CNPC's C$499 Million Deal Still Valid

Source: Reuters 8/24/2009, Location: Africa
Oil & Gas Companies

China National Petroleum Corp's CNPET.
UL C$499 million ($462 million) agreement
to acquire Canada's Verenex Energy Inc
remains in effect, though the deal was
to expire today, Verenex's chief financial
officer said on Monday. Though Libya's
government has said it may pre-empt the
deal - which would see CNPC's international
arm buy the Canadian firm for its oil
properties in the North African country -
the agreement remains valid until either
party cancels it, said Verenex CFO Ken Hillier.

"Today is the outside date for the acquisition
agreement, but it doesn't terminate until
one party actively terminates it," Hillier said.
"We certainly have no intention of doing so
and we've heard nothing from CNPC to that effect.
" Verenex, a small Canadian oil producer that has
concentrated on finding oil in Libya, agreed in
February to sell itself to CNPC for C$10 a share.

However Libya balked at the deal and said it may
exercise its right of first refusal and buy Verenex's
operations itself. Verenex has been in negotiations
with Libya but those discussions have yet to result
in a solution for either the company or the North
African country.

Korea and India sign CEPA

Korea and India sign CEPA
Korea and India signed a landmark free trade agreement
in Seoul Aug. 7th, 2009 with the vision of boosting their
economies through liberalized exchange of industrial goods
and services, as well as the axing of non-tariff barriers.

Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon and Indian Commerce
Minister Anand Sharma signed the Comprehensive Economic
Partnership Agreement that would either eliminate or reduce
tariffs on 85 percent of Korea's exports and 90 percent of India's
exports between eight and 10 years.

"Today marks the historic signing of the comprehensive
economic agreement, " Trade Minister Kim told reporters
in Seoul following the signing ceremony. ...

Valin Group gains CNY 0.134 billion of profits in June

【保护视力色】 【打印】【进入论坛】【字号 大 中 小】 2009-07-10 09-21
Hunan Daily reported that Hunan Valin Iron & Steel Group Co Ltd has achieved sales incomes of CNY 24.17 billion during January to June this year and gained CNY 0.134 billion of profits only in June. Its subsidiaries, like Xiangtan Steel, Lianyuan Steel and Hengyang Steel all turned loss into profits in the month. In 2009, Valin Group has increased its investments by CNY 2 billion than last year with the total investment of CNY 10 billion. At present, Xiangtan Steel 5 meters broad and-thick plate project has finished converter and conti-casting basic parts construction, and Hengyang Steel 720 large-caliber seamless steel pipe has been slated into production in July 3rd. All these huge projects will ensure the company to realize the high value added products mix adjustment plan in a bid to enter the high end steel products market in the days to come.Besides, the company has become the second shareholder of Australia third largest mining group FMG by holding 17.34% stocks in CNY 6.2 billion and also signed strategic cooperation with Shanxi Coking Coal Group.

山西太原鋼鐵集團：太鋼走出國門競爭，開拓海外礦山

(2009-3-5 13:04:48) 480人次瀏覽
　
　在不斷尋求當地資源的同時，
太鋼也正在加緊海外業務的拓展。
3月3日， 記者了解到，為了更好
地參與國外市場的競爭，
太鋼首個海外實體合資公司——
科羅姆·瑪丹鉻礦工業和貿易股份公司成立。

　　該海外實體合資公司由太鋼、
山西晉中萬邦工貿有限公司、 土耳其
CVK集團公司三方合資在土耳其
伊斯坦布爾市成立。 太鋼持有37.2%的股份
成為新公司的第一大股東，
對合資公司具有實質性的控制權。

　　近年來，一些鋼鐵企業飽受礦石供應商
的壟斷之害，鋼鐵上遊的供應源頭一直被控制
在別人手裏，發展被動。隨著對原料需求的不斷增加，
鋼鐵企業越發意識到掌握資源的重要性，
不少企業逐步開始在澳洲、美洲、東南亞等地區投資，
開發礦山。

