(EnergyAsia, June 15) — The recently ended G8 Finance Ministers meeting ended with pledged to improve access to energy for many poor countries. Among them was a commitment by Russia to contribute US$30 million to raise its work in sub-Saharan Africa. “We support the activities of the Global Village Energy Partnership (GVEP) which seeks...
(EnergyAsia, June 16) — News of a weekly US stock draw in crude and larger-than-expected builds in products brought crackspreads under downward pressure on June 14, as the effects of a steep rebound in US refining activity were clearly felt in the market. However, refining margins do not appear to be under threat, said commodities...
(EnergyAsia, June 16) — World crude oil stockpile in the developed world are at its highest level in more than 20 years, rising to more than one billion barrels at the end of April, said energy watchdog International Energy Agency (IEA). The agency said the build-up was caused mostly by a slowdown in consumption as...
(EnergyAsia, June 16) — Last year was another dramatic period in global energy markets with energy prices rising to new highs while dramatic weather impacts both strengthened energy consumption and weakened production. Although markets continued to work efficiently and there was no shortage of physical supplies, energy security became a major worldwide concern among both...
(Energy, June 16) — Austria’s leading energy company, OMV Aktiengesellschaft, has launched a new subsidiary, OMV Future Energy Fund, to focus on renewable energy investments. The new company will identify renewable energy projects within the OMV group, and help with their implementation and provide funds exceeding EUR 100 million. (US$1=EUR 0.75). OMV said that...
(EnergyAsia, June 16) — As part of its continuing drive to find longer term commercial alternatives to oil and gas, BP has announced it will fund “radical” research to probe the emerging secrets of bioscience and applying them to the production of new and cleaner energy, principally fuels for road transport. The company said...
(EnergyAsia, June 16) — China’s solar panel industry has consistently registered 25% growth in exports for the past 10 years, and is expected to expand rapidly in the near future, said a recently released study. The study, entitled ‘Solar Panels in China’, is being distributed by Research and Markets. According to the report, China’s...
(EnergyAsia, June 16) — Upstream company First Australian Resources (FAR) Limited said that shareholders have approved its fund raising exercise by selling 95 million shares to British, North American, Asian and domestic institutional clients of Hartleys Limited. The A$12.35 million raised will be used to fund a world class exploration programme emanating from its Houston,...
(EnergyAsia, June 16) — China has completed the massive Three Gorges hydro-power generation dam after 13 years of construction, leaving supporters and critics to continue arguing over the project’s merits and negative points. The Chinese government wants to emphasise the supply of clean renewable energy and the alleviation of flooding with the project’s start-up....
(EnergyAsia, June 16) —GAIL (India) Limited is moving ahead with plans to build liquefied petroleum gas facilities in Uzbekistan to follow through on a recent Memorandum of Cooperation Agreement (MoC) it signed with the Central Asian country’s gas company, Uzbekneftegaz. Their newly established Joint Working Group has held its first meeting. The two sides...
(EnergyAsia, June 15) — Singapore’s ASL Marine Holdings Ltd said its wholly-owned subsidiary, ASL Shipyard Pte Ltd, has secured additional shipbuilding contracts worth a total of S$81.3 million for the construction of nine new vessels to be delivered to customers in Australia, Europe, Malaysia and Singapore. They include three Anchor Handling Tug Supply Vessels (AHTS),...
(EnergyAsia, June 15) — London-based Lloyd’s has urged the insurance industry to act now or face the risks associated with climate change. As part of Lloyd’s new ‘360 Risk Project’, which aims to generate debate on key industry issues, the company has released a new report urging insurers to face up to the growing threat...
(EnergyAsia, June 15) — In its latest report titled “The Impact of Asian NOCs on the Upstream M&A Market”, consultant Wood Mackenzie explores the impact of national oil companies (NOCs) on the International oil markets. Derek Butter, head of Wood Mackenzie’s corporate analysis team, said: “While it is true that the international expansion of...
(EnergyAsia, June 15) — The Indian government has hammered out a new set of guidelines to help attract private investment into building large hydro-power plants of at least 100MW in capacity. Indian state governments will be asked to shortlist potential private investors based on technical and financial criteria. Private developers are required to submit...
(EnergyAsia, June 15) — India’s privately held energy giant Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is eyeing an entry into the country’s fast growing biofuels and ethanol market. Local media reports said the company is planning to build three ethanol plants in Maharashtra state. The plants, each of 12,000 tonnes per year capacity, will initially process...
(EnergyAsia, June 15) — Qatar’s US$950 million Oryx gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant at Ras Laffan Industrial City has been inaugurated. The inauguration by Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani took place at a ceremony last week attended by local and international dignitaries and guests. Oryx GTL is a joint venture between state-owned Qatar Petroleum...
(EnergyAsia, June 15) — Despite “operating problems and teething start-ups,” short-and long-term global liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply is building strongly on the way to becoming a more than $65 billion dollar market to meet 15% of the world’s natural gas demand by 2012, according to a new analysis by Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA)....
(EnergyAsia, June 12) — India’s Reliance Petroleum Limited has chosen to use ExxonMobil’s sulphuric acid alkylation technology for upgrading the gasoline pool in its export oil refinery in Jamnagar, Gujarat state. The refinery is the world’s largest. ExxonMobil said the technology will be provided by subsidiary ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company (EMRE). The...
(EnergyAsia, June 15) — The Dubai Mercantile Exchange Limited (DME) this week unveiled details of its Oman crude oil futures contract at the Asia Oil & Gas Conference (AOGC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as well as updated the market on its progress towards launch in the fourth quarter of 2006. Chief executive Gary King...
(EnergyAsia, June 15) — China’s government will enact new fiscal policies to encourage the development of biomass energy, said the US-based Worldwatch Institute citing a CCTV report from China. Biomass energy is energy derived from plant matter such as trees, agricultural crops and a range of organic wastes and residues. These resources can be processed...
(EnergyAsia, June 14) — Bursa Malaysia, which operates the country’s stock and commodities exchanges, is licensing out its daily settlement prices for crude palm oil (CPO) in an attempt to create an index that could be used for pricing biofuels in the region. Bursa Malaysia has signed agreements for licences with the Joint Asian...
(EnergyAsia, June 14) — Australia should focus on the benefits of its natural gas resources rather than arguing the case between coal and nuclear energy, according to the nation’s leading gas transmission body, the Australian Pipeline Industry Association. “Natural gas is cleaner and cheaper than coal or nuclear energy, and it is in plentiful...
(EnergyAsia, June 14) — Australia’s Eden Energy Ltd said it has won an important US technology award for its work on hydrogen-based fuel and alternative energy initiatives. The company, listed on the Australian Stock Exchange early this month, said that its wholly owned US subsidiary, Hythane Company llc, had won the 2006 CSIA Apex award...
(EnergyAsia, June 14) — Australian upstream company BHP Billiton said it and its partners have approved the development of the deepwater Shenzi oil and gas field in the Gulf of Mexico. The production facility will have a design capacity to produce up to 100,000 barrels of oil and 50 million cubic feet of gas per...
(EnergyAsia, June 14) — The authorities in Lam Dong province in central Vietnam will begin building a 13.5 MW a hydro-power plant worth more than VND241 billion (US$15.1 million). The plant in Bao Loc commune in Bao Lam district is expected to generate 57.5 million kWh per year when it comes onstream in in early...