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MEOG
NEWS IN BRIEF
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production at Sinopec refineries in China. Other areas for co-operation cover
engineering, procurement and construction, oilfield services, upstream and downstream technologies.
Sinopec president Yu Baocai said the MoU introduces a new chapter of the partnership with Saudi Arabia. The agreement with Aramco is in line with Sinopec’s ambition to become China’s largest hydrogen company.
Sinopec has committed to increasing investment in green hydrogen projects as part of its mission to achieve a carbon emissions peak before 2030 and carbon neutrality
in 2050, 10 years ahead of the Chinese government’s 2060 target.
By 2025, the company plans to raise its green hydrogen production capacity to 500,000 tonnes per annum, compared with its current output of 3.9 million tpa of grey hydrogen from fossil fuels.
By 2025, Sinopec will increase the number of hydrogen refilling stations to 1000, from 74 now, which will be able to supply 200,000 tpa of hydrogen. Other initiatives include building 7000 photovoltaic generation stations for electric vehicle charging.
Sinopec’s agreement with Aramco on hydrogen expansion follows a similar pact announced by Shell in late July involving hydrogen retailing in China.
Shell and Shanghai-based power utility Shenergy have decided to set up a joint venture to establish a hydrogen distribution hub in Shanghai.
The Shanghai Shenergy Shell New Energy plans to build up to 10 hydrogen refilling stations in the Yangtze River Delta region around Shanghai in the next five years, expandable to 30 by 2030.
When established, it will be Shell’s first hydrogen distribution network in Asia, the UK supermajor said.
A recent report by Shell quoted studies suggesting that China’s total hydrogen production can surpass 580 million tpa of coal equivalent by 2060, accounting for 16% of the nation’s expected energy consumption.
Growth will be mainly driven by the use of hydrogen as a fuel for industry and long-
distance transportation, Shell said.
China is already the world’s top hydrogen
producer, with output of about 20 million tpa, most of which is grey hydrogen produced from reforming and naphtha cracking units or gas refinery byproducts.
A recent white paper from the China Hydrogen Energy Alliance said China’s demand for hydrogen will increase to 35 million tpa in 2030, growing to 60 million tpa by 2050, when it will account for 10% of the energy demand mix.
UPSTREAM
OIL
Oil dips on chance of Iran supply boost
Oil prices pulled back slightly on Tuesday on the latest progress in last-ditch talks to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear accord, which would clear the way to boost its crude exports in a tight market.
Brent crude futures fell 14 cents, or 0.1%, to $96.51 a barrel at 0404 GMT, paring a 1.8% gain from the previous session.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures declined 16 cents, or 0.2%, to $90.60 a barrel, after climbing 2% in the previous session.
“The spectre of a U.S.-Iran nuclear deal continues to hover over the market,” ANZ Research analysts said in a note.
The European Union late on Monday
put forward a “final” text to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, awaiting approvals from Washington and Tehran. A senior EU official said a final decision on the proposal was expected within “very, very few weeks”.
“While the details around the timing of
the resumption of Iran’s oil exports remain uncertain even if the accord is revived, there is certainly scope for Iran to increase oil exports relatively quickly,” Commonwealth Bank analyst Vivek Dhar said in a note.
He said Iran could boost its oil exports by 1 million-1.5 million barrels per day, or up to
1.5% of global supply, in six months.
“A revival of the 2015 nuclear accord will
likely see oil prices fall sharply given that markets probably don’t believe a deal will be reached,” Dhar said.
However, signs that demand may not be dented as much as feared are keeping a floor under the market for now, following stronger- than-expected trade data from China on the weekend and the surprising acceleration in U.S. jobs growth in July.
The oil market has remained under pressure recently over global recession fears, with Brent prices last week suffering their biggest weekly drop since April 2020.
China, the world’s largest crude oil importer, brought in 8.79 million barrels per day of crude in July, 9.5% lower from a year earlier but up from June’s import volumes, according to China’s customs data.
Traders will also be watching out for weekly U.S. oil inventory data, first from the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday and then the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday.
Five analysts polled by Reuters expect crude stockpiles fell by around 400,000 barrels and gasoline stockpiles declined also by about 400,000 barrels in the week to Aug. 5, while distillate inventories, which include diesel and jet fuel, were unchanged.
REUTERS
IDC to carry out Basra workovers
The technical and engineering staff in the Iraqi Drilling Company have completed working over of five oil wells in the Zubair and West Qurna oil fields in Basra Governorate.
The Director General of the company, Bassim Abdul Kareem Nassir, said that
the technical and engineering staff in the company had completed the workover of three wells in the Zubair oil field for the benefit of Eni, using workover rigs, besides working over of another two oil wells. MOO
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