China signs $50 billion U.S. dollars in oil projects this month

$4.9 billion to buy a Kazakh oil company and build a pipeline back to China

Deal signed in 2005: China National Petroleum Corp. purchased the oil company Petrokazakhstan for $4.18 billion, but didn't stop there. The Chinese then built a $700 million oil pipeline to carry the product from Kazakhstan to China.

Background: The deal hasn't been so clear cut in the end for China, as they were forced to sell back a third of the project to the Kazak government. China has continued to invest in Kazakhstan, however, and also purchased Nations Energy for $1.9 billion in 2006.

$10 billion to fund offshore exploration in Brazil

Deal signed February 2009: China Development Bank loaned $10 billion to Petrobras to fund exploration. In related deals, Petrobras guaranteed to export over 200,000 barrels each day to China.

Background: The deal furthers relations between Brazil and its biggest trade partner. It may pay off this year as Petrobras considers selling offshore blocks to Sinopec for cash.

Brazil has the 15th-largest oil reserves in the world. The recently discovered Tupi field could boost reserves much higher.

$15 billion to improve Iraq's Rumaila oil field (plus a drilling contract)

Deal signed October 2009: China National Petroleum Corp partnered with BP to drill Iraq's mega Rumaila field. They will charge $2 per barrel to produce 100,000 barrels a day. CNPC will also pay $15 billion in infrastructure improvements, according to Arabian Business.

Background: China ar greed to write off Iraq's Saddam Hussein era debts by 80% earlier this year in an effort to smooth ties between the two countries. Now China is snapping up tons of Iraqi fields. Protecting the Rumaila field was the purported reason for Saddam's Hussein's attack on Kuwait in the first Gulf War.

Majority ownership in a dirt-cheap contract to drill Iraq's Halfaya oil field

Deal signed January 2010: PetroChina announced a 37.5% stake in a development of Iraq's Halfaya oil field. The oil field holds reserves of around 4.1 billion barrels, which PetroChina will produce at a cost of less than $1.75 per barrel.

Background: China ar greed to write off Iraq's Saddam Hussein era debts by 80% earlier this year in an effort to smooth ties between the two countries. Now China is snapping up tons of Iraqi fields.

Majority ownership in a contract to drill Iraq's lucrative Missan field

Deal signed May 2010: China National Offshore Oil Corp partnered with a Turkish company to develop Iraq's Missan field for 20 years. The syndicate beat all contenders with a bid to produce at $2.30 per barrel.

Background: China agreed to write off Iraq's Saddam Hussein era debts by 80% earlier this year in an effort to smooth ties between the two countries. Now China is snapping up tons of Iraqi fields.

A $20 billion investment into the Sudanese oil industry

Deals signed over the last decade: China's investment in Sudanese oil is not very public, considering the nature of Sudan's government. Some reports have total Chinese investment at $20 billion, and that doesn't even include the shipment of arms to the country.

Background: China's relationship with Sudan is often criticized due to the violent nature of the regime, and the Darfur conflict.

$20 billion to develop the Orinoco Belt in Venezuela

Deal signed May 2010: China National Petroleum Corporation loaned $20 billion to PDVSA for development that will yield nearly three billion barrels of oil. PDVSA will repay the loan with oil.

In a side deal, China agreed to build three thermal power plants, according to The National.

Background: Venezuela has the 6th-largest oil reserves and relatively low production. The notoriously-inefficient state-owned industry is becoming more open to international investment.

$23 billion to build three refineries in Nigeria

Deal signed May 2010: China State Construction Engineering Corporation will pay $23 billion to fund refineries that can produce 750,000 barrels per day.

Background: The real payoff to this deal comes later in the year when Nigeria auctions drilling contracts on offshore fields. The government will only give contracts to parties that invest in local infrastructure and economy, according to WSJ.

Nigeria has the world's 10th-largest oil reserves, with relatively low production.

$25 billion to transport oil from Siberia to China

Deal signed February 2009: China has provided a $25 billion loan to Rosneft and Transneft, two Russian oil transport and pipeline companies. This loan is to provide the shipment of oil over a 20 year period from Russia to China.

