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June 21 (Reuters) - Oil prices rebounded early on Wednesday, recovering after two straight sessions of losses, as expectations of hawkish Fed talk later in the afternoon and possible U.S. crude stock draws in outweighed China demand worries. Concerns about demand recovery in China, the world's top oil importer, limited price gains as its economy struggles. "The only reason why I think prices are not climbing (steadily) yet is because the data from China is still unclear. "As for the Fed (meeting), that is also uncertain but with latest inflation data coming in a 4%, they have room to be dovish," Galimberti added. Looking to boost growth, China on Tuesday cut its benchmark loan prime rates (LPR) for the first time in 10 months, with a smaller-than-expected 10-basis-point reduction in the five-year LPR.

Persons: Brent, Powell, Jerome Powell, Claudio Galimberti, Galimberti, Katya Golubkova, Trixie Yap, Sonali Paul, Kim Coghill Organizations: Fed, . West Texas, ANZ Research, Market Committee, U.S . Federal, Federal Reserve, Reuters, American Petroleum Institute, Energy, Administration, Thomson Locations: China, Washington, U.S, Tokyo, Singapore

SummarySummary Companies China May PMI contracts more than expectedUS debt ceiling bill comes up for vote on WednesdaySaudi Arabia may cut July crude price - Reuters pollMay 31 (Reuters) - Oil prices extended losses early on Wednesday as worries of slowing demand from top oil importer China after the release of weaker-than-expected economic data outweighed some positive progress on the U.S. debt ceiling bill. If passed, the Biden administration would not likely need to negotiate the debt ceiling again before the November 2024 presidential election, Dhar said. Traders were uncertain about whether the group would increase output cuts as a slump in prices weighs on the market. Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman last week warned short sellers betting oil prices would fall to "watch out" in a possible signal that OPEC+ may cut output. However, comments from Russian oil officials and sources, including Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, indicate the world's third-largest oil producer is leaning toward leaving output unchanged.

Persons: Brent's, Vivek Dhar, Joe Biden, Kevin McCarthy, Biden, Dhar, Abdulaziz bin Salman, Alexander Novak, Stephanie Kelly, Trixie Yap, Himani Sarkar, Jamie Freed Organizations: PMI, Wednesday, Reuters, Brent, U.S, West Texas, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Organization of, Petroleum, Traders, Saudi Arabian Energy, Saudi Aramco, OPEC, Thomson Locations: Wednesday Saudi Arabia, China, U.S, Russia, OPEC, Asia, Saudi Arabia

We are just starting up our expansion here in Singapore," Lehmus said. Neste produces renewable fuels, mainly from waste and residues such as used cooking oil and animal fat from food industry waste. If it goes ahead, production of the renewable fuel could start in 2026 and be primarily used in its refinery’s processes, replacing fuel produced from fossil feedstocks, the company said. "Longer term, if the availability of green hydrogen can be scaled up, it offers then the possibility to also further convert green hydrogen into fuels or chemicals," added Lehmus. The production of synthetic fuels from green hydrogen and carbon dioxide hasn't been commercialised and is costly.

TOKYO, May 16 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose for a second day on Tuesday, supported by U.S. plans to purchase oil for its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) and by raging wildfires in Canada that fuelled supply worries. The U.S. Department of Energy said on Monday it would buy 3 million barrels of crude oil for the SPR for delivery in August, and asked that offers be submitted by May 31. China's oil refinery throughput in April rose 18.9% from a year earlier to the second-highest level on record, data showed on Tuesday. Oil prices on Tuesday also drew support from supply worries stemming from wildfires in Canada. "With so much uncertainty surrounding the macro environment, the lack of any strong signals from the physical market is likely to see oil prices remain under pressure," said ANZ analysts.

☆ China Says It Is Investigating Taiwan-Based Publisher on Security Grounds
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Zhu Fenglian, spokeswoman for Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said Li Yanhe was being investigated by national-security authorities. Photo: Chen Yehua/Zuma PressChina said it is investigating a Taiwan-based publisher for suspected national-security violations. The publisher, Li Yanhe, disappeared from view after arriving in Shanghai to visit family in March. Mr. Li, editor in chief of Gusa Publishing, is “under investigation by national-security authorities on suspicion of engaging in activities endangering national security,” said Zhu Fenglian, spokeswoman for Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office, at a routine briefing Wednesday. Ms. Zhu said Mr. Li’s rights would be respected but didn’t offer more details.

