China's Marine Oil & Gas Fields, Drilling, Exploration and Security | Nansha (Spratlys) Islands

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CNOOC announces oil-gas discovery in Bohai
(China Daily, Aug. 14)

BEIJING - The China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) announced Tuesday that it has made a major discovery in the Bohai Sea, successfully appraising two wells in the sea's "Qinhuangdao 29-2" structure.

more: http://europe.chinadaily.com.cn/busi...t_15676641.htm


Sinopec Group invests 204 mln yuan in Tibet Baingoin
(Shanghai Daily, Aug. 16)

BEIJING, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- China Petrochemical Corp. has invested 204 million yuan (32.38 million U.S. dollars) in Baingoin county over the past decade in a bid to boost its economic development.

The oil giant, the country's largest oil refiner, has also sent 12 cadres to Tibet and it build 92 projects during the last ten years.

more: http://www.shanghaidaily.org/article...a.asp?id=89383


Venezuela Boosts Oil Sales to China
(Venezuelanalysis/Agencia EFE, Aug. 14)

Caracas, Aug 14 (IANS/EFE): Venezuela has increased oil sales to China to 640,000 barrels a day, the Andean nation's energy minister said. "Before, we never sold a single barrel of petroleum to China and now we sell them 640,000 (bpd) ... at a better price than ... in the US market," Rafael Ramirez said in an interview with El Correo del Orinoco newspaper.

Venezuela produces around 3 million bpd and exports more than two-thirds of its output, mainly to the US and China, the minister said. Until 1999, when leftist Hugo Chavez became president, practically all of Venezuela's oil exports went to the US, but the new government took steps to diversify through sales of crude to China, India, Japan and other nations, Ramirez pointed out.

Thanks to that approach, he said, "we are not subject to the problems of the US and European economy, nor to the devaluation of the dollar". Venezuela's petroleum relationship with China also includes investment by Beijing in the Andean nation's oil sector.

more: http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/7173

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Sinopec Group to Invest in Texas Clean Energy Project
(Sinocast, Aug. 17)

A Chinese consortium composed of China Petrochemical Corp. (Sinopec Group) and several banks are having further talks about the purchase of a stake in the Texas Clean Energy Project.

If the consortium succeeds in clinching the deal, it will mark the largest investment made by Chinese companies in the US electric power field.

The project is predicted to cost about USD 2.5 billion in total, and the Chinese consortium plans to inject USD 1 billion at most into the project, said sources.

more: http://www.sinocast.com/readbeatarticle.do?id=80759


Nanfang Black Sesame to Transfer Gas Pipeline Network
(Sinocast, Aug. 17)

Nanfang Black Sesame Group Co., Ltd. (SZSE: 000716) on August 16 announced that it inked a contract with Nanning Zhongran City Gas Development Co., Ltd. for transfer of assets on August 10. Nanfang Black Sesame Group will transfer gas pipeline network under control to Nanning Zhongran for CNY 139 million.

The announcement said that the transfer of the above assets will speed up the development of its pillar business, meanwhile ending legacy problem with Nanning Zhongran.

more: http://www.sinocast.com/readbeatarticle.do?id=80846


China Has More LNG Carriers by June End
(Sinocast, Aug. 17)

News on August 16 said that China had had 74 LNG carriers by the end of June, with cabin capacity reaching 221,000 cubic meters, rising 9.4% year on year.

Among the 74 LNG carriers, there were 12 river boats, with cabin capacity hitting 19,000 cubic meters and deadweight tonnage of 10,000 tons.

more: http://www.sinocast.com/readbeatarticle.do?id=80893

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China's crude oil output rises slightly
(Shanghai Daily, Aug. 20)

BEIJING, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's crude oil production increased only 0.6 percent year on year to 17.24 million metric tons in July as the current economic slowdown dampened fuel demand in the country, according to data released by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on Monday.

Chinese oil producers refined 34.16 million metric tons of crude oil, up 1.5 percent year on year, but oil product output increased 4 percent from a year earlier to 21.46 million metric tons, said the NDRC, China's top economic planner.

Meanwhile, the country's consumption of refined oil grew 4.4 percent to 21.86 million metric tons. The pickup in July failed to make up for a decline in China's domestic crude oil production during the first half of this year, underlying the country's increasing dependence on imports to meet its domestic demand, according to the NDRC data.

more: http://www.shanghaidaily.org/article...a.asp?id=89954


Oil shale: Game changer for China?
(China Daily, Aug. 21)

BEIJING -- Tourists flock to the Changbai Mountain Range in Northeast China during summer for refreshing weather and marvelous natural landscapes. But to oil developers, its beauty lies beneath the surface, in massive oil shale reserves.

Oil shale is a sedimentary rock that contains shale oil, considered a substitute for conventional crude oil. It can be refined into gasoline, kerosene, jet fuel and diesel fuel. With China expected to consume 500 million tons of oil this year, up five percent from last year, the country's search for new energy sources is intense.

