KAZAKHSTAN: Stage set for crude oil to be delivered through BTC pipeline

(EnergyAsia, December 19, Friday) — Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have agreed to establish a transport system to deliver Kazakh crude oil through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline for export to Europe and other markets. Kazakhstan is looking to the BTC line as an alternative to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) which ships oil from its Tengiz field...

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CHINA: Bunker fuel sales seen to double by 2011, undercutting Singapore

(EnergyAsia, December 19, Friday) — China is expected to more than double its sales of marine and bunker fuel by 2011, thanks in large part to the arrival of cheap Venezuelan supplies. By 2011, China’s bunker sales are expected to hit one million tonnes each month, up from 400,000 tonnes now. China’s ports are aiming...

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AZERBAIJAN: Europe receives affirmation of oil and gas commitment

(EnergyAsia, December 19, Friday) — Azerbaijan has committed to play an increasingly vital role in supplying oil and gas to Europe, a move seen as weakening Russia’s attempt to tighten its grip on its neighbours’ energy vulnerabilities. This message was affirmed at last month’s Energy Summit in Baku city, capital of the strategically located Central...

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CHINA: Amid plunging oil prices, calls for faster buildup of stockpile

(EnergyAsia, December 19, Friday) — Local analysts are calling for the Chinese government to quickly to fill up the country’s strategic petroleum reserves (SPRs) as quickly possible to take advantage of current low oil prices. Oil has plummeted from a US$147 per barrel peak in July to just above US$50 per barrel. China’s state and...

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CHINA: Oil, chemical sales growth slows amid global turmoil

(EnergyAsia, December 19, Friday) — China’s refiners and petrochemicals producers are facing losses, slower sales and production growth amid the global economic slowdown and financial crisis, said the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association (CPCIA). Both sales and production growth slowed markedly in August and September. Oil refiners reported losing more than 120 billion yuan...

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CHINA: Qatar plans 200,000 b/d joint venture refinery

(EnergyAsia, December 19, Friday) — Qatar is planning to build a 10-million-tonne-per-year refinery and petrochemicals project in a joint venture with PetroChina and Shell. The project’s location has yet to be determined but will most likely be somewhere on China’s eastern coast. PetroChina would hold a majority stake of 51% in the venture, with Shell...

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CHINA: Calls for Myanmar and Bangladesh to talk over oil and gas dispute

(EnergyAsia, December 19, Friday) — China is working to mediate a dispute between two of its allies, Myanmar and Bangladesh, over offshore oil and gas exploration rights in the Bay of Bengal. The quarrelling neighbours recently deployed warships to protect their interests. Bangladesh insists that the disputed area near St Martin’s Island falls within its...

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INDIA: US Commerce Dept, business council to send largest commercial nuclear mission

(EnergyAsia, December 19, Friday) — The US-India Business Council (USIBC) said it will partner with the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) and US Department of Commerce to undertake the largest trade mission of American commercial nuclear executives ever to visit India. The visit will take place in January after the original mission on November 27 was...

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CHINA: Longwei Petroleum Investment hires RedChip Companies for public and investor relations

(EnergyAsia, December 19, Friday) — China‘s Longwei Petroleum Investment Holding Ltd said it has hired RedChip Companies Inc. to lead its public and investor relations programmes. Operating through its subsidiary, Longwei Trading, the company is a leading distributor and wholesale supplier of diesel, gasoline, fuel oil and solvent oil in Taiyuan city in China‘s Shanxi province....

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ASIA: DHL says region’s rising income, oil prices to have growing impact on world trade

(EnergyAsia, December 19, Friday) — Asia’s fast rising income and volatile oil prices will have a greater impact on world trade than income growth in the West next year, said a study commissioned by DHL, the world’s leading express and logistics company. The study undertaken by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Fuelling Global Trade: How GDP...

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SINGAPORE: Planners push offshore oil storage plan

building and locating very large floating storage (VLFS) facilities for oil, refined products and petrochemicals in the waters off the island state. Preliminary studies already found such projects technically feasible if they are designed with a minimum capacity of 300,000 cubic metres, about the size of a very large crude carrier, or VLCC. In a...

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ASIA: Global economic storm will impact trade, investment and consumption, says World Bank

(EnergyAsia, December 18, Thursday) — While East Asian countries have entered the current crisis substantially better prepared than they were for the 1997 Asian financial crisis, none have been spared the full fury of the global economic storm, said the World Bank. In its latest six-monthly assessment of the East Asia and Pacific region’s economic (more…)

SINGAPORE: ‘14th Annual Asia Upstream 2009’ conference to be held from February 24 to 27

(EnergyAsia, December 18, Thursday) — The ‘14th Annual Asia Upstream 2009’ conference will be held in Singapore from February 24 to 27. Focusing on oil, LNG, and exploration and production activities in Asia, the conference will review upstream ventures, acreage opportunities, corporate strategies of the majors and independents, national oil companies and governments. It will (more…)

AUSTRALIA: PACCAR Australia and Westport to produce natural gas trucks

Australia Pty Ltd will jointly develop and commercialise liquefied natural gas (LNG) Kenworth trucks for the Australian market. Australia’s Kenworth Trucks, a division of PACCAR, plans to begin factory-installed production in mid-2009 beginning with the T908, K108 and T408SAR truck chassis and roll out across additional models into the future. The LNG trucks, featuring the...