台經院：景氣谷底已過

2009-07-31 工商時報 【王立德／台北報導】

台經院昨（30）日公布六月份景氣動向調查報告，製造業營業氣候測驗點為114.35點，超越2008年初、金融海嘯發生前的水準；服務業營業氣候測驗點為117.74點，也相當接近2008年初水準。由於營業氣候測驗點向來領先GDP兩個季度，台經院景氣預測中心主任陳淼預測，「景氣谷底已過去。」
　以製造業來說，台經院6月份所做的問卷調查顯示，認為6月景氣「好」的廠商，佔比較5月增加9個百分點，看壞比例則下滑9個百分點。
　原因在於，雖全球景氣成長倒退走，導致實質需求下滑，打壓了出口及生產，但新興市場需求仍相對熱絡，加上全球廠商回補庫存，景氣逐漸起色，多數受訪廠商預期，出貨可逐季增溫，因此對未來半年信心樂觀。
　再以服務業觀察，儘管6月份零售業買氣，在母親節及端午節檔期後降溫，但國際原物料價格及大宗物資價格，較去年同期成本壓力減輕，有正面的挹注，6月份整體批發業營業額，比5月成長8.83％。
　整體而言，服務業景氣呈現成長，6月份營業氣候測驗點為117.74點，上揚1.37點，在兩岸題材持續加溫，未來發展仍受期待下，仍是樂觀看待。
　由於製造業、服務業的營業氣候測驗點，都呈現連六個月走揚，陳淼推估，景氣谷底已過，且根據歷史經驗，營業氣候測驗點常領先GDP兩個季度，以低點1月推估，第三季GDP年增率即可轉正，預測為0.22％。

Risk Based Maintenance for Nuclear Power Plant HVAC System

1.Matsudo Research Laboratory,
Hitachi Plant Technologies, Ltd., Matsudo, Japan


2.Nuclear System HVAC Construction Department,
Hitachi Plant Technologies, Ltd., Tokyo, Japan

3.Nuclear System HVAC Construction Department,
Hitachi Plant Technologies, Ltd., Tokyo, Japan

Abstract

1. Object
Nuclear power plant HVAC
(Heating, Ventilating, Air-Conditioning)
system aims at keeping suitable environment for
main machinery, and suppressing the release of
radioactive substances into unpolluted area.
Therefore, the stable operation is always necessary
whether the nuclear reactor is operating or stopping,
and more reliable maintenance is requested.

There is rotating machinery, such as the fan pump,
and static machinery, such as the duct damper,
in HVAC system. In traditional maintenance,
we maintain the rotation machinery on the basis
of recommended frequency by vendor. And we maintain
static machinery on the basis of visual check at daily
surveillance patrol and experts' assessments.

More enhanced and more efficient maintenance than
this traditional maintenance is necessary. It is necessary
for rotation machinery to introduce condition based
maintenance (CBM). On the other hand, it is necessary
for static machinery to plan appropriately preventive
maintenance.

In view of these facts, we applied risk based maintenance
(RBM) to static machinery in Nuclear power plant HVAC
system to catch experts' knowledge and make traditional
maintenance more enhanced.

2. Method
A risk consists of the effect of breakdown and the
degrees of degradation.

First, we clarified the factors that estimate the
effect of breakdown. As a result, the factors were
repair cost, the damage of system stop, the damage
of loss of function, and mechanical downtime.
And using these factors, we statistically analyzed
the effect of breakdown.

Second, we clarified the factors that estimate the
degrees of degradation. As a result, the factors were
degradation state (corrosion and fatigue), the past
replacement track record, the use environment
(corrosive environment, wind velocity, etc)
and design data (equipment types, wall thickness, etc.).
And using these factors, we statistically analyzed the
degree of degradation　based on the model which
increases linearly along with the duration of service.

3. The main result
(1)Based on the results of questionnaire made to
three experts, the method for quantification of
the degree of influence of evaluation factors in the
evaluation formula for the magnitude of damage
by using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)
was established.

(2)By pigeonholing the fluctuation factors of service
life and changing the service life depending on the
operating conditions of equipment, the degree of
deterioration was calculated in the ratio of years
lapsed to service life.

