Crude oil prices remained unchanged after the Energy Information Administration reported a crude oil inventory build of 800,000 barrels for the week to February 28. Gasoline inventories, however, fell substantially. This compares with a modest inventory increase of 500,000 bpd a week earlier, and analyst expectations of a 3.3-million-barrel build. Yesterday, the American Petroleum Institute said it had estimated crude…
Read MoreDay: March 4, 2020
CDWP approves seven projects worth Rs12.23bn
ISLAMABAD: The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) on Tuesday approved seven projects worth Rs12.23 billion and recommended five projects worth Rs158.230 billion to the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) for consideration. The CDWP meeting, which was presided over by Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Mohammad Jehanzeb Khan, reviewed projects related to energy, higher education, information technology, science & technology, transport…
Read MoreCancel or renegotiate? Pakistan ponders way out of high-priced LNG term deals
Singapore — The sharp fall in spot LNG prices to record lows is forcing Pakistan to weigh options on whether to cancel or renegotiate term deals, with policymakers and industry officials saying that entirely backing out of contracts may provide short-term gains but will bring pain in the longer term. Although oil-linked deals in a low-priced environment is forcing Pakistan…
Read MorePower sector payables rise to Rs1.88tr, Pepco informs Senate
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco) — a defunct holding company of the Power Division — has reported total payables by sector power companies at Rs1.882 trillion as of Jan 31. In a report submitted to a Special Committee of the Senate, Pepco reported total receivables of the power sector at Rs1.178tr. That would mean that even if all…
Read MorePakistan among worst-affected countries of air pollution ‘pandemic’
PARIS: Pakistan is ranked among three worst-affected Asian countries by a ‘pandemic’ of air pollution that shortened lives, according to a news research published in the journal Cardiovascular Research on Tuesday. Scientists warned that air pollution shortened lives worldwide by nearly three years on average, and causes 8.8 million premature deaths annually. They added that the worst-hit region is Asia, where…
Read MoreExplainer: How are petroleum prices calculated?
In the last one year, the federal government has been pushing up petroleum prices almost every month, making life difficult for commuters. But there was a valid reason to do so. The price of oil, internationally, was just as eye-watering. As global oil production nosedived in 2019, its wholesale cost shot up. The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and…
Read MoreIran’s Latest Energy Project Should Worry The West
Balancing its ability to cause chaos in the global oil markets by closing/disrupting the Strait of Hormuz (through which flows around 35 per cent of the world’s oil supplies) with the necessity to keep its own oil exports revenues to Asia rolling in, Iran has moved exceptionally quickly on developing its Bandar-e-Jask port project. Crucially, Jask is not located in…
Read MoreEasyJet ‘electric aircraft’ partner aims to fly engine in 2023
US firm Wright Electric is aiming to conduct ground tests next year, and flight tests in three years’ time, of a motor intended to provide propulsion for an electric airliner. The company is constructing a 1.5MW electric motor and a 3kV inverter – a system to convert direct to alternating current – which will be the basis of the proposed…
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