Status Bump: China’s renminbi joins the dollar, euro, pound and yen as an IMF reserve currency The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced Monday that the international lender will include the Chinese renminbi, or yuan, in its basket of currencies that make up the Special Drawing Right (SDR), it said in a release. The IMF’s decision will be effective as of
Coal loses support as demand in China falters The global coal trade declined for the first time in 21 years in 2014, and likely contracted further this year as well, according to information from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The global coal trade grew rapidly from 2008 to 2013 as demand in Asia picked up to support expanding economies in
China hopes to spur demand for natural gas China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country’s top economic planner, announced this week that it plans to reduce the benchmark city-gate prices for natural gas by 0.7 yuan ($0.11) per cubic meter for industry and commercial users. Analysts believe the move, which was expected, effectively reduces the cost of city-gate
The U.S. and India will drive oil demand growth in the future – Raymond James China’s economy has been a demand-growth powerhouse over the course of the last decade as the country’s industrial sector boomed, but China’s role in global demand growth will be on the decline moving forward, according to research from Raymond James. Stepping up to take China’s
Japan increasingly buying its oil from Russia Russia and Japan are becoming increasingly close energy partners, a trend that Igor Sechin, CEO of Rosneft (ticker: RNFTF) believes will continue into the future. Sechin said today that Russia’s oil exports to Japan rose 20% year-on-year in January-August 2015 despite a mutual decline in trade, Sechin said during a Russia-Japan energy cooperation
Are China’s reforms actual reforms? Since the turn of the century, China has increasingly come to the forefront of the world’s political and economic stages. The country’s demand growth for hydrocarbon fuels has made it particularly interesting to the oil and gas industry around the world. In 2011, China became the largest global energy consumer, and the world’s second-largest oil
BP strengthens ties with CNPC for shale exploration and fuel retailing British oil giant BP (ticker: BP) announced today that the company signed a number of deals with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the U.K. this week. In the company’s press release, BP said the two companies have entered into a framework
The spread on OPEC members’ crude widens as competition increases Members of OPEC are beginning to cut their own prices relative to one another as the competition over share of global markets, particular Asia, continues to intensify. Traditionally, members of OPEC move prices together, but data today shows Kuwait is undercutting Saudi Arabia by the most on record and Iraq
Russia Experts Discuss How Today’s Commodities Prices and Shifting Market Dynamics are affecting the Russian Oil & Gas Industry in this Exclusive Oil & Gas 360® Analysis Around the world, in places where oil and gas is a dominant resource, countries, kingdoms, companies and individual billionaires have been created by the extraction and sale of these fuels. The continuing importance
As China looks for way to meet more of its natural gas demand domestically, it has looked to improving the economics of its own shale gas development. While China is one of four countries currently producing commercial volumes of shale gas, it has not been as economical as shale development in the U.S. Despite this, there have been more than
Chinese Fund Buys 9.9% Stake in $27 Billion Russian LNG Project Since the implementation of U.S. sanctions against Russia for its actions in Crimea, one of the major challenges facing the Russian oil and gas industry is gaining access to long-term project financing. Under the current sanctions regime, loans to Russia can be no longer than 30 days if they
China looks to break oil and gas monopoly with new structure, further reforms The Chinese government is moving forward with plans to shake things up at its oil and gas monopolies. Reports say China will take the oil and gas transportation operations currently under the control of state-giants China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC; ticker: CEO), China National Petroleum Corp