(3) Risk evaluation of static equipment in the actual
plant was made by the established quantitative evaluation
method with the result that the equipment of high risk
evaluation was almost coincident with the equipment
having the maintenance results by the judgment of expert
engineers. The adequacy of RBM was thus confirmed.

References
[1] Takayuki Aoki .et al,
“The literacy of maintenance,” 2007

Dear Friends,

Foster wheeler informed us that their US project cancelled,
so now they have this surplus Boiler tube and pipes need to disposed off.
Origin from V&M, Vallourec,US, Sumitomo Japan, Benteler etc.. with matching MTC.
This tubular just arrived China and store in covered warehouse in shanghai.
Client accept partial order in items/qty,
indication price is 30% ~50% below market price.
Please advise your intention asap.

Validity: subject to unsold.

Any further interest, pls mail to us.
fmands@ms5.hinet.net

Very Truly Yours,
Sales Executive - Becky Fu (Phu Hinh Nghi)
Formosa M&S Overseas Sales & Services, Inc.
www.asian-alloys.com
SKYPE: fmands-becky
Tel: 886 7 397 9677
Fax: 886 7 397 9878

2009/07z/15 寶鋼盤價續漲 鍍鋅外銷價格想漲

2009/07z/15 寶鋼盤價續漲 鍍鋅外銷價格想漲
【記者張迎秝 高雄報導】寶鋼調漲8月盤價，漲幅超過10%，熱軋上漲350-500元人民幣/噸，新價約在550美元/噸，使得中鋼9月盤價可望在落後寶鋼報價後補漲，目前市場預期中鋼盤價漲幅可能從先前的1000元/噸再加碼，拉到與寶鋼盤價差不多。受此影響，早就有意在現有盤價基礎下再加碼外銷報盤的鍍鋅廠，近兩日陷入思考是否要先前反應部分原料，致近日報盤全面暫停。
寶鋼13日宣佈全面調漲8月盤價，其中熱軋調漲350至500元人民幣/噸，冷軋、熱鍍鋅、電鍍鋅、鍍鋁鋅、烤漆等鋼品均調漲500元/噸；以熱軋而言，調漲後盤價已直逼4300元，遠高於中國市場行情的3860元。
以熱軋為例，寶鋼新盤價折合約550美元/噸，中鋼熱軋內銷盤價僅約500美元/噸，7月底、8月初即將開出的中鋼9月盤價，具調漲50美元/噸，1650元新台幣/噸，高於先前市場預期的漲幅，但中鋼表示，盤價要漲多少，現在談還太早，還需視大陸及亞洲市場反應而定。
寶鋼是中國大陸鋼鐵龍頭，盤價具有指標意義，預料將會帶動其它一級鋼廠及二線鋼廠的盤價走揚，讓單軋原料的成本升高。
受此影響，單軋廠考量提前反應中鋼及大陸鋼廠的原料漲幅。其原因是，中鋼及中鴻減供3-5成，單軋廠原料不足需在亞洲及國際市場奔波，若不分批調漲，擔心客戶無法一次接受，反而延遲漲價進度，因此有意在近期先行調漲。
有意提前反應的外銷鋼品盤價，以鍍鋅最為積極，鍍鋅廠這兩天開會研商如何反應，但目前還無法確立目標，主要是，最新報盤還無法獲得市場接受，以CGI為例，還無法挑戰FOB 700美元/噸，買盤還在FOB 670-680美元/噸左右徘徊，使得鍍鋅廠前進受阻，但也暫停報盤，待本週方向確定後再行動

solar eclipse

There was a heavy turnout for the gazing of a rare partial solar eclipse over Taiwan more than 2 hours yesterday morning (July 22). Most people here did not want to miss this enthralling show of nature, even only partial solar eclipse in Taiwan. This eclipse is the longest of this century, when a total eclipse lasting 6 minutes 53 seconds. There will not be a longer eclipse than Wednesday's until 2132. Look! Like a diamond ring in the sky!!!

