Chinese Surging Oil Demand Saving OPEC's Butt -- The Telegraph -- April 16, 2016; Bill Nye: First We Need To Jail Climate Deniers

Note: my thoughts on the upcoming Doha meeting tomorrow at this link. 

This is really pretty cool. The other day I wrote:

Earlier today it was reported that OPEC forcast non-OPEC production falling faster than predicted, from 700,000 bopd to 730,000 bopd or about a 0.03 percent change. LOL.

As soon as I read that, I knew that the price of oil rests on the Chinese and the Indian economy. Right on cue, Bloomberg/Rigzone report: China’s crude imports climbed to a record in the first quarter as higher refining margin encouraged refiners to boost purchases.

A reader sent me this link from The Telegraph: soaring Chinese crude oil demand is saving OPEC's butt.

A dramatic build-up in China’s strategic petroleum reserve and surging demand for imported crude oil are likely to transform the global energy markets this year, regardless of any production freeze agreed by OPEC and Russia this weekend.

Chinese credit stimulus and a 20 percent rise in public spending has set off a fresh mini-cycle of growth that is already sucking in oil imports at a much faster pace than expected.

Barclays estimates that the country will import an average of 8 million barrels per day this year, a huge jump from 6.7 million bopdlast year. This is arguably enough to soak up a big chunk of the excess supply currently flooding global markets.

Standard Chartered said Chinese imports could reach 10 million bopd by the end on 2018, implying a supply crunch and a fresh spike in oil prices as the market is turned on its head.

Energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie says $400 billion in oil and gas projects have been shelved [worldwide] since the onset of the commodity slump. A great number of depleting fields will not be replaced.

Feifei Li, Barclay’s oil analyst, said China is in a rush to fill four new storage sites of its petroleum reserve coming available this year. “It is an urgent priority of the government to fill up the tanks while the price of oil is cheap,” he said.

Fresh storage is likely to average 250,000 bopd, five times the level last year. The pace will rise further in the second half of the year.

China is building vast underground rock caverns in the interior of the country as a top national security priority, fully aware of the way Japan was squeezed by the US fuel embargo in the late 1930s. It aims to boost reserves to 550 million barrels and ensure a 90-day buffer to resist an external supply shock.

China’s own output of oil has fallen by 200,000 bopd over the last year as PetroChina and Sinopec slash investment, while demand has continued to grow.

So much more at the article. Worth archiving.

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Bill Nye: We Need To Jail Climate Deniers

First we start with the weather men. Accuweather is reporting: Powerful April snowstorm to bury Colorado Rockies, High Plains this weekend.

A slow-moving, strengthening storm will cause snowfall to ramp up over a large part of the Rockies and to spread over part of the High Plains this weekend.

People in the region, including the Denver area, should be prepared for travel disruptions, power outages and property damage.