Philippines: House Committee on Energy approves bioethanol as transport fuel

(EnergyAsia, March 29) — Bioethanol is now recognised as an alternative transport fuel in the Philippines after a bill mandating its use was passed by the House Committee on Energy last week. The country is capable of producing bioethanol from biomass, widely available from rotting materials including wood, decomposing crops, plant fiber, poultry litter, animal...

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USA: BIOFUELS: CBOT launched ethanol futures contract

(EnergyAsia, March 29) — In a much-awaited development for the worldwide biofuels industry, the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) last week successfully launched its ethanol futures contract, which began trading on March 23. A single CBOT ethanol lot represents 29,000 gallons.   Significantly, the CBOT joined forces with General Motors to mark the new contract’s...

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THAILAND: Unocal awards wellhead contract to Norway’s Aker Kvaerner

(EnergyAsia, March 29) — Unocal Thailand, a subsidiary of the US company, has awarded Norway’s Aker Kvaerner a contract for the supply of surface wellhead equipment and associated services to be used in its Gulf of Thailand operations. The assignment will run over two years, with an option for further two years, said Aker Kvaerner....

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CHINA: Shanghai Secco ethylene plant in industrial plant comes onstream

(EnergyAsia, March 29) — State Sinopec said its partly owned Shanghai Secco 900,000 tons/year ethylene plant successfully started up on March 19. BP has a 50% stake. Its partners include Sinopec Group (30%) and Sinopec Shanghai (20%). The company said that it took only 10 hours from feeding stocks to seeing the plant produce ethylene....

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KUWAIT: Shell announces global strategic partnership with Kuwait Petroleum International

(EnergyAsia, March 29) — The Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies said it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Kuwait Petroleum International Limited (KPI) to explore opportunities worldwide to develop and implement joint downstream investments. The MOU builds upon the relationship that Shell and Kuwait have fostered over the past 50 years.   Shell said...

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MALAYSIA: MayBan Securities recommends ‘hold’ on Tenaga Nasional

(EnergyAsia, March 28) — Research house MayBan Securities has placed a ‘hold’ rating on the stock of Malaysian power company Tenaga Nasional Sdn Bhd (TNB). The stock has been trading between RM7.85 and RM9.70 over the last 52 weeks. (US$1=RM3.8).             TNB recently signed a Heads of Agreement with Celcom Transmission (M) Sdn Bhd (CTX)...

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COMPANY: BP announces new identity for petrochemicals company

(EnergyAsia, March 28) — BP said its new olefins and derivatives subsidiary has been named Innovene.   Chicago-based Innovene will be formed as a separate entity within the BP group in April, with more than $9 billion in assets and $15 billion in third-party sales globally. The new company will have more than 8,500 employees...

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CHINA: BASF says its Caojing, Shanghai polyTHF plant comes on stream

(EnergyAsia, March 28) — After less than two years of construction, BASF has started up its new PolyTHF¨ (polytetrahydrofuran) plant at the integrated production site at the Shanghai Chemical Industrial Park (SCIP) in Caojing, Shanghai. By the middle of 2005, BASF said it will also start up its neighboring THF (tetrahydrofuran) plant.             With an...

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SAUDI ARABIA: Aramco announced signing of contracts for two major projects

(EnergyAsia, March 28) — Saudi Aramco said it has signed contracts for the construction of two new major projects related to the Khursaniyah oil and gas programme and the Hawiyah natural gas liquids (NGL) recovery programme.   Saudi Aramco president and CEO Abdallah S. Jum’ah said the contracts will help it deliver on its promise...

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INDIA: Saudi Aramco, IndianOil to co-operate on managing strategic crude stockpile

(EnergyAsia, March 28) — Saudi Aramco has expressed its interest to work with state-owned IndianOil Corporation to create and manage India’s strategic crude oil stockpile, India’s Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar told Parliament recently.   “In a recent meeting between IOC and Saudi Aramco, the latter had expressed interest in joining India’s efforts for maintenance...

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SINGAPORE: Ezra Holdings concludes US$78.1m sale-and-leaseback deal on four AHTS

(EnergyAsia, March 28) — Singapore-listed offshore support and marine services provider Ezra Holdings Limited said it has concluded a US$78.05 million sale-and-leaseback agreement on four anchor handling, towing and supply (AHTS) vessels with Norway’s Mount Faber KS, a Norwegian Limited Partnership which is 50% owned by NFC Shipping Fund V LLC.   The four vessels,...

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CHINA: Panva Gas announces 26% rise in 2004 profits

(EnergyAsia, March 28) — Hong Kong-listed Panva Gas Holdings Limited recently announced its 2004 net profit rose 26.3% to HK$264 million on revenue of HK$1.8 billion (up 23.5%). (US$1=HK$7.79).             Chen Wei, Panva Gas’s managing director, said: “During the period under review, Panva received steady growth for its businesses as well as major breakthroughs in...