中鋼協停止了同力拓的談判

美國彭博新聞社援引《澳大利亞金融評論報》的報道說，在力拓間諜案發生後，中鋼協停止了同力拓的談判，轉而同全球最大的鐵礦石生產商巴西淡水河谷公司舉行價格談判。
　　該報說，中鋼協希望淡水河谷公司接受一個更低的鐵礦石協議基準價格，並表示將從該公司購買更多鐵礦石。不過淡水河谷公司發言人費爾南多-湯普森表示，該公司不對市場預測發表評論。
　　另據媒體報道，上周從澳大利亞運送鐵礦石至中國的船隻數量驟減，而從另一個鐵礦石出口大國巴西的船運訂單則暴增，印度的現貨價格也大漲。但隨後，力拓和必和必拓駁斥了“力拓案導致鐵礦石輸往中國中斷”的說法。
　　分析人士認為可能出於多種原因，既包括供應商策略的調整，如不參與現貨標售等，也包括海運價格等因素，難以作為判斷當前乃至今後中澳貿易變化的可靠依據。　　
（責任編輯：梁麗霞

430 stocks

Dear Friends,

We can offer the following 430 stocks, please let me know if interested.

A. Stock Offer
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. 430 excess coil & sheet - USD1450/MT;
2. 430 thin excess coil & sheet - USD1550/MT
3. 430 BA excess coil & sheet - USD1500/MT
4. 430 2nd coil/sheet - USD1300/MT
5. 430 strip coil - USD1200/MT

Price based on FOB Taiwan
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


B. TW Prime BA Coil Offer
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We can offer prime 430 BA coils ex stocks:

0.4 x 1219/1250 (mill edge) - USD1750/MT;
0.5 x 1219/1250 (mill edge) - USD1730/MT;
0.6 x 1219/1250 (mill edge) - USD1710/MT;

Coil weight: 4-10MT
Origin: Taiwan
MTC: will be provided

All quotes are based on FOB Taiwan and subject to mill's final confirmation.

BP and SOCAR Sign MOU for New Caspian

AcreageSource: www.gulfoilandgas.com
7/13/2009, Location: Asia Exploration
BP and SOCAR (the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan) announced they have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to jointly explore and develop the Shafag and Asiman structures in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea. As part of the government's plan to ensure that all of Azerbaijan's offshore waters are fully exploited this MOU gives BP the exclusive right to negotiate a production sharing agreement to explore and develop the block, which lies some 125 kilometres (78 miles) to the south east of Baku. The MOU was signed in London, in the presence of HE Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, by Rovnag Abdullayev, President of SOCAR, and Andy Inglis, BP's Chief Executive of Exploration and Production. The block covers an area of some 1100 square kilometres and has never been explored before. It is located in a deepwater section of about 650-800 metres with reservoir depth of about 7000 metres.

CNOOC Wins Approval to Build 4th LNG

TerminalSource: Reuters 7/8/2009, Location: Asia LNG Carriers
China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has won approval from the National Development and Reform Commission to build its fourth liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal and relevant facilities. The first phase of the Zhejiang project, costing around 7 billion yuan ($1.03 billion) and able to receive 3 million tonnes of LNG per year, was scheduled to be operational in 2012.Two local energy companies will also invest in the terminal. The project includes a berth to dock LNG carriers with a shipping capacity of between 80,000 and 266,000 cubic metres, and three storage tanks with a capacity of 160,000 cubic metres each.The leading Chinese LNG developer did not specify where it would source the clean fuel for the project. The project is designed to receive 6 million tonnes of LNG per year in its second phase.CNOOC would also join hands with local energy companies to build a 38.7-kilometre natural gas pipeline with an initial transportation capacity of 4.2 billion cubic metres per year.The line will be able to transport 8.4 billion cubic metres of gas when its second phase is completed.CNOOC started operating its second LNG project in Fujian in May after bringing its first in Guangdong into operation in 2006. A third in Shanghai is under construction and is expected to be operational in September this year.