Background: The oil is being shipped from the East Siberian oil fields of Russia, and will amount to an estimated 241,000 barrels a day. It is a move to reduce China's dependence on Middle East oil and expand their regional activities.

Asia Times Online :: Central Asian News and current affairs, Russia, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan

$25 billion to fund two major Russian oil companies

Deal signed February 2009: China boosted its Russian oil investments by lending $25 billion to two Russian oil giants, Rosneft and Transneft, with the result being 15 million metric tons going to China a year.

Background: The deal represents 10% of China's yearly oil imports in 2009 numbers. A new pipeline between the two countries is set to begin operation before the year's end.

$41 billion to produce LNG off the coast of Australia

Deal signed August 2009: China National Offshore Oil Corp. paid $41 billion for rights on liquefied natural gas from Queensland, Australia for the next 20 years. The deal will result in 3.6 million metric tons of LNG being transported to China every year.

Background: The deal was hailed as the largest trade deal in Australian history. The resource-rich country is eager to increase trade with China, even as the Chinese controversially jailed Australian employees of Rio Tinto.

Over $70 billion in natural gas and oil investments in Iran

Deal signed October 2004: Sinopec, the Chinese state oil company, signed a $70 billion deal with Iran for liquefied natural gas. The deal sees 250 million tons of LNG head to China over 30 years for the development of the Yadavaran area.

Background: China continues to pursue oil and gas deals with Iran, with the U.S. government increasingly upset over these actions. As of 2009, China was considering another $43 billion in investment in the country.

http://news.chinaa2z.com/news/html/2009/20...5256244750.html

"World´s 1st deep sea water crude oil rig, storage platform unveiled

By smile Updated:2009-06-30 00:52:54

The Sevan Driller, the world´s first cylinder-shaped deep sea water crude oil rig and bulky storage platform, which is constructed by the Nantong Shipyard under China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company (COSCO), is unveiled during a launching ceremony in Nantong City, east China´s Jiangsu Province, June 28, 2009. The rig boasts a capacity of drilling of wells up to 40,000 feet in water depths of up to 12,500 feet, a variable deckload of more than 15,000 metric tons and high storage capacity of bulk materials."

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/photo/2010-01...ent_9366573.htm

"China's largest oil tanker delivered in Guangzhou
(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-01-23 10:36

Xin Pu Yang, the most sophisticated supertanker ever designed and built by a Chinese shipyard, docks at Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong province, January 22, 2010. The ship was delivered to its buyer China Shipping(Croup) Company on Friday at Nansha port in Guangzhou. It marks a milestone that the tonnage of China's oil tanks finally breaks through 300,000 tons. [Photo/Xinhua]"








A photo taken on January 22, 2010 shows the cockpit of Xin Pu Yang, the most sophisticated supertanker ever designed and built by a Chinese shipyard at Nansha port, Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong province. [Photo/Xinhua]

Martin you are making it hard for me. Yesterday I reposted my instruction about hotlinking photos..Don't do it. All the photos you have posted are hot linked..Soon they shall be gone,

ALL MEMBERS!! DO NOT HOT LINK! IT EATS UP BANDWIDTH!!

http://www.sinodefenceforum.com/anno...otos-4672.html

bd popeye super moderator

Let's try another way. To see the amazing pictures of China's $50 billion dollar oil projects for this month and also for the last few years, please do the following:

1) Click on this link: Meanwhile, Here Are 20 Signs That China Is Cornering The Global Oil Market

2) About half-a-page below the picture of the oil rig and worker, click on "View As One Page." You can see all twenty pictures now and their description by scrolling downwards.
-----
To see pictures of China's/"World´s 1st deep sea water crude oil rig, storage platform," click on the following link:

World´s 1st deep sea water crude oil rig, storage platform unveiled - News - ChinaA2Z

You will have to click on both pages (i.e. 1 and 2) to see all six pictures (e.g. 2 sets of 3 pictures).
-----
To see pictures of China's first 300,000 ton oil supertanker, click on the following link:

China's largest oil tanker delivered in Guangzhou

You will have to click on all four pages (i.e. 1,2,3, and 4) to see all four pictures.

