CHINA: Russia eyes joint venture to build refinery in Tianjin

(EnergyAsia, March 24, Tuesday) — China and Russia are inching closer towards building a US$4 billion joint venture refinery in Tianjin.   The project would be jointly developed by China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and Russia’s Rosneft.   The 10-million-tonne-per-year plant will be located in Tianjin’s Binhai industrial zone, and scheduled to start up as...

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MALAYSIA: Work on Kedah refinery to start in July, says state government

(EnergyAsia, March 24, Tuesday) — A well-connected Malaysian consortium is due to start work on an ambitious oil refinery complex in the northern state of Kedah in July, said the state government. The project will be sited in the Sungai Limau Hydrocarbon Hub (SULIHH), formerly known as the Yan Petroleum Industry Zone. Menteri Besar or...

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INDONESIA: Pertamina to rebuild Jakarta’s Plumpang depot after blaze

(EnergyAsia, March 24, Tuesday) — Indonesian state oil company Pertamina plans to rebuild its Plumpang depot in the northern part of Jakarta city, and relocate some of the 7,000 affected families in the process. The depot suffered massive damage, with one storage tank destroyed and two other tanks damaged, in a blaze in January. The...

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CHINA: ENN claims output of special solar panels on Applied Materials’ thin film line

(EnergyAsia, March 24, Tuesday) — ENN Solar Energy Co Ltd said it has produced China’s first 5.7-sq metre high-efficiency, tandem junction thin film photovoltaic (PV) panels using a SunFab™ thin film line supplied by Applied Materials Inc. Working at ENN’s leading-edge facility in Langfang city in China, ENN and Applied achieved this milestone just five...

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ASIA: Southeast Asian nations still working on energy pact

(EnergyAsia, March 24, Tuesday) — The 10-member ASEAN group of countries is still working to complete an energy pact that would giving consumer countries access to oil at discounted prices. ASEAN, which includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, was to have signed the agreement at a summit in...

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BOOK: ‘A Thousand Barrels a Second’ examines the future of oil

(EnergyAsia, March 24, Tuesday) — ‘A Thousand Barrels a Second’ examines the future of oil and offer insights into what it will take to rebalance the world’s energy needs. Written by Peter Tertzakian, the chief energy economist of Canada’s equity firm ARC Financial Corporation, the book provides an analysis of shifts in energy trends, describing (more…)

TAIWAN: Oerlikon Solar completes thin film line for Sun Well Solar

 (EnergyAsia, March 23, Monday) — Oerlikon Solar and Sun Well Solar, a subsidiary of CMC Magnetics, said they have completed the 40 MW amorphous thin film silicon production line one month ahead of schedule.The installation includes the innovative Oerlikon Solar LPCVD TCO front and back contact technology, which has clearly proven its capability in mass...

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SOLAR: Environmental group warns of growing toxic waste

 (EnergyAsia, March 23, Monday) — One of the most promising clean energy sectors now stands accused of building up — and ignoring — the health, environmental and safety threats posed to workers and residents from its production process and waste. The use and build-up of toxic chemicals and byproducts from solar cells manufacturing is starting to...

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SINGAPORE: Oil trading activity intact despite crisis

 (EnergyAsia, March 23, Monday) — The oil trade in Singapore remained “resilient” in January and February despite the financial crisis and lower global oil demand.In fact, firms are setting up trading desks in Singapore, said trade promotion agency International Enterprise (IE) Singapore.One recent entrant is bunker fuel supplier Brightoil which set up a trading desk...

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SINGAPORE: Credit crunch hits business of oil rig builders

 (EnergyAsia, March 23, Monday) — Keppel Corp and SembMarine, the world’s two largest oil rig builders, could see a significant reduction in business and profit in the wake of the global financial crisis and lower oil demand.Analysts said that customers of the two Singapore-listed companies may delay payments, try to renegotiate contracts or even cancel...

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PHILIPPINES: State oil firm PNOC in ‘green shift’

(EnergyAsia, March 23, Monday) — Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) is shifting its investments towards developing renewable energy.The company is looking to build a 20-30 megawatt (MW) hydroelectric power plant on Luzon island, and undertaking feasibility studies for hydropower projects in Babuyan and Langogan in Palawan.It is also planning to invest in wind, geothermal, ocean...

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SAUDI ARABIA: GE to add 2,000 MW of capacity to help meet kingdom’s energy demand

(EnergyAsia, March 23, Monday) — GE Energy said it recently signed a contract for nearly US$1 billion to supply more than 30 Frame 7EA gas turbines for the Saudi Electricity Company’s (SEC) Riyadh Power Plant 10 (PP10).The project, the latest in a series of GE contracts for SEC power projects, will add 2,000 megawatts (MW)...

