Posts tagged ‘China National Petroleum Corporation’

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29/08/2013

China environment min suspends some approvals for Sinopec, CNPC

Reuters: “China’s environment ministry will stop approving some new refining projects and upgrades of existing facilities by the country’s top state-owned oil firms after the two failed to meet key pollution targets in 2012, it said on Thursday.

Workers walk inside China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) Lanzhou Chemical Company in Lanzhou, capital of northwest China's Gansu province April 27, 2007. REUTERS/Jason Lee

The Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) said China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) failed to meet targets to cut chemical oxygen demand in 2012, while Sinopec Group failed to meet a target to cut nitrogen oxide emissions.

Officials from the companies were not immediately available for comment, although the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily said the MEP’s move would have no impact on 790,000 barrels per day of refining capacity now under construction.

The ministry said in a notice posted on its website (www.mep.gov.cn) that it would suspend approvals of environment impact assessments for all new refining projects from the two oil giants, apart from any upgrades that target fuel pollution specifications or other environmental renovations.

“Such tough punishment on the two oil majors is unprecedented – it is a warning to others,” said Wang Tao, resident scholar at the Energy & Climate Program of the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy in Beijing.

“But the MEP has only suspended approval for their new refineries, and what we really need is for them to take strong measures to curb pollution from existing refineries,” said Wang.

CNPC is the parent of PetroChina, China’s dominant oil and gas producer. Sinopec Group is the parent of top Asian refiner Sinopec Corp.

The MEP and its local branches have struggled to impose their will on state-owned industrial enterprises, which are big sources of economic growth as well as pollution. But Beijing has promised to get tough on firms accused of ignoring environmental rules or approval procedures.

People’s Daily said on Thursday the decision “demonstrated China’s determination when it comes to pollution emissions.””

via China environment min suspends some approvals for Sinopec, CNPC | Reuters.

See also: https://chindia-alert.org/economic-factors/greening-of-china/

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29/07/2013

China opens pipeline to bring gas from Myanmar | South China Morning Post

SCMP: “China has switched on a new pipeline bringing natural gas from Myanmar, a state company said on Monday, in a project that has raised concerns in Myanmar’s nascent civil society about whether its giant neighbour’s resource grabs will benefit local people.

myanmar_china_pipeline.jpg

The 793-kilometre pipeline connects the Bay of Bengal with southwest China’s Yunnan province and is expected to transfer 12 billion cubic metres of natural gas to China annually, according to a news release on the website of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). A parallel 771-kilometre pipeline that will carry Middle East oil – shipped via the Indian Ocean – is still under construction.

China’s investments, largely in energy and mining, have generated controversy in Myanmar because they have done little to relieve that country’s chronic power shortages. In response, last year the Myanmar government abruptly suspended construction of the China-backed Myitsone dam, which would displace thousands and flood the spiritual heartland of Myanmar’s Kachin ethnic minority.

While the pipelines are only expected to provide a small proportion of China’s oil and gas consumption, they are strategically important to Beijing. The gas pipeline that began operating on Sunday offers a nearby source of gas, and the oil pipeline would eliminate the need for tankers from the Middle East to pass through the crowded Malacca Strait between Malaysia and Indonesia.

The two joint ventures are between state-owned CNPC and Myanmar’s national petroleum company Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise. Four other companies from India and South Korea also have stakes in the project, according to CNPC.”

via China opens pipeline to bring gas from Myanmar | South China Morning Post.

Posted in China alert, Diplomacy, Economics, GeoPolitics, oil & gas, Politics | 3 Comments »

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18/05/2013

* China’s protesters: winning battles?

FT: “Even in China, David sometimes beats Goliath – though it’s sometimes hard to be sure.

This week, residents of Songjiang – a suburb of Shanghai which has gained fame around the world for having over 10,000 dead pigs floating in its water supply – found that though they could not vanquish the porcine invader, they had scared away an intruder from the corporate world. Shanghai Guoxuan High-Tech Power Energy company said it was abandoning plans for a battery factory in Songjiang, after residents protested on the streets and on the internet against it.

In a statement broadcast on local TV, the company said it would return the land allocated by local government and “will not seek any compensation”. It said it was halting its existing operations and pulling out of the area completely.

Residents staged street protests against the plant regularly since late April and more than 10,000 signed a petition against the project with many others voicing their opposition to it on the internet. At least one protester was reported to have been injured by police.

But Chinese citizens know that plants vanquished in one location in China, by “not in my backyard” or “nimby” protests, often pop up in someone else’s backyard. Residents of neighbouring Jinshan, another industrial area on the outskirts of Shanghai, now fear that the plant will end up on their doorstep.

“We already have so many chemical plants. We really cannot tolerate one more battery plant. Shall we protest together?” asks one user on a Jinshan property owner’s online forum.

Ordinary Chinese are less and less ready to pay the environmental price for economic development – or rather, more and more ready to see someone else pay it. This week, up to a thousand people protested in Kunming, in southwest China, the second large demonstration this month against plans to produce paraxylene (PX), a chemical used in making fabrics and plastic bottles, at a plant in the town.