I believe that the deals signed by Chinese companies in Canada do not include delivery contracts to China. In fact, I don't even know if such facilities exist that would make shipping oil from the west coast of Canada to China economically feasible.

Originally Posted by Spike

I believe that the deals signed by Chinese companies in Canada do not include delivery contracts to China. In fact, I don't even know if such facilities exist that would make shipping oil from the west coast of Canada to China economically feasible.

Reliance on Oil Sands Grows Despite Risks | TheLedger.com

"Complicating the calculation is the fact that Canada’s backup market for its oil is probably China. Plans are already under way for pipelines from Alberta to Canada’s western coast for shipments to Asia. Although those could take up to a decade to build because of land considerations, Mr. Stelmach, Alberta’s premier, flew to China on Friday on a trade mission to Shanghai, Beijing and Harbin. He said one of his messages was, 'We’ve got energy.'”

Coal, oil, and natural gas belong together. Let's take a look at China's relatively new "2,210-kw coal mining machine."



China makes 1st 2,210-kw coal mining machine_English_Xinhua

"China makes 1st 2,210-kw coal mining machine
XINHUANEWS 2008-12-14 00:06:27

The first China-made 2,210 kilowatt coal mining machine passed check and appraisal on Saturday in the northwestern Shaanxi Province, reducing the reliance on exports. (Xinhua Photo)

XI'AN, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- The first China-made 2,210 kilowatt coal mining machine passed check and appraisal on Saturday in the northwestern Shaanxi Province, reducing the reliance on [imports].

Trial operation showed the remote control machine, produced by Xi'an Coal Mining Machine Co. Ltd, can mine eight million tons of coal annually, according to the Shaanxi Provincial Science and Technology Department.

The price for each was 16 million yuan (2.3 million U.S. dollars), more than 40 percent lower than [imported] ones.

China's coal production doubled in the recent decade and reached 2.5 billion tons last year. But it can only produce coal mining machine with power capacity below 1,800 kw. Machines above 2,000-kw were [imported] from the U.S. and Germany."

Yuhuan, China’s most advanced coal-fired power plant, boasts a record-breaking efficiency of 45%—thanks to ultra-supercritical steam turbines supplied by Siemens (below)



According to the New York Times (see article below), "China has begun building [a new "Yuhuan-type ultra-supercritical coal-fired plant"] at a rate of one a month."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/11/wo...l.html?_r=2&em

"China Outpaces U.S. in Cleaner Coal-Fired Plants
By KEITH BRADSHER
Published: May 10, 2009

TIANJIN, China — China’s frenetic construction of coal-fired power plants has raised worries around the world about the effect on climate change. China now uses more coal than the United States, Europe and Japan combined, making it the world’s largest emitter of gases that are warming the planet.

But largely missing in the hand-wringing is this: China has emerged in the past two years as the world’s leading builder of more efficient, less polluting coal power plants, mastering the technology and driving down the cost.

While the United States is still debating whether to build a more efficient kind of coal-fired power plant that uses extremely hot steam, China has begun building such plants at a rate of one a month.

Construction has stalled in the United States on a new generation of low-pollution power plants that turn coal into a gas before burning it, although Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Thursday that the Obama administration might revive one power plant of this type. But China has already approved equipment purchases for just such a power plant, to be assembled soon in a muddy field here in Tianjin.

“The steps they’ve taken are probably as fast and as serious as anywhere in power-generation history,” said Hal Harvey, president of ClimateWorks, a group in San Francisco that helps finance projects to limit global warming.

Western countries continue to rely heavily on coal-fired power plants built decades ago with outdated, inefficient technology that burn a lot of coal and emit considerable amounts of carbon dioxide. China has begun requiring power companies to retire an older, more polluting power plant for each new one they build.

Cao Peixi, the president of the China Huaneng Group, the country’s biggest state-owned electric utility and the majority partner in the joint venture building the Tianjin plant, said his company was committed to the project even though it would cost more than conventional plants.

“We shouldn’t look at this project from a purely financial perspective,” he said. “It represents the future.”

Without doubt, China’s coal-fired power sector still has many problems, and global warming gases from the country are expected to continue increasing. China’s aim is to use the newest technologies to limit the rate of increase.

