Asia/Pacific
Oil dips from highs but OPEC cuts still support market
SINGAPORE/LONDON (Reuters) — Oil prices dipped on Friday but stayed near their highest levels since 2015 on pledges from OPEC leader Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC Russia that any exit from crude output cuts would be gradual.
Fluor completes work on BASF auto coatings plant
IRVING, Texas — Fluor Corporation announced that BASF’s Coatings division has opened a new automotive coatings plant at the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park in Caojing, Shanghai, China. An opening ceremony was held recently to commemorate the milestone.
Indian refiner BPCL prepared to integrate with GAIL, Oil India
NEW DELHI (Reuters) — State refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp has written to the oil ministry for integration with GAIL (India) Ltd and Oil India Ltd as option 1 and 2, said oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday.
Idemitsu, Showa Shell to merge key operations next spring
TOKYO (Reuters) — Japanese refiners Idemitsu Kosan and Showa Shell Sekiyu will combine management of their key businesses, an Idemitsu spokesman said on Tuesday, pursuing a merger bitterly opposed by a core investor—Idemitsu's founding family.
S.Korea refiner buys rare Canadian crude cargo for February
SEOUL/SINGAPORE (Reuters) — South Korean refiner GS Caltex Corp has bought a rare cargo of Cold Lake crude, the company’s first purchase in more than two decades of this Canadian oil grade, a company spokesman said on Monday.
Russian oil exports to China via Skovorodino seen jumping 57% in 1Q
MOSCOW (Reuters) — Russian ESPO Blend oil exports to China via the Skovorodino-Mohe pipeline are expected to jump by 57% to 6.7 MMt in the first quarter of 2018 compared with the previous three months, sources familiar with the loading schedule told Reuters on Friday.
India increases petcoke import tax in blow to US refiners
NEW DELHI (Reuters) — India has raised the effective import duty on petroleum coke to 10% from 2.5%, according to a government order, days after the government told a court it was in favor of curbing the use of the dirty-burning fuel.
S.Korea's Nov Iran crude oil imports fall to 5-month low
SEOUL (Reuters) — South Korea's Iranian crude oil imports in November dropped to the lowest level since June, due to reduced shipments from the Middle Eastern country to Asia affected by its production issues.
CTCI awarded contract for Petronas RAPID project
With years of cultivation and development in the Malaysia hydrocarbon market, CTCI contracted RAPID P1 RFCC Project of PETRONAS in 2014 with a contract value of $1 B.
Neste picks Singapore for new biofuel refinery
Neste's Board of Directors has decided that Neste's additional production capacity for renewable diesel, renewable aviation fuel and raw materials for various biochemical uses will be located in Singapore. The decision initiates technical design of the new production line, with the aim of a final investment decision by the end of 2018.

- CNOOC completes construction on $2.9-B, 1.8-MMtpy integrated complex in east China 8/22
- bp's Whiting refinery (U.S.) continues to flare days after severe thunderstorm 8/22
- Bachmann introduces latest version M-Target for Simulink 8/22
- U.S. to rule on biofuel waivers, but big oil refiners may need to wait 8/22
- Chinese independent refiner Hongrun buys Canadian, Brazilian crude 8/22
- Ukrainian attack suspends Russian oil flows to Hungary, Slovakia 8/22