the first time in 19 months. Brent slipped by 0.6% and was traded at $53.47 per barrel. WTI went down by 0.2% and was traded at $45.32 per barrel. Analysts say that the outlook for 2019 is riddled with uncertainty.

Highlighting the risks of the country’s trade dispute with the US, China has reported some of its slowest growth in years in retail sales and industrial output. Following this, oil prices dipped on Friday. Brent went down by 0.6% and was traded at $61.09 per barrel. WTI crude slipped by 0.2% and was traded at $52.47 per barrel. Slowing down of the Chinese economy is a concern but demand still stays strong, as stated by an industry official in Tokyo.

Downturn of US crude inventories and China’s strong initiatives towards putting trade war treaty with Washington into action supported oil prices on Thursday. The market also experienced increment because of the supply cut announced by OPEC last weeks. Brent crude was up by 0.52% and was traded at $60.46 per barrel. WTI crude futures increased by 0.49% and was traded at $51.40 per barrel.

Expectations from the OPEC-led supply cut and hopes of strengthening US-China ties sent the oil prices uphill today. International Brent crude futures climbed by 1.15%, and were priced at $60.89 a barrel. US WTI crude futures CLc1 rose by 1.2%, and were traded at $52.25 per barrel. Market traders said that disruptions to Libyan oil exports are also lifting the prices.

ADNOC has awarded Zhenhua Oil 4% stakes in its onshore oil concession which was previously owned by CEFC China Energy Co. Ltd. Zhenhua Oil is China’s state owned oil company and is indirectly owned by the Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council. CEFC bought 4% stakes in onshore oilfields of ADNOC in February 2019 for $900 million.

The hike spree of oil market continued on Tuesday also. Supply cut expectations from OPEC and Canada’s mandatory output cut have supported the gains. Brent crude increased by 0.7%, at $62.09 per barrel. WTI crude climbed up by 0.8% and were traded at $53.35 per barrel. According to the traders, the 90-day treaty between US and China in the middle of their trade dispute has also supported the market.

Oil prices ramped up on Monday after the United States and China reached a truce in their trade war. Benchmark Brent crude oil futures surged 2.6%, and were priced at $61.01 a barrel. US WTI crude futures saw an increment of 3.2%, and were traded at $52.60 per barrel. China and the United States settled over not imposing any additional trade tariffs for at least 90 days.

China’s CNOOC has received its first LNG cargo from the Russian Arctic gas project on November 11. The cargo was shipped from Yamal and was bought from Novatek, a Russian firm. Novatek also controls Yamal LNG along with Total, CNPC and the Silk Road Fund. Meanwhile, CNPC is also planning to buy at least 3 million tonnes of LNG from Yamal starting from 2019.

China-based Inner Mongolia Huineng Coal Chemical Co Ltd Technology firm has contracted the Linde Group to supply a mid-scale LNG plant in Inner Mongolia. The new LNG plant will be seventh in line for Linde to date in China, and also the largest. Linde's Engineering Division will provide engineering, procurement and site services for the 750,000 tpa LNG plant. Linde will utilise its proprietary LIMUM(R) process for the plant.

Oil prices in the international market edged up today, gaining on the hopes that US and China might end the tariff war. International benchmark Brent crude futures, climbed 0.2%, were priced at $73.04 per barrel. US WTI crude futures, rose by 0.1%, were traded at $63.76 a barrel. A phone call between the US and Chinese presidents raised investors’ hopes today.

On Wednesday, oil prices climbed up for the first time in three days. The increased prices were weighed down by the pressure of rising supply fears amid the US-China trade war. The international market benchmark, Brent crude gained 0.7% and was traded at $76.43 a barrel. US WTI futures rose by 0.4% and was traded at $66.47 a barrel.

CEO, Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) yesterday said that the petrochemical giant is pondering over investment opportunities in Africa, China and the US, driven by a positive global economic outlook. SABIC reported 6.1 billion riyals ($1.63 billion) of net profits for the quarter that ended on September 30th, up from 5.8 billion riyals in the previous year.