(EnergyAsia, July 23 2012, Monday) — Puma Energy, a Switzerland-based midstream and downstream oil company, has begun its expansion into Asia with the purchase of Chevron Kuo Pte Ltd, a Singapore entity which owns 70% of Chevron Bitumen Vietnam Limited (CBVL). With a 35-member staff, CBVL imports, stores and distributes bitumen or asphalt for road (more…)

(EnergyAsia, July 23 2012, Monday) — Consumers in four major markets are optimistic about the future of solar power, but are not fully informed about the current cost and adoption rates of solar technology, according to the latest annual survey by Applied Materials Inc, a market leader in solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing equipment. In its (more…)

(EnergyAsia, July 23 2012, Monday) — Two Indian companies, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL), recently awarded contracts to expand and upgrade their downstream oil and petrochemical plants. In separate statements, French engineering giant Technip and US-based CB&I said they have secured contracts with privately-owned RIL to help build and integrate (more…)

(EnergyAsia, July 23 2012, Monday) — To enhance India’s energy security, the government must act now to increase the nation’s nuclear and renewable energy use while reducing the high dependence of the power industry on coal, said London, England-based consulting group GlobalData. In a new report on India’s coal industry, GlobalData said the sector has (more…)

(EnergyAsia, July 20 2012, Friday) — Panasonic Asia Pacific, a unit of the Japanese electronic firm, has established its first Energy Solutions Development Center in the Asia Pacific region in Singapore. At the recent World Cities Summit in Singapore, Panasonic said it will be investing S$10.2 million in the centre over the next two years (more…)

(EnergyAsia, July 20 2012, Friday) — US conglomerate GE said it is working to boost electricity output in Iraq’s Kurdistan region as well as localise operations at its one-year-old energy manufacturing technology centre in Saudi Arabia. The NYSE-listed company said it has secured a contract from independent power producer Mass Global Investment Company to provide (more…)

(EnergyAsia, July 20 2012, Friday) — Citing the country’s geological complexities, UK-based consulting group GlobalData has declared China’s plans to develop and produce shale gas as being “overly optimistic”. In a new report, GlobalData said the industry will be challenged by the difficult geology of China’s shale gas formation, water shortages, insufficient pipeline infrastructure, state (more…)

(EnergyAsia, July 20 2012, Friday) — With its natural gas consumption set to almost treble over the next eight years, China will boost imports as well as domestic production, predicts UK-based consulting firm GlobalData. According to its latest research, China’s natural gas consumption surged from 24.5 billion cubic metres (bcm) in 2000 to 131.7 bcm (more…)

(EnergyAsia, July 19 2012, Thursday) — US conglomerate GE said it and Russia’s oil and gas giant Rosneft have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that lays the foundation for the two companies to jointly evaluate and develop oil and gas exploration and production opportunities in the Russian Federation. Signed by John Krenicki, GE vice (more…)

(EnergyAsia, July 18 2012, Wednesday) — The following is an edited transcript of an updated podcast by Jonathan Leitch, Downstream Senior Analyst at consultant Wood Mackenzie. In the update below, Mr Leitch examines what is driving refining margins in the short-to-medium term, with margins recovering in June after declining in May. WoodMackenzie provides monthly product (more…)

(EnergyAsia, July 18 2012, Wednesday) — Indonesia’s economy will again perform well this year, growing by 6.1% to follow on last year’s 6.5% expansion, said the International Monetary Fund (IMF). An IMF study team which visited the country from June 25 to July 6 said Indonesia would have to watch out for knock-on effects from (more…)

(EnergyAsia, July 18 2012, Wednesday) — French oil and gas major Total said it has boosted its 24% stake in the Ichthys liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Australia’s Northern Territory to 30% after acquiring shares from operator and majority Japanese partner INPEX. Total said the acquisition does not affect the project’s offtake agreements as (more…)

(EnergyAsia, July 17 2012, Tuesday) — Relations between the two Australian partners developing natural gas reserves in the Bass Strait have soured after the latest cost blow-out means the project could exceed the original A$360 million budget by over 60%. (US$1=A$0.98). AWE Energy, with a 46.25% stake, has slammed operator and 42.5% owner Origin Energy (more…)

(EnergyAsia, July 17 2012, Tuesday) — Saudi Arabia’s state oil giant Aramco said it is merging its Vela International Marine subsidiary with another Saudi firm Bahri to create a large and more diversified national shipping company, and one of the world’s largest oil carriers. Under a non-binding memorandum of understanding, Bahri, or National Shipping Company (more…)

(EnergyAsia, July 17 2012, Tuesday) — US conglomerate GE said it has secured a US$16.5 million contract to supply equipment to the Power Transmission Company No. 4 (PTC4), a subsidiary of Vietnam’s National Power Transmission Corporation (NPT), to double the country’s power capacity. GE said it will supply six series capacitor banks and provide on-site (more…)

(EnergyAsia, July 16 2012, Monday) — A tanker, owned by Hong Lam Marine Pte Ltd and chartered by an ExxonMobil subsidiary, has become the first in Singapore to use an officially-approved mass flow metering system for bunker fuel transfers. The custody transfer between the bunker tanker MT Emissary and Kota Layang on July 11 took (more…)

(EnergyAsia, July 16 2012, Monday) — Singapore-based Strategic Petroleum has launched what it claims to be the world’s first commercially viable system that simultaneously converts different types of waste-material feedstock into clean energy and water. Using a proprietary molten metal gasification process, the company said its STX MultiFEEDTM system turns low-rank coal, biomass, landfill waste, (more…)

(EnergyAsia, July 16 2012, Monday) — Venezuela’s state oil and gas company PDVSA has awarded a US$2.993 billion contract to a Sino-South Korean consortium to expand and upgrade the existing 210,000 b/d refinery in Puerto la Cruz, located about 250 km east of Caracas city. Wison Engineering Ltd, China’s largest private chemical engineering, procurement and (more…)