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MARKETS: Electric vehicles gets a boost in US stimulus bill, says lobby group

 (EnergyAsia, March 23, Monday) — A prominent lobby group for electric vehicles, Plug In America, is celebrating one of its biggest victories with the stimulus bill that President Obama signed into law last month.The lobby said that intense congressional advocacy and more than 60,000 emails from our supporters helped shape the bill’s plug-positive legislation, which...

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CHINA: CNPC aims to double size of new Qinzhou refinery to 20 million tonnes

(EnergyAsia, March 23, Monday) — China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) has applied to state regulators to double the capacity of its upcoming 10-million-tonne-per-year refinery in Qinzhou in the southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.CNPC has also submitted plans to build depots to store three million tonnes of crude and one million tonnes of refined products.China’s largest...

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COMPANY: ExxonMobil fully replaces production in 2008

(EnergyAsia, March 20, Friday) — ExxonMobil has managed to fully replenish all the oil it produced in 2008, and then some. Additions to the company’s proven reserves were 1.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent, or 103% of 2008 production. Stripping out asset sales, reserve additions were even higher, at 110% of production. The US major...

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PEOPLE: WLPGA names David Tyler as projects and business practices director

(EnergyAsia, March 20, Friday) — The Paris, France-based World Liquefied Petroleum Gas Association (WLPGA) said it has appointed David Tyler as Director, Projects & Business Practices. His primary role will be to lead the association’s activities in the area of good practices in the industry. In addition, he will further consolidate the association’s programmes on (more…)

SOUTH KOREA: Companies starting work to develop Basra oil fields in Iraq

(EnergyAsia, March 20, Friday) — South Korean firms are preparing to start work on developing the oil fields in Iraq’s oil-rich southern region of Basra. This followed last month’s non-binding agreement signed by the Presidents of the two countries in Iraq, allowing Korean companies to explore and produce oil in the war-torn Middle East country....

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CLIMATE CHANGE: Expert alarmed by impact of China, India power plants

(EnergyAsia, March 20, Friday) — The rapid increase in coal-based power generation capacity in India and China is speeding up the rate of global warming, an expert with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned. In fact, the damage was much worse than previously expected, said Chris Field in a recent report which...

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MARKETS: Consultant asks if oil’s dominance of world energy is starting to wane

(EnergyAsia, March 20, Friday) — The oil industry will face a challenging future as signs point to an earlier than anticipated end to oil’s predominance in the global energy market, said management consultancy Arthur D.Little. In a report, Arthur D. Little questions the energy sector’s consensus view that demand for oil will rise ever higher,...

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AUSTRALIA: Origin Energy investing A$640 million in Mortlake Power Station to supply Victoria state

(EnergyAsia, March 20, Friday) — Origin Energy has started construction work on a 550-megawatt (MW), gas-fired power station in Mortlake Power Station in Australia’s Victoria state. (US$1=A$1.5). The power station will be supplied with natural gas via a pipeline to be constructed from Port Campbell to the site delivering gas. The pipeline will deliver gas...

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MARKETS: Asian refining margins to deteriorate as supply outpaces demand

(EnergyAsia, March 20, Friday) — US-based consultancy Energy Security Analysis Inc (ESAI) has predicted that oil refining margins in Asia will deteriorate on further contraction in the region’s oil product demand. Asia’s economies are decelerating  under the weight of a looming world economic recession. Focusing on product supply in Asia six months out, ESAI’s recently...

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AFRICA: Recent socio-economic successes threatened by global financial crisis, says IMF

(EnergyAsia, March 20, Friday) — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that a slow global economy, declining commodity prices, and tighter credit markets are threatening to reverse the recent successes of Africa’s economies. “The gains of the past decade, during which many countries in sub-Saharan Africa saw sustained high rates of economic growth and...

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INDIA: Chevron to divest stake in Reliance Petroleum

(EnergyAsia, March 19, Thursday) — US major Chevron is preparing to sell off its 5% stake in India’s Reliance Petroleum Limited (RPL) to Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL). While the companies declined to say what price RIL would be paying for the stake, Indian media reports suggest that RIL is prepare to pay close to Rs60 per...

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CHINA: Sinopec readies refineries to increase export

(EnergyAsia, March 19, Thursday) — In a sign that China’s domestic market may swing into surplus, Sinopec is preparing eight of its refineries to begin exporting refined products in the coming weeks. Sinopec is Asia’s largest refiner.The refineries in Zhenhai, Maoming, Guangzhou, Jinling, Gaoqiao, Hainan, Dongxing and Qingdao have a combined processing capacity of two...

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RUSSIA: Crude and oil product stockpile being considered

(EnergyAsia, March 19, Thursday) — Joining other countries, Russia said it is looking to set up a crude and oil products stockpile to take advantage of low oil prices.The Russian government is working on a plan to store up to 16 million tonnes of crude and products, said Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin.Unlike China and...

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