Oil Market Highlights -

The OPEC Reference Basket surged almost 14% to average $56.98/b in May for a gain of $6.78/b, the highest monthly average in seven months. The market was driven by improving economic sentiment lending hope for a recovery in petroleum demand. Refinery problems in the US emerged with the start of the driving season while implied weekly demand reached a two-year high. The fall of the US dollar to a five-month low and the continued rally in equities also impacted the market. The Basket continued to move higher in June as investment institutions forecast higher prices inspiring inflows into energy futures as the dollar weakened. The Basket reached $70.87/b on 10 June. - Growth for the world economy in 2009 has been revised up slightly by 0.1% to show a decline of 1.3%. This minor change was due to upward revisions mainly in China and India. Developments in these economies have been improving lately, justifying an upward revision for the full year. China growth forecast for 2009 was increased from 6.5% to 7.0% while India was revised up from 5.0% to 5.7%. The forecast for the OECD countries remains unchanged at minus 3.8% with US GDP expected to decline by 2.8%, the Euro-zone by 4.2%, and Japan remaining very weak with an expected contraction of 6.4%. While developing Asia has seen some positive momentum, it remains to be seen whether the measures taken by OECD countries are able to produce a sustainable recovery. - World oil demand is estimated to have fallen by 0.4 mb/d in 2008 following a downward revision of 0.1 mb/d from the previous assessment. The bulk of the revision occurred in the fourth quarter. In 2009, world oil demand is expected to see continued negative growth of 1.6 mb/d, broadly unchanged from the previous report. On a quarterly basis, the first half of the year has seen a downward revision, while a gradual recovery in demand is expected by the end of the year. OECD is projected to fall by 1.8 mb/d, while non-OECD should see slight growth of around 0.2 mb/d. - The estimate for non-OPEC oil supply in 2008 remains unchanged from the previous assessment, showing a decline of 0.2 mb/d. In 2009, non-OPEC oil supply is projected to increase by 0.2 mb/d from the previous year, broadly unchanged from the previous assessment. OPEC NGLs and nonconventional oils are expected to average 4.7 mb/d in 2009, an increase of 0.4 mb/d over the previous year. In May, OPEC crude oil production averaged 28.27 mb/d, an increase of 135 tb/d over the previous month. - A combination of the gasoline stock draws in the US, lower refinery runs and product outputs have provided support for product markets, lifting refining margins especially in the Atlantic Basin. However, due to persisting bearish momentum in the distillate market and expectations that gasoline demand over the driving season will lack sufficient strength, the recent positive developments in the gasoline markets are not expected to persist over the coming months. - OPEC spot fixtures rose in May by 21% compared to the previous month. Sailings from OPEC were marginally higher. The tanker market rebounded in May with a good performance for the Aframax sector. The VLCC sector continued to suffer the most from the global economic crisis and OPEC output adjustments. Clean spot freight rates rose by 37% on average. After reaching a high level, storage at sea lost momentum towards the end of the month due to the narrowing of the contango structure in the crude futures market. - US commercial oil stocks continued their upward trend in May rising 14.5 mb to stand at 1,102 mb. The build was due mainly to other products, as crude and gasoline stocks fell by 11 mb and 9 mb respectively. European (EU-15 plus Norway) oil stocks rose 7 mb in May to stand at the upper end of the five-year average, the surplus attributed to products. Japan commercial oil stocks fell a further 1.7 mb in April before gaining around 7 mb in May, according to preliminary data. - The demand for OPEC crude in 2008 is estimated to average 30.8 mb/d, a decline of 0.5 mb/d from the previous year. In 2009, the demand for OPEC crude is expected to average 28.6 mb/d, a drop of 2.2 mb/d from a year earlier.

Rs. 6510 m Orders for Two Refineries

ProjectsSource: www.gulfoilandgas.com 7/1/2009, Location: Asia Petrochemical products Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has bagged major orders aggregating Rs. 6510 million (Rs. 651 crore) for two hydrocarbon projects. L&T will build a green field refinery project at Bathinda for HPCL-Mittal Energy Limited (HMEL), valued at Rs. 4400 million (Rs. 440 crore). In addition, L&T has received an order from Engineers India Limited for the supply and construction of a reactor and regenerator system valued at Rs. 2110 million (Rs. 211 crore) for the Fluidized Catalytic Cracking (FCC) unit of Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL), Mangalore.