Asia’s cash premiums for 380-cst high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) surged to their highest level in nearly six months on Wednesday, lifted by steady cargo demand in the Singapore trade window, while residual fuel inventories in Fujairah dropped to a three-week low. The cash differentials for 380-cst HSFO were at a premium of $9.21 per tonne to Singapore quotes, a level…
Read MoreMonth: March 2022
Oil industry: OCAC asks Ogra to facilitate major shareholders
The Oil Company Advisory Council (OCAC) has asked the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) to pay attention to problems being faced by major shareholders of the oil industry. The industry says the Ogra should hold regular meetings with leading oil marketing companies (OMCs), on price differential claim (PDC), the IFEM, and other matters. “No meeting of the regulator was…
Read MoreCoalmining In Thar Spells Disaster For Locals
Without providing any alternative source of livelihood to the desert dwellers, the coal power companies have been encroaching on their farmlands and pastures, erecting fences around them, and banning the entry of local communities and their livestock. As if pains and sorrows of dispossession and destitution were not enough, the increasing depletion and poisoning of groundwater — an environmental externality…
Read MoreOil rises towards $116 as EU weighs Russian ban
Oil rose towards $116 a barrel on Tuesday, adding to a 7% surge the previous day, supported by supply risks from a potential European Union oil embargo on Russia and concern about attacks on Saudi oil facilities. European Union foreign ministers are split on whether to join the United States in banning Russian oil. Some countries, including Germany, say the…
Read MoreOil Prices Fall Despite Surprise Draw In Crude Inventories
The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that there was a surprise draw this week for crude oil of 4.28 million barrels, compared to analyst predictions of a 25,000 barrels build. U.S. crude inventories have shed some 77 million barrels since the start of 2021 and about 20 million barrels since the start of 2020. In the week prior, the API…
Read MoreADB Approves $300 Million Loan To Develop Pakistan’s Capital Markets
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $300 million loan to further develop Pakistan’s capital markets, promote private investment in the country, and help to mobilise domestic resources to finance sustainable growth.The second subprogramme of ADB’s Third Capital Market Development Programme builds on institutional and regulatory reforms put in place under the first subprogramme approved in 2020. It aims…
Read MoreGovt mulls excluding KPC premium from HSD price computation
Petroleum Division proposed exclusion of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) premium from price computation of high speed diesel (HSD) for the April-June 2022 period due to price volatility in the global market, The News learnt on Tuesday. According to a summary of the Petroleum Division, due to the volatile market conditions in the wake of Russia-Ukraine war and high demand of…
Read MoreNPPMCL receives Rs100bn from syndicate of local banks
National Power Parks Management Company (Pvt.) Limited (NPPMCL) received an unprecedented response from a syndicate of local banks for project financing in excess of Rs100 billion, said a press release issued on Monday. NPPMCL, which owns and operates two state-of-the-art power plants, is being privatized by the Privatisation Commission which led to the recapitalization of the government of Pakistan’s equity…
Read MoreNational body finds 70 projects problematic during 2020-21
Prime Minister’s constituted National Coordination Committee on Foreign Funded Projects (NCC-FFP) has scrutinized a total of 171 projects with involvement of foreign funding of almost $30 billion and found 70 projects as problematic with a cost of $13.28 billion during the last fiscal year 2020-21. According to the Year Book 2020-21 released on Monday, the NCC-FFP scrutinized 171 projects and…
Read MoreCement: Troubles ahead!
Despite a visible slowdown in cement demand—though expectations earlier ran contrary to what transpired—and ballooning energy costs, cement industry in the first half of the fiscal year far exceeded estimates. Revenues and earnings grew substantially on the back of impressive retention, reduced overheads and financial costs, as well as a reasonable improvement in “other incomes”. Total cement dispatches dropped 4…
Read More