In 2011, the country produced just 204 million tons of crude oil, up only 0.3 percent from 2010, based on data from the National Bureau of Statistics. "We imported 240 million tons of crude oil from foreign countries last year, equivalent to about 57 percent of our entire demand," said Ding Shubai, chief expert with the Beijing-based Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration Development. "This number is continuing to increase."

more: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/busines...t_15692718.htm

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Offshore oil giant sees first-half profit down 19%
(Shanghai Daily, Aug. 21)

CNOOC Ltd, China's leading offshore oil producer, posted worse-than-expected first-half earnings with a year-on-year fall of 19 percent due to higher costs and the shutdown of a main field.

The company, which announced a US$15.1 billion takeover of Canada's Nexen Inc, said net profit fell to 31.87 billion yuan (US$5.01 billion) in the first six months from 39.34 billion yuan a year ago. Seven analysts polled by Reuters had an average forecast of 34.2 billion yuan.

Revenue fell 5 percent to 118.27 billion yuan in the same period while oil and gas output declined 4.6 percent to 160.9 million barrels of oil equivalent, the company said in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange today.

more: http://www.shanghaidaily.org/nsp/Bus...t%2Bdown%2B19/


CNOOC announces two new oil finds
(China Daily, Aug. 21)

China National Offshore Oil Corp has revealed two new offshore discoveries: in the Bohai Sea, and near the Pearl River Estuary.

Luda 6-2, in the waters of Liangdong Bay in northeastern Bohai Sea, has an average water depth of 31 meters and is estimated to produce 850 barrels of oil every day.

more: http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2...t_15694252.htm

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Shell to invest $1b a year in China shale gas
(China Daily, Aug. 22)

Royal Dutch Shell plans to spend at least $1 billion a year exploiting China's potentially vast resources of shale gas, the firm's top China executive said, part of an aggressive strategy to expand in the world's biggest energy market.

Shell in March secured China's first product sharing contract for shale gas, hoping that getting in early will allow it to be a big beneficiary from the sort of boom in shale that has transformed the US energy market.

Asked if the firm remained committed to a plan to invest $1 billion a year in China's shale gas over the coming few years, Lim Haw Kuang, Shell's top China executive, said in an interview: "Yes, yes and yes." "If there has been an adjustment to that pledge, it could only be an upward revision," added Lim, a Malaysian national and a Shell veteran of 34 years.

more: http://europe.chinadaily.com.cn/busi...t_15696632.htm


Crude imports from Iran decline 28% in July
(China Daily, Aug. 22)

China's imports of Iranian crude fell to their lowest level in three months in July as US and European Union sanctions targeting Teheran's oil sales went into effect.

Purchases dropped 28 percent compared with the previous month to 456,000 barrels a day, according to Bloomberg calculations from data e-mailed by the Beijing-based General Administration of Customs on Tuesday. China bought about 635,000 barrels a day of crude from Iran in June, the most in 11 months.

more: http://europe.chinadaily.com.cn/busi...t_15696624.htm


CNOOC pushes ahead with Nexen acquisition
(China Daily, Aug. 22)

Mainland oil giant slashes dividends to help raise funds to back Canadian deal

CNOOC Ltd has announced it will take drastic measures to get the money it needs to buy Nexen Inc in the wake of the Chinese oil giant's disappointing first-half profits.

CNOOC Chairman Wang Yilin said at a news conference in Hong Kong on Tuesday that the company will reduce its dividend almost by half to help raise the $15.1 billion it needs to buy the Canadian company. CNOOC will also raise the additional capital it needs.

CNOOC, China's top offshore oil producer, last month launched the country's biggest foreign takeover bid by agreeing to buy Nexen, whose global portfolio includes oil sands and shale gas. But CNOOC's first-half profits then fell nearly 20 percent.

more: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/busines...t_15695823.htm

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CNOOC's drilling rig performing 'well'
(Shanghai Daily, Aug. 23)

CHINA'S first domestically-made ultra deep-water drilling rig is drilling its fourth well in the South China Sea since operations began in May, delivering good performance in terms of stability and efficiency, a China National Offshore Oil Corp official said yesterday.

The semi-submersible CNOOC 981 is now operating at the Liwan 3-1-1 well, near Hong Kong. It has drilled at a depth of up to 2,450 meters, said Su Jing, vice project director of CNOOC's deep-water drilling unit project team.

"Overall, it should be no problem for us (CNOOC 981) to enter the world's top three among rigs of this scale," Su told a conference yesterday on the sidelines of 2012 China International Petroleum and Petrochemical Technology and Equipment Exhibition, Asia's largest petrochemical show.

more: http://www.shanghaidaily.org/nsp/Bus...orming%2Bwell/


PetroChina posts 21% fall in Q2 earnings
(Shanghai Daily, Aug. 24)

PETROCHINA Co's second-quarter net profit fell more than a fifth due to lower crude rates and refining losses, as it warns the energy industry's outlook remains uncertain amid a global slowdown.

The nation's largest oil producer earned 22.8 billion yuan (US$3.59 billion) in the April-June quarter, down 21 percent year on year, according to calculations based on interim results released yesterday. That's below the average forecast of 26.73 billion yuan by eight analysts in a Reuters poll.