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INDIA: Thorium Power Ltd and Punj Lloyd Group sign memorandum of understanding

proliferative nuclear fuel technology and consultant for emerging nuclear programmes, said it and Punj Lloyd Group, an India-based engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) company, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU). The MOU establishes a framework to explore and identify the strengths of Thorium Power in deploying its nuclear fuel designs in India, Southeast Asia...

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INDONESIA: Kobe Coal starts up vital upgraded brown coal plant

demonstration plant in Indonesia’s South Kalimantan province started operations early this month. The project is being undertaken by the Japan Coal Energy Center (JCOAL), in which Kobe Steel is a member, and is supported by Japan‘s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). Total investment is expected to reach eight billion yen, of which METI...

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MARKETS: World airlines to lose record $5 billion in 2008 and $2.5 billion in 2009, says IATA

industry is expected to lose a record $5 billion this year and $2.5 billion for 2009. All regions, except the US, are expected to report larger losses in 2009 than in 2008. Calling these conditions the worst in over 50 years, IATA unveiled grim news on all fronts except for the outlook on oil prices...

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MARKETS: Asian refining margins will continue to suffer as distillates weaken on surpluses

the near term as rising stocks and weak demand force panicked regional producers to seek new markets for refined products, said US-based consultant ESAI. This is the outlook presented in the December edition of the Pacific Basin Stockwatch Marketview, released by petroleum market analysts at the Wakefield, Massachusetts firm. ESAI expects Chinese and Indian oil...

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MARKETS: Credit crunch to hit oil projects

even stop investing in much-needed new projects, raising the spectre of severe shortages and oil shocks in the future. If investments are postponed today, the world would face an oil supply crunch once demand  recovers, warned Fatih Birol, chief economist at the International Energy Agency (IEA). Oil firms have been cutting back capital budgets around...

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SAUDI ARABRIA: Project delays on the cards as Aramco wait for costs to ease

costs for many of its planned new refineries to decline significantly. Material, engineering and labour costs are showing signs of easing as the world economy slows down rapidly to the point of recession.   The company is trying to delay or renegotiate some key projects, including two  400,000 b/d refinery joint ventures, one with France’s...

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SINGAPORE: ‘2nd Annual Transmission and Distribution Asia Congress 2009’ conference Mar 30 – Apr 2

(EnergyAsia, December 17, Wednesday) — Terrapinn’s ‘2nd Annual Transmission and Distribution Asia Congress 2009’ will be held at the Raffles City Convention Centre in Singapore from March 30 to April 2. The conference will address current regulatory developments, cross border transmission opportunities, the impact of renewable energy on current grid system, and the effectiveness of (more…)

SINGAPORE: Keppel FELS completes Jindal’s 2nd jackup ahead of schedule

(EnergyAsia, December 17, Wednesday) — Singapore’s Keppel FELS Limited said it is set to deliver a jackup rig ahead of schedule to Virtue Drilling, an associate company of India’s Jindal Drilling & Industries. Construction of the rig VIRTUE I, was achieved with a clean safety record of about 2.1 million manhours worked without incidents. “In...

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SINGAPORE: Refiner SPC issues performance warning for 2008

(EnergyAsia, December 17, Wednesday) — Listed downstream firm Singapore Petroleum Company Limited (SPC) has issued a warning to investors that its 2008 earnings have been severely weakened as a result of the steep falls in crude and product prices. It said: “The drastic slowdown in refined products demand in the second half of 2008 has...

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SINGAPORE: China Aviation Oil in new trading deal with BP

(EnergyAsia, December 17, Wednesday) — China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corporation Ltd (CAO) said it has signed a one-year trading agreement for BP Singapore Pte Ltd (BPS) to supply “a small portion” of its monthly jet fuel requirements for redistribution to China from January 1. Meng Fanqiu, CAO’s CEO, said: “The new business cooperation with BPS...

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MARKETS: Despite recent price drop, era of cheap oil is over

(EnergyAsia, December 17, Wednesday) — Even though oil prices have fallen from a US$147 per barrel peak in July to around US$45 now, the era of cheap oil is over, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its latest research finding. With the current crisis, there is a widening gap between oil firms’ investments in...

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