Category: Recent Post

With oil prices rebounding to pre-COVID levels as demand slowly returns, independent oil and gas companies need to resist the temptation of thinking that their biggest challenge is behind them. Short-term, the pandemic sent the markets into a tailspin. COVID-19 created a temporary market imbalance that, while devastating to demand and pricing in 2020, should be corrected by 2022. But long-term, the challenge is more existential. Looking forward, independents must focus on the prospective decline in a potentially large chunk of demand as both consumers and industries switch to electrification,…

Read More

As international crude oil prices have started to rise and calls for Brent at $100/bbl are being heard, panic must be setting in Islamabad, although it may not be apparent yet. There have been calls for gradual increase in petroleum prices in anticipation of the price increase before it gets too late. (See: “Oily slope” published on June 7, 2021). For a government with two clear stated objectives going forward, growth and controlled inflation, it becomes a catch-22 situation. Here is an attempt at scenario analysis of petroleum retail prices…

Read More

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has certified Byco’s oil spill response (OSR) team for achieving Level II and III professional training and certification, a statement said on Monday. Byco is the only Pakistani oil company having a dedicated oil spill response team capable of managing oil spills, whose members are IMO certified, it added. Azfar Saeed Baig, vice president of Byco Petroleum Pakistan Limited, recognising the achievement, said: “This achievement reflects Byco’s commitment to safety, strengthens our position as Pakistan’s only oil refinery that is fully equipped to effectively handle…

Read More

Amid the LPG prices going up in the country, JJVL (Jamshoro Joint Venture Limited) LPG and NGL extraction plant still awaits the nod of Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) for supply of gas despite the fact that AF Ferguson & Company (AFFCO), appointed as supervisor by the Supreme Court in its final determination report, has established the commercial and financial viability for SSGC to supply gas to the LPG plant. And more importantly, the consultant’s report has found that setting up a new LPG/NGL extraction plant by SSGC, on current…

Read More

An atmospheric research station in Hawaii recorded its highest concentrations of carbon dioxide since accurate measurements began 63 years ago, a government agency said Monday, adding that the coronavirus pandemic had barely impacted rising levels of the greenhouse gas. The Mauna Loa Atmospheric Baseline Observatory’s measurements for May 2021 averaged 419 parts per million (ppm), up from 417 ppm in May 2020, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said. The Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego was also involved in the research. “We are…

Read More