Netting a 3rd straight month of declines, Chinese fossil oil imports dropped to eight.94 million b/d in October, rock bottom level since July 2018.
The regional electricity mandates contributed to a fall in utilization rates to 81%, a five-month low, despite robust demand for transportation fuels.
Independent refiners were limited in their refining because the Chinese government only issued its last batches alpha quotas in early October, luckily China still has some 830 MMbbls of crude inventories, down 80 MMbbls on the year.
Market Movers
The US conglomerate GE (NYSE:GE) are going to be split into three public companies specializing in energy, healthcare, and aviation, sending its extra service 7% on the day.
In a very rare move for a Western major, US oil firm ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) announced it took an FID on a $10 billion petchem project in China’s Guangdong province that might specialize in performance polymers.
Spain’s oil firm CEPSA is considering the sale of its chemicals business valued at $3.5 billion because it seeks to garner funds for its transition towards renewable energy, with Citibank chosen to spot possible bidders.
The US’ standoff with OPEC has become the mostpoint of in the week - not only did Asian nation rebuff Washington’s imply more output, but it also hiked its December official selling prices way beyond market expectations. Whilst US crude inventories have reportedly risen for the third straight week, the pressure is now on the Biden Administration to think about further SPR releases. Meanwhile, jet cracks have bounced back to prominence on the rear of travel restrictions being lifted globally (despite both Europe and Asia seeing case spikes), adding some un-seasonal strength to middle distillates.
US House of Representatives Approves $1 Trillion Infrastructure Bill. The Biden Administration finally managed to ram through the bipartisan 1 trillion bill that will increase baseline funding on infrastructure by 550 billion and quite 100 billion on clean energy projects.
Aramco Sees Spare Oil Capacity Shrinking. The Saudi national company Saudi Aramco (TADAWUL:2222) said it expects the present 3-4 million b/d global spare production capacity to diminish significantly next year once jet demand returns fully.
Canada’s Oil Sands heading in the right direction for All-Time High. Despite the continued COP26 hype, Canada’s oil sands producers are heading in the right directionto succeed in an all-time high production rate of three.5 million b/d by December amidst a nationwide move to concentrate on tight budget discipline and better dividends.
Qatar Wants More LNG Tankers. additionally to its currently operating fleet of 45 Q-Flex and Q-Max carriers, Qatar has placed another order for 6 new LNG vessels with South Korean shipyards because it moves to bring its total LNG fleet tally to 100 by the tip of 2027.
China’s Coal Production Reaches Multi-Year Peak. Chinese authorities reported that daily average national coal output reached 11.93 million tons over the primary week of November, setting the scene for further price declines as Beijing is doing its utmost to alleviate the risks of a protracted energy crunch.
Venezuela Uses Sanctions Calm to extend Output. Out of the general public eye for several months, Venezuela’s national company PDVSA raised overall production to over 600,000 b/d last month because it received Iranian condensate to dilute the extra-heavy crude from the Orinoco Belt.
Saudi Arabia Wants to Pay Back Debts with Windfall Profits. per media reports, Asian nation is looking to amend the terms of a 16 billion loan due in 2023 and reduce the dimensions of the credit facility, as Riyadh seeks to enhance its credit ratings on the rear of high oil prices.
Italy’s ENI Quits African nation Block. The Italian oil major ENI (NYSE:E) withdrew from an offshore block in African nation, some months after its six-well drilling programs elicited a robust response from local environmentalists because the drilling would be near sites considered ecologically fragile.
Morocco Looks Towards LNG After Algeria Feud. Having been bring to an end from Algerian pipeline gas exports on the rear of a political spat, Morocco is now considering deploying an FSRU unit to start out importing LNG as soon as possible.
Gambia Re-Offers Block Relinquished by BP. but a year after BP (NYSE:BP) exited Gambia’s offshore block A1 citing its pivot towards low-carbon projects, the African nation’s government is offering the block in a very new bidding round.
commendable