☆ China Detains Taiwan-Based Publisher in National Security Investigation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Amy Chang Chien | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

TAIPEI, Taiwan — A Taiwan-based publisher who disappeared while in China has been detained for suspected violations of security laws, Chinese authorities confirmed on Wednesday, fanning concerns in Taiwan that Beijing is sending a warning to the island’s vibrant publishing sector. The publisher, Li Yanhe, widely known by his pen name, Fu Cha, is a Chinese citizen who has been living in Taiwan since 2009. His company, Gusa Publishing, is well known in Taiwan for books that cast a critical eye on China’s ruling Communist Party. Mr. Li had returned to China early last month to visit relatives but fell out of contact shortly after, according to his colleagues and friends. Mr. Li’s detention is “a strong blow and will have a chilling effect,” Bei Ling, a writer from China living in Taiwan, said on Wednesday.

CNN —A Taiwan-based book publisher has been placed under investigation in China on suspicion of “endangering state security,” Beijing said Tuesday amid mounting concern over his disappearance. Li’s detention comes at a tense moment in cross-strait relations, and several Taiwan citizens have been detained in China on state security grounds in recent years. CNN has reached out to Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Office to inquire about Li’s citizenship status. One of them, Lam Wing-kee, has said he was kidnapped by Chinese “special forces” after crossing the border into mainland China from Hong Kong. Hong Kong used to be a hub for publishing politically sensitive books that would be banned in mainland China.

Hong Kong CNN —A Taiwan political activist has been formally arrested on suspicion of “secession” in China, more than eight months after he was detained amid heightened tensions across the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said they had repeatedly reached out to mainland authorities about Yang’s detention but had not received a direct response. In 2019, he became the vice chairman of the Taiwan National Party, a fringe political party advocating Taiwan independence. Handcuffed and escortedCCTV said Yang had long advocated the idea of “Taiwan independence” and founded the Taiwan National Party to push for Taiwan to become an independent, sovereign country and a member state of the United Nations. However, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council reminded Taiwan citizens to evaluate the risks before traveling to mainland China, citing the “repeated occurrence of similar cases recently,” without elaborating on the incidents.

ETSINGAPORE, April 11 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Tuesday on expectations that inventories in the U.S., the world's biggest crude consumer, are expected to fall and on signs that demand in emerging markets remains healthy. Signs of strong fuel demand in India, the world's third-biggest oil consumer, in March also supported prices. On the U.S. supply front, industry data on U.S. crude stockpiles is due on Tuesday. Oil prices fell on Monday after rising for three straight weeks, after U.S. jobs data pointed to a tight labor market, heightening expectations of another Federal Reserve rate hike that could curb oil demand. Rate hike expectations boosted the U.S. dollar index on Monday and Tuesday, which weighed on oil prices as dollar strength makes oil more expensive for other currency holders.

Companies Shell PLC FollowSINGAPORE, March 30 (Reuters) - Shell has decided not to go ahead with two projects it was studying to produce biofuels and base oils in Singapore, a company spokesperson said on Thursday. "We can confirm that we are stopping the exploration of two projects – a biofuels unit and a Group II base oil plant in Singapore," the company told Reuters in an emailed statement. "We will continue supplying base oil and lubricants, as well as biofuels, to our customers in Singapore and the region." Shell is building a 820,000 tpy biofuels plant in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and had targeted to make about 2 million tpy of SAF by 2025. Reporting by Trixie Yap and Florence Tan; Editing by Jan Harvey and Christina FincherOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

SINGAPORE, March 27 (Reuters) - Saudi Aramco's Jizan refinery is set to increase output of ultra-low sulphur diesel (ULSD) and reduce exports of vacuum gasoil (VGO) as it ramps up production in the second quarter, industry sources said. The refinery could produce up to 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) of ULSD, or 10-ppm gasoil, when it hits full capacity. This could boost Aramco's fuel exports to Europe, the sources said. A hydrocracker processes residual fuel and VGO to produce diesel and kerosene. This could end Jizan's residual fuel exports, with about 90,000 bpd of high-sulphur fuel oil and vacuum residues estimated to be fed into the power plant, said FGE.

Companies Signature Bank FollowSINGAPORE, March 17 (Reuters) - Oil prices firmed on Friday after a meeting between Saudi Arabia and Russia calmed markets amid strong China demand expectations, but were headed for their biggest weekly falls since December as a banking crisis rocked global financial and oil markets. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude went up by 21 cents to $68.53 a barrel, after closing 1.1% higher in the previous session. China's demand rebound will be positive for oil prices if upcoming data shows a good recovery of the country's economy, said analyst Tina Teng of CMC Markets. However, contagion risks among banks are still keeping investors on edge, curbing their appetite for assets such as commodities, as they fear a further rout could trigger a global recession and cut oil demand. These issues regarding inflation, the central bank's rate hikes, and confidence in financial systems cannot be settled quickly," Teng said.

