These are exciting times for the gas industry. While in the past natural gas was seen merely as a by-product of crude oil production and was flared off, natural gas is today one of the most important sources of energy. Singapore has no indigenous sources of fuel. However, we are an energy intensive country. It...
ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company, a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corporation, has announced plans to establish the ExxonMobil LNG Safety and Environmental Institute (EMLSEI) as an anchor tenant at the Science and Technology Park (STP) in Education City, here. Start-up plans include an estimated $20-25 million investment over the first five years, according to a report...
OPEC’s June 3 meeting was a non-event for the market, said French investment bank SG. Saudi Arabia and the UAE reaffirmed their promises to increase production in June while OPEC as a whole rubber-stamped a steep pro-rata increase in quotas of 2 million b/d effective 1 July and promised a further increase if conditions warrant....
Energy Ministers from the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) grouping will meet in Manila on June 10 to address urgent issues facing the energy industry including security and threats from terrorism. This will be the sixth meeting of APEC Energy Ministers and will follow on from the last meeting in Mexico City in 2002. One...
KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – Petrol station operator Petronas Dagangan Bhd said its year to March net profit rose to RM381.20 million from RM149.10 million a year earlier, on stronger sales of RM9.83 billion against RM8.97 billion previously, amid a higher sales volume and increased average selling price. (US$1=RM3.8). Petronas Dagangan said its bottom line was...
LONDON (AFX) – Royal Dutch/Shell Group assured that it is not planning further downgrades in its proved reserves. “We’ve done a lot of work….and we’re not planning further changes at the moment,” Malcolm Brinded, the head of the group’s exploration and production business, told reporters and analysts recently after Shell announced the final outcome of...
Engineering group Foster Wheeler Ltd. (OTCBB: FWLRF) said its subsidiary Foster Wheeler Energy Limited has been awarded a program management services contract by Saudi Aramco and its partner, Japan’s Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd to develop a large, integrated refining and petrochemical complex at the Red Sea town of Rabigh in Saudi Arabia. Foster Wheeler will...
High oil prices are hurting East Asian economies but the ride could be particularly rougher for South Korea. With oil rising to its highest level in 14 years, breaking through the $40/barrel psychological barrier last month, the country’s energy-intensive industries are threatening to drag down economic growth and stall much needed economic reforms. Soaring oil...
JILIN CITY (AFX-ASIA) – Oil giant Royal Dutch/Shell Group is in talks with a Jilin-based unit of PetroChina over the northeastern Chinese province’s oil shale deposits, the largest in the country. Zhu Zongmin, Communist Party secretary of Jilin City said that the PetroChina Jilin PetroChemical Company has just begun talks with the Anglo-Dutch giant. “Negotiations...
BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – Hong Kong & China Gas Co Ltd (HK 0003) said it has signed a contract with Zhejiang Huzhou Huan Taihu Group Co Ltd for a 200 million yuan gas project in China’s eastern city of Huzhou, Zhejiang province, in which it will hold a controlling 95% stake. (US$1=8.27 yuan). In a statement,...
Singapore’s hopes of building a fourth ethylene cracker have again run into problems that could well put off its construction this decade. Instead, Sumitomo Chemical has committed to building a giant US$4.3 billion plant in Saudi Arabia with state-owned Aramco. The Japanese company has explained to partner Shell, with which it already co-owns two ethylene...
A consortium of FELS Setal SA and French engineering group Technip has won a US$639 million contract from Petrobras Netherlands BV (PNBV) to build a semisubmersible production platform. FELS Setal is 60% owned by Keppel Offshore & Marine Limited (Keppel O&M) of Singapore’s Keppel Group. A Keppel statement said FELS Setal owns 75% of the...
Among the many reasons cited for the recent rise of oil prices to record levels is the relentless build-up of crude oil stockpile in the US since end 2001. Don’t look now, but Asian governments are about to jump on the stockpiling bandwagon, thereby giving the oil markets another strong demand prop. When the region’s...
“Natural gas will be the fuel of choice in the future. Worldwide natural gas consumption is expected to grow at an average annual growth rate of around 2.7%, accounting for about 25% of global energy demand by 2020. “By then, its share of primary energy will overtake that of coal, second only to oil’s contribution....
Oil prices stayed up for more than two weeks and touched record levels after finally crashing through the US$40/barrel barrier on May 7. Oil’s strength was well demonstrated and supported in case anyone mistook that as a one-off move. For weeks, politicians, economists and the media were obsessed with the run-up in oil prices, and...
Two Indian oil companies — Indian Oil Corp and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) — have submitted bids to buy over the downstream assets of Kuwait Petroleum in Thailand. They will be competing against Thai state oil company PTT Plc which is also trying to acquire all the 125 retail stations to be put up...
US upstream company Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) said it has discovered oil and gas at its Kenarong exploration well in block PM 311 off the coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The well reached a total depth of 10,453 feet and was drilled in 225 feet of water. “We are pleased with the results of our first...
WASHINGTON (AFX) — Gasoline prices have been boosted by as much as 5 cents per gallon as a result of mergers in the U.S. petroleum industry, according to a congressional study. More than 2,600 mergers have occurred in the industry since the 1990s, most often between firms involved in exploration and production, the report by...
French investment bank believes the current high price of oil reflects traders’ worries about long-term oil supply. In a commentary last week, SG economist Frédéric Lasserre said: “We are convinced that current price levels can be explained in part by worries about oil supply in the long-term. The geopolitical context and the debate on reserve...
US information technology company HP recently hosted its 4th Annual Executive Energy Conference for the oil, gas and power industries in Dubai last month. HP said the event attracted market experts from all over the world to share their views on recent developments in the global energy industry and their visions for the future. Francois...
HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – PetroChina Co Ltd (857.HK) said the total crude reserves at its Xifeng Oilfield in China’s Gansu province stood at 432 million tons over a two-year period ending Dec 2003, but only 108 million tons of the reserves have so far been considered as proven geological reserves. A PetroChina spokesman told AFX-Asia...
The UAE is pushing ahead with huge projects to lift its oil output capacity by nearly one million barrels a day to maintain its position as a leading oil producer. According to the Gulf News, the country has the world’s third largest crude reserves and has invested at least $25 billion in major projects over...
DALLAS (AFX) — As gasoline prices soar to record levels at the pump and near highs in the futures market, ExxonMobil CEO Lee Raymond said he doesn’t expect a new refinery to be built anytime soon in the US. “There’s no quick fix,” he said. Economics and environmental regulations don’t make it practical to build...
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has said rising fuel prices would be the main topic on the agenda during the annual general meeting and world air transport summit to be held at Singapore from June 6-8. According to PTI, the crisis meeting resulting from sky high fuel prices once again highlights the industry’s vulnerability...
India’s oil stocks took a massive hit and will probably take sometime to recover after last month’s shock election to power of a left-leaning Congress Party-led government over the pro-business incumbent. The share prices of the big names — ONGC, GAIL, Bharat Petroleum (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL), Indian Oil Corp (IOC) and IBP — fell...