(EnergyAsia, July 27 2010, Tuesday) — Indonesia may reduce its gas exports to Singapore to meet surging domestic demand, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Darwin Zahedy Saleh said.   The government is planning to renegotiate an existing contract for the export of natural gas from South Sumatra and Natuna to Singapore with the aim of...

(EnergyAsia, July 27 2010, Tuesday) — A deluge of reports and summit meetings in recent months suggests that some governments and researchers are starting to take the peak oil theory seriously. The theory does not state that the world will run out of oil supplies, but that it will face a rapid decline in easily...

(EnergyAsia, July 27 2010, Tuesday)— Russia’s record oil shipments to Asia are eating into the Middle East’s share into this increasingly important region. South Korea and Japan are leading the way in buying and consuming oil from their northern neighbour, helping to make it the world’s largest oil exporter. Competition between the Middle East and...

(EnergyAsia, July 27 2010, Tuesday) — Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) plans to stockpile another two million barrels of crude oil this year to add to the 1.4 million barrels already purchased. The state-owned company also plans to invest about 2.4 trillion won to develop new terminals with the capacity to store 36.9 million barrels,...

(EnergyAsia, July 27 2010, Tuesday) — By Yossef Bodansky for OilPrice.com. The US and the NATO allies are preparing to disengage from Afghanistan with even the most vocal advocates of ‘long-term commitment’ not expecting more than five years of active US and NATO involvement. The local key players in Kabul, Islamabad, and countless tribal and...

(EnergyAsia, July 27 2010, Tuesday) — The Singapore government has issued a forecast for the economy to grow by 13% to 15% this year, much faster than the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s expectations for a near 10% expansion. The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said it raised its forecast from an earlier call for...

(EnergyAsia, July 27 2010, Tuesday) — Vitol Tank Terminals International (VTTI), a subsidiary of the Swiss trading company, said it has sold a 10% stake in its Euro Tank Terminal BV (ETT) in Rotterdam, the Netherlands to Singapore-based SK Energy International, a fully-owned subsidiary of South Korea’s SK Energy. The companies did not disclose the...

(EnergyAsia, July 26 2010, Monday) — Singapore has made clear it no longer regards Indonesia and Malaysia as reliable suppliers of natural gas on which the island state depends to generate 80% of its electricity. Last month, founding father Lee Kuan Yew openly complained that its two closest neighbours want to raise the price of...

(EnergyAsia, July 26 2010, Monday) — Russian gas giant Gazprom was recently named the world’s most profitable company by Fortune magazine after reporting profits of US$24.6 billion in 2009. That would be the equivalent of 10% of Russia’s GDP and possibly up to 20% of its federal budget. From its newly opened commercial office in...

(EnergyAsia, July 26 2010, Monday) — BP’s ruptured Macondo well may have leaked as much as 4.5 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, and helped slice off at least 30,000 b/d from US crude production for 2010 and 2011, said the International Energy Agency (IEA). Further production cuts in the Gulf...

(EnergyAsia, July 26 2010, Monday) — Petronas Gas Bhd, a subsidiary of Malaysia’s state oil and gas company, said it expects to soon complete a study to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification plant in Peninsular Malaysia. Malaysia is experiencing depletion of its oil and gas reserves, and is making plans to import LNG...

(EnergyAsia, July 26 2010, Monday) — As part of South Korea’s long-term plan to bolster its energy security, state Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO) said it has agreed to pay 4.6 trillion rupiah for a 20% stake in Indonesian coal producer PT Bayan Resources. (US$1=9,000 rupiah). South Korea’s largest power company said the investment will...

(EnergyAsia, July 26 2010) — The world’s carbon emission levels are expected to rise by more than 13% from 29.7 billion metric tons in 2007 to 33.8 billion metric tons in 2020, said the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). In its International Energy Outlook 2010, the EIA said developing countries will play an increasing role...

(EnergyAsia, July 26 2010, Monday) — Shareholders of Australia’s Centennial Coal Co Ltd are expected to accept its board’s recommendation for a proposed all-cash US$2 billion takeover offer by Thailand’s largest coal mining company Banpu Public Co Ltd. Early this month, the Thai company’s wholly owned subsidiary Banpu Minerals (Singapore) Pte Ltd offered to pay...

(EnergyAsia, July 23 2010, Friday) — Chinese power generation company Huaneng has announced plans to invest more than RMB100 billion in developing coal, natural gas and power projects in the Muslim-dominated western region of Xinjiang. (US$1=RMB6.77). Last month, the company signed an agreement with the Xinjiang government to develop energy hubs in the Junggar Basin,...

(EnergyAsia, July 23 2010, Friday)—PetroChina and Yangshan Shengang International Petroleum Logistics Co have started up their respective oil storage terminals in eastern China. PetroChina has developed a 7.6-million-barrel crude oil facility in Changqing district in Shandong province, while Yangshan Shengang’s terminal has the capacity to store 590,000 cubic metres of gasoline, diesel, fuel oil and...

(EnergyAsia, July 23 2010, Friday) — BP’s failings in its deepwater ventures in the Gulf of Mexico extend beyond the disastrous oil leak from the ruptured Macondo well. Production at its much-hyped multi-billion dollar Thunder Horse oil platform off New Orleans has fallen way below the projected 250,000 b/d rate. Production began in May 2008,...

(EnergyAsia, July 23 2010, Friday) — Det Norske Veritas (DNV), a leading global provider of risk management services for the oil and gas industry, said there are prospects for considerable savings for major rig and floating production and storage operations (FPSO) projects. At a recent energy summit between Chinese and Norwegian representatives from government and...

(EnergyAsia, July 23 2010, Friday) — Despite the possibility that the world economy could sink into recession again this or next year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) is forecasting global oil demand to rise 1.6% to a record 87.8 million b/d in 2011. The Paris-based oil watchdog for the developed economies said its latest forecast...

(EnergyAsia, July 23 2010, Friday) — Fujairah port authorities expect to start up its second oil terminal facility later this year, and are already assessing the possibility of building a third facility. The 1.5-km terminal can accommodate fully-loaded 180,000 deadweight tonnes tankers and partially-loaded very large crude carriers. The port has an existing 840-meter oil...

(EnergyAsia, July 23 2010, Friday) — State-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) has invested more than 15 billion yuan in developing vessels and facilities to support its ventures into exploring for oil and gas reserves in deepwater areas, according to company president Fu Chengyu. (US$1=6.78 yuan).  He said CNOOC will shift from exploring in...

(EnergyAsia, July 22 2010, Thursday) — Rolls Royce, Vestas, SP PowerGrid and CEI Contract Manufacturing have signed strategic partnership agreements with Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) to develop smart grid and distributed energy solutions. This was announced at last week’s groundbreaking ceremony of A*STAR’s smart grid research facility of the Experimental Power...

(EnergyAsia, July 22 2010, Thursday) — Japanese trading house Marubeni Corporation said it is looking to expand trade ties with Winsway Coking Coal Holdings Limited, one of China’s leading importers of high-quality coking coal from Australia and Canada as well as the main buyer of Mongolian coking coal. Marubeni, which formalised a strategic cooperation agreement...

(EnergyAsia, July 22 2010, Thursday)— PTT PCL, Thailand’s biggest energy firm, said it is looking to expand its coal portfolio by acquiring stakes in at least two foreign coal mines this year. PTT wants to buy at least a 20% stake in coal mines in Indonesia and Australia, each with a capacity of at least...