China demand for oil hits record highs

China’s oil demand has hit a new record of 42.96 million metric tons which equates as an incredible 10.5 million barrels per day. This is a 9.1% increase since last November.

And it looks with the continued urbanisation of China as people are moving into the cities from rural areas it is only going to continue. China have tried to address the problem by beginning their High Speed Rail engineering project and plans for the 3D Express Coach and other fascinating transport solutions.

But is it too little too late?

#business #china

Ireland set for an oil bonanza

Ireland is on the verge of securing revenue from oil that could run into billions of pounds, this could be a vital boost for the country after its financial woes and problems within the EU.


A joint Irish and UK firm, Providence Resources Plc, has said a site 30 miles off the Cork coast, should yield around 280m barrels of oil.

The money generated will depend on the market value at the time of extraction and on licensing arrangements. Providence chief executive Tony O'Reilly Jr said this was the beginning of an Irish oil industry.

This has followed decades of exploration around the Irish coast, which now seems to have paid off. It remains to be seen if there is any oil to be found off Ireland's Atlantic coast.

Shell make £11 billion deal with Iraq

Iraq yesterday signed a $17 billion (£11bn) deal with Royal Dutch Shell and Japan’s Mitsubishi to tap natural gas in the south of the country.

The agreement is one of the biggest by the Opec member to develop an energy sector battered by years of neglect and war.

It forms a joint venture to gather, process and market gas from three oil fields in the oil-rich province of Basra. That gas, pumped in conjunction with crude oil, is currently burned off – or flared – due to lack of infrastructure.

The 25-year joint venture is called Basra Gas Company. Iraq will hold a 51 per cent stake, to Royal Dutch Shell’s 44 per cent and Mitsubishi’s 5 per cent holding. The gas will be used mainly for domestic energy needs, but there is also an option for exports.

Iraq’s oil minister, Abdul-Karim Elaibi, hailed the signing as a “historic turn in Iraq’s oil industry”.

Shell chief executive Peter Voser said Iraq is now a “substantial part of Royal Dutch Shell’s portfolio in the Middle East”.

Source: The Scotsman

Libya's Oil

With Libya descending into civil war oil prices look set to rise again. Who knows how long it will be before the crisis is resolved peacefully. Perhaps Colonel Gaddaffi will leave of his own accord?

The above image displays the countries receiving oil from Libya. It will be interesting to see if Italy and Germany's economies are hit harder than the rest due to the fact they rely so much on Libyan oil.

Italy may be the next European nation to go into financial meltdown in the same way Iceland, Greece and Ireland have.

In the News...

JAPAN AIRLINES IN TROUBLE

Japan Airlines (JAL), which entered bankruptcy protection last month, has announced a massive increase in loses. The airline said it lost 177.9bn yen ($1.99bn, £1.3bn) in the last nine months of 2009 - up from a loss of 1.9bn yen a year earlier.

JAL is continuing to operate flights while it undergoes major restructuring under court supervision. The company is expected to cut staff, routes and aircraft numbers in an attempt to return to profitability.

SPANISH OIL FIRM DRILLS NEAR FALKLANDS

Spanish oil company Repsol is to drill for oil in an area near the Falkland Islands.
It will drill about 200 miles off Argentina's coast by December, "well within Argentinean waters".

The move comes as UK oil companies begin to search for oil in the Falklands, despite strong opposition from Argentina. An oil platform started drilling in Falklands territorial waters this week.

The platform, the Ocean Guardian, has been towed 8,000 miles from the Cromarty Firth in Scotland. Repsol said it would explore for oil in a "few" wells in the area.

MORE JAPANESE CAR RECALLS

Three Japanese automakers have announced the recall of thousands of vehicles, mostly in their home market.

Suzuki Motor is recalling 432,000 small vans in Japan because of a potential problem with air conditioning units.

Nissan's recall involves about 76,000 cars in Japan and more than 2,000 overseas due to a defect that may cause engine failure. And some 60,000 Daihatsu vehicles are being recalled due to faulty airbags that could accidentally inflate.

The announcements come as 8.5 million Toyota vehicles are being recalled worldwide because of safety concerns.

UNIONS INVOLVED IN CORUS DISPUTE

Union leaders have been meeting in London to discuss "orchestrated action" in the wake of the partial mothballing of the Redcar Corus plant.

The GMB, Community and Unite unions want to force the company to make a firm commitment to finding a buyer for Teesside Cast Products (TCP).

The blast furnace was shut down at the plant on 19 February, leaving 1,600 workers facing the axe. Corus said it remained open to credible offers for TCP.

The site has been at risk since April 2009 when international buyers pulled out of a 10-year contract to buy steel slabs.

Source: BBC News