PEOPLE: Oil and gas wages continue to rise strongly, said Hays group

(EnergyAsia, February 29 2012, Wednesday) — Wages and confidence are surging in the global oil and gas industry, according to the joint annual salary survey produced by consultants Hays Oil & Gas and leading jobsite Oil and Gas Job Search. The Salary Guide, based on over 14,000 respondents worldwide, reveals an industry generally brimming with (more…)

MARKETS: ExxonMobil expects world energy demand to rise by 30% between 2010 and 2040

(EnergyAsia, February 29 2012, Wednesday) — ExxonMobil expects global energy demand to rise by about 30% from 2010 to 2040 as economic output more than doubles while the world population grow to nearly 9 billion people from just under seven billion over the same period. The developed economies of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and (more…)

CHINA: Ties with oil producer South Sudan frayed

(EnergyAsia, February 29 2012, Wednesday) — China said it wants to repair ties with South Sudan following “misunderstandings” that led to the African oil producer expelling the Chinese head of the local oil producing and pipeline company. Last week, the government of recently independent South Sudan said it expelled Liu Yingcai, President of Petrodar, for...

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CHINA: Oil and gas finds up more than 20% in 2011, said Ministry of Land and Resources

(EnergyAsia, February 29, Wednesday) — China’s Ministry of Land and Resources said the upstream hydrocarbon industry substantially boosted its oil and natural gas discoveries in 2011 to record its second most successful year since the country’s founding in 1949. It found 1.37 billion tonnes of proven oil reserves, up 20.6% compared with 2010, and 765.95...

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CHINA: World Bank presses for economic and energy reforms as dependence on imported oil passed 55% in 2011

(EnergyAsia, February 29 2012, Wednesday) — China’s oil imports exceeded five million b/d for the first time last year, raising the country’s dependence on external supplies beyond 55% and putting it on course to reach 67% by 2020, according to an analysis by the CNPC Economics& Technology Research Institute. Of growing concern to Chinese policy...

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KAZAKHSTAN: Chevron-led consortium to begin drilling programme as part of US$25-billion investment

(EnergyAsia, February 28 2012, Tuesday) — A consortium led by US major Chevron Corp plans to spend US$5 to US$6 billion in a five-year drilling programme as part of an estimated US$20 to US$25 billion project to further develop Central Asian country’s biggest producing oil field. Chervon’s 50%-owned the TengizChevroil LLP venture will drill Kazakhstan’s (more…)

THAILAND: Bangchak to invest eight billion baht to upgrade refinery

(EnergyAsia, February 28 2012, Tuesday) — Thailand’s Bangchak Petroleum Plc (BCP) said it plans to invest eight billion baht to over the next eight years to upgrade its 120,000 b/d refinery and expand its nameplate capacity by 20%. (US$1=30 baht). President Anusorn Sangnimnuan said the upgrade and expansion the Bangkok-based plant will be part of...

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THAILAND: PTTEP proposed to acquire UK’s Cove Energy for £1.12 billion

(EnergyAsia, February 28 2012, Tuesday) — Thai state upstream company PTTEP has offered to acquire UK-listed Cove Energy plc for £1.196, or nearly US$1.9 billion, surpassing Royal Dutch Shell’s competing bid of US$1.6 billion submitted earlier last week. (US$1= £0.63). Shell is expected to raise its price this week for Cove Energy, which holds an (more…)

CHINA: Beijing Blacksea to become ‘substantial shareholder’ of Ruifeng Petroleum

(EnergyAsia, February 28 2012, Tuesday) — Hong Kong-listed investment company Ruifeng Petroleum Chemical Holdings Limited said it has signed a letter of intent to sell off an unspecified “substantial” equity stake to Black Sea Horizon Investment Holdings Limited and Beijing Xuan Fu. The announcement came just as Beijing Black Sea and real estate company, Beijing (more…)

AUSTRALIA: Caltex reports huge A$714 million loss on refineries’ write-down

(EnergyAsia, February 28 2012, Tuesday) — Australia’s largest downstream company reported what could be its largest loss of A$714 million after writing down the value of its two ageing refineries that can no longer compete against larger and newer export plants in Asia and the Middle East. (US$1=A$0.94). Caltex Australia Ltd said the outlook for (more…)

CHINA: Gas, coal led energy consumption increases last year

(EnergyAsia, February 27 2012, Monday) — Led by natural gas and coal, China’s total energy consumption grew by 7% last year to 3.48 billion tons of standard coal equivalent, said the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Natural gas demand surged 12% while coal grew by 9.7%, and crude oil use rose by a mere 2.7%....

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INDONESIA: Pertamina on course to complete US$1.4 billion upgrade of Cilacap refinery by 2014

(EnergyAsia, February 27 2012, Monday) — Indonesia’s state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina is targeting to complete its US$1.4 billion project to upgrade its 348,000 b/d refinery in Cilacap, Central Java by end-2014. Two months after the project was officially launched by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the company expects to meet its deadline of...

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PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Clough Curtain JV awarded A$145 million work order for LNG project

(EnergyAsia, February 27 2012, Monday) — Australian engineering and construction company Clough Limited said its joint venture with Curtain been awarded work orders worth approximately A$145 million associated with the liquefied natural gas (LNG) upstream infrastructure project in Papua New Guinea. (US$1=A$0.94). The PNG LNG project is an integrated development that includes gas production and...

