AUSTRALIA: Queensland state government slams UN, green groups in fight to develop coal despite Great Barrier Reef concerns

(EnergyAsia, June 13 2012, Wednesday) — Australia’s main mining state of Queensland is standing firm against the Federal government, the UN’s environmental agency and green groups over its plans to accelerate the development of coal and other natural resource projects despite warnings that they could inflict massive long-term damages on the environment especially the Great...

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AUSTRALIA: Queensland state scales back massive expansion of Abbot coal port

(EnergyAsia, June 12 2012, Tuesday) — Australia’s Queensland state government has scaled back plans laid out by the previous government for a massive A$9 billion expansion of the existing one-terminal Abbot Point coal port, calling it “unrealistic and undeliverable.” (US$1=A$1.02). Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney said the state government would develop only two of the eight...

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AUSTRALIA: India’s GVK fears long delays in approval for development of A$9 billion Alpha coal project

 (EnergyAsia, June 12 2012, Tuesday) — India’s GVK Group faces a potentially long wait to start work on developing its giant Alpha coal mine in Australia as the Federal government and opposition-ruled Queensland state battle over the environmental approval process. While the Liberal National Party (LNP) state government, which was elected to power against...

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AUSTRALIA: Queensland state approves Anglo American’s proposed A$1.7 billion coal mine

(EnergyAsia, June 12 2012, Tuesday) — Australia’s Queensland state has given final approval to UK mining giant Anglo American to develop its proposed A$1.7 billion Grosvenor metallurgical or coking coal mine for production start-up next year. (US$1=A$1.02). The mine will have the capacity to produce seven million tonnes of high quality coking coal a year, (more…)

CHINA: Economy holding up to grow by 8% in 2012, plenty of room for new stimulus, says IMF

(EnergyAsia, June 11 2012, Monday) — China’s economic growth will slow down to 8% in 2012, down from last year’s 9.2% and well over 10% in 2010, but remains robust in the face of the global downturn and the Eurozone crisis, said the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Giving its annual health check of the world’s...

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CHINA: Unsold coal cargoes piling up on rising defaults on trades

(EnergyAsia, June 11 2012, Monday) — There is a growing traffic of vessels with unsold coal cargoes berthed in the waters off southern China as traders report rising defaults on deals. Traders had taken on speculative positions in buying up coal from elsewhere to be re-sold into China, but have been caught out as they...

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NATURAL GAS: OxfordPrinceton Series Interview with industry veteran Malcolm Johnson, part 2

(EnergyAsia, June 11 2012, Monday) — In this inaugural OxfordPrinceton Series, EnergyAsia interviewed energy industry veteran Malcolm Johnson on the state of the global natural gas and LNG markets. After more than 30 years with Shell in the natural gas/LNG sector, Mr Johnson now provides private consulting services as well as teaches energy professionals attending (more…)

INDONESIA: India’s Essar Energy expects to start production at Aries coal mine in June 2013.

(EnergyAsia, June 11 2012, Monday) — India’s Essar Energy said it expects to start production at its Aries coal mine in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan province by June 2013, having just received final approvalkfrom Jakarta to proceed with development plans. Essar Energy acquired the 5,000-hectare mining area in the province’s West Kutai region for US$118 million (more…)

NATURAL GAS: OxfordPrinceton Series Interview with industry veteran Malcolm Johnson

                   (EnergyAsia, June 8 2012, Friday) — In this inaugural OxfordPrinceton Series, EnergyAsia interviewed energy industry veteran Malcolm Johnson on the state of the global natural gas and LNG markets. After more than 30 years with Shell in the natural gas/LNG sector, Mr Johnson now provides private consulting services as well as teaches energy professionals (more…)

INDONESIA: Aggreko supplies power to northern Sumatra mine

(EnergyAsia, June 8 2012, Friday) — Aggreko, the Scotland-based world leader in providing temporary power and temperature control services, said it has commissioned a turnkey rental power package to power the construction and initial operations of the Martabe mine in northern Sumatra in Indonesia. Hong Kong-based mining company G-Resources, which owns the mine, intends to (more…)

MONGOLIA: SouthGobi Resources welcomes opening of expanded coal border crossing infrastructure with China

(EnergyAsia, June 8 2012, Friday) — SouthGobi Resources Ltd, a leading Mongolian coal miner and exporter, has hailed the opening of eight new border gates exclusively for coal transportation at the Shivee Khuren-Ceke border between Mongolia and China on May 28. According to the Hong Kong-listed company, the gates will significantly increase the capacity for (more…)

INDONESIA: Proposed export tax could cost coal industry US$11 billion a year, says consultant

(EnergyAsia, June 7 2012, Thursday) — Indonesia could lose as much as US$11 billion a year if the government proceeds to impose a controversial tax on the country’s thriving thermal coal exports, said research consultant Wood Mackenzie. While Indonesia will likely remain the world’s largest seaborne thermal coal exporter through 2020, it will lose much (more…)

