World's Top 25 Largest Refining Companies, Jan 1, 2011 -- OGJ

by David Rachovich

World's Top 25 Refining Companies 

Rank  Jan 1, 2011	Rank  Jan 1, 2010	Company	Crude Capacity, barrels per calendar day (b/cd)*
1.	1.	ExxonMobil Corp. [USA]	5,783,000
2.	2.	Royal Dutch/Shell [NL/UK]	4,509,239
3.	3.	Sinopec [China]	3,971,000
4.	4.	BP [UK]	3,325,050
5.	5.	ConocoPhillips [USA]	2,778,200
6.	10.	Chevron Corp. [USA]**	2,755,600
7.	7.	PDVSA [Venezuela]	2,678,000
8.	6.	Valero Energy Corp. [USA]	2,616,500
9.	8.	CNPC [China]	2,615,000
10.	9.	Total [France]	2,451,106
11.	11.	Saudi Aramco [Saudi Arabia]	2,433,000
12.	12.	Petrobras [Brazil]	1,997,000
13.	13.	Pemex [Mexico]	1,703,000
14.	14.	NIOC [Iran]	1,451,000
15.	15.	JX Nippon Oil & Energy [Japan]	1,423,200
16.	16.	Rosneft [Russia]	1,293,000
17.	17.	OAO Lukoil [Russia]	1,217,000
18.	18.	Marathon Petroleum Co [USA]	1,188,000
19.	19.	Repsol YPF SA [Spain]	1,105,000
20.	20.	KNPC [Kuwait]	1,085,000
21.	21.	Pertamina [Indonesia]	993,000
22.	22.	Agip Petroli SPA [Italy]	904,000
23.	23.	Sunoco Inc [USA]	825,000
24.	24.	SK Corp. [South Korea]	817,000
25.	25.	Flint Hills Resources [USA]	816,525

Notes: Major changes of positions in the above table since Jan. 1, 2010, involve only Chevron; Valero moves down two notches; China National Petroleum Co. and Total each moves down a notch. Chevron's move is based on capacity increases at GS Caltex and Caltex Australia. Valero completed the sale of refineries. On December 17, 2010, Valero Energy Corp. announced the completion of the sale of its 185,000 b/d refinery at Paulsboro, N.J. to PBF Holding Company LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of PBF Energy Company LLC of Greenwich, Conn. In April 2010, Swiss refiner Petroplus Holdings agreed to buy Valero's Delaware City refinery via its investment joint venture PBF Energy. CNPC moved as a result of Valero's changes, and Total reported decreased capacities. Other refiners remained at the same ranking as they started the year. – Please read Warren R. True and Leena Koottungal, "Global Capacity Growth Slows, But Asian Refineries Bustle," OGJ, Dec 6, 2010.

*Includes partial interests in refineries not wholly owned by the company.  **Includes holdings in Caltex Oil and GS Caltex.

Source: Oil & Gas Journal, Dec 6, 2010.

(Please see my post "Top 10 Largest Refining Companies in Asia, the USA and Western Europe," here. Also, please see Aaron and David Rachovich, "World's Top 21 Largest Oil Refineries," including notes, here. Furthermore, please see my post "Top 20 Largest Refining Companies/Refiners in the U.S. as of Jan 1, 2011." Update: "World's Top 25 Largest Refiners, Jan 1, 2013 -- OGJ." -- D.R.)

S Korea's 2010 Сrude Imports up 4.5% on Year to 872.4 mil Barrels

Platts, Seoul, Feb 15, 2011
South Korea's imports of crude oil in 2010 increased 4.5% from the previous year to 872.4 million barrels, or 2.39 million b/d, but its bills surged 35.4% to $68.7 billion due to higher international prices, the energy ministry said Tuesday.

The country paid $50.7 billion in 2009 to import 835.1 million barrels of crude.

South Korea also imported 276.8 million barrels of refined oil products last year, up 3.2% from 2009, and its bills jumped 40.8% to $20.9 billion, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, responsible for energy, industry and commerce.

"The country paid a total of $89.6 billion to import crude and refined products last year, up 36.8% from $65.5 billion in 2009," the ministry said in a statement. "The country imported more crude oil to meet demand from refiners for local consumption and exports of oil products," it said.

South Korea bought 277 million barrels of crude, or 31.7%, of its total imports, from Saudi Arabia last year, and 106 million barrels, or 12.1%, from the United Arab Emirates. It also imported 103 million barrels, or 11.8%, from Kuwait, 73 million barrels, or 8.3%, from Iran, 64 million barrels, or 7.4%, from Qatar and 60 million, or 6.9%, from Iraq. Imports from Iran fell 10.8% from the previous year amid international sanctions.

