Asia
• Perhaps the most important development last week in Asia was the news that SK Energy, one of the major refiners in South Korea, bought around 1 million barrels of Russian Urals Blend crude for arrival in late March or early April. This is SK Energy’s first purchase of the grade in a decade. The news shows that competition between Russia and other producers from the Middle East is becoming tough. Another reason behind the development could be the OPEC cut deal because of rising costs for rival supply from the Middle East.
• A major news item last week was the announcement of China’s energy plans for 2017. China aims to produce around 200 million tons of crude oil and 170 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2017, National Energy Administration (NEA) said in a statement posted on its website. China also aims to close more than 500 coal mines and eliminate about 50 million tons of capacity this year. The country plans to add 20GW of installed wind power capacity and 18GW of installed solar power capacity this year. Not only renewable energy will see a big push this year but also nuclear energy as Beijing plans to approve construction of eight nuclear power reactors in 2017 and complete the construction of five others.
North America
• Shale oil news still dominates the scene in North America. The drilling boom continues as shale wildcatters pushed ahead on the biggest surge in US oil drilling since 2012 as the explorers take advantage of prices above $50 for more than two months. Rigs targeting crude in the US rose by 6 to 597 last week, the highest total since October 2015, according to Baker Hughes Inc. data released on Friday. Drillers have added 72 rigs since 2017 began, the best start in five years.
• US crude inventories rose to 518.1 million barrels last week, the highest in weekly data going back to 1982, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
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