QATAR: State buying into Western majors

(EnergyAsia, May 31 2012, Thursday) — The world’s leading liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter, Qatar, is using its rapidly accumulating wealth to acquire stakes in leading natural resource companies around the world including the Western majors. The Middle East powerhouse is making its investments through sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), which has more...

This article is for Subscriber members only.
Log In Register

INDIA: Piped natural gas from Turkmenistan to cost US$13 per million BTU

(EnergyAsia, May 31 2012, Thursday) — India will pay an average US$13 per million BTU its natural gas imported from Turkmenistan through the US-supported TAPI pipeline due to start up in 2017. The 1,700km line, named after the four countries that it links up, will tap the gas reserves of Turkmenistan for export to Afghanistan,...

This article is for Subscriber members only.
Log In Register

THAILAND: PTT approved to go after UK’s Cove Energy

(EnergyAsia, May 31 2012, Thursday) — Shares of UK-listed Cove Energy, which owns a stake in a Mozambique gas field, rose to a record high of 259.75 pence after the African country approved its takeover by Thailand’s state-owned PTTEP. The Mozambique government’s approval opens up a bidding war between PTTEP and Royal Dutch Shell for (more…)

BAHRAIN: King launched US$2.1 billion al Dur power and water project

(EnergyAsia, May 31 2012, Thursday) — Bahrain’s King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa recently launched the country’s largest independent power generation and water desalination plant. According to owner Al-Dur Power & Water Company, the US$2.1 billion plant, which started operating in February, produces up to 1,234 MW of electricity and 218,000 cubic metres per day of the (more…)

INDIA: Mayhem, protests and fuel shortages continue one week after pump prices rise 10%

(EnergyAsia, May 30 2012, Wednesday) — Fuel shortages and hoarding continue to grip many Indian cities sparking angry protests and demands that the government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh scrap its six-day-old gasoline price hike. Chennai in the east coast state of Tamil Nadu has been the worst hit after retailers serving the city of (more…)

DUBAI: Horizon Terminal starts construction of Jebel Ali fuel storage facility

(EnergyAsia, May 30 2012, Wednesday) — Horizon Terminals Ltd (HTL), Emirates National Oil Company’s (ENOC) wholly-owned storage terminalling operator, has started work on its US$142 million bulk liquid facility in Dubai’s Jebel Ali Free Zone. Equipped to receive jet fuel from marine tankers and from the nearby ENOC refinery, the 141,000 cubic metre fully automated (more…)

COMPANY: ExxonMobil launched ‘next generation’ SHC industrial lubricants

(EnergyAsia, May 30 2012, Wednesday) — ExxonMobil Lubricants and Petroleum Specialties Company, a division of Exxon Mobil Corporation, has introduced three next generation high-performance industrial lubricants, expanding its line of energy-efficient industrial lubricants. These next generation Mobil SHC high-performance lubricants include the SHC 600, SHC Gear and SHC Gear OH. Mobil SHC 600 is the (more…)

AUSTRALIA: Majors may still want to keep refining business

(EnergyAsia, May 30 2012, Wednesday) — ExxonMobil and Caltex said they are still looking to maintain their loss-making oil refining business in Australia, and would appreciate some support from the government. ExxonMobil will likely report a loss for 2011, but expects to turn in a profit this year on improving margins for producing fuels and...

This article is for Subscriber members only.
Log In Register

MARKETS: OPEC sees US, Japan helping 2012 world oil demand to grow by 900,000 b/d to 88.67 million b/d

(EnergyAsia, May 29 2012, Tuesday) — US and Japan will join the emerging economies in boosting global oil demand by 900,000 b/d to 88.67 million b/d this year, said the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). In its latest monthly report, the cartel said that world oil demand growth has stopped declining as the US...

This article is for Subscriber members only.
Log In Register

KUWAIT: Refining capacity to exceed 1.5 million b/d with KNPC’s new 615,000 b/d plant

(EnergyAsia, May 29 2012, Tuesday) — Kuwait will lift its oil refining capacity to 1.5 million b/d later this decade with the planned construction of a 615,000 plant. Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) said it will launch a tender in June to begin work on the delayed refinery at Al-Zour which could be ready by...

This article is for Subscriber members only.
Log In Register

MARKETS: IMF study says world coped well with past decade of sharp oil price hikes, but doubts abound

(EnergyAsia, May 29 2012, Tuesday) —  Despite a four-fold increase in oil prices over the past decade, the world has coped well by becoming more energy efficient, holding back wage increases, diversifying to other energy sources and using macroeconomic policy to mitigate oil’s inflationary effects, said a study by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). World (more…)

AUSTRALIA: Australia Pacific LNG project secures US$8.5 billion loan

(EnergyAsia, May 29 2012, Tuesday) — A consortium of international banks and export credit agencies has agreed to lend a total of US$8.5 billion for the construction of the Australia Pacific LNG joint (APLNG) venture in Queensland state. The consortium was led by the Export-Import Bank of the US (US EXIM) and The Export-Import Bank (more…)

MARKETS: IEA expects 2012 world oil demand to grow 0.9% to 90 million b/d

(EnergyAsia, May 28 2012 Monday) — Driven by the emerging economies, global oil demand will rise by 0.9% to 90 million b/d this year, said the International Energy Agency (IEA). “Global oil consumption is set to rise by 0.8 million b/d in 2012, to 90 mbd, with gains in the non-OECD more than offsetting declining OECD...

