CHINA: PetroChina to expand refinery in Hebei province

(EnergyAsia, May 21, Wednesday) — PetroChina plans to double the capacity of its refinery in China’s northern Hebei province to 200,000 b/d. The refinery will use crude oil from the Jidong Nanpu oilfield which the company discovered last year as the largest oil find in China in recent years. Officials said the field has proven...

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MARKETS: Oil and gas executives tell KPMG survey crude will fall below US$100 a barrel this year

(EnergyAsia, May 21, Wednesday) — Oil and gas executives believe that oil prices will drop significantly from the current high level by the end of the year, according to the results of a survey conducted by KPMG LLP’s Global Energy Institute. In this year’s KPMG survey of 372 financial executives from oil and gas companies...

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JAPAN: Osaka Gas signed contract to purchase LNG from Australia’s North West Shelf

(EnergyAsia, May 21, Wednesday) — Japan’s Osaka Gas said it has committed to import around 500,000 tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) a year from Australia through a new sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with the six North West Shelf Venture partners. Osaka Gas said it plans to purchase the LNG for a six-year period...

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CHINA: Joint efforts with Australia to tackle climate change

(EnergyAsia, May 21, Wednesday) — The Australian government plans to invest A$20 million in a joint effort with China on developing clean coal technology. (US$1=A$1.04). This latest initiative, announced recently by Australia’s Penny Wong, Minister for Climate Change and Water, means Canberra will invest a total of A$94.6 million in China-specific climate change and water...

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AUSTRALIA: France’s Total acquires interests in three offshore licenses in the North West Shelf

(EnergyAsia,  May 21, Wednesday) — In the latest Australian bidding round, France’s Total said it has acquired a 50% stake in two offshore permits in the Vulcan basin, in partnership with operator Apache (50%). Total also fully acquired one permit in the Browse basin, north of Ichthys. The two permits AC/P 42 and AC/P 43...

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SINGAPORE: Technics Oil &Gas Limited reports lower first half net profit

(EnergyAsia May 20, Tuesday) — Singapore-listed Technics Oil and Gas Limited, an integrated specialist services provider serving the world oil and gas exploration and production industry, said its first-half revenue to March 31 2008 rose 17% to S$38.62 million. (US$1=S$1.36). Gross profit was up 28% to S$9.57 million. However, its net profit fell to S$1.45 (more…)

SINGAPORE: KS Energy reports 107% jump in first quarter net profit

(EnergyAsia, May 20, Tuesday) — Singapore-listed KS Energy Services Limited said its first quarter net profit rose by 107% to S$11.1 million while revenues climbed 69.6% to S$107.7 million. (US$1=S$1.36). The company said operating expenses were also higher in the quarter ending March 2008. Total operating expenses jumped by 89% to $22.3 million. KS Energy...

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SINGAPORE: Sovereign wealth fund GIC buys 11% stake in US AEI for US$400 million

(EnergyAsia, May 20, Tuesday) — US-based AEI said Singapore’s GIC Special Investments (GICSI) Pte Ltd has paid US$400 million for a 11% stake in the company. GICSI is the private equity investment arm of state GIC, a global investment management company established in 1981 to manage Singapore’s foreign reserves. AEI said a nominee of GICSI...

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SINGAPORE: ASL Marine’s net profit for first nine months of FY2008 surged 54.3% to S$42.1 million

(EnergyAsia, May 20, Tuesday) — ASL Marine Holdings Ltd, a Singapore-based integrated marine and shipyard company said its net profit for the first nine months of FY2008 starting July 1 2007 surged 54.3% to S$42.1 million. (US$1=S$1.36). Revenue was up by 21.9% to $285.1 million on the back of higher revenue contributions from the group’s...

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VIETNAM: Gasoline theft becomes more widespread

(EnergyAsia, May 20, Tuesday) — Well-organised gangs of thieves are stealing tonnes of gasoline from Vietnamese fuel suppliers. The depots in Cat Lai in Ho Chi Minh City and Nha Be have been the repeated targets of thieves with the help of delivery truck drivers. The gangs then sell the stolen fuels to service stations,...

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JAPAN: Buyers face massive increase in coking coal prices

(EnergyAsia, May 20, Tuesday) — Japan is set to pay US$300/tonne for imported coking coal from Australia, up three times from last year. The soaring prices, which will add billions of dollars to Australia’s export earnings,  come amid supply problems and rising demand around the Asia Pacific region. Flooding in Australia’s Queensland has cut coking...

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AUSTRALIA: Coal-seam gas seen as potential source for LNG export

(EnergyAsia, May 20, Tuesday) — Coal-seam gas (or coalbed methane) production in the states of Queensland and New South Wales could sharply boost Australia’s exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the coming years. Coal-seam gas could also feed some 70% of new power stations in Australia by 2017.  In Queensland, about 13% of electricity...

