Avery Resources Inc announced that the Katandra evaluation well located in the Timor Sea off the coast of Australia was drilled to a depth of 1,450 metres, encountering a seven metre column of 48 degree API oil in the Upper Vulcan formation at a depth of 1,369 metres. Data acquired in the 8.5 inch...
The Australian Federal Government recently released a technical report on ethanol to bolster its case for increased public confidence and use of the alternative fuel. Since July 2003, Canberra has set a cap of 10% on ethanol in the country’s transportation fuel mix. The motoring public, however, has continued to express concerns over the...
Openspec naphtha tonne C+F Japan – US$386.50 (+US$7.50 from Jan 4 closing) 95 ron unleaded gasoline barrel FOB Singapore – 43.30 (+1.05) Jet kerosene barrel FOB Singapore – 46.94 (-0.33) Gasoil barrel FOB Singapore – 47.00 (+0.05) LSWR barrel FOB Indonesia – 22.84 (+1.17) HSFO 180cst tonne FOB Singapore – 174.39 (+2.14) HSFO 380cst tonne FOB Singapore – 156.00 (+3.11)...
Pakistan said the US has not pressured it to stop plans for the construction of a pipeline to deliver natural gas from neighboring Iran. “We face no pressure from the US and other countries on the gas pipeline and the two countries are holding consultations to sort out technical issues,” Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesman...
Cars in Western Australia (WA) state and throughout the country could soon be fuelled by scraps of pork fat and vegetable oil as Australia starts work on its first commercial biodiesel projects in an effort to promote alternative fuels, The West Australian reported. While Europeans churn through about three billion litres of the renewable...
China is ready to build long-term cooperation with Iran in the energy sector, the Chinese economic and trade advisor to Iran, Lu Chang Jin, said recently. Mr Lu was speaking on the sidelines of a special event, “China and Energy Challenges”, held under the auspices of the Institute for International Energy Studies in Tehran,...
Canadian oil company PetroKazakhstan has announced a “temporary production curtailment” of Turgai Petroleum, its 50% joint venture with Lukoil, following a partnership dispute. A company press release said there has been “non-compliance by the management of Turgai Petroleum with existing agreements on marketing”. PetroKazakhstan accused the Turgai management of not supplying the company’s...
The Philippine government will push for amendments to the Downstream Oil Deregulation Act with a view to encouraging new investments in oil refineries, the Manila Bulletin reported. The Department of Energy (DoE) is working with the Board of Investments (BoI) to study proposed revisions to the Oil Deregulation Law, an unnamed DoE official told...
Russian oil giants Lukoil, Yukos and Rosneft will deliver a total of 10 million tonnes of crude oil to China by rail, the Russian Railways has announced. Railways chief Gennady Fadeyev told reporters that Rosneft would deliver 4 million tonnes, Yukos 3 million tonnes and Lukoil another 3 million tonnes. Rosneft is entering the...
Vietnam is expected to have spent US$3.57 billion on oil products imports, while earning US$5.67 billion on crude oil exports, according to government figures released recently. Vietnam is Asia’s sixth-largest crude producer but it does not have an oil refinery. Last year, the country imported 10.87 million tonnes of products, up 9.2% from...
Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore’s Keppel Corporation Ltd, has secured a US$110 million contract to build a jackup rig for Petrovietnam Drilling & Well Services Company (PV Drilling). PV Drilling, a subsidiary of PetroVietnam, the state oil and gas company of Vietnam, specialises in drilling, manpower provision, well services, tubular...
Hong Kong-listed Panva Gas Holdings is acquiring a controlling stake in a loss-making state-owned gas project in China’s north-eastern province of Liaoning for 70.49 million yuan (US$8.5 million). Panva, through subsidiary Panriver Investments, will buy 51% of Anshan City Gas from Anshan City Public Utilities Management Bureau. Panva is a leading foreign investor...
German chemicals company BASF will invest US$30 million in a new polyisocyanate plant in the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park in Caojing near Shanghai, a company release announced. Construction of the 8,000 tonnes/year plant, is to begin in mid-2005 and complete by end-2006, the release said. The plant’s output of polyisocyanates Ð raw materials for the...