Only half the country’s coal-fired power plants have the emissions control equipment to remove sulfur compounds that cause acid rain, and even power plants with that technology do not always use it. China has not begun regulating some of the emissions that lead to heavy smog in big cities.

Even among China’s newly built plants, not all are modern. Only about 60 percent of the new plants are being built using newer technology that is highly efficient, but more expensive.

With greater efficiency, a power plant burns less coal and emits less carbon dioxide for each unit of electricity it generates. Experts say the least efficient plants in China today convert 27 to 36 percent of the energy in coal into electricity. The most efficient plants achieve an efficiency as high as 44 percent, meaning they can cut global warming emissions by more than a third compared with the weakest plants.

In the United States, the most efficient plants achieve around 40 percent efficiency, because they do not use the highest steam temperatures being adopted in China. The average efficiency of American coal-fired plants is still higher than the average efficiency of Chinese power plants, because China built so many inefficient plants over the past decade. But China is rapidly closing the gap by using some of the world’s most advanced designs.

After relying until recently on older technology, “China has since become the major world market for advanced coal-fired power plants with high-specification emission control systems,” the International Energy Agency said in a report on April 20.

China’s improvements are starting to have an effect on climate models. In its latest annual report last November, the I.E.A. cut its forecast of the annual increase in Chinese emissions of global warming gases, to 3 percent from 3.2 percent, in response to technological gains, particularly in the coal sector, even as the agency raised slightly its forecast for Chinese economic growth. “It’s definitely changing the baseline, and that’s being taken into account,” said Jonathan Sinton, a China specialist at the energy agency.

But by continuing to rely heavily on coal, which supplies 80 percent of its electricity, China ensures that it will keep emitting a lot of carbon dioxide; even an efficient coal-fired power plant emits twice the carbon dioxide of a natural gas-fired plant.

Perhaps the biggest question now is how much further China can go beyond the recent steps. In particular, how fast will it move toward power plants that capture their emissions and store them underground or under the seafloor?

That technology could, in theory, create power plants that contribute virtually nothing to global warming. Many countries hope to develop such plants, though progress has been halting; Energy Secretary Chu has promised steps to speed up the technology in the United States.

China has just built a small, experimental facility near Beijing to remove carbon dioxide from power station emissions and use it to provide carbonation for beverages, and the government has a short list of possible locations for a large experiment to capture and store carbon dioxide. But so far, it has no plans to make this a national policy.

China is making other efforts to reduce its global warming emissions. It has doubled its total wind energy capacity in each of the past four years, and is poised to pass the United States as soon as this year as the world’s largest market for wind power equipment. China is building considerably more nuclear power plants than the rest of the world combined, and these do not emit carbon dioxide after they are built.

But coal remains the cheapest energy source in China by a wide margin. China has the world’s third-largest coal reserves, after the United States and Russia.

“No matter how much renewable or nuclear is in the mix, coal will remain the dominant power source,” said Ashok Bhargava, a China energy expert at the Asian Development Bank in Manila.

Another problem is that China has finally developed the ability to build high-technology power plants only at the end of a national binge of building lower-tech coal-fired plants. Construction is now slowing because of the economic slump.

By adopting “ultra-supercritical” technology, which uses extremely hot steam to achieve the highest efficiency, and by building many identical power plants at the same time, China has cut costs dramatically through economies of scale. It now can cost a third less to build an ultra-supercritical power plant in China than to build a less efficient coal-fired plant in the United States."

We know that China can make her own 2,210-kw coal mining machine to efficiently extract coal. We have seen China's Yuhuan-type ultra-supercritical coal-fired plants burn coal at a world "record-breaking efficiency of 45%." The final technology is electricity distribution; China's/"World's first [super-efficient] 1000kv UHV Alternating Current transmission project."


High voltage transmission towers

China leads in UHV power technology

"China leads in UHV power technology
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-04-16 14:38

BEIJING -- A spokesman of the State Grid Corporation of China (State Grid) said here Wednesday the country has become the world leader in the development of ultra-high-voltage (UHV) power transmission and [transformer] technology.


