Today is a public holiday. There is no publication today....

(EnergyAsia, April 13) — Singapore’s Keppel FELS Limited said it has successfully delivered the lower hull of the semisubmersible floating production platform (FPU), P-52, to Brazil last month after a 35-day sea voyage.             The deal for the P-52 FPU was clinched by a 75/25 consortium comprising Keppel and Technip in December 2003. Innovative solutions...

(EnergyAsia, April 13) — Royal Vopak of the Netherlands said its fourth terminal in Singapore has been officially opened by Lim Hng Kiang, Singapore’s Minister of Trade and Industry.   With the completion of the first phase of the Banyan terminal on Jurong Island, Vopak has added 370,000 cubic metres (cbm) of capacity to its...

(EnergyAsia, April 13) — Australian upstream company BHP Billiton said it has acquired exploration and production rights off the coast of Colombia, South America. The company last week signed contracts with the national hydrocarbon agency of Colombia, Agencia Nacional de Hidrocarburos (ANH), which allow for oil and gas exploration and production from two offshore blocks...

(EnergyAsia, April 13) — BP Australia said it has signed two contracts and a Memorandum of Understanding to supply motorists more than 200 million litres of biofuels a year by 2008. The announcement signals the early delivery by a single company of over half of the Federal government’s national target of 350 million litres.            ...

(EnergyAsia, April 13) — Australia’s Bass Straits gas development project, BassGas Project, is continuing through the commissioning phase, said operator Origin Energy. Gas from the Victorian grid was pumped into the onshore gas processing plant at Lang Lang in early March for the final phases of equipment testing, preparations, and plant dry-out prior to introducing...

(EnergyAsia, April 13) — Hong Kong-based power company CLP Holdings Limited and Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation have formed an equal joint venture to combine their expertise and capital to serve regional power needs.   The new company, OneEnergy Limited, will focus on the Taiwan and Southeast Asia markets. The total shareholders’ contribution to OneEnergy is initially...

(EnergyAsia, April 13) —Singapore will begin construction of underground caverns for storing oil to enhance the country’s oil trading role and supply security while overcoming the shortage of land, said Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang. The first caverns in the rocks of Jurong Island will come onstream in 2009, said Mr Lim at...

(EnergyAsia, April 13) — Despite some progress in controlling atmospheric pollutants such as lead, ozone-depleting substances and some greenhouse gasses, urgent action is needed to provide clean energy to reduce poverty, promote development and tackle climate change, according to a United Nations report released this week. “There have been major advances in areas where there...

(EnergyAsia, April 13) — Singapore’s Keppel FELS Ltd said it has secured a contract from Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc for the upgrade of a semisubmersible rig for US$102 million. Ocean Monarch will arrive Keppel FELS in mid-2006 for the upgrading and expected to be operationally ready in fourth quarter 2008. When completed, Ocean Monarch can...

(EnergyAsia, April 13) — NYSE-listed upstream company Occidental Petroleum said it has been awarded a new production sharing contract area, Block 54, in southeastern Oman. As operator, it will hold a 70% interest in the block covering a 5,620 sq km area. Occidental currently operates the giant Mukhaizna field in the adjacent Block 53. “We...

(EnergyAsia, April 12) — Singapore’s KS Energy said Indonesia’s Pacific Oilfield is buying a 29.98% stake in the company for S$181 million, or about S$3.05 per share. (US$1=S$1.6). Pacific Oilfieds will purchase 59,500,000 shares from Kim Seng Holdings Pte Ltd, which will retain a 9.52% stake in KS Energy after the sale. The purchase price...

(EnergyAsia, April 12) — Developing Asian economies will deliver strong growth in 2006 supported by a broadly favorable outlook for the international economy, the continuing trend toward improved economic management, and apparent resilience to high oil prices, said the ADB in a major new report. ADB’s flagship annual economic publication, Asian Development Outlook (ADO), launched...

(EnergyAsia, April 12) — Australia’s Global Ethanol has been given the go-ahead to take over MGP LLC, an ethanol producer in Lakota, Iowa state in the US. Members of US-based Midwest Grain Processors Cooperative, which own the bulk of MGP LLC, have voted to approve a sale of a 60% stake to Brisbane-based Global Ethanol...

(EnergyAsia, April 12) — Hong Kong-based power company CLP said it is collaborating with UK wind farm developer, Wind Prospect, to evaluate the feasibility of offshore wind potential in the former British colony. It said that initial phases of the feasibility study involve the investigation of offshore wind resource analysis and the identification of development...

(EnergyAsia, April 12) — China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec Corp) said it has made the largest natural gas discovery in China in the Puguang field in the northeastern region of Sichuan Province.   The company said the Mineral Resources Reserves Assessment Office of the State Ministry of Land and Resources examined the find at...

(EnergyAsia, April 12) — Clara Lippert, President and CEO of The Oxford Princeton Programme, has been named “2006 Businesswoman of the Year” by the US National Republican Congressional Committee. The Oxford Princeton Programme is a leading provider of training solutions to the energy, commodity and derivatives industries. Ms Lippert was presented the award at the...

(EnergyAsia, April 12) — Singapore’s Keppel FELS Ltd said it is on track to deliver one of the world’s deepest drilling rigs, Deep Driller 2, to Sinvest ASA on time and within budget. Built to the KFELS Super B Class design, the rig is an enhancement of the highly acclaimed KFELS B Class design. The...

(EnergyAsia, April 12) — Finland’s Neste Oil said it is selling its 10% holding in the Saudi European Petrochemical Company Ibn Zahr to Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) for US$120 million. Neste Oil will book a capital gain on the sale of approximately EUR 85 million. (US$1=0.82 Euro). The companies expect to close the deal...

(EnergyAsia, April 12) — FuelCell Energy Inc, a US manufacturer of efficient, ultra-clean power generation plants for commercial and industrial customers, said Tokyo Gas has initiated a program to evaluate a Direct FuelCell(R) (DFC(R)) power plant for possible use by customers of its energy and industrial gas divisions.   The unit is located at Kawasaki...

(EnergyAsia, April 12) — Indonesian energy services contractor PT Apexindo Pratama Duta Tbk said it suffered a net loss of Rp43.1 billion last year, which it blames on financial “swap transactions.” The transactions were connected with its currency hedging programme when it issued a rupiah bond in April 2005. Between 2004 and 2005, the rupiah...

(EnergyAsia, April 11) — About 20% of the gasoline sold in China now has ethanol content, said the State Development and Reform Commission. Production of ethanol-mixed gasoline rose to 10.2 million tons last year in response to rising demand, according to the Shanghai Securities News.   To accelerate the adoption of biofuels, China has announced...

(EnergyAsia, April 11) — Singapore has announced the signing of two landmark economic agreements with Saudi Arabia as the Middle East oil giant continues its shift towards developing ties with Asian countries.             According to Singapore’s Trade and Industry Ministry, the first agreement on investment guarantee is designed to promote greater investment flows between the...

(EnergyAsia, April 11) — In the most aggressive push for biofuels by an oil major, BP Australia said it plans to produce 200 million litres of fuels that will be partly derived from cattle and sheep fat by 2008. More than half of the output will be animal fat that will be turned into ethanol...

(EnergyAsia, April 11) — New Zealand’s economy is slowing under the weight of rising oil prices, with the January trade deficit at its worse since 1976. The high import cost of oil products and aircraft drove January’s import value up 22% to NZ$3.1 billion from the same month a year ago. (US$1=NZ$1.64).   According to...