(EnergyAsia, December 6, 2018, Thursday) — Faced with a persistent fuel shortage that is threatening the economy, Uzbekistan wants to more than double its current refining capacity from around 11 million tons/year (225,000 b/d) over the next five years….
KAZAKHSTAN: Oil production likely at record 2 million b/d
(EnergyAsia, December 3, 2018, Monday) — Kazakhstan’s oil production has likely topped a record two million b/d in recent weeks, judging from estimates provided by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and media reports….
CENTRAL ASIA: Hydrocarbon economies to have slower growth in 2018 and 2019
EnergyAsia, November 7 2018, Wednesday) — Three of Central Asia’s four hydrocarbon-exporting nations will experience consecutive years of slower growth from 2017 to 2019, predicts the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)….
CHINA: Saudi Aramco to acquire stake in refinery-petrochemical project
(EnergyAsia, October 19 2018, Friday) — Saudi Arabia’s main state oil and gas company said it will acquire a stake in a new oil refinery-petrochemical project in eastern China as part of its global downstream expansion….
CHINA: No oil imports from the US in August
(EnergyAsia, October 17 2018, Wednesday) — True to its promise to play tough in its escalating trade war with the US, energy-deficit China did not import crude oil from the world’s largest producing country in August….
MALAYSIA: Oil refining capacity to rise 45% in 2019 with planned start-up of Petronas-Aramco refinery
(EnergyAsia, October 16, 2018, Tuesday) — Malaysia expects to increase its total oil refining capacity by 45% early next year to 958,000 b/d with the official start-up of a joint-venture 300,000 b/d plant between state-owned Petronas and Saudi Arabia’s Aramco….
ASIA: As oil prices rise, fuel subsidies are back in fashion
(EnergyAsia, October 15 2018, Monday) — Some Asian countries are reviving an old habit of raising fuel subsidies in response to rising oil prices. The Brent crude price is holding firmly at a four-year high level of over US$80 a barrel as more traders bet it will breach US$100 sometime next year….
CENTRAL ASIA: Russia, Iran respond to US threats with watershed Caspian Sea deal
(EnergyAsia, September 27, 2018, Thursday) — For once, Donald Trump will not be eager to claim credit for what could turn out to be a geopolitical and energy deal of global significance….
INDIA: Proposed refinery-petrochemical project still far from certain even with Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi participation
(EnergyAsia, August 20 2018, Monday) — The most notable feature of the recent agreements between Saudi Aramco, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (Adnoc), and a consortium of Indian oil companies to build a US$44-billion refinery-petrochemicals complex on India’s west coast was the absence of a deadline for the proposed project’s completion….
ASIA: Rising cost of oil and US dollar stoke fears of economic shock
EnergyAsia, August 19 2018, Sunday Asia’s political stability faces a series of stress tests from the unique triple threats of a possible oil shock, a strong US dollar, and the hardline foreign policy stance of the United States towards China, Russia and Iran….
ASIA: Region’s share of global oil demand at record 35.2%
(EnergyAsia, August 7, 2018, Tuesday) — Asia’s share of the world’s oil market has nearly doubled over the past 30 years to a record 35.2% in 2017, according to BP’s latest annual review of energy statistics….
ASIA: Jurong Port affirms Singapore’s oil role with storage investment
(EnergyAsia, June 20 2018, Wednesday) — Singapore will remain an important centre for Asia’s booming oil trade despite the growing challenge from potential rivals in China, South Korea and Southeast Asia, said the latest entrant into the region’s independent oil storage business….
AUSTRALIA: ExxonMobil to build new crude oil storage tank at Altona refinery
(EnergyAsia, June 16 2018, Saturday) — Mobil Refining Australia, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil, has announced it will be building a new crude oil storage tank at its Altona refinery near Melbourne city to help meet the country’s growing demand for transportation fuels….
