The Biden Administration’s final sanctions on Russian oil trade were the most aggressive yet and sanctioned dozens of vessels that Russia used to ship the ESPO crude blend from its Far East port of Kozmino to China’s independent refiners.
Chinese state-held oil and gas giant CNOOC is keeping its capital expenditure flat this year compared to 2024 as it lowered its oil and gas production growth target, although it still expects annual output records going forward.
The refining average constituted a dip, by the way, and that was the first dip in refining rates in 20 years. The cause of the dip was weaker fuel demand, which depressed refining margins in 2024. Oil demand in China was lackluster in 2024, with consumption growth slowed, due to weaker economic performance and a shift to electric vehicles and LNG-fueled trucks.
A Shell-CNOOC joint venture has reached an FID on expanding a petrochemicals complex in the south of China, Shell said on Wednesday.
Among the swathe of Chinese entities last week placed by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) on a blacklist of firms believed to be supporting Beijing’s military were several from its energy sector. Most notable of all, perhaps, were the China National Offshore Oil Corporation’s (CNOOC) international oil trading arm and the COSCO Shipping Corporation. […]
The history of the Middle East since the 1990s has been in many aspects been defined by China’s need to secure sufficient energy to power its economic growth to rival the superpower status of the U.S., and Washington’s efforts to keep these efforts in check.
Doubts about oil demand growth will persist beyond 2024, and fears of a price slump will be there to keep them company. That’s according to some recent predictions about the state of the oil market in 2025, which see demand growing, China directing the market, and OPEC still likely to unwind its production cuts.
West Texas Intermediate dropped almost 1% to settle near $70 a barrel, while Brent slid to around $73. Equities retreated in most regions, adding to the pressure on crude from weak Chinese refining and retail sales numbers on Monday.
Oil slipped as economic data from China reinforced concerns about weakening demand in the world’s biggest crude importer.
Preliminary estimates see the November CPI reading at 2.7%, which would be a slight increase on October’s 2.6%. Core inflation for November is seen at 3.3% on an annual basis—for the fourth month in a row. These figures might make a new rate cut decision a bit problematic but media reports suggest that market players overwhelmingly expect that decision.