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AUSTRALIA: Origin Energy finalises gas swap agreement

(EnergyAsia, March 28) — Australian upstream company Origin Energy Ltd said it has completed an agreement with the South West Queensland Gas Producers for the swapping of between 90 and 200PJ of gas between Queensland state and the Moomba hub in central Australia through to end-2011. The deal follows the signing of a heads of...

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CHINA: Sinopec, Total in retail JV

(EnergyAsia, March 28) — China’s state oil company Sinopec and France’s Total are planning to set up a 51/49 joint venture to enter the retail oil market in northeast China, including the cities of Tianjin and Beijing. According to Xinhua news agency, Sinopec official Zhang Xinghua said a proposal for the joint venture has been...

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THAILAND: Higher diesel prices to ease burden on state coffers, but slow growth

(EnergyAsia, March 28) — The Thai government’s decision to raise diesel prices by three baht a litre or 20% effective March 21 will ease the growing burden on state coffers, said analysts. According to a Business Day report, the diesel price had been fixed at 15.19 baht a litre since February 22 and the government...

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THAILAND: ‘Oil shock’ as retail diesel price raised by 20%

(EnergyAsia, March 24) — High oil prices are expected to hit the Thai economy hard this year, slowing growth and raising the inflation rate. After weeks of mixed signals, the Thai government yesterday raised the pump price of diesel by a significant Bt3 to Bt18.19 a litre. (US$1=Bt38).   Economists warn that the higher-than-expected hike...

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SINGAPORE: Ezra Holdings builds two more deepwater vessels for US$39.16 million

(EnergyAsia, March 24) — Singapore-listed Ezra Holdings Limited (Ezra), a leading offshore support and marine services provider in Southeast Asia’s offshore oil and gas industry, said it has awarded contracts totalling US$39.16 million for the building of two anchor handling, towing and supply (AHTS) vessels. The newbuilding value does not include the cost of certain...

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QATAR: Energy Minister Al Attiyah on official visit to Japan and South Korea

(EnergyAsia, March 24) — Qatar’s Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy and Industry Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah is leading a delegation of officials and businessmen to Japan and South Korea this week. The delegation includes executives from Qatar Petroleum and QatarGas.   According to the Qatar News Agency, Mr Al Attiyah was seen...

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AUSTRALIA: BHP said Gulf of Mexico’s Mad Dog extension well encounters “significant” oil p

(EnergyAsia, March 24) — Australian upstream company BHP Billiton said that an appraisal well drilled on the deepwater Mad Dog Southwest Ridge in the Gulf of Mexico has encountered “significant hydrocarbon pay.” The discovery was further delineated by three sidetracks.   The original hole was drilled to a total measured depth of 22,890 feet from...

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SINGAPORE: Keppel Shipyard clinches S$84 million FPSO conversion from Marathon

(EnergyAsia, March 24) — Singapore’s Keppel Shipyard, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Corporation Ltd, said it has secured a Floating Production Storage & Offloading (FPSO) hull conversion contract worth S$84 million from Marathon Petroleum Company (Norway) on MST Odin. (US$1=S$1.61). The 87,000 dwt multi-purpose shuttle tanker arrived at Keppel Shipyard for the fast track hull...

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INDIA: IndianOil Corp appoints B.M.Bansal as R&D director

(EnergyAsia, March 24) — IndianOil has appointed B.M. Bansal as research and development director at its R&D Centre at Faridabad. He took over from Mr. N.R.Raje who retired last month.    A chemical engineering by training, Mr Bansal was executive director of IndianOil’s Mathura oil refinery before his elevation to the board. He began his...

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CHINA: CNOOC announced oil, gas find in western South China Sea

(EnergyAsia, March 24) — China’s upstream company CNOOC Limited said it has made a new oil and gas find in the Weizhou (WZ) field 6-10-1 in western South China Sea.   WZ 6-10-1 was drilled in block WZ 6-10 in the Weixinan trough. The well, approximately 6 kilometers west of WZ12-1 and 35 kilometers southwest...

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SINGAPORE: KS Tech provides refurbished jack-up rig for Norwegian client

(EnergyAsia, March 24) — Singapore’s energy services group, KS Tech Ltd, said it has entered into an agreement to procure a partially refurbished vintage jack up rig for offshore drilling for a Norwegian client. In addition to procuring the jack up rig, KS Tech said it will also supply key equipment which will be used...

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COMPANY: IntercontinentalExchange to launch IPO

(EnergyAsia, March 24) — Web-based trading platform IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) has announced that it has filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering of its common stock.   The lead underwriters of the offering are Morgan Stanley and Goldman, Sachs & Co.   A registration...

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AUSTRALIA: Origin Energy answers call for more power generation in Queensland state

(EnergyAsia, March 24) — Australia’s Origin Energy said its proposed construction of a nominal 1,000 MW gas fired power station at Spring Gully, 80km north-east of Roma, moved one step closer to reality with the release by the Queensland Department of State Development and Innovation of the draft Terms of Reference.   The company said...

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