Companies Signature Bank FollowSINGAPORE, March 17 (Reuters) - Oil prices rebounded by about 1% on Friday after a meeting between Saudi Arabia and Russia calmed markets amid strong China demand expectations, after a banking crisis sparked a sell-off in global financial and oil markets this week. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 78 cents to $69.13 a barrel, after closing 1.1% higher in the previous session. China's demand rebound will be positive for oil prices if upcoming data shows a good recovery of the country's economy, said analyst Tina Teng of CMC Markets. However, contagion risks among banks are still keeping investors on edge, curbing their appetite for assets such as commodities, as they fear a further rout could trigger a global recession and cut oil demand. These issues regarding inflation, the central bank's rate hikes, and confidence in financial systems, cannot be settled quickly," Teng said.

Brent crude futures rose 18 cents to $86.36 per barrel by 0730 GMT after settling 0.4% higher on Monday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $80.62 per barrel, up 16 cents, following a 1% gain in the previous session. "The supply concerns that helped oil prices higher overnight likely stemmed from Chevron's CEO comment that there's 'not a lot of swing capacity' in oil markets," Commonwealth Bank of Australia analyst Vivek Dhar said in a note. "The key unknown for 2023 will be the disruption to Russia's oil and refined product exports." ET (2130 GMT) on Tuesday, and at 10:30 a.m. (1530 GMT) on Wednesday from the Energy Information Administration.

Brent crude futures for April , due to expire on Tuesday, were up by 39 cents to $82.84 per barrel by 0718 GMT. Likewise, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 61 cents to $76.29 a barrel. Brent and WTI futures were both on track, however, for monthly losses of around 2.2% and 3.8% respectively, with WTI likely to hit a four-month streak of declines. JPMorgan's oil analysts maintained their 2023 average price forecast on Brent crude futures at $90 per barrel. Seven analysts polled also estimated that gasoline stocks rose by about 700,000 barrels.

Brent crude futures for April , due to expire on Tuesday, gained 14 cents to $82.59 per barrel by 0443 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 21 cents to $75.89 a barrel. Brent and WTI futures were both on track for monthly losses of around 2.2% and 3.8% respectively, with WTI likely to hit a four-month streak of declines. JPMorgan's oil analysts maintained their 2023 average price forecast on Brent crude futures at $90 per barrel. A preliminary Reuters poll showed analysts expected crude stocks grew by 400,000 barrels in the week to Feb. 24, which would mark the tenth consecutive week of builds.

Robin Li (or Li Yanhong in Chinese), founder, chairman and CEO of Baidu, introduces the new AI-powered digital assistant "Duer" during the 2015 Baidu Technology Innovation Conference on September 8, 2015 in Beijing, China. Shares of Baidu surged by more than 13% in Hong Kong as the company said it will launch its own artificial intelligence chatbot. The stock rose to $159.80 Hong Kong dollars per share, or 13.48% higher in Asia's morning trade. Google recently announced a similar service, Bard A. I.Ernie stands for "Enhanced Representation through Knowledge Integration," Baidu said, describing it as a "large language model" that was introduced in 2019. "What distinguishes ERNIE from other language models is its integration of extensive knowledge with massive data, resulting in exceptional understanding and generation capabilities," Baidu said.

SummarySummary Companies OPEC+ seen sticking with oil output policy at Feb. 1 meetingInvestors watch for central bank rate hikesPositive China data caps weaknessJan 31 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Tuesday as the threat of further interest rate increases and ample Russian crude flows outweighed demand recovery expectations from China. March Brent crude futures declined 25 cents to $84.65 per barrel by 0715 GMT. The March contract expires on Tuesday and the more heavily traded April contract fell by 38 cents, or 0.45%, to $84.12. Likewise, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures dropped by 44 cents, or 0.56%, to $77.46 a barrel. Higher rates could slow the global economy and weaken oil demand.