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QATAR: Japan’s Chiyoda awarded onshore contracts for the Barzan gas project

(EnergyAsia, May 20, Tuesday) — Japan’s Chiyoda Corporation said it has been awarded the front-end engineering design (FEED) and execution planning contract for Qatar’s Barzan onshore gas plant. The contract was awarded by the Qatar Petroleum while RasGas Company Limited will oversee the FEED work. The project will help meet Qatar’s own natural gas demand...

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MARKETS: IEA reduces forecast for world oil demand

(EnergyAsia, May 20, Tuesday) — World oil demand is expected to rise to 86.8 million b/d this year from last year’s 85.8 million b/d, said the International Energy Agency (IEA) in its latest monthly forecast. Last month, the Paris-based agency had predicted world demand to rise to 87.2 million b/d. It said: “Slower economic growth,...

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BIOFUELS: A Very Costly Way To Fly

(EnergyAsia, May 20, Tuesday) — This comment was first published in www.RenewablesReport.Blogspot.com. Something happened to all of us the last few decades. We all have been adopting the American way of life, including the Chinese, Indians, Russians and the Arabs of the oil-rich parts of the Middle East. Whether people care to admit it or...

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SOLAR: REEEP supports World Bank initiative on lighting Africa

(EnergyAsia, May 16, Friday) — Last week in Ghana, 52 short-listed finalists of the international Lighting Africa competition were assessed by an international juror panel who selected 16 finalists. Each finalist will receive up to $200,000 in seed funding to develop and implement their ideas, for a total of $3 million. Marianne Osterkorn, international director (more…)

SINGAPORE: Gasoline at record level well above S$2.10 per litre as oil companies raised fuel prices

(EnergyAsia, May 16, Friday) — Singapore’s oil companies have again raised pump prices, with posted gasoline prices now well above S$2.10 per litre and diesel at more than S$1.76. (US$1=S$1.36). Singapore Petroleum Company Limited (SPC) and Caltex announced their latest increases yesterday as pump prices hit yet another record level to follow on world crude (more…)

THAILAND: PTT raised pump prices by 0.50 baht per litre on rising world oil prices

(EnergyAsia, May 16, Friday) — Thailand’s leading oil company, PTT, last week raised pump prices by 0.50 baht per litre. Its two main gasoline grades now cost 37.09 baht and 35.99 per litre, while its two diesel fuels are priced at 33.24 and 33.94 per litre. (US$1=32 baht). Chaivat Churitti, PTT’s senior executive vice president,...

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SINGAPORE: Tuas Power eyes massive coal power plant

(EnergyAsia, May 16, Friday) — Singapore’s Tuas Power is stuyding plans to build a S$2 billion coal-fired power plant, the first such project in the southeast Asian city state (US$1=S$1.36). Tuas Power was recently acquired by China’s Huaneng in a S$4.2 billion deal. Its new parent company is an owner and experienced operator of coal-fired...

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MARKETS: Fundamentals driving high oil prices, but speculation plays a part, says consultant

(EnergyAsia, May 16, Friday) — The recent sharp rise in oil prices is due mostly to supply-demand fundamentals, rising industry costs, geopolitical crises and the decline in the value of the US dollar, said a leading energy consultant. However, speculative investors are playing an increasingly larger and aggressive role in the market as energy and...

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MARKETS: EU worries about Europe’s low oil stockpile levels

(EnergyAsia, May 16, Friday) — Worried about rising energy prices and lack of preparedness to a global oil crisis, the European Union (EU) Commission has launched a public consultation exercise on oil stockpiles among its 27 member nations. Crude oil prices have stayed well above US$120 per barrel for most of April and May on...

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SOUTH KOREA: SK Energy to start RFCC unit in June

(EnergyAsia, May 16, Friday) — South Korean oil giant SK Energy is expected to start up a new 60,000 b/d residue fluid catalytic cracking (RFCC) unit at its Ulsan refinery in June. The unit will help SK increase its production of higher value fuels including gasoline and diesel from cracking cheaper heavy high-sulphur fuel oil,...

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SOUTH KOREA: Steel producer accepts 200% price hike for coking coal

(EnergyAsia, May 16, Friday) — A major coal consumer, South Korea’s steel producer Posco, has accepted a 200% year-on-year price increase for its purchases of coking coal, also called metallurgical coal. Posco will now pay about US$305 per tonne for its coking coal from suppliers in Australia, setting a new benchmark. The market for coking...

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INDIA: ONGC Videsh Ltd, Venezuela agree to joint US$400 million oil exploration project

(EnergyAsia, May 16, Friday) — India’s ONGC Videsh Ltd and Venezuela’s state oil firm PDVSA have agreed to jointly explore and produce oil and gas in the Orinoco region of the South American country. ONGC will take a 40% stake while PDVSA will be the majority 60% partner in the US$400 million joint venture, the...

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COMPANY: ExxonMobil to build demonstration plant to remove CO2 from natural gas

(EnergyAsia, May 16, Friday) — US major ExxonMobil said it investing more than $100 million to complete development and testing of an improved natural gas treating technology which could make carbon capture and storage more affordable and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The company plans to build a commercial demonstration plant near LaBarge, Wyoming, where...

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