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MARKETS: Analyst predicts Brent-WTI spread to experience “dramatic swings” from -US$10 to US$25 a barrel

(EnergyAsia, February 27 2012, Monday) — BENTEK Energy, a Colorado, US energy information and analytics company, said the Brent-WTI crude oil price differential will range between minus US$10 to US$25 a barrel or an average of US$14 over the next five years. For now, the average Brent-WTI spread for April 2012 to 2016 stands at (more…)

PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp to pay US$280 million for licence stakes held by Canada’s Talisman Energy

(EnergyAsia, February 27 2012, Monday) — Canadian upstream company Talisman Energy Inc said it has sold stakes in nine of its exploration licences in Papua New Guinea’s onshore Western Province to Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) for US$280 million. Talisman said the farmout deal is effective January 1 2012, subject to approvals by government and joint (more…)

NEW ZEALAND: Refinery to undergo NZ$425 million upgrade

(EnergyAsia, February 24 2012, Friday) — New Zealand’s only oil refinery at Marsden Point will undergo a NZ$425 million upgrade aimed at increasing energy efficiency, reducing fuel losses and improving product yields. (US$1=NZ$1.2). The proposed upgrade, New Zealand Refining Company’s third in seven years, largely comprises the construction of a new continuous catalyst regeneration platformer....

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CHINA: CNOOC Limited, Total completes acquisition of Ugandan assets from UK’s Tullow

(EnergyAsia, February 24 2012, Friday) — China’s CNOOC Limited and France’s Total said they have completed their purchases of one-third stakes in three exploration sites in Uganda owned and operated by UK’s Tullow Oil plc. The two companies paid a total of US$2.9 billion for their stakes in Exploration Areas (EA) 1, 2 and 3A....

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SINGAPORE: JOIL expects to triple jatropha productivity over next eight years

(EnergyAsia, February 24 2012, Friday) — JOil (S) Pte Ltd, a Singapore-based developer of the jatropha biofuel crop, said latest biotechnology processes could boost its oil yield from less than one ton of oil per hectare now to three tons. The company said it could achieve this by using breeding, tissue culture and genetic engineering (more…)

MARKETS: Brent price in Euro at all time, WTI at nine-month high

(EnergyAsia, February 24 2012, Friday) — The embattled Eurozone economy is facing the additional threat of record-high oil prices as Brent crude surged to a new all-time high after breaking 93.46 euro, its previous record set on July 3 2008. A combination of a weaker Euro, Iran’s threats to expand its oil embargo on Europe (more…)

CHINA: Sinopec, Germany’s BASF to expand Nanjing plant after completing US$1.4 billion investment

(EnergyAsia, February 24 2012, Friday) — German chemicals giant BASF and China’s Sinopec have started work on expanding their joint venture petrochemical plant in Nanjing city after completing its second phase expansion at a cost of US$1.4 billion. The second phase, inaugurated last month, includes expansions of existing plants and construction of new facilities. The (more…)

CHINA: Japan’s MHI subsidiary sets up environmental equipment marketing company in Beijing

(EnergyAsia, February 23 2012, Thursday) — Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd (MHI) said wholly-owned subsidiary Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Environmental & Chemical Engineering Co Ltd (MHIEC) has established a Chinese unit in Beijing on February 1. MHIEC Environment (Beijing) Co Ltd (MHIECC) will market its environmental services to China’s waste incineration plants and sewage sludge treatment...

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JAPAN: Chubu Electric to purchase LNG from BP over 16 years starting 2012

(EnergyAsia, February 23 2012, Thursday) – Chubu Electric Power Co, Japan’s third- largest utility, has agreed to buy a total of eight million metric tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from BP Plc over 16 years starting 2012. Drawing from the global portfolio of the UK major, BP Singapore Ltd will supply an average 500,000...

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MARKETS: IEA now sees 2012 world oil demand rising by 800,000 b/d instead of 1.1 million b/d

(EnergyAsia, February 23 2012, Thursday) — The International Energy Agency (IEA) sees world oil demand for 2012 growing by just 800,000 b/d, down from its previous forecast of 1.1 million b/d. In its latest monthly forecast, the Paris-based agency said slower economic growth will impact the rate of oil consumption to just 89.9 million b/d...

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MARKETS: OPEC sees world oil demand rising 940,000 b/d or 1.07% in 2012

(EnergyAsia, February 23 2012, Thursday) — The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) expects world oil demand to rise by 940,000 b/d or 1.07% in 2012, revised down from its previous forecast for growth of 1.06 million b/d or 1.21%. The cartel lowered its outlook for world oil demand to 88.9 million b/d in line...

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MARKETS: EIA sees “one-in-50” chance of WTI exceeding US$140 a barrel in 2012

(EnergyAsia, February 23 2012, Thursday) — The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) thinks there is a 1-in50 chance that benchmark crude WTI could exceed US$140 a barrel in June 2012. Based on recent futures and options data, the official energy statistics arm of the US government said the market believes there is a 1-in-15 chance (more…)