Summary OPEC says Chinese oil demand to rebound in 2023 after dropU.S. shale oil output set to rise in Feb to record -EIARussia sees sanctions impact on oil products -senior sourceJan 18 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Wednesday, extending the previous session's gains, driven by optimism that the lifting of China's strict COVID-19 curbs will lead to a recovery in fuel demand in the world's top oil importer. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 68 cents, or 0.85%, to $80.56, having risen 0.4% on Tuesday. China's economic growth slowed sharply to 3% in 2022, missing the official target of "around 5.5%" and marking its second-worst performance since 1976. But OPEC kept its 2023 global demand growth forecast unchanged at 2.22 million bpd. Russia, meanwhile, expects Western sanctions to have a significant impact on its oil product exports and its production, likely leaving it with more crude oil to sell, said a senior Russian source with knowledge of the nation's outlook.

☆ China shipyards feast on record LNG tanker orders as South Korea builders are full up
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Chen Aizhu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Chinese shipyards this year won 45 LNG tanker orders worth an estimated $9.8 billion, about five times their 2021 order values, according to shipping data provider Clarksons Research. By late November, Chinese yards had grown their LNG order books to 66 from 21, giving them 21% of global orders worth around $60 billion. Still, Chinese yards received 19 foreign orders for LNG tankers this year and that number is likely to grow. "Chinese yards have become more attractive because of the South Korean backlog, as well as rising costs," said ICIS analyst Songer. Chinese yards' relationship with GTT also helps, he said.

☆ Oil steady as China revival hopes offset Russia uncertainty
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Trixie Sher Li Yap | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Brent crude futures edged up 3 cents, or 0.04%, to $79.38 a barrel by 0717 GMT, after they fell below $80 for the second time in 2022 during the previous trading session. U.S. crude futures mostly traded sideways, and were down 9 cents or 0.12% to $74.16 a barrel. "China has (been) rapidly eased COVID-19 restrictions, which may boost demand," markets analyst Leon Li at CMC Markets said in a note. The reopening could see a 1% boost to global oil demand, ANZ said in a client note. Oil prices have dropped by more than 1% for three straight sessions, giving up most of their gains for the year.

SINGAPORE, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Oil futures edged slightly higher on Wednesday on hopes for improved Chinese demand while uncertainty about how a Western cap on Russian oil prices would play out kept markets on edge after a sharp fall the previous session. U.S. crude futures clawed back earlier losses and were steady from the previous close at $74.25 a barrel. "China has (been) rapidly eased COVID-19 restrictions, which may boost demand," markets analyst Leon Li at CMC Markets said in a note. However, uncertainty on how the price cap on Russian oil would play out on supply contributed to volatility. Oil prices have dropped by more than 1% for three straight sessions, giving up most of their gains for the year.

Helping to boost prices, U.S. crude oil stocks were expected to have dropped by about 7.9 million barrels in the week ended Nov. 25, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday. Gasoline inventories rose by about 2.9 million barrels, while distillate stocks were seen rising about 4.0 million barrels, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Thin liquidity and an overall lack of trading volumes towards the year-end could also be propping up the market, according to Virendra Chauhan at Energy Aspects. On the supply side, OPEC+ is likely to keep oil output policy unchanged at a meeting on Sunday, five OPEC+ sources said, although two sources said an additional production cut was also likely to be considered, to support prices. "Oil’s rally ran out of steam after reports that OPEC+ might end up keeping their output steady.

Companies Vitol SA FollowSINGAPORE, Nov 23 (Reuters) - An imminent price cap on Russian oil by G7 countries is likely to divert trade to smaller companies, the chief executive of Dutch energy and commodity trader Vitol, Russell Hardy, said on Wednesday. Larger corporates such as Western banks and insurance companies will not participate in the trades unless there is absolute clarity that the price of the contract is below the price cap, Hardy said at the FT Commodities Asia Summit in Singapore. So the challenge of redirecting leftover Russian oil that typically goes into Europe will be in the hands of smaller companies that do not operate in G7 nations, he said. The price cap will probably be segmented into three portions, including low-value Russian products, high-value Russian products, and crude oil, he added. PRICE OUTLOOKHardy said oil prices would still lean towards the downside until early 2023, as some customers had already covered their current requirements.

The increased output could also cool prices for other oil products, especially for gasoline, and dampen overall refining margins. Half of the increase, though, will still come from Asia's biggest refiner Sinopec (600028.SS), one of them said, as it raises output to produce more diesel and raise fuel exports. So the mandate from the headquarters is to boost diesel production to supply the domestic market and also to raise exports," one of the Sinopec sources said. Further boosting supply, China's largest private refiner Zhejiang Petroleum and Chemical Co (ZPC) is raising diesel output by cutting petrochemical production. Lockdowns have become more frequent and China's borders remain mostly shut, hurting domestic gasoline and aviation fuel sales.

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