National Energy Administration News

The increasing need to secure energy supplies after easing COVID-19 restrictions has pushed China to gradually resume Australian coal imports and urge domestic miners to boost their already record output.The lifting of the unofficial ban on Australian coal imports, which were halted in 2020 in a fit of Chinese pique over questions on COVID's origins, is the clearest sign yet of the renewed ties between them. The resumption is also a reminder of their economic interdependence as Australia's raw materials play a crucial role in fuelling the export-oriented economy of China…

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) announced that the Ice-Breaking LNG Carrier "Vladimir Rusanov", which is jointly owned by MOL and China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited for the Yamal LNG project, made its first call at PetroChina LNG Jiangsu Terminal in China on 17 July.A ceremony celebrating this milestone was held on 19 July.At the end of March 2018, the vessel started transportation services for LNG produced by the Yamal LNG plant at Sabetta port in Russia. For its latest voyage, the vessel departed from Sabetta port on 25 June, and had its first opportunity to navigate independently eastwards along the Northern Sea Route without ice-breaker support.The vessel passed the Bering Strait on 6 July, and safely made its first call at PetroChina LNG Jiangsu Terminal in China on 17 July.

Russian natural gas producer Novatek delivered on Thursday the first ever liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo to China via the Northern Sea Route (NSR) alongside the Arctic coast, which drastically cuts delivery time to Asian consumers.The shipments of LNG from Yamal LNG project via the NSR to China cuts transportation time and costs in comparison to other routes such as Suez Canal.Novatek said a ceremony was held to commemorate the arrival of LNG tankers Vladimir Rusanov and Eduard Toll with cargo capacity over 170…

Over 500 ships waiting to load or unload coal; strong winter demand has driven coal, LNG and oil prices. Asian benchmark thermal coal prices have pushed to their highest levels since 2016, fuelled by demand in China and loading delays in Indonesia that have ramped up shipping congestion outside major coal ports. Spot cargo prices for Australian Newcastle coal have risen nearly 15 percent from lows in late November after China loosened import restrictions to help meet a winter fuel shortage. "The reason behind relaxing the restrictions was to ensure coal supplies at utilities, as some coal-fired power plants in eastern regions have been operating with minimum coal inventories," said Zhang Xiaojin, coal analyst at Everbright Futures.

The outlook for dry bulk shipping remains positive given the shrinking supply-demand gap, according to the latest edition of the Dry Bulk Forecaster, published by global shipping consultancy Drewry. With high demolition activity and low deliveries the fleet is expected to grow at a slow annual rate of 1 percent over the next five years, while tonne mile demand will grow at a faster pace of around 3 percent per annum. As supply and demand becomes more balanced over the forecast years, charter rates are expected to improve gradually. Drewry has also researched and flagged the impact of renewables on the dry bulk trade, as this has the potential to reverse charter rates, and has built two scenarios based on current trade developments.

China's imports of coal in 2014 are expected to remain at the same level as last year, with demand growth slowing and the domestic market already well-supplied, a senior energy official said on Thursday. China imported 267 million tonnes of coal for the whole of 2013, up 14 percent on the year, with many buyers seeking out cheaper overseas supplies. Ren Lixin, director of the coal department at the National Energy Administration (NEA), told an industry conference that oversupply also remains a problem for a sector struggling with slowing demand and a campaign by the government to switch to less polluting energies. Oversupply was reflected in China's coal inventories…

China will close 1,725 small-scale mines with a total capacity of 117.48 million metric tons in 2014 as part of its program to phase out low-quality coal production, its energy administration said on Friday. Smog-hit China has been desperate to reduce coal consumption, a major source of pollutants, including hazardous airborne particulate matter in the country's cities. Beijing hopes to close old and depleting mines in the east and consolidate output in a series of "coal energy bases" in remote parts of the country, including the vast northwestern regions of Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang. The National Energy Administration said in a notice…

There was marginal improvement in the dry bulk market as improvement in demand for larger vessel segments was countered by a decline in demand for the smaller ones. According to the latest Dry Bulk Insight, the Drewry Hire Index remained at 217 points. The Chinese coal market remained in the news, with the policy of China’s National Energy Administration still unclear as regards a potential ban on low-quality coal imports. There have been several protests from big power companies against the proposal, following which the minimum limit on imports could be reduced from 4,500 Kcal/kg to 3,750 Kcal/kg. This ban will have a direct impact on Indonesia, which supplies almost 50-70 million tonnes of lower-calorific-value coal to China.

The second round of bidding for offshore concession projects, which had been scheduled to start in the first half of 2012, is likely to be put off due to significant delays in the first concession projects," Shi Pengfei, vice-president of the China Wind Energy Association told 'China Daily'. The second group of concession projects, totaling up to 2 gigawatts, are to be built in Jiangsu, Hebei, Shandong, Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces. According to the National Energy Administration, China will build 5 gW of offshore wind projects by 2015. But Shi said delays may mean missing the target. China's installed offshore wind power capacity was only 258 megawatts last year, statistics from the Global Wind Energy Council show..

Exxon Mobil Corporation (ExxonMobil) and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) announced that they have selected Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co., Ltd. (Hudong), a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation, to build four LNG carriers in China. These carriers will provide LNG transportation from the Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Gorgon Jansz LNG projects and will be jointly owned by MOL and China Shipping (Group) Company (CS). A ceremony was held in Beijing to celebrate the execution of a Project Development Agreement and a Heads of Agreement for Shipbuilding Contracts in the presence of Mr. Zhang Guobao, vice chairman, National Development and Reform Commission…