Two workers of Huaibei power company inspect the transformer substations in Huaibei, east China's Anhui Province, Jan. 29, 2008. [Xinhua]

In recent years, China has achieved an overall breakthrough in UHV core technology and the localization of UHV equipment, with more than 100 domestic manufacturers and suppliers participating in the manufacturing and supply of UHV equipment, Ma said at the annual General Meeting of the China Business Council for Sustainable Development (CBCSD).

In January 2009, the world's first 1000kv UHV Alternating Current transmission project, known as the Jindongnan-Nanyang-Jingmen UHVAC transmission project, was put into operation. It marks a breakthrough in the technology of long-distance, large-capacity and low-loss UHV power transmission.

The project has been organized and independently innovated by the State Grid, said the company official. So far, the State Grid has formulated 47 national standards and a whole set of specifications for UVH project design, construction, operation and maintenance, he said.

Ma said that the standard voltage of China's UHVAC is recommended as the international standard by the International Electro Technical Commission and the International Council on Large Electric System.

The International Electro Technical Commission has set up an HV Direct Current New Technology Board, with its secretariat based in China. It is the first time that the commission has placed the secretariat of a board in China, according to the State Grid official.

By 2012, the company plans to set up a large coal-electricity base linking together Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and other economically-challenged western parts of the country, as well as a UHV network for eastern and central load centers.

By 2020, the company will build up a synchronized power grid mainly consisting power grids of northern, eastern and central parts of the country. By then, the country's total transmission capacity of UHV power grid will have reached 300 million kw."

Dapeng Sun, China's first self-built liquefied natural gas carrier, is delivered to its owner in Shanghai. The vessel, which cost US$160 million to build, has a capacity of 147,000 cubic meters, or about 70,000 tons, of LNG. Built by Shanghai-based Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co, the ship will sail on the Australia-Guangdong route to load the clean fuel to south China. (Note: Photo is from Shanghai Daily April 4, 2008)

NITC orders six LNG carriers in China

"NITC orders six LNG carriers in China
31/05/2010

Dalian: Iranian tanker giant NITC has ordered a landmark series of six LNG ships in China. Just like a decade ago when NITC ordered the first ever VLCCs for export from China, this deal, revealed over the weekend, is the first time an overseas firm has signed for gas ships in the People’s Republic.

"Based on estimates, each tanker has been priced between $200mln to $220mln, meaning that for building six tankers initially demanded by Iran from China, we need $1.2bn in credit," Mohammad Souri, President and CEO of NITC, said Sunday. For NITC these are its first gas ships, and mean that Iran could be exporting gas by ship as early as March 2012.

Chinese media suggest NITC has plumped for Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding. SWS has never built LNG ships before. China's only yard versed in this high-tech construction has been Hudong-Zhonghua, also from Shanghai, which has been building a series of six, (including Dapeng Sun, pictured) for a domestic consortium involving Cosco.

Chinese energy majors have signed a series of deals with Iran over the past three years to develop Iranian gas fields. [31/05/10]"

[Note: Thank you to "Marchpole" for finding the story.]

looks like alberta is still red hot...better than ontario. but i heard oil sand is a major source of pollution when being processed.

We know that China's first "liquefied natural gas" (i.e. LNG) carrier transports natural gas from Australia to China. What happens to natural gas after it arrives in China?

One destination is "Beijing's Super Efficient Trigeneration Plant." The natural-gas plant efficiency is an incredible 58% (e.g. 13% + 45% = 58%); "According to Xinhua, the plant is 13 percent more efficient than the most advanced coal-fired power plant [e.g. 45% for Yuhuan-type ultra-supercritical] in the world."

Hillary Clinton Hearts Beijing's Super Efficient Trigeneration Power Plant : TreeHugger

"Hillary Clinton Hearts Beijing's Super Efficient Trigeneration Power Plant
by Alex Pasternack, New York, NY on 02.23.09
Science & Technology


Clinton with US Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern and GE executives (Getty)

"What we hope is you don't make the same mistake we made, because I don't think either Chinese and the world can afford that," Hillary Clinton said this weekend, referring to the West's dirty industrialization amid talk of working with China on climate change issues. She was speaking at Beijing's Taiyanggong Thermal Power Plant, a one-year-old gas-fired power plant that produces both electricity and steam with half the emissions and a third the water usage of an equivalent Chinese coal-fired plant. Said US Special Envoy on Climate Change Todd Stern, "This is exactly the kind of thing the US and China should do more together."

