by Bloomberg
|Thursday, May 06, 2021
Asian refiners are expanding at a breakneck pace, even building massive new plants designed to run for at least half a century.
(Bloomberg) Predictions of peak oil and the impending demise of fossil fuels will hit Asian oil refiners especially hard. The region is home to three of the top four oil-guzzling nations, and more than a third of global crude processing capacity. Yet, Asian refiners are expanding at a breakneck pace, even building massive new plants designed to run for at least half a century.
What is going on?
After a century of powering the world’s vehicles, oil refiners are having to plan for an oil-free future in mobility as cars begin switching to batteries, ships burn natural gas, and innovation brings on other energy sources such as hydrogen. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. predicts oil demand for transportation will peak as early as 2026.
(Bloomberg) Predictions of peak oil and the impending demise of fossil fuels will hit Asian oil refiners especially hard. The region is home to three of the top four oil-guzzling nations, and more than a third of global crude processing capacity.
Sinopec to Plow Cash Into Natural Gas as Climate Targets Loom
A view of Sinopec Natural Gas Company Tianjin LNG receiving station on January 7. Photo: VCG
China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (600028.SH/0386.HK) plans to invest 200 billion yuan ($30.9 billion) over the next five years to double the size of its natural gas business, as the country’s energy giants look to bring themselves in line with national climate goals.
The state-owned company also known as Sinopec aims to set up a new gas subsidiary and increase its overall gas trading volume to 100 billion cubic meters by 2025, up from 44.5 billion cubic meters last year, according to Mou Haiyong, the chief engineer of the company’s existing gas branch.
There are three key reasons why the development of a world-class petrochemicals (petchems) sector is vital to Iraq’s future.
First, its heavy reliance on crude oil exports makes it extremely financially vulnerable both to downturns in the oil price and to the political whims of its fellow OPEC members, especially Saudi Arabia. Second, plain crude oil exports, particularly in the depressed pricing environment that is likely to endure for some time, do not provide the much higher export value that petchems do. Third, Iraq has the natural resources of both oil and gas that can make it a world leader in the petchems sector.
Energy leads Hong Kong stocks higher on pandemic recovery signs Reuters 3 hrs ago
Popular Searches HSI financial sub-index climbs 0.78% Property sector up 0.5%
HONG KONG, May 4 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares settled higher on Tuesday, with energy stocks leading the gains on signs of recovery from the coronavirus pandemic as major economies around the world reopen. The Hang Seng index closed up 199.60 points, or 0.7%, at 28,557.14, snapping two straight sessions of decline. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index rose 0.49% to 10,765.72. The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares rose 2.3%, while the IT sector edged up 0.05%, the financial sector climbed 0.78% and the property sector gained 0.52%. The tech index was up 0.68%.