(EnergyAsia, June 23) — Two Japanese companies, Mitsubishi Motors and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, said they have agreed on a joint development project for a new generation diesel engine to be used in cars exported to Europe. Once the agreement is finalised, the companies said they will begin development in earnest, targeting mass production in...
(EnergyAsia, June 23) — In the second part of this interview, Noble Group, the Hong Kong-based energy and commodities trading firm, looks at the rising demand for grains and crops for fuel production. With one billion gallons/year of new ethanol projects in the pipeline, the company is emerging as a global fully-integrated biofuels player. Fabrizio...
(EnergyAsia, June 23) — US major Exxon Mobil Corp said its subsidiary, Esso Exploration International Limited, was successful in its bid for the Surumana block in the Makassar Straits off the coast of Sulawesi in Indonesia. The oil and gas directorate at Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources announced the results of its 2005...
(EnergyAsia, June 23) — PT McDermott Indonesia, a subsidiary of US engineering company J. Ray McDermott SA, has won a project to construct the Kerisi Central Processing Platform (CPP) substructure weighing over 7,600MT. The project is part of the ongoing development of the Kerisi and Hiu fields located in the Indonesian sector of the Natuna...
(EnergyAsia, June 23) — BP and DuPont have announced the creation of a partnership to develop, produce and market a next generation of biofuels to help meet increasing global demand for renewable transport fuels. BP and DuPont said they have been working together since 2003 to develop advanced biofuels with properties that can help...
(EnergyAsia, June 23) — No region is as critical to future climate change as Asia, Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Haruhiko Kuroda told the delegates at the ADB’s Clean Energy Week at its Manila headquarters this week. “Climate change is a reality that we can no longer ignore and one that we have to...
(EnergyAsia, June 23) — The Philippines province of Leyte is promoting the use of cooking oil and plant oils from crops like coconut, jatropha, soya bean, corn, golden shower, talisay, peanuts, cotton and sunflower as a substitute for the more costly liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Leo Caneda, the director of theeDepartment of Agriculture, said...
(EnergyAsia, June 23) — Australian upstream company said it has agreed to sell its Australian coal bed methane (CBM) interests to the Australian Gas Light Company (AGL) for US$68.7 million. The sale is backdated to January 1 2006, with the transaction expected to be completed over the coming months. The acquisition price is subject...
(EnergyAsia, June 23) — For oil markets, it is hard to think about summer without thinking about gasoline demand. Gasoline demand peaks during the summer, as many travellers take to the roads for vacations and weekend jaunts to the beach, lake, or mountains. But many analysts are wondering if high gasoline prices are having a...
(EnergyAsia, June 23) — Rising, volatile oil prices are forcing governments, consumers and investors racing to seek alternatives and to reduce dependence on politically unstable oil producing countries. Among the most popular alternatives, biofuels and ethanol, are rapidly gaining support from politicians, agricultural groups and environmentalists. Even US President George W. Bush, an oilman, has...
(EnergyAsia, June 22) — Sri Lankan labour unions said Indian-owned oil company LIOC has an unfair advantage over the competition because it operates the country’s main oil storage tanks in China Bay in the port of Trincomalee. LIOC is the Sri Lankan subsidiary of the Indian Oil Corp, India’s largest oil company. Fearing LIOC...
(EnergyAsia, June 22) — ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte Ltd said that it has awarded front-end engineering design (FEED) contracts for the derivative units associated with a possible second world-scale steam-cracking complex that would be located at its existing Singapore refining and chemical site. FEED contracts were awarded to Aker Kvaerner for a polyethylene unit,...
(EnergyAsia, June 22) — PetroChina is planning to invest US$500 million to build underground natural gas storage facilities in Jiangsu and Anhui provinces, complementing its East-West natural gas pipeline. The sites will be able to hold up to two billion cubic metres of natural gas. Last year, the company accounted for 70% of China’s...
(EnergyAsia, June 22) —- The Philippines government has named the Eastern Visayas region as the region with the biggest potential to mass produce biodiesel from the jatropha crop. The Department of Agriculture said that the state universities and colleges in the region have been tapped to allocate at least 50 hectares for the production...
(EnergyAsia, June 22) — World energy consumption is projected to grow by 71% between 2003 and 2030, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). In its latest “International Energy Outlook 2006” (IEO2006), the EIA said most of that growth will take place in developing countries outside the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD),...
(EnergyAsia, June 22) — Russia’s TNK-BP said it has agreed to sell affiliate oil company Udmurtneft to China’s Sinopec after a rigorous tender process which was launched at the end of last year. Udmurtneft produces around 115,000 b/d of crude oil, mostly in the Urals. The deal marks an important win for Sinopec, which beat out competition...
(EnergyAsia, June 22) — Users of Cat Lai Port near Ho Chi Minh city have expressed fears over safety issues as a result of growing traffic and the presence of oil storage tanks in the area. Cat Lai’s operator, New Port Company, has gone public with its concerns over the possibility of a major...
(EnergyAsia, June 22) — Hong Kong-listed Panva Gas Holdings Limited said that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Panriver Investments Co Ltd, has signed an agreement to acquire 90% stake of Fuxin Gas Co Ltd and half of Hangzhou LPG Co Ltd for a total of RMB99.33 million. (US$1=RMB8). Panva said it paid RMB74.33 million for its...
(EnergyAsia, June 22) — IndianOil Corp has commissioned the country’s largest purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant at its oil refinery in Panipat in Haryana state near New Delhi. The plant was inaugurated this week by chairman Sarthak Behuria at a ceremony attended by the company’s senior officials. With the plant’s commissioning, IndianOil said...
(EnergyAsia, June 22) — Indian upstream company ONGC said it will begin supplying 900,000 standard cubic metres per day (MMSCMD) of natural gas to Gujarat-based Torrent Power Generation Ltd from August 2007. ONGC said the gas would come from its share of offshore output under the Panna-Mukta-Tapti (PMT) joint venture. ONGC chairman R.S....
(EnergyAsia, June 21) — China’s Huaneng Power International Inc said it has completed trials for new three power plants over the past month. On June 15, it completed 168 hours of trial at a 390MW gas-fired unit at the Shanghai Combined Cycle Power Plant in which Huaneng owns a 70% stake. A month earlier,...
(EnergyAsia, June 21) — Singapore-listed ASL Marine Holdings Ltd said it has recently acquired stakes in two Indonesian companies to advance its energy logistics business. Its jointly-controlled entity, ASL Energy Pte Ltd, has fully acquired Indonesia-incorporated PT Jaya Pesona Abadi, an investment holding company that provides handling and consultancy services. PT JPA has...
(EnergyAsia, June 21) — Waste oil reprocessor China Biodiesel International Holding Co has applied to raise up to £8 million on London’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM) to fund its expansion in China. The Fujian-based company claims to be the only company in China focused on the manufacture, marketing, sales and technology research and development...
(EnergyAsia, June 21) — Indonesia has affirmed it will continue to supply natural gas and coal to Taiwan, according to a report in Taipei Times. Minister of Economic Affairs Morgan Hwang told reporters about the agreement after returning last week from a visit to Jakarta where he met with senior Indonesian officials to further...
(EnergyAsia, June 21) — Japan’s Environment Ministry wants biofuels to account for 10% of all motor fuels use in the country by 2030 as part of a long-term target to promote renewable energy sources. The ministry is also targeting for half of all vehicle fuels sold in Japan to have a 3% bioethanol (E3)...