South Korea exported 391.1 million barrels of oil products last year, up 3.9% from 376.4 million barrels in 2009, and earned $33.8 billion, up 32.8% [sic] from $25.5 billion in 2009.

The country exported $11.75 billion worth diesel last year, up 35.1% from 2009, $6.34 billion worth of jet fuel, up 31.4%, and $3.48 billion worth of gasoline, up 22.9%. A total of 77 million barrels, or 22.5% [sic] of its total exports, were shipped to China, followed by 41 million barrels, or 11.9%, each to Japan and Singapore.

The country produced 938.9 million barrels of oil products last year, up 2.9% from 912.6 million barrels in 2009, including 268.4 million barrels of diesel, 111.8 billion barrels of gasoline, and 122.5 million barrels of Bunker C oil.

The country's top refiner SK Innovation, formerly SK Energy, produced 339.5 million barrels of oil products last year, up 5.1% from 2009. The second-biggest refiner GS Caltex's production increased 6.6% to 270.9 million barrels. But production by S-Oil and Hyundai Oilbank fell 2.0% and 1.8% to 198.4 million barrels and 124.5 million barrels, respectively, due to maintenance.

The country domestically consumed 794.5 million barrels of oil products in 2010, up 2.1% from the previous year's 778.5 million barrels, according to the ministry.

It consumed 134.7 million barrels of diesel last year, up 1.8% from 2009, and 68.9 million barrels of gasoline, up 4.6%. Its consumption of kerosene rose 13.1% to 29.4 million barrels, while Bunker C consumption fell 5.9% to 62.1 million barrels due to more use of LNG in power generation, according to the ministry. [Full story]

(With no domestic oil reserves, South Korea must import all of its crude oil. South Korea is home to three of the ten largest crude oil refineries in the world -- SK Energy's Ulsan, GS Caltex's Yeosu and S-Oil's Onsan---please see list of largest oil refineries in the world, here. In 2009, South Korea ranked sixth among the world's Top 10 net oil importers behind the United States, China, Japan, Germany and India---please see EIA graphic, here. Also, although South Korea is not among the group of top gas-consuming nations, it is the world's second largest importer of LNG after Japan. For South Korea's LNG imports in 2010, please see here. -- D.R.)

East Asian LNG Imports in 2010

Compiled from two sources: World Gas Intelligence and Fairplay 24, Feb 9, 2011
Full-year 2010 LNG import data for East Asia are now in (the World Gas Intelligence report), and they confirm early indications of a surge that left regional LNG imports of 123 million tons (167 bcm) up 17.5% from 2009 and more than 14% from the previous peak of 107.8 million tons recorded in 2008.

Leading the rise was China, whose LNG imports shot up by 68% to 9.3 million tons. Japan, which has a much larger intake of LNG, had an 8.4% rise, but to 69.95 million tons, to marginally exceed its 2008 record high. South Korea closed out the year with 25.6% growth to 32.47 million tons, down from a year-to-date increase of 30% for the first 11 months, reflecting a 5.4% slide in December imports. "This is an astounding performance for LNG in the face of an 11% increase in the average ex-ship price paid in the region over the course of last year to $10.16 per million BTU," a WGI analyst said. The figures showed an increase in gas use in East Asia, not merely a rapid recovery from the 2008-9 financial crisis and ensuing recession, the analyst added.

By comparison, oil demand grew by 9.4% in China in 2010 and by just 1.1% in Japan.

(Japan is the world's largest importer of liquefied natural gas---LNG---followed by South Korea and Spain, according to the 2010 data. LNG demand in Japan was buoyed by increased power generation to meet higher air-conditioning demand during hot summer weather last year that saw temperatures soar. A series of technical problems at Japanese nuclear reactors also helped to push up spot LNG demand, with utilities forced to raise their thermal power generation levels to make up for the nuclear power disruptions. For major LNG exporters to Japan in 2010, please see bar chart here. Concerning the South Korea's imports of LNG, please read also my post remarks, in round brackets, here. For South Korea's 2010 LNG imports, please see also my post "Asian LNG Outlook ...," here. -- D.R.)  