How trigeneration works
The Taiyanggong plant, China's first urban gas-fired trigeneration plant, generates 3.2 GWh of power per year and is estimated to cut 1.5 million metric tons of CO2 per year in electricity generation alone. It also means a cut in SO2, NOX, and particulates -- the other terrible stuff that comes out of China's untold numbers of coal-fired power plants.

In this system, natural gas is sent to the gas turbine for power generation. The flue gas is then sent to a heat recovery steam generator to generate steam with a high temperature and pressure. This steam drives the steam turbine to generate even more electrical power.

Meanwhile, the plant's waste steam also provides heating and cooling to Beijing's Taiyanggang neighborhood, an area of 40 square kilometers, making redundant 78 low efficiency boilers.

While a cogeneration plant offers combined heating-and-power (CHP) through the conversion of waste heat -- a technology John Laumer has called "deadly sexy" -- a trigeneration plant also generates chilled water using that heat. Thus it's sometimes referred to as a CHCP, or combined heating-cooling-and-power plant.

According to Xinhua, the plant is 13 percent more efficient than the most advanced coal-fired power plant in the world. Its dramatically more efficient than most Chinese or American coal-fired power plants, where 33% efficiency is the norm. That means 2/3rds of these plants' heat goes to waste.

Owned by Beijing Energy Investment Holding Co. and SP Power Development Co. Ltd., the plant has received credits under the UN's Clean Development Mechanism, the program that pays for clean energy projects in the developing world. Some have criticized the program for its overemphasis on Chinese projects, and its certification program, which sometimes counts dams and other questionable projects as CO2 reducers.

Where are our trigen plants?
The sound economics and ethics of cogeneration and trigeneration are clear, but they are growing only slowly. New York launched its first trigeneration plant last year, but as Forbes.com reports, regulatory hurdles and the complexities of building the plants have kept many stuck in the pipeline.

In the US, a renewed focus on energy efficiency under the Obama administration however could change that, using state-level incentives. The Department of Energy recently released a comprehensive assessment of CHP's potential, "Combined Heat and Power: Effective Energy Solutions for a Sustainable Future," (downloadable pdf file). Among its findings:

If the US adopted high-deployment policies to achieve 20 percent of generation capacity from CHP by 2030, it could save an estimated 5.3 quadrillion Btu (Quads) of fuel annually, the equivalent of nearly half the total energy currently consumed by US households.

Cumulatively through 2030, such policies could also generate $234 billion in new investments and create nearly 1 million new highly-skilled, technical jobs throughout the United States.

CO2 emissions could be reduced by more than 800 million metric tons (MMT) per year, the equivalent of taking more than half of the current passenger vehicles in the US off the road.

In this 20 percent scenario, over 60 percent of the projected increase in CO2 emissions between now and 2030 could be avoided.

Sharing Goals
Clinton's visit was a clear attempt to step away from the finger-pointing over climate and connect the dots between economic and environmental interests in both the US and China. The plant is based on generators and advanced super-critical gas turbines by General Electric, which also services the plant.

Partnerships between US and Chinese companies can be fraught with intellectual property (IP) issues. Consider how until recently, a number of Chinese cars looked suspiciously like US models. But Chinese officials continue to insist that technology transfer be a key part of climate agreements between the West and China. The West will likely remain hesitant until IP protection sees greater advances.

Increasingly though the Chinese are developing their own hi-tech solutions. When I spoke to Ferdinando "Nani" Becalli-Falco, President and CEO of GE International, at the start of last summer's Beijing Olympics, he explained why GE needs to be more "more Chinese than the Chinese": "[The country is] becoming a creative technologist. My mother used to have a German refrigerator, now she has a Chinese one, a Haier. So they've begun to build products that are competitive from a technology point of view and a price point of view."

In the clean energy sector, companies like Suntech are paving the way for home-grown and potentially huge solutions.

In the short term, as Chinese officials talk about shutting down coal plants and Western countries seek common ground with China on climate change, the best proof of the potential for clean energy in China are projects like Taiyanggong."