INDIA: Abu Dhabi delivers first crude shipment for storage
(EnergyAsia, May 25 2018, Friday) — Abu Dhabi has begun storing crude oil in India with the first delivery of a two-million barrel cargo to an underground cavern in the western port of Mangalore early this week….
CHINA: Strategic petroleum capacity, the world’s largest, to rise another 30% by 2020, says IEA
(EnergyAsia, May 25 2018, Friday) — China may have built up the world’s largest strategic petroleum capacity in 2017, according to data provided by the International Energy Agency (IEA)….
AUSTRALIA: As oil prices surge amid low fuel stockpile, Canberra orders another review
(EnergyAsia, May 15 2018, Wednesday) — Australia clearly believes it is still a lucky country judging from the continued sanguine response to the latest warnings that its petroleum stockpiles are stuck at emergency low levels as crude prices surged to a four-year high….
SINGAPORE: Bunker fuel market hopeful of further growth after 2017 record sales of 50.6 million mt
(EnergyAsia, March 27 2018, Tuesday) — Buoyed by expectations for the region’s sustained economic prospects, Singapore is hopeful its bunker fuel sales will build on last year’s record sales of 50.6 million tonnes….
Southeast Asia’s oil self-sufficiency in rapid decline
(EnergyAsia, February 18, 2018, Monday) — If Southeast Asia’s 10 countries were to merge into a new nation, it would have the world’s third largest population, and its sixth largest economy. The region’s 640-million population would be behind China and India in size, while its combined GDP of nearly US$2.6 trillion would be larger than…
THAILAND: Shell to sell stake in gas fields to PTTEP for US$750 million
(EnergyAsia, February 10 2018, Saturday) — Thailand’s state-owned PTT Exploration & Production PCL (PTTEP) is making good on a promise to expand its hydrocarbon reserves with an agreement buy over Royal Dutch Shell’s combined 22.2222% stake in the Bongkot field and an adjoining acreage located off the coast of Thailand….
INDONESIA: Boosted by higher LNG and coal prices, GDP grew at fastest rate in four years
(EnergyAsia, February 7 2018, Wednesday) — Boosted by sharply higher export prices of liquefied natural gas, coal and other commodities in 2017, Indonesia’s economy expanded by 5.07% for its fastest growth rate in four years, the government’s Central Statistics Agency has announced….
INDONESIA: Pertamina-PGN merger could hurt country’s energy competitiveness
(EnergyAsia, February 5 2018, Monday) — in its search for energy security, Indonesia risks creating an uncompetitive giant from the planned merger of two of its largest state-owned oil and gas companies, said consulting firm Wood Mackenzie….
THAILAND: State upstream firm PTTEP aims to boost oil and gas reserves
(EnergyAsia, January 29 2018, Monday) — Buoyed by a near 60% surge in net profit last year, Thailand’s largest oil and gas company said it plans to boost its petroleum reserves by investing in upstream projects in Southeast Asia and the Middle East….
INDONESIA: 2017 trade surplus at five-year high despite increasing oil and gas trade deficit
(EnergyAsia, January 26 2018, Friday) — Indonesia is becoming less dependent on energy exports as evident from its 2017 trade surplus reaching a five-year high of US$11.83 billion despite the continuing decline in its oil and gas sales….
SINGAPORE: ‘World-class’ oil rig sector at risk after builders tarnished by corruption scandal
(EnergyAsia, January 24, 2018, Wednesday) — Singapore’s ‘world-class’ offshore oil and gas sector could lose lucrative oil-rig building contracts after its two leading companies were named in a scandal involving the bribery of Brazilian officials in exchange for multi-billion-dollar contracts….
MALAYSIA: Vopak’s oil-petrochemical storage terminal on course to start up in 2019
(EnergyAsia, January 15, 2018, Monday) — Royal Vopak of the Netherlands said its jointly owned storage terminal in the southern Malaysian state of Johor is on course to begin operating in the first half of 2019….