(EnergyAsia, March 16 2015, Monday) — In separate announcements today, Singapore-based Puma Energy said it has agreed to purchase BP’s bitumen business in Australia and Murco Petroleum’s fuels wholesale and distribution business in the UK. The proposed deals will be subject to local regulatory approvals. The integrated midstream and downstream energy company, which has been...

(EnergyAsia, March 5 2015, Thursday) — As a result of the oil price collapse, remittances by Central Asian workers in Russia will fall by an estimated total US$1.7 billion this year, said the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). In a recent report, the UN unit said the near 60%...

(EnergyAsia, February 26 2015, Thursday) — Forget about oil prices overshooting to the upside and making a strong recovery even as the growth in global oil supply slows sharply from mid-year, predicts the International Energy Agency (IEA). With the drastically changed market conditions, the agency said it expects the crude oil price to average US$55...

(EnergyAsia, February 24 2015, Tuesday) — UK’s Amec Foster Wheeler has started work on the front-end engineering design of the Ras Markaz crude oil storage tank farm in Oman following the contract’s award by state-owned Oman Tank Terminal Company (OTTCO) last month. The London-based firm declined to reveal the contract’s value for the project which...

(EnergyAsia, February 17 2015, Tuesday) — Breaking from a two-decade trend, China’s demand for energy and other natural resources grew at a significantly slower rate than the 7.4% increase in its GDP last year, said UK consultant Wood Mackenzie. Calling this a “decoupling”, its principal economist for Asia, Cynthia Lim, said the energy sector will...

(EnergyAsia, February 11 2015, Wednesday) — Selling has resumed after last week’s show of strength from short-term covering had helped crude prices stage a brief rally. North Sea Brent is trading above US$56 a barrel while US WTI is just about holding onto the US$50 support. Through January, the oil markets clawed back a wee...

(EnergyAsia, February 10 2015, Tuesday) — IHS, a leading global provider of critical information and insight, said it expects maritime casualties to increase around the world, particularly in hotspots in northeren Europe and Southeast Asia as trading fleets continue to expand. The incidences of hull and machinery damage, wrecking and stranding, ship-on-ship collisions and contact...

(EnergyAsia, February 9 2015, Monday) — The Johor state government will acquire a 10% stake in two proposed terminals at the Pengerang Integrated Complex (PIC) being developed by Malaysia’s national oil and gas firm Petronas, all targeted for start-up in 2019. In a statement, Petronas said the State Secretary Incorporated Johor (SSI) has also signed...

(EnergyAsia, February 6 2015, Friday) — UK-based Seacurus said it is offering insurance coverage on pirate attacks against oil tankers, cargoes and crew transiting the South China Sea, Malacca Straits, Indonesian Archipelago and Gulf of Guinea. The cover is being offered to customers’ existing Kidnap & Ransom (KR) insurance policies in response to the rising...

(EnergyAsia, February 5 2015, Thursday) — On balance, the negative economic impact of an oil price decline on producing countries exceeds the benefits accruing to consuming countries, said the World Bank. In its flagship ‘Global Economic Prospects’ report, it said oil-exporting economies could expect to contract by 0.8 to 2.5 percentage points in the year...

EnergyAsia, February 2 2015, Monday) — For the third consecutive year, Singapore reported lower bunker sales in 2014 as trade fell on a combination of tightening credit and confusion following the bankruptcy of a key supplier, the imposition of tighter fuel specifications, better fuel efficiency, and fears of a slowing global economy amid the sharp...

(EnergyAsia, January 26 2015, Monday) — Russia will increase its crude sales abroad by about 200,000 b/d next month in response to reduced export tax rates and weak demand from domestic refiners, according to US-based consultant ESAI Energy. In its CIS Watch report, ESAI said it expects Russia to export more crude oil and less petroleum...

(EnergyAsia, January 22 2015, Thursday) — US major Chevron Corp said it has secured a five-year agreement to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) from its US$54 billion Gorgon field in Australia to South Korea. SK LNG Trading Pte Ltd, a division in the SK Group, will purchase a total of 4.15 million tons of the...

