TOPIC PAGE: Coronavirus, oil price direction – impact on chemicals

In Asia, latest official data showed Singapore’s petrochemical exports surged by 51.4% year on year to Singapore dollar ($) 1.59bn in March, supporting the increase in overall non-oil domestic exports (NODX). The city-state’s NODX rose by 12.1% year on year in March to S$17.8bn, accelerating from the 4.2% expansion in February, according to Enterprise Singapore. Singapore’s non-electronic NODX, which includes petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals, rose by 9.4% year on year to $14.3bn in March. Separately, Singapore’s economy grew by 0.2% year on year in the first quarter, the country’s first economic…

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Energy projects: Pakistan will have to place competitive market to fix problems, says USAID

ISLAMABAD: With the current portfolio of $300 million for undertaking energy projects in Pakistan, USAID’s energy experts have said Pakistan would have to place a competitive market to fix problems of this important sector.https://e3fa250c3a490d9bbd8f7708d1127630.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html “USAID had so far invested over $800 million in the energy sector in Pakistan during the last 10 years. Our existing portfolio stands at $300 million, including $250 million for energy infrastructure and remaining $50 million for other remaining sector requirements,” USAID’s Energy Office Director in Pakistan Don McCubbin and Energy Project Management Specialist Nadeem Habib…

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Pakistan to Rein in $14 Billion Government Owes to Energy Firms

Pakistan is finalizing a plan to address about 2.2 trillion rupees ($14.4 billion) of debt the government owes to the energy sector, a liability that’s doubled in the past two years as power purchases outstripped demand. Islamabad aims to pay 400 billion rupees in late fees to several electricity producers by June in a deal to cut power costs, and will ask banks to restructure the remaining debt, according to Tabish Gauhar, special assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan for the energy sector. The government had previously pledged to make these payments…

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U.S. Oil Production Still 2 Million Bpd Under Pre-Pandemic Levels

The EIA might be forecasting that the Permian Basin’s oil production will be rebounding soon, but overall, today’s U.S. oil production is still 2 million barrels per day below the levels seen in January 2020. The EIA’s Monthly Drilling Productivity Report is forecasting that for the nation’s most prolific basin, the Permian, production will return to 4.466 million barrels per day in May. That compares to 3.918 million bpd in May 2020—but that was hardly prior to the pandemic. In January 2020, the Permian basin’s average oil production was 4.793…

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First fast charging unit station for electric vehicles installed in Pakistan

In a first of its kind, a fast-charging unit station for electric vehicles has been installed by Tesla Industries in Islamabad, paving way for the e-vehicles to be recharged, ARY NEWS reported on Friday. The unit was inaugurated by the President of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce Sardar Yasir Ilyas along with Tesla Industries CEO Aamir Hussain. Tesla CEO said that they have acquired the technology to develop the fast charging station for electric vehicles within Pakistan and soon between 60 to 120 of them would be installed in nine…

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