MONGOLIA: Aspire Mining Limited says study deems Ovoot coking coal project feasible

  (EnergyAsia, June 7 2012, Thursday) —  Australia-listed Aspire Mining Limited said a pre-feasibility study into its proposed Ovoot coking coal project in northern Mongolia has found it to be viable and worthy of a two-stage execution costing a total of A$1.275 billion with production start-up from 2016. (US$1=A$1.03). According to the study by Xstract (more…)

MIDDLE EAST: APICORP collaborates with J.P.Morgan to expand offering of energy trade finance services

(EnergyAsia, June 7 2012, Thursday) — Following its conclusion of a collaboration agreement with J.P. Morgan Treasury Services last month, Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP) said it is looking to expand its range and offering of trade finance services to energy companies operating in the Arab world and beyond. Starting this month, APICORP, a multilateral (more…)

IRAQ: GE technology to support Baghdad’s newest power plant

(EnergyAsia, June 7 2012, Thursday) — GE said its technology is supporting the new 160MW Taji power plant supplying electricity to the greater Baghdad area as part of the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity’s efforts to meet the country’s urgent energy needs. GE said it supplied four Frame 6B gas turbines for the Taji plant, located (more…)

AUSTRALIA: Local thermal coal mines becoming too expensive, says bank

(EnergyAsia, June 6 2012, Wednesday) — Australia’s thermal coal has become uncompetitive and too costly against other producers, according to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA). In a research report, the bank found that Australia’s production cost has risen by an average nominal rate of 25% a year since 2007 on a combination of the (more…)

INDIA: Essar Energy signs long-term agreement to supply power from 600 MW coal-fired Tori II plant

(EnergyAsia, June 6 2012, Wednesday) — Essar Energy said it has agreed to commit 240MW of its Tori II 600MW coal-fired plant under construction in Jharkhand state in India to supply power to Noida Power Company Ltd. Essar Energy plc, a privte India-focused integrated energy company, said its subsidiary, Essar Power Jharkhand Limited (EPJL), won (more…)

AUSTRALIA: Mining investment reached record A$260.8 billion

(EnergyAsia, June 6 2012, Wednesday) — Australia’s mining sector including coal, iron ore and liquefied natural gas (LNG) pulled in a record US$260.8 billion worth of investment commitments as of April 30 2012, up 12.5% from the last update by the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics (BREE) six months ago. (US$1=A$1.04). The money was (more…)

CHINA: Per capita energy consumption approaching international average, says former NEA chief

(EnergyAsia, June 6 2012, Wednesday) — China’s per capita energy consumption has reached 2.6 tons of coal a year, putting it nearly on par with the global average, said the former head of the country’s National Energy Administration. However, it remains far behind the average per capita energy use of developed countries, said Zhang Guobao...

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CHINA: Shenhua Energy to acquire assets from main shareholder

(EnergyAsia, June 5 2012, Tuesday) — China Shenhua Energy Co Ltd, the country’s largest coal producer, said it is buying over certain assets from its controlling shareholder, Shenhua Group Corp Limited for an undisclosed sum. In a statement, the Hong Kong listed company will be acquiring equity interests as well as the assets of China...

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AUSTRALIA: Queensland state government declares 3TL’s Yarwun coal terminal a “significant project”

(EnergyAsia, June 5 2012, Tuesday) — Australia’s MetroCoal Limited said the Queensland state government has declared its Tenement to Terminal Limited’s (3TL’s) Yarwun coal terminal project at Gladstone a ‘significant project.’ 3TL is 20%-owned by MetroCoal Limited. The declaration means that approvals for the project will be assessed using a more streamlined whole-of-government approach, managed (more…)

CHINA: L&L makes first coal shipments

(EnergyAsia, June 5 2012, Tuesday) — L & L Energy Inc, a US company with a five-year track record of profitable underground coal mining and distribution operations in China, said it has started delivering coal to Datang International Power Generation Co Ltd and a new customer, Luk Fook Co Ltd. On May 14, the Seattle-based (more…)

MONGOLIA: Prophecy Coal secured deal to supply Ulaan Ovoo coal to iron manufacturing plant

(EnergyAsia, June 5 2012, Tuesday) — Canada’s Prophecy Coal Corp said it has secured a sales contract to supply 22,100 tonnes of thermal coal from its Ulaan Ovoo mine in Mongolia to a local direct reduced iron (DRI) manufacturing plant. According to Prophecy, the unidentified buyer has indicated that this is an initial purchase is to (more…)

SINGAPORE: Keppel secures third harsh environment jack-up rig order from Maersk

(EnergyAsia, June 4 2012, Monday) — Keppel FELS Limited said it has won a contract order from Maersk Drilling Holdings Singapore Pte Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Denmark’s A.P. Moller – Maersk A/S, to build a repeat Gusto MSC CJ70 ultra harsh environment jackup rig worth about US$560 million. Scheduled for delivery in 1Q (more…)