Speculation is in the air, but it’s not on Wall Street or at some commodity trader’s desk at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. It comes from China. Earlier this week, both foreign and domestic media reported that two of China’s national oil companies (NOCs), Sinopec and PetroChina, (the country’s two largest oil exploration companies) could merge.… Keep reading →
In a one-day trial before the Intermediate People’s Court in Hanjiang early this week, Jiang Jiemin, who once headed up China’s biggest oil company, admitted to corruption. And boy was he sorry. “I relaxed my self-restraint. I betrayed principles and gravely violated the party’s rules and state laws, causing losses for the country that cannot… Keep reading →
A state-owned Chinese oil major has been caught violating provincial and local environmental laws. The size of the fine incurred however, points to evidence that these mega energy companies still have more sway within the country than local laws and government officials tasked to enforce those laws. Late last week, Chinese media reported that… Keep reading →
Continental Resources, one of the largest Bakken Shale producers, announced some good and bad news to investors yesterday – a new oil discovery (good) but increased capital expenditure guidance (bad). The company announced a new oil discovery in the South-Central Oklahoma Oil Province (SCOOP) where it also said “net unrisked resource potential has increased to… Keep reading →
When China released its 2015 targets of 6.5 billion cubic meters of shale gas a few years back (source, in Chinese), it looked like the goal was out of reach. At the time, the country had zero commercial shale gas production and domestic natural gas extraction was mainly in the hands of state-owned companies. But… Keep reading →
First, BP dropped plans to invest in a refinery in Qinzhou. Then PetroChina delayed plans for it’s Kunming refinery, part of a larger plan that includes a pipeline linking Southwestern China to the Bay of Benegal through Myanmar (bypassing the Malacca Straits). Now, two of the largest Chinese national oil companies (NOCs) are paring back… Keep reading →
The changing relationship between international oil companies and national oil companies is a fascinating topic that constantly shifts with global economic trends, supply/demand fundamentals, geopolitical balance of power and much more. The global oil market pivot eastward toward rapidly expanding Asian economies is nothing new, but the prospect of a powerful new Asian-based international oil… Keep reading →
In the past three years, Beijing’s projections for 2030 oil and gas output increased by a third to almost 700 million tons of oil equivalent, based on hopes of developing unconventional oil and gas. Production last year of oil and natural gas was 318.9 million tons of oil equivalent. With traditional oil production practically stagnant… Keep reading →
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation – NNPC – allegedly withheld $49.8 billion of oil revenue from the Nigerian government and recently sought to explain what happened to $10.8 billion of that sum. Corruption has long plagued the Nigerian oil industry and the country ranked 144th out of 177 nations analyzed in Transparency International’s 2013 Corruption… Keep reading →
It’s hard to find a good quote when nobody’s talking. In this developing story, several Chinese national oil company employees – some fairly high ranking including CNPC’s chief accountant – have been “summoned to assist in an investigation,” according to Chinese news reports. It appears the wide-ranging government investigation that has been underway for months… Keep reading →
