Australian ethanol producers have won another A$13 million in funding from Canberra as part of a capital grants scheme aimed at boosting their viability, according to The Australian newspaper. (US$1=A$1.3).   The newspaper reported that Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane has announced Riverina Biofuels and Lemon Tree Ethanol will receive grants worth A$7 million and A$5.85...

The 5th Doha Conference on Natural Gas will be held from February 28 to March 3 2005 at the Sheraton Hotel and Resort in Doha, Qatar under the patronage of Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani.   The annual Doha Conference on Natural Gas has become an important event on the natural gas calendar as...

India’s state upstream company, Oil and Natural Gas Corp, shut off three oil producing wells off Tamil Nadu state as a precaution following the devastating tsunami tidal waves that struck on December 26. A giant earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra unleash the killer tidal waves.   The wells were temporarily shut for three...

Lanka IOC (LIOC), which till recently was a fully owned subsidiary of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOC), has donated 20 million Sri Lankan rupees (US$1=Rs104) for relief and rehabilitation work in Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the tsunami disaster. More than 155,000 people in several Asian and African countries died in the tsunamis caused...

Openspec naphtha tonne C+F Japan – US$387.75 95 ron unleaded gasoline barrel FOB Singapore – 43.15 Jet kerosene barrel FOB Singapore – 48.29 Gasoil barrel FOB Singapore – 47.55 LSWR barrel FOB Indonesia – 22.00 HSFO 180cst tonne FOB Singapore – 172.75 HSFO 380cst tonne FOB Singapore – 154.25...

Singapore’s k1 Ventures, an investment company linked to Keppel Corporation, said it is selling its two-third stakes in a US oil-producing venture due to growing hurricane risks in the Gulf of Mexico.   k1 said its wholly owned subsidiary, K-1 USA Energy Production Corporation, is selling off its stake in K-Mc Venture to partner Freeport-McMoRan...

The Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has asked New Delhi for permission to sell its stakes in GAIL India and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), the Indian Express quoted IOC chairman and managing director MS Ramachandran as saying.   IOC will use the proceeds to fund the development of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project...

Iran’s South Pars Oil and Gas Co is set to seal an agreement with the US giant Halliburton for drilling its offshore gas wells in Phases 9 and 10, the Tehran Times newspaper reported.   The phases form part of South Pars’ oil and gas fields located in Assaluyeh and are projected to produce some...

The Philippines’ Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. Ltd. (Japex) a service contract (SC) for oil and gas exploration in the Ta–on Straits in Negros Occidental province, The Philippine Star reported.   The paper quoted Energy Secretary Vincent Perez as saying that this is the second petroleum service contract signed after...

China’s energy majors are close to agreement to invest in a US$2 billion pipeline that will transport crude from Canada’s Alberta-based oilsands projects to British Columbia on the country’s west coast, from where the oil will be shipped to China and other Asian markets. This latest move underlines just how serious a player China will...

China’s Huaneng Power International said its 600-megawatt coal-fired Qinbei unit 2 power plant has successfully completed its first trial run. In a statement, Huaneng said it completed the full-load 168 hours trial run on December 13.   Huaneng has a 55% equity interest in the unit and its equity-based total power generation capacity now stands...

Indonesian state-owned energy company Pertamina will cut liquefied natural gas (LNG) deliveries to Japan in 2005 to boost urea fertiliser output at its plants.   According to the Antara news agency, LNG exports from Arun in Aceh were reduced to guarantee gas supplies for urea fertiliser plants in the province.   Insufficient gas supplies to...

The Japanese government is prepared to spend some 23 billion yen in the next fiscal year to March 31 2006 on exploratory gas drilling in Japan’s exclusive economic zone in the East China Sea. (US$1=Yen104).   Citing government officials, the Japan Times reported that Tokyo plans to demonstrate Japan’s readiness to independently explore offshore gas...

The South Korean government has finalised plans to increase the price of diesel but it will extend the current subsidies to commercial drivers of diesel vehicles for three years.   Under the plan, the price of diesel will increase at an annual rate of 5% relative to gasoline prices for the next three years, the...

Malaysian state energy company Petronas is continuing to monitor its operations throughout the country following December 26’s giant earthquake that struck the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, news agency Bernama reported.   The magnitude 9 earthquake, the world’s most powerful since 1964, triggered massive tidal waves that slammed into coastlines across Asia...

The Malaysian government spent RM13 billion from January to November 2004 to ‘stabilise’ retail oil product prices in the country following the rise of crude oil prices on the world market, state news agency Bernama reported.   Citing Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Parliamentary Secretary Hoo Seong Chang, Bernama said the government spent...

Malaysian state energy company Petronas has bought over the oil retail operations of Kuwait Petroleum International Ltd for an undisclosed sum, new agency Bernama reported.   Petronas will take over Kuwait Petroleum Thailand Ltd’s (KPTL) retail service station and lubricant businesses, including 117 operational stations in major cities in Thailand, as well as its lubricant...

Singapore-listed Interra Resources and Citigroup Financial Products have agreed to buy Mitsubishi Corporation’s 5% stake in the Indonesian production sharing contracts (PSC) of Offshore Northwest Java (ONWJ) and South East Sumatra (SES).   Interra and Citigroup will form an equal joint venture to carry out the acquisition, Interra said in a statement. The JV partners...

An “insecurity premium” has sent oil prices rising steeply, but the market may soon fall and settle at around US$30 per barrel as fears of a supply shortage recede, according to the chief executive of global energy giant BP.   “That is a reasonable level which will reward investment by the private sector and generate...

Singapore-based oil trading firm Glencore Trading recently clinched a US$1 billion deal to deliver naptha and liquefied natural gas from Iran.   The deal was announced at a business forum involving businessmen from Singapore and Iran organised by the Singapore Business Federation (SBF), according to local TV station, CNA.   The SBF signed an agreement...

PetroVietnam and Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) have signed a production sharing agreement and an interim agreement for the purchase and sale of natural gas from Block 11-2 in the Nam Con Son Basin in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported.   Tran Ngoc Canh, general director of PetroVietnam, and Yi...