Its net profit fell 6 percent to 62 billion yuan in the first half of the year. "The road to a global economic recovery will remain sluggish and tortuous in the second half of 2012," PetroChina said, adding that it expects the Chinese economy to continue growing slowly.

more: http://www.shanghaidaily.org/nsp/Bus...Q2%2Bearnings/

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Sinopec H1 profit sharply down 40.5%
(China Daily, Aug. 27)

BEIJING -- China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, the country's largest oil refiner, said on Sunday that its net profits for the first half of the year dropped 40.5 percent year-on-year to 24.5 billion yuan ($3.89 billion).

Earnings per share shrank 40.6 percent to 0.282 yuan from a year earlier, said the company in a statement filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The figures were calculated according to the international financial reporting standards, the company said.

The oil giant attributes the sharp decline in profits to significant rise in crude oil prices and restricted prices of gasoline and diesel products, which further worsened the company's loss from oil refining. The drop in the prices of petrochemical products has also reduced profits, it added.

more: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/busines...t_15707719.htm


Nexen schedules vote on CNOOC's $15.1b offer
(China Daily, Aug. 27)

Nexen Inc said on Friday that shareholders would vote next month on whether to approve the $15.1 billion friendly offer for the Canadian oil producer made last month by China's CNOOC Ltd after more than two months of negotiations. Nexen said in a statement it would hold a special meeting of shareholders on September 20 to vote on the richest foreign takeover ever by a Chinese company, if completed.

The move is the most ambitious foray by resource-hungry China into North American energy since a 2005 attempt to buy US-based Unocal for $18.5 billion was thwarted by a political backlash in the United States.

Chinese companies have been among the most aggressive in targeting assets around the globe to help feed demand in the world's second-biggest economy. According to details included in a proxy circular filed with regulators, CNOOC's July 23 offer of $27.50 per Nexen share came after the Canadian firm rejected two earlier bids.

more: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/busines...t_15709229.htm

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CNOOC offers more offshore oil blocks for foreign investors
(China Daily, Aug. 29)

China National Offshore Oil Corp, the country's largest offshore oil producer, has offered 26 more offshore blocks for joint development with foreign exploration companies on Tuesday, which experts said represented a massive expansion in its exploration activity.

It is the second round of joint development tenders by the State-owned oil and gas giant this year for offshore oil resources, after inviting foreign companies to bid for nine blocks in the western area of the South China Sea in June.

The latest auction includes 22 blocks in the South China Sea, three in the East China Sea and one in northern China's Bohai Bay, covering a total area of 73,754 square kilometers.

more: http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/busines...t_15714093.htm


Energy giants step up acquisitions overseas
(China Daily, Aug. 28)

Sinopec Corp, Asia's largest refiner, and rival PetroChina Co Ltd are poised to seek assets overseas to diversify as domestic earnings are depressed by State-controlled prices for processed fuels. Meanwhile, offshore oil producer CNOOC Ltd is stepping up its latest acquisition bid overseas.

Financial analysts cautioned that the spending spree may not bring the intended results to the business groups as asset acquisition may meet fierce political resistance. Refining losses resulted in Sinopec reporting a 40.5 percent decline in first-half net income to 24.5 billion yuan ($3.85 billion) on Sunday.

The nation's biggest oil and gas producer PetroChina last week said first-half profit declined 6 percent to 62 billion yuan. The country's leading offshore oil producer CNOOC Ltd saw its net profit in the same period tumble 19 percent to 31.87 billion yuan.

more: http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/busines...t_15711257.htm

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Sinopec China's top earner for 8th year
(China Daily, Sept. 1)

CHANGCHUN - China's major oil company, Sinopec, has topped an annual ranking of the biggest-earning Chinese enterprises for the eighth straight year, showed the latest results.

The 2012 China Top 500 Enterprises List was published by the China Enterprise Confederation and the China Enterprise Directors Association on Saturday.

Sinopec, with 2.55 trillion yuan ($402 billion) revenue in 2011, was followed in second place by another oil company, China National Petroleum Corporation, which also reported a revenue over 2 trillion yuan.

more: http://europe.chinadaily.com.cn/busi...t_15726524.htm

[7freedom7]

China’s most advanced research ship delivered

The 87.5-million-US dollar ship, manufactured by the Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Co, Ltd. based in Hubei province, was handed over to the Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOCAS).

Weighing 4,711 tons, the vessel is 99.8 meters long and 17.8 meters wide. With a cruising capacity of 15,000 nautical miles and a top speed of 15 knots, it can travel with 80 members for 60 days.

Kexue features better stability and a larger laboratory space as well as having more manoeuvrabilty in comparison with other Chinese research vessels, said Sun Song, director of the IOCAS. He added that the vessel is among the world’s most advanced research ships.




Capable of global voyages and all-day observations, the ship is seen as a moving laboratory on the sea.

It will serve as one of the key vessels for the country’s oceanographic studies for the next 10 to 20 years, with world-leading facilities for scientific detection and experiments, Sun said.

Kexue is designed to conduct a wide range of tasks, such as water body detection, atmospheric exploration, deep-sea environment exploration and remote sensing information verification.

The construction of the ship began in 2010 and launched in November last year for trials.