Protestors complained that the environmental impact assessment for the project was suspect, because it was done by one subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corp, the country’s largest oil and gas producer and supplier, while the plant would be operated by another. That is the equivalent of “grandson assessing Grandpa,” said one Weibo user.

Last November, the eastern city of Ningbo suspended a petrochemical project after days of street protests. The year before, big protests against a PX plant in the northeastern city of Dalian forced the city government to suspend it.”

via China’s protesters: winning battles? | beyondbrics.

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09/05/2013

* China’s Vision for a ‘New’ Urbanization

WSJ: “China watchers are all abuzz about urbanization, which is supposed to be a focus of reform. But what does the term mean? After all, China has been urbanizing for 30 years, which has meant building roads, subways, ports — and relying more and more on infrastructure spending, which seems to have less and less payoff these days.

The National Development and Reform Commission, China’s state planning agency, is due to produce a report later this year laying out a path for a new kind of urbanization.

Li Tie, director general of the NDRC’s China Center for Urban Development, said the report involves a “new model of city development,” which would include three main parts:

First, there would be a focus on “low carbon” development — meaning trying to assure Chinese cities ease their horrendous pollution.

Second, would be reform of the household registration, or hukou, system. For smaller cities the system would be “totally liberalized,” Mr. Li said. He didn’t lay out his thoughts fully, but seemed to suggest that all residents would enjoy the same rights and benefits regardless of where they were born. For larger cities, migrants would get “resident cards” which assured them “improved treatment” and access to social services.

Third, China would look to increase “clustering” in big cities. Mr. Li didn’t explain what he meant by that, but in urban planning speak, clustering usually means trying to develop industries or specialties in a city or group of cities. That’s a way to build on the intellectual frisson of urban life, where new ideas can spawn new industries.

Those proposals address some of the most vexing problems with life in China’s cities: pollution, widening social inequality and lack of innovation. They also suggest that China’s leaders are committed to making urbanization into something more than another building spree. But changes would be costly and could require China’s central government to take a much more active role in overseeing—and paying for—urban growth than it has in the past. Whether China’s new leaders are ready to take such steps will become clear over the next year or two.”

via China’s Vision for a ‘New’ Urbanization – China Real Time Report – WSJ.

Posted in China alert, Economics, Migrant workers, Politics, urban development | 2 Comments »

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05/05/2013

* Protest in China at chemical plant plans for Kunming

BBC: “Hundreds of people have rallied in the Chinese city of Kunming to protest at plans for a factory producing a toxic chemical for the textile industry.

A child holds up protest posters in Kunming, China, 4 May

Some demonstrators wore symbolic masks and brandished posters warning against the dangers of a paraxylene (PX) spill.

“We want to survive, we want health, get PX out of Kunming”, a banner read.

Two years ago, protests against a PX factory in the city of Dalian forced the city government to close the plant, though it reportedly re-opened later.

Saturday’s protest in Kunming, in the south-west of the country, attracted at least 200 people, according to state media.

Chinese bloggers, however, put the number at up to 2,000.

The China National Petroleum Corporation plans to build a chemical plant in the nearby town of Anning to produce 500,000 tonnes of PX annually.

PX is is used to create raw materials for the production of polyester film and fabrics.

Correspondents say urban Chinese are becoming increasingly confident about protesting at potential threats to their environment.”

via BBC News – Protest in China at chemical plant plans for Kunming.

Posted in China alert, Economics, Manufacturing, Politics, Pollution, public protest | Leave a Comment »

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13/02/2013

* Russia plans $25-$30 billion oil-for-loans deal with China

Reuters: “Rosneft is seeking to borrow up to $30 billion from China in exchange for possibly doubling oil supplies, making Beijing the largest consumer of Russian oil and further diverting supplies away from Europe.

A logo of Russian state oil firm Rosneft is seen at its office in St. Petersburg, October 18, 2012. REUTERS/Alexander Demianchuk

Four industry sources familiar with the situation told Reuters Rosneft was in talks with China’s state firm CNPC about the borrowing, which would echo a $25 billion deal the two companies clinched last decade.

Back then, Rosneft and Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft borrowed money to help Rosneft acquire the assets of nationalized oil producer YUKOS while agreeing to build a pipeline to supply China with 300,000 barrels per day for 15 years.

This time, Rosneft wants to borrow money as it is close to completing a $55 billion acquisition of rival TNK-BP to become the world’s largest oil producer among publicly traded firms.

Russia’s leading oil company, controlled by the Kremlin, is considering ultimately doubling supplies to China, sources said.

“It can be a combination of delivery options. The strategic line is to increase supplies to China,” one source familiar with the situation said.

“The reason why China is willing to lend is simple. They sit on over 3 trillion of dollars in reserves and are looking to diversify their investments,” he added referring to China’s forex reserves of $3.3 trillion.

Rosneft and CNPC declined comment.”

via Exclusive: Russia plans $25-$30 billion oil-for-loans deal with China | Reuters.

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