Sakhalin-1 Project Drills World's Longest Extended-Reach Well

Scandinavian Oil-Gas Magazine, Jan 31, 2011
Exxon Mobil Corporation says that its subsidiary, Exxon Neftegas Limited, has successfully drilled the world's longest extended-reach well at the Odoptu field, offshore far east Russia. Exxon Neftegas is the operator of the Sakhalin-1 Project on behalf of an international consortium that includes affiliates of the Russian state company Rosneft RN-Astra and Sakhalinmorneftegas-Shelf; the Japanese corporation SODECO; and the Indian state oil company ONGC Videsh Ltd.

The Odoptu OP-11 well reached a total measured depth of 40,502 feet (12,345 meters or 7.67 miles) to set a world record for extended-reach drilling (ERD). The Odoptu OP-11 also set a world record with a horizontal reach of 37,648 feet (11,475 meters or 7.13 miles). Exxon Neftegas completed the record-setting well in only 60 days using ExxonMobil's Fast Drill Process and Integrated Hole Quality technology to maximize performance in every foot of hole drilled at OP-11.

Odoptu, one of three Sakhalin-1 Project fields, is situated 5 to 7 miles (8 to 11 kilometers) offshore northeast Sakhalin Island. [See map below -- D.R.]. The ERD process enables onshore drilling beneath the seafloor to the offshore oil and gas reservoirs to successfully operate in a safe and environmentally responsible manner in one of the most challenging sub-arctic environments in the world. [...]

Since the first Sakhalin-1 well was drilled in 2003, six of the world's 10 record-setting ERD wells have been drilled at the project. The specially designed Yastreb rig [see photo 1 below] has been used throughout, setting multiple industry records for measured depth, rate of penetration and directional drilling.

Since startup, the Sakhalin-1 project has produced approximately 300 million barrels (39 million tons) of oil for export to world markets. It also has been a key supplier of approximately 235 billion cubic feet (6.8 billion cubic meters) of associated natural gas to customers in Khabarovsk Krai, in far eastern Russia, to heat homes and meet growing energy needs. The project will continue to help meet future natural gas demand in this region.

Sakhalin-1 includes the Chayvo, Odoptu, and Arkutun Dagi oil and gas fields located off the northeast coast of Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East. [See map and photo 2 below -- D.R.]. Potential recoverable resources are 2.3 billion barrels (307 million tons) of oil and 17.1 trillion cubic feet (485 billion cubic meters) of natural gas. Read more
                                      Map: Sakhalin-1

Source: Rigzone Description: Oil from the Chayvo deposit started to run through a pipeline to the De-Kastri terminal in Russia's Khabarovsk Krai in September 2006. An export terminal at De-Kastri began shipments to Japan and South Korea in October 2006. The Sakhalin-1 gas is supplied to local consumers via a pipeline owned by Daltransgaz. Drilling at the Odoptu oil and gas field began in May 2009, and commercial production began in September 2010. The product goes to the Chayvo processing facility and then to the De-Kastri for export. The Arkutun-Dagi field is yet to be developed, but first oil is expected in 2014; it will also go to De-Kastri via Chayvo. -- D.R.

                             Photo 1: Yastreb Land Rig
                                             

Source: offshore-technology.com Description: The Chayvo Yastreb land rig, above, launched in June 2002, was engineered and constructed especially for Sakhalin-1 (Houston-based Parking Drilling Co designed and constructed the "Yastreb"). It is designed to drill extended reach wells to offshore targets from land-based locations. State-of-the-art extended reach drilling (ERD) technology reduced the high capital and operating costs of large offshore structures and at the same time minimized the environmental impact in this sensitive near-shore area. Drilling at Chayvo was completed with a total of 20 ERD wells drilled, setting records in depth, horizontal reach and drilling speed. The Yastreb rig was dismantled, modified and transported to Odoptu field where it has been in operation since the startup of drilling in May 2009. -- D.R.

             Photo 2: Sakhalin-1 - Orlan Offshore Rig (Chayvo)

                                                 Source: Rosneft website

(Sakhalin-1 is the first large-scale shelf development project in Russia being implemented under a production sharing agreement---concluded in 1996. Project participation: Exxon holds an operating 30% stake in the project, Japan's Sodeco holds 30%, with Rosneft---via its affiliates RN-Astra, 8.5%, and Sakhalinmorneftegas-Shelf, 11.5%---and India's ONGC holding 20% each. For cooperation between Rosneft and ExxonMobil, see also my post here. For the longest extended-reach well, i.e. ERD, in Saudi Arabia -- Manifa field, please see my posts here and here. -- D.R.)