(EnergyAsia, January 21 2015, Wednesday) — Due to lower commodity prices, Australia’s earnings from natural resources and energy export earnings will fall by about 10% to A$176 billion in the current financial year to June 30, said the Department of Industry. (US$1=A$1.22). Earnings from liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports will buck the general trend to...

(EnergyAsia, January 19 2015, Monday) — Australian upstream company Woodside Petroleum is hoping to develop and sell liquefied natural gas (LNG) to India through its budding relationship with one of India’s leading infrastructure companies, Adani Enterprises Limited. The companies announced last week that they had signed a memorandum of understanding to identify and develop liquefied...

(EnergyAsia, January 9 2015, Friday) — Based on current projections of weak demand growth and robust supply, the IEA said it expects global oil inventories to rise by nearly 300 million barrels in the first half of 2015 in the absence of disruption, shut-ins or cut in OPEC production. If half of this took place...

(EnergyAsia, January 7 2015, Wednesday) — Brent crude price could follow WTI to break through support at US$50 a barrel as the world oil markets is on course to make a six-year low under relentless selling pressure. On Monday, the US benchmark hit a new multi-year low of US$49.95/barrel before settling at US$50.40 while Brent...

(EnergyAsia, January 5 2014, Monday) — Golar LNG Ltd said it is building Africa’s first floating project off the coast of Cameroon to liquefy natural gas for export to Asia. It has awarded Singapore’s Keppel Shipyard the contracts to convert two vessels into floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) terminals, Golar Hilli and Golar Gimi, at...

(EnergyAsia, January 2 2015, Friday) — UK’s BG Group said it has shipped out the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo, with a second one to follow next month, from its newly completed US$20.4 billion terminal in Queensland’s Curtis Island in Australia. The buyer is believed to be Chinese state firm CNOOC, which holds a...

(EnergyAsia, December 23 2014, Tuesday) — China’s Wison Engineering Services Co Ltd said a subsidiary has agreed to take a 10.33% stake in a US$4.837-billion contract to upgrade and expand the ageing 190,000 b/d Puerto La Cruz refinery on the east coast of Venezuela. State energy firm PDVSA had earlier awarded the contract to the...

(EnergyAsia, December 22 2014, Monday) — Dutch oil and logistics firm Royal Vopak and two Malaysian firms, state-owned Petronas and listed Dialog Group, have signed a shareholders agreement to jointly develop an oil storage terminal for the planned Pengerang Integrated Complex (PIC) in Malaysia’s Johor state. The terminal, to be developed on a 63.5-hectare plot...

(EnergyAsia, December 16 2014, Tuesday) — Brent crude oil is expected to fall below US$60 a barrel for the first time since May 2009 as the UAE and Iran warn it could slump to US$40. The North Sea benchmark crude was trading just above US$60 a barrel during the New York trading day Monday while...

(EnergyAsia, December 16 2014, Tuesday) — Saudi Aramco Mobil Refinery Company Limited (SAMREF), an equal joint venture of state-owned Saudi Aramco and ExxonMobil, has completed construction of major desulphurisation facilities including a new hydrotreater at their 400,000 b/d Yanbu oil refinery to drastically cut sulphur levels in gasoline and diesel.SAMREF, which was established in 1984,...

(EnergyAsia, December 10 2014, Wednesday) — BG Group plc, a world leading UK-based upstream and liquefied natural gas (LNG) company, said it has agreed to sell its wholly-owned Australian subsidiary QCLNG Pipeline Pty Ltd for US$5 billion as part of its divestment of non-core assets. The buyer, APA Group, owns and operates Australia’s largest gas...

(EnergyAsia, December 9 2014, Tuesday) — The world’s first floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) plant has undocked at a Chinese shipyard, said China’s Wison Offshore & Marine and US Black & Veatch which collaborated to build the project for their client EXMAR, a Belgium-based shipping firm. The companies celebrated the undocking of the Caribbean FLNG...