Openspec naphtha tonne C+F Japan – US$379.00(-US$8.75 from Jan 3 closing) 95 ron unleaded gasoline barrel FOB Singapore – 42.25 (-0.90) Jet kerosene barrel FOB Singapore Ð 47.27 (-1.02) Gasoil barrel FOB Singapore Ð 46.95 (-0.60) LSWR barrel FOB Indonesia – 21.67 (-0.33) HSFO 180cst tonne FOB Singapore Ð 172.25 (-0.50) HSFO 380cst tonne FOB Singapore – 152.89 (-1.36) ...
US energy major ChevronTexaco said its oil and gas production facilities and operations in Indonesia and Thailand were unaffected by the tragic earthquake and tsunamis that struck South Asia on December 26. More than 150,000 people have died from the killer quake that struck off Indonesia’s northern Sumatra island on Dec 26, triggering tsunamis to...
By SKF Leading manufacturers of solar cells are constantly researching the possibilities of increasing the efficiency of photovoltaic power plants. One way to do that is to increase the surface area and/or reduce the amount of reflected light. Straightforward surface area enlargement would make cells bigger but that’s something the manufacturer’s and customers...
Kuwait’s Supreme Petroleum Council has approved Kuwait Petroleum Corporation’s (KPC) plans for the construction of a giant oil refinery and a second petrochemical plant worth more than 5 billion Kuwaiti dinars (US$13.9 billion, US$1=0.36 dinar). The council, headed by Prime Minister Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad, approved KPC’s budget for the fiscal 2005-06 and the strategy...
Malaysian engineering company Ranhill Bhd, which is involved in oil and gas, power, water and infrastructure projects, is bidding for three overseas projects worth more than US$500 million that include oil processing plants and a hospital, Bernama news agency reported. In Iraq, the company has submitted bids for oil processing facilities worth more than US$200...
The devastating undersea earthquake off the island of Sumatra in Indonesia and the consequent tsunamis have not hit the refinery facility and operations in Papua New Guinea (PNG) of Canadian company InterOil, according to a company release. While PNG shares a border with one of the Indonesian territories, Irian Jaya, it is located in the...
Spurred by an increasing intake of fuel oil for power generation, Thailand’s oil consumption is expected to grow by up to 10% this year to 45 billion litres, slightly above last year’s estimated growth rate of 9.5%. The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand’s fuel oil consumption will rise because the existing natural gas pipeline system...
Thailand’s largest energy company, PTT Plc, is planning to pump in 182 billion baht (US$4.7 billion) into its various business units over the next five years. The bulk, or 78%, of the company’s 2005-2009 investment budget will be spent on its core gas business, which accounts for 70% of its profits, the company said in...
Foster Wheeler’s UK subsidiary, Foster Wheeler Energy Limited, has been awarded a front-end engineering design (FEED) contract by ENOC Processing Company LLC (EPCL) to upgrade its condensate refinery located in the Jebel Ali Free Zone in Dubai, UAE. The terms of the award, which was included in third-quarter bookings, were not disclosed. “Foster...
Kochi Refineries Ltd (KRL), a subsidiary of Indian petrochemical firm Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), is floating a new tender for the construction of its 6-billion-rupee (US$138-million) single buoy moor (SBM) off Puthuvypu island, near Cochin port in the Indian state of Kerala. The Financial Express newspaper quoted KRL managing director BK Menon as...
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) said it has paid an interim dividend of 45% amounting to Rs5.26 billion for the current financial year ending March 31 on the total share capital of Rs. 11.68 billion. (US$1=Rs44). With a record of 39 consecutive years of dividend declaration, IndianOil has so far paid a cumulative dividend of...
Finland’s W’rtsil’ Biopower Oy said it has been awarded a nine million euro turnkey contract to supply a biomass-fuelled combined heat and power plant to the community of Trollh’ttan in Sweden. (US$1=0.75 Euro). It will have a thermal output of 17 MWth for district heating, and an electrical output of 3.5 MWe. The plant,...