Regional News

Bloomberg Brent crude slipped towards $63 a barrel before OPEC and its allies meet this week to discuss prolonging their output cuts beyond March. Futures dropped as much as 1.2 percent in London, extending Monday’s decline. Uncertainty over the outcome of Thursday’s meeting is creating the risk of a slide in prices, which have gained on assumptions that the curbs ...

Bloomberg Senator Ted Cruz may want to spotlight a new victim in the King Corn versus Big Oil tussle: US motorists. The Texas Republican took up arms for fuel makers after President Donald Trump upheld the Renewable Fuel Standard, the 12-year-old rule that forces refiners to either mix biofuels in with their gasoline and diesel or buy credits. Despite the ...

BEIJING / Reuters China’s domestic prices for liquefied natural gas (LNG) on Monday topped 7,000 yuan ($1,061) a tonne, highest since at least 2011, as demand soared with millions of homes burning gas for the winter instead of coal. Wholesale LNG prices have gained more than half their value from mid-November, meaning the jump in prices has come less than ...

BAGHDAD / Reuters Iraq on Monday invited foreign companies to bid for contracts to explore and develop oil and natural gas reserves in nine new blocks as the OPEC nation seeks to boost its output capacity. “We invite all international companies to participate,” Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi told a news conference in Baghdad. “This new exploration bidding round aims to ...

DHAHRAN / Reuters More petrochemical projects will follow after Saudi Aramco agreed to join a $20 billion venture to convert crude oil to chemicals, the state oil company’s chief executive told Reuters. Aramco and Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) signed a preliminary deal to build a petrochemicals complex with start-up seen in 2025. Aramco has been looking to develop its ...

Bloomberg GAIL India Ltd. received notification from Russia’s Gazprom PJSC that it plans to start deliveries of liquefied natural gas through a contract the Indian buyer is trying to renego- tiate, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The world’s largest gas producer wrote to GAIL this month saying it’s preparing to send cargoes from April under the 2.5 ...

DHAHRAN / Reuters State oil giant Saudi Aramco and petrochemical producer Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) signed a memorandum of understanding on Sunday to build a $20 billion complex converting crude oil to chemicals in the kingdom. The project, which the partners said would be the largest crude-to-chemicals facility in the world, is a sign that the Saudi government plans ...

Bloomberg Sasol Ltd. said it will steer clear of big new investments as the world’s largest maker of fuel from coal reviews existing assets and focusses on completing its $11.13 billion US chemicals plant. Sasol won’t invest in further new gas-to-liquids or crude-oil refining capacity, according to a statement on its website ahead of an investor day being held in ...

BEIJING / Reuters China has issued crude oil import quotas for 2017 of 1.5 million tonnes to three independent refiners, three sources familiar with the situation said, a sign Beijing is easing its policy towards these companies sometimes known as teapots. Shandong Qingyishan Petrochemical Technology Co was granted a quota of 800,000 tonnes, Zibo Xintai Petrochemical Co was given 500,000 ...

Bloomberg Forecasts for a warm start to December are raising the specter of a third straight mild winter, sending US natural gas futures sliding the most since February. A midday update to the government’s Global Forecast System weather model maintained a “much too warm” pattern through December 6, despite a couple of cool shots across the northern tier of the ...