Centrica, Qatar to buy over $900 of gas assets in Canada

Britain's Centrica Plc and Qatar Petroleum International said they will buy Suncor Energy Inc's conventional natural-gas business in Western Canada for $986.73 million - their first acquisition since they decided in 2011 to hunt jointly for international energy assets.
Centrica, Britain's biggest energy supplier and its partner, the international arm of the world's largest liquefied-natural gas exporter, will take control of Suncor gas assets in Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan that produce 250 million cubic feet per day from reserves pegged at 978 billion cubic feet. When combined with its other Canadian gas properties, the acquisition will give Centrica 60 percent of the gas needed for its Direct Energy unit, which delivers energy to six million customers in Canada and the United States, while Qatar gets its first exposure to the Canadian natural gas industry.

PetroChina agrees $2.2bn Canada gas deal

PetroChina has agreed a deal to buy a 49.9% stake in Canadian firm Encana's natural gas project in Alberta.

According to Ecana, the project contains supplies equivalent to nearly nine billion barrels of oil. State-owned PetroChina, the country's biggest oil and gas producer, will pay $2.2bn for the stake. It is the latest investment in an overseas oil and gas resource by a Chinese firm as companies look to meet growing domestic energy demand.
While investments by state-owned firms that do not involve acquisitions are allowed, Canadian authorities said they were reviewing the details of PetroChina's investment "to determine if it is reviewable under the act".

OPEC to cut oil demand growth forecast for 2013

Citing a vague and turbulent outlook for the global economy, OPEC has said that it may have to reduce its forecast for growth in world oil demand for 2013 by 20%. OPEC forecast that demand will expand by 810,000 barrels per day (bpd) next year, although the odds suggest oil use could undershoot that figure.

OPEC expects world economic growth to slow to 3.2% next year from 3.3% in 2012, hindered by a slightly slower expansion in the United States and China, the world's two largest oil consumers, and weakness in the euro zone.

OPEC trimmed the forecast of demand for its own oil this year and in 2013 by 80,000 bpd and 100,000 bpd, respectively, due to higher supply from producers outside the 12-member group. The United States, Canada and South Sudan are among the non-OPEC producers expected to provide more oil than previously expected this year. South Sudan said this week it hoped to resume production in September after ending a dispute with Sudan. OPEC now expects demand for its crude to average 29.9 million bpd in 2012 – significantly less than it is pumping at present even after a drop in output last month due to sanctions on Iran and a cutback by Saudi Arabia.

OPEC's demand outlook is, as usual, more cautious than that of the U.S. government which raised its forecast for 2013 growth in oil consumption.