Japan NEWS

Oil prices today declined, stressed by supply rise in a market where consumption is expectedly slow. Benchmark Brent crude oil futures were trading 0.3% lower at $65.90 per barrel. US WTI crude futures were at $55.95, down by 0.5% from their last close. Data released this week demonstrated economic contraction in Japan and Germany in the third quarter.

Eni Mexico has handed Japan’s MODEC a Letter of Intent for supplying, chartering and operating an FPSO vessel for its Area 1 project in Mexico. MODEC will carry out the engineering, procurement, construction, mobilization, installation and operation of the FPSO at the Area 1 project. First oil production by FPSO is scheduled in 2021.

Japanese downstream major, Cosmo Oil has found new suppliers to substitute Iranian oil imports at the head of the looming US sanctions on Iran in November. Oil supply to Cosmo will come from Saudi Arabia, UAE and Kuwait to cover for its 10,000 barrels per day (bpd) shortfall from Iran. Japan’s refinery association last week stated that the country terminated oil imports from Iran in mid-September.

Hoegh LNG of Norway has won a tender to supply a floating LNG terminal to a consortium for Australia's east coast. The Australian Industrial Energy is looking to import LNG to the eastern coast from 2020. On Monday, the consortium informed that it has signed an agreement after which it can rightfully rent a floating storage and regasification units (FSRU) of Hoegh LNG. Australian Industrial Energy group includes Japan's JERA and Marubeni Corp.

Japanese joint venture, JERA has entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with ADNOC LNG for the purchase of upto eight cargoes of LNG. The deal term is for 3 years, ending in 2021. JERA said in a statement that the deal will help the venture to respond to LNG demand fluctuations. The Japanse JV has in the recent times struck a lot of deals for LNG purchase.

Japanese refiner, Fuji Oil has started using the new R-364 Platforming™ catalyst for the production of more aromatics at Sodegaura Refinery in Japan. The high-activity catalyst, developed by Honeywell UOP, has been designed to boost the production of a CCR Platforming unit by almost 10%. Fuji Oil and other refiners in Japan have moved on to manufacturing higher value aromatics, which have a greater value than motor fuels.

Japanese oil major, Inpex Corp informed on Monday that its long-delayed project of $40 billion is back on track. The company has started production of gas in its northern Australian Ichthys field. Reportedly, Inpex will start the export from September end and the project will take approximately three years to reach its full capacity. It will be Japan’s first biggest and major energy development operation.

In the light of recent rumors where American officials were believed to have asked Japan to completely terminate oil trade with Iran, the Persian country has become skeptical of its oil buyers obtaining a waiver against the US sanctions. Iranian Oil Minister has stated that they are going to find some other way, which he cannot describe.

JODCO Lower Zakum Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Japan’s INPEX Corp. has been appointed as the asset leader for Abu Dhabi’s Lower Zakum concession area by ADNOC. This move is followed by the award of 10% stake in offshore Lower Zakum concession to INPEX in February, 2018. INPEX also maintained its 40% stake in Satah and increased its Umm Al Dalkh share from 12% to 40%.

Chiyoda Corporation, the Japanese engineering major, has concluded a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Abu Dhabi Gas Liquefaction Company Limited (ADNOC LNG) to provide state-of-the-art digital technologies, including artificial intelligence and big data analytics, on ADNOC LNG’s facilities. Chiyoda is striving to achieve the objective of ‘technology and business innovation (developing a new business model for a digital society)’.

India’s oil minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, revealed that India is seeking Japan’s help to build infrastructure to boost the usage of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in India and elsewhere in Asia. India wants to increase the share of this cleaner fuel to 15 percent of its energy usage by 2030.

ADNOC has signed two new agreements with Japan's Idemitsu Kosan Co. Ltd. and SCG Chemicals of Thailand, for a combined amount of up to 1.5 million tons of Naphtha/year. According to Abdulla Salem Al Dhaheri, Director, Marketing, Sales and Trading at ADNOC, as part of ADNOC’s 2030 growth strategy, the focus is on prioritizing the fast-growing markets of Asia, where the demand for refined and petrochemical products is accelerating.

Aspiring to lay the groundwork for the next decade, Qatar Petroleum intends to bolster LNG production up to 100mtpa. The firm is seeking partnership to implement the expansion process. When Qatar Gas employed Japan’s Chiyoda to study the feasibility of the debottlenecking process, the news came as a surprise to the LNG consultants and analysts. According to them, debottlenecking is the cheapest way of capacity addition and pushes things backwards.