(EnergyAsia, November 14) — Oil and gas exporters Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are considering joining the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), according to Azeri newspaper The Echo. It reported that the 11-member cartel is keen on inviting the two countries join as they step up their oil and gas exports. Azerbaijan, which...
(EnergyAsia, November 14) — Chiyoda Corporation, Japan’s leading engineering and construction firm, said its financial performance for the first half of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2006 has exceeded forecasts. Its consolidated operating profit rose 72.9% from the first half of the previous fiscal year to 8,218 million yen on a net sales...
(EnergyAsia, November 14) — Greenpeace has released a report by a leading Philippine meteorologist that climate change will deepen the misery of Asians unless measures are taken to drastically cut the use of fossil fuels such as coal. “Climate change will aggravate the misery of an already over-burdened Filipino community,” said Leoncio Amadore, one of the...
(EnergyAsia, November 14) — India’s oil companies are evaluating ethanol prices as they prepare to offer ethanol-blended gasoline in the states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. According to the Economic Times, trader Nanded has emerged as the lowest bidder with an offer of Rs18.8 a litre compared with the tender prices...
(EnergyAsia, November 14) — A state committee has approved an additional loan worth almost P1.2 billion for the completion of a power interconnection project among the provinces in the Visayas islands. (US$1=Peso 56). The Investment Coordination Committee of the National Economic and Development Authority has Cabinet-level authority. According to the Business World, the loan...
(EnergyAsia, November 14) — India’s diversified Emami Group is in talks with various state governments to set up jatropha plantations as it seeks to enter the fast-growing biofuels industry. An Emami director, Aditya Agarwal, told Infoline that it could invest around Rs2,500 million on a 100,000-ton biodiesel plant. (US$1 = Rs45). He said he...
(EnergyAsia, November 11) — CNPC Hong Kong, the Hong Kong-listed unit of China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), is paying US$140 million to increase its stake in a venture with interests in three oil fields in Kazakhstan, China Daily reported. CNPC Hong Kong is buying an additional 20% cent of CNPC International (Caspian) Ltd from...
(EnergyAsia, November 11) — The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) has predicted that the world oil markets will remain tight through 20006. In its latest assessment of the oil markets, the EIA said that many of the same factors that drove world oil markets in 2005, such as low Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries...
(EnergyAsia, November 11) — The Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Heavy Industries Co Ltd and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) have recently signed a contract to build a 100,000-ton FPSO (floating, production, storage and offloading) vessel in Haixi Bay in Qingdao. According to Xinhua news service, Qingdao has become China’s third FPSO vessel building...
(EnergyAsia, November 11) — Just last month, a second wave of suicide bombings hit Bali. Shortly after, mysterious packages were delivered to embassies in Kuala Lumpur. Investigations got underway but were indeterminate. Beginning this month, the Indian railway was under attack by unknown terrorists. What next? Today, businesses can no longer to be solely...
(EnergyAsia, November 11) — India has fired Foreign Minister Natwar Singh after allegations he had corruptly benefited from the tainted UN oil-for-food programme in Iraq. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh fired the minister as his government sought to contain the scandal’s political damage by ordering an inquiry headed by a retired Supreme Court chief justice to...
(EnergyAsia, November 11) — The International Energy Agency (IEA) reported this week that global emissions of carbon dioxide will rise by 52% by 2030 because of growing energy demand. Environmental lobby group Friends of the Earth said the figures showed the urgent need for international action to tackle climate change by switching to low...
(EnergyAsia, November 11) — India’s Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said US investment bank Goldman Sachs had disadvantaged ONGC Videsh-Mittal’s recent joint bid for PetroKazakhstan, The Hindu Times reported. Canada’s Petrokazahstan has been sold to China’s state oil interest. According to Mr Shankar, ONGC Videsh-Mittal submitted the highest bid in the auction with US$3.98...
(EnergyAsia, November 11) — Vietnamese state planners are looking to set up a strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) to enable the country to deal with oil price volatility and rising prices, VietnamNet reported. Also on the cards are plans for storage facilities for natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and compressed natural gas (CNG). ...
(EnergyAsia, November 10) — A new report released by the Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association (CREIA) sponsored by Greenpeace and the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) shows that China could at least double its current wind energy target for 2020. Xu Dingming, Energy Bureau Director of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said:...
(EnergyAsia, November 11) — Nasdaq-listed FuelCell Energy Inc, a leading manufacturer of ultra-clean electric power generation plants for commercial and industrial customers, said that its Korean strategic alliance distribution partner POSCO have formed a partnership with one of the country’s six electric utilities to market and sell fuel cell products for grid support applications. As...
(EnergyAsia, November 10) — Indonesia’s domestic fuel sales are dropping following last month’s massive fuel prices hikes by the government, The Jakarta Post reported. However, analysts said the price hike is only one factor in the equation. Sales may also have been hit by the recent religious fasting month and the fact that consumers...
(EnergyAsia, November 10) — India’s crude oil output fell 7.3% in September but natural gas output remained unchanged, Infraline reported. Crude oil output fell to 2.57 million tonne in September, from 2.77 million tonne in the corresponding period last year. Natural gas output remained unchanged at 2.6 billion cubic metre in September. One of...
(EnergyAsia, November 10) — BP’s Russian joint venture, TNK-BP, is seeking to supply up to a third of China’s natural gas imports from 2010, The Hong Kong Standard reported. BP-TNK has proposed to pipe the natural gas from Russia’s Kovykta field. Officials said that most of the logistical details of the supply deal have...
(EnergyAsia, November 10) — China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) has linked up with French integrated major Total to develop the Sulige natural gas field in the Ordos Basin in northwest China, China Daily reported. The field has estimated gas reserves of up to 602.6 billion cubic metre. Officials said that the Sulige cooperation is...
(EnergyAsia, November 10) — Japanese engineering and construction firm Chiyoda Corporation has announced revisions to its forecasts for operating results and dividends for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2006 that were released on May 18, 2005 with its previous fiscal year earning announcement. Citing a weaker-than-expected yen and higher sales, Chiyoda said it now...
(EnergyAsia, November 10) — Dutch oil and chemicals logistics company Royal Vopak said its operating profit excluding exceptional items for the third quarter rose 19% to EUR 45.6 million. (US$1=Euro85). Its operating profit excluding exceptional items for the first three quarters of 2005 was EUR 130.6 million, compared with EUR 112 million for the same...
(EnergyAsia, November 10) — China has announced plans to reduce energy consumption per GDP unit in the latest 11th Five-Year plan to 2010. The State Development and Reform Commission (SDRC) said it aims to reduce China’s energy consumption per GDP unit by 4.4% annually in the next five years. SDRC official Yang Weimin told...
(EnergyAsia, November 10) — China’s long-term energy conservation and renewable energy development blueprint will attract investments worth hundreds of billions of yuan over the next five years, said analysts with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) at an energy forum hosted by China Daily. China, the world’s second-largest energy consumer after the US, plans...
(EnergyAsia, November 10) — Adnoc Distribution has announced plans to invest Dh150 million to open more than 200 service stations in the UAE by 2008, according to the Dubai-based Gulf News. “We have now 22 service stations in the western region of Abu Dhabi and we plan to add 10 more with an investment...