This article is for Subscriber members only.
Log In Register

SAUDI ARABIA: Aramco launches into oil trading, including paper and derivatives

(EnergyAsia, May 28 2012, Monday) — Saudi Arabia has made a major policy shift with its decision to venture into oil trading including paper trading and derivatives as this could violate conservative Islamic rules that prohibits speculation and gambling. The world’s largest oil exporter and producer has long held out against trading, citing the potential...

This article is for Subscriber members only.
Log In Register

MARKETS: EIA says OPEC’s Q1 spare capacity at lowest level since 2008

(EnergyAsia, May 28 2012, Monday) — The world’s Q1 spare oil production capacity, held mostly by OPEC members, has fallen to about 2.4 million b/d, the lowest level since 2008, said the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). It has also fallen to less than 3% of total world crude oil consumption, the lowest proportion since the (more…)

TURKMENISTAN: TAPI pipeline project boosted by gas agreements with India, Pakistan and Afghanistan

(EnergyAsia, May 28 2012, Monday) — India, Pakistan and Afghanistan have committed to import natural gas through a planned 1,800-km pipeline to tap the reserves of Turkmenistan, said the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which has been coordinating and facilitating talks among the various parties for a decade. Meeting in the Turkmen city of Turkmenbashi last (more…)

MARKETS: EIA expects world oil markets to stay tight in 2012 despite near-term easing

(EnergyAsia, May 25 2012, Friday) —The US EIA said it expects the world’s oil markets to remain tight in 2012 with demand growing to 88.88 million b/d and 90.04 million in 2013, up from last year’s 87.92 million b/d.               In the near term, it sees fundamentals easing slightly since mid-March, oil supply growth to exceed...

This article is for Subscriber members only.
Log In Register

CHINA: Despite losses, PetroChina aims to raise Central Asia gas imports by 50% to 25 bcm this year

(EnergyAsia, May 25 2012, Friday) — PetroChina will raise its natural gas purchases from Central Asia from 15.9 billion cubic metres (bcm) to as much as 25 bcm this year to help speed up China’s adoption of the clean-burning fuel as a substitute for coal, said chairman Jiang Jiemin. Speaking to shareholders in Beijing earlier...

This article is for Subscriber members only.
Log In Register

CHINA: Venezuela approves doubling borrowing limit to US$8 billion

(EnergyAsia, May 25 2012, Friday) — The Venezuelan government has doubled the borrowing ceiling on its oil-for-loan deal with China to US$8 billion provided for under its 2008 deal with the China Development Bank. The oil-producing country’s Congress this week rubber-stamped the proposal that will see the government of President Hugo Chavez increase Venezuela’s dependence...

This article is for Subscriber members only.
Log In Register

ASIA: World Bank sees slower growth of 7.6% in developing East Asia including China

(EnergyAsia, May 25 2012, Friday) — East Asia’s developing countries including China will see a further slowdown in economic growth this year to follow on last year’s 8.2% expansion after a near 10% rise in 2010, said the World Bank. With the Eurozone in meltdown mode and the global slowdown expected to continue, developing East (more…)

THAILAND: PTTEP raised cash offer for UK-listed Cove Energy shares to 240 pence each

(EnergyAsia, May 24 2012, Thursday) — Thai upstream company PTTEP has raised its all-cash offer to fully acquire UK’s Cover Energy for a total of £1.221.4 billion at 240 pence a share, trumping rival Royal Dutch Shell’s offer of 220 pence. (US$1=£0.64). Shell might yet be drawn into a bidding war after having earlier matched (more…)

INDONESIA: Italy’s RINA Group appointed to manage and support FSRU project

(EnergyAsia, May 24 2012, Thursday) — Italy-based RINA Group said it has secured a contract to manage a new floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) project that will deliver liquefied natural gas (LNG) to consumers in Indonesia’s South Sumatra province from 2014. RINA will be involved in selecting the unit’s concept, front-end engineering design as (more…)

CHINA: State oil companies boosting natural gas reserves, but not oil

(EnergyAsia, May 24 2012, Thursday) — PetroChina and Sinopec, two of the country’s three main state hydrocarbon companies, have been boosting their natural gas reserves but not  oil, according to a recent analysis of company data by US energy media Platts. PetroChina grew its natural gas reserves by an average 3% a year to 66.65...

This article is for Subscriber members only.
Log In Register

CHINA: Wood Mackenzie predicts surge in LNG imports

(EnergyAsia, May 24 2012, Thursday) — China’s surging demand for clean burning fuel may boost its imports of liquefied natural gas by 80% from current contracted volumes of about 46 million metric tons, said energy consultant Wood Mackenzie Ltd. The world’s biggest energy user may need to purchase an additional 37 million metric tons of...

This article is for Subscriber members only.
Log In Register

CHINA: April oil demand up 0.3%, Jan-Apr demand up 1.3% on slowing economy, says Platts

(EnergyAsia, May 23 2012, Wednesday) — China’s oil demand in April edged up just 0.3% year on year to 38.32 million metric tons (mt), or 9.36 million barrels per day (b/d), said US energy media Platts. Based on its analysis of recent Chinese government data, Platts said this was the lowest year-on-year monthly growth in oil...

This article is for Subscriber members only.
Log In Register