China NEWS

Russia and China, yesterday, kickstarted the 3,000-km-long Power of Siberia pipeline for the transportation of gas from Siberia to northeast China. The launch was overseen by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The pipeline is being seen as an attempt to boost economic and political ties between Moscow and Beijing. The move will fortify China’s spot as Russia’s top export market.

Shanghai Futures Exchange has informed that China will launch low-sulphur fuel oil futures in the first quarter of 2020. This would be China's second bonded oil futures contract. The first contract was in March 2018 on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE), a ShFE subsidiary. Apart from this, ShFE will actively promote the launch of alumina future also.

With the growth in the manufacturing activity of China, the market hopes that the fuel demand will see a significant increase in the immediate future. Owing to optimism, oil prices edged up on Monday. Brent went up by 1.2% and was traded at $61.23 a barrel. WTI increased by 1.6% and was traded at $56.03 a barrel.

Oil prices fell in the international market on Wednesday, stressed by an unexpected rise in U.S. crude inventories. Benchmark Brent crude futures LCOc1 declined 0.3%, to $64.08 a barrel. WTI crude futures CLc1 slipped 0.29%, to $58.24 per barrel. API data released on Tuesday showed a rise of 3.6 million barrels in the week to Nov. 22 to 449.6 million.

CNPC’s subsidiary, China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Corp (CPECC) has secured a $121 million engineering contract in Iraq. The contract requires CPECC to renovate the facilities currently used for gas extraction during crude oil production at West Qurna-1 oilfield. The project is slated for completion in 27 months. The West Qurna-1 oilfield was developed by Exxon Mobil and produces 480,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

The news of reducing bitterness between US and China brought the air of optimism in the market. On Monday, oil increased with the early gains in the market. WTI went up by 0.17%, at $57.87 a barrel. Brent went up by 0.11%, at $63.46 a barrel. “This is a big step forward for potential trade negotiation if they are adopted as official policy,” said strategist McCarthy at CMC Markets.

Oil prices slipped in the international market on Thursday, stressed by a looming delay in the trade deal between the world’s two biggest economies. Brent crude futures dipped 0.4%, to $62.15 a barrel. US WTI crude futures were priced 0.4% lower, at $56.81 per barrel. China’s criticism of a U.S. Senate bill intended at defending human rights in Hong Kong has served as a new hurdle to the trade deal.

Oil prices held ground on Wednesday, as the hike in the US stockpiles strengthened concerns about dull economic growth globally. Benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.03%, to $60.93 a barrel. US WTI crude futures climbed 0.2%, at $55.32 a barrel. API data released on Tuesday showed a surge of 6 million barrels in the US stockpiles for the week to Nov. 15, putting the value to 445.9 million barrels.

The market is waiting for a fresh perspective on the US-China trade deal. Thus, keeping aside surplus supplies' worries, oil prices changed a little on Monday. Brent decreased by 0.1% and was traded at $63.25 a barrel. WTI was unchanged, at $57.72 a barrel. IEA has predicted that non-OPEC supply growth would be on a rise up to 2.3 million bpd next year. This will create a downward pressure on the prices.

Uncertainty over the progress of US-China trade talks led to the drop in oil prices on Tuesday. Rise in crude output of Saudi Arabia brought back the fear of oversupply in the market. WTI dropped by 0.3% and was traded at $56.68 a barrel. Brent went down by 0.2% and was traded at $62.04 a barrel.

On Monday, oil prices fell on the back of doubts over the trade deal between the US and China. Concerns of the excess of supply also affected the market. Brent slipped by 0.9% and was traded at $61.96 a barrel. WTI went down by 0.8% and was traded at $56.77 a barrel. Further, oil cartel OPEC and its allies will meet in December to discuss their future decisions.

Oil prices remained unchanged on Thursday carrying the losses of the previous session. The interim deal between the US and China to boil down the ongoing war has been delayed. Brent was at $61.74 a barrel while WTI was at $56.32 a barrel. Further, the US crude exports have been hit hard last week which led to the drop of nearly 1 million barrels to 2.4 million barrels per day.

According to the sources, China is planning to invest $5 billion to $10 billion in the oil giant Aramco's planned IPO. State-owned oil producer Sinopec and sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp are among the parties who have been discussing to buy stock in the offering. But the lineup of investors and investment size will finally depend on the Chinese government.

Oil prices held ground on Tuesday, as investors remained hopeful ahead of US inventory data release today. While Brent crude futures rose to $62.17 a barrel, US WTI crude futures CLc1 slipped to $56.53 a barrel. A Reuters poll released on Monday showed a rise in U.S. crude oil inventories last week, while a decline was observed in the stocks of the refined products.

Oil prices extended previous session's losses on Wednesday. The delay in resolving US-China trade war weighed heavy over drop in US crude inventories. Brent went down by 0.3% and was traded at $61.41 a barrel. WTI slipped by 0.5% and was traded at $55.27 a barrel. US crude inventories have fallen flat on the ground after the decrease of 708,000 barrels against the investor's expectations of substantial improvement.

Oil prices experienced a fall on Tuesday while investors waited for the US inventory data for demand trends. Meanwhile global economic slowdown has blurred the trade war between Washington and Beijing. Brent slipped and was traded at$61.51 a barrel. WTI decreased and was traded at $55.69 a barrel. Trump is expected to sign a major part of the trade deal with China ahead of schedule.

Oil prices showed signs of improvement on Tuesday as the US-China trade talks progress towards resolving the dispute. However, the market gains were contained due to global economic slowdown indicating a drop in crude demands. Brent increased by 0.2% and was traded at $59.10 a barrel. WTI went up by 0.3% and was traded at $53.49 per barrel.

Oil prices dipped in the international market on Friday, as China registered its weakest quarter in terms of economic growth in almost three decades. Brent crude was down by 0.4%, to $59.70 a barrel. US WTI crude also slipped 0.1%, to $53.89 per barrel. China’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth slowed to 6% year-on-year in the third quarter, declining to its weakest pace in 27 and a half years.