U.S. Oil & Gas M&A, Ghana Refinery, China Oil Imports: Your Daily Energy News

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News highlights gathered by Industrial Info and IIR Energy (Sugar Land, Texas) dealing with the energy markets.

CORPORATE
U.S. Oil & Gas M&A Up 57% Last Year - Dealmaking activity in the oil and gas industry increased 57% last year as energy companies boosted development spending, driven by higher cash flows from profits in prior years, according to a report released on Tuesday. Top energy companies spent $49.2 billion on mergers and acquisitions in 2023, up from $31.4 billion in 2022, according to a report from Ernst & Young (EY). The increase was mainly driven by mega deals among integrated oil and gas companies. M&A activity is expected to continue this year and into 2025, driven by more mega deals, EY said.

REFINING
Ghana Breaks Ground on New Refinery - Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo has broken ground on the construction of a 300,000-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) oil refinery that the government hopes will turn the West African country into the region's petroleum hub. Ghana, the world's second biggest cocoa producer, became an oil producer in 2010. Output is currently around 132,000 BBL/d of crude oil and about 325 million standard cubic feet per day of natural gas. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Refining Project Database can learn more by viewing the project report.

CRUDE OIL
China's July Russian Crude Oil Imports Fall - China's crude oil imports from top supplier Russia fell in July by 7.4% from a year earlier, official data showed on Tuesday, in line with a broad decline in Chinese refiners' purchases that were curbed by tepid fuel demand at home. Russian oil arrivals, including via pipelines and shipments, totaled 7.46 million metric tons last month, or 1.76 million BBL/d, according to data from the General Administration of Customs. That compared with June's 2.05 million BBL/d and 1.9 million BBL/d in July 2023.

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About IIR Energy
Energy asset information on power plants, oil refineries and natural gas infrastructure is now more important than ever. A unit of Industrial Info Resources, IIR Energy provides infrastructure information on these assets, as well as real-time tracking of planned and unplanned interruptions affecting the commodity-trading community. We are the number one source for information about power plant outages, refinery turnarounds and midstream natural gas disruptions.

About Industrial Info
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).