MARKETS: ESAI predicts “sharp price increases” by end of the year

(EnergyAsia, August 29, Wednesday) — US energy consultant ESAI has oil prices to rise sharply by year end.In its six-month Global Crude Oil Outlook, ESAI examines the market dynamics of both OPEC and non-OPEC crude production. Chilled by weakening US financial markets and the threat of an economic slowdown, WTI prices have recently slumped nearly...

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INDIA: ONGC cools on refinery projects

(EnergyAsia, August 29, Wednesday) — Indian upstream company Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has lost interest in the proposed 15-million-tonne/year Kakinada refinery project in Andhra Pradesh state. It would take “significant fiscal benefits” from the government to justify the project, ONGC officials said, citing a feasibility study by Consultants Engineers India Ltd (EIL). The...

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INDIA: Punj Lloyd awarded engineering contract for Bharats’ Bina refinery

(EnergyAsia, August 29, Wednesday) — Indian engineering firm Punj Lloyd has won a Rs5.9 billion contract to build a sulphur recovery unit at Bharat Oman’s Bina refinery plant in Madhya Pradesh state. (US$1=Rs41). The contract includes work on the refinery’s amine recovery unit, its tail gas treatment unit and sour water supply stripping facilities. The...

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MARKETS: Two agencies predict world oil demand to continue strong growth

(EnergyAsia, August 29, Wednesday) — World oil demand will rise to new high this year on continuing consumption growth, said the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) in separate reports. The EIA has raised its forecast for fourth quarter demand by 100,000 b/d to 87.4 million b/d. World oil demand...

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SRI LANKA: Oil refinery to be expanded

(EnergyAsia, August 29, Wednesday) — Sri Lanka’s government plans to spend Rs80 billion to double the capacity of the country’s only oil refinery at Sapugaskanda. (US$1=Rs112). The 50,000 b/d refinery, operated by Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), is increasingly unable to meet country’s fast-growing fuel demand. CPC chairman Ashantha de Mel said he expects the expansion...

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SINGAPORE: Swiber raised S$108.5 million through inaugural bond issue

(EnergyAsia, August 28, Tuesday) — Swiber Holdings Limited, a Singapore-based service provider to the offshore oil and gas industry, said it has successfully completed its inaugural Singapore-dollar bond offering, raising a total of S$108.5 million in two tranches. (US$1=S$1.52). Swiber said it plans to use the net proceeds to fund its fleet expansion programme. Citicorp...

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ASIA: Energy Ministers of ASEAN, China, Japan and Korea issue joint statement

(EnergyAsia, August 28, Tuesday) — The Energy Ministers of ASEAN and partners China, Japan and Korea have issued a joint statement following their meeting in Singapore last week. The meeting was chaired by S. Iswaran, Singapore’s Minister of State for Trade and Industry, and co-chaired by the Ministers from China, Japan and Korea. Representing China...

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ASIA: East Asia’s energy ministers issue joint statement following first meeting in Singapore

(EnergyAsia, August 28, Tuesday) — East Asia’s Energy Ministers met at their first summit in Singapore last week to further their goal of ensuring the supply of reliable, adequate and affordable energy for sustainable economic growth in the region. Co-chaired by S Iswaran, Singapore’s Minister of State for Trade and Industry and Akira Amari, Japan’s Minister...

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AUSTRALIA: Solar city Blacktown expects to save A$3 million a year in electricity bills

(EnergyAsia, August 28, Tuesday) — Australia’s Blacktown city expects to save up to A$3 million in electricity costs each year while reducing its greenhouse gas emissions following the launch of a solar energy project last month. (US$1=A$1.2). With funding under Canberra’s Solar Cities initiative and an additional A$22 million contributed by consortium members, the project’s...

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CHINA: Sinopec Corp reports 65.3% jump in first half profits to RMB566.83 billion

(EnergyAsia, August 28, Tuesday) — China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation or Sinopec said its first half net profit jumped 65.3% to RMB566.83 billion compared with the same period last year, thanks largely to a surge in refining margins. Revenue at Asia’s largest refining company was up 15.5% to RMB554.3 billion. (US$1=RMB7.56). Sinopec’s board has proposed...

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INDIA: ADB and KfW Entwicklungsbank to lend $169 million for LNG terminal expansion

(EnergyAsia, August 28, Tuesday) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and KfW (the German Development Bank) have signed financing agreements to fund the expansion of the LNG receiving terminal owned and operated by India’s Petronet LNG Limited. ADB said it will provide Petronet with an Indian rupee denominated loan of Rs6.75 billion (US$1-Rs45). KfW will...

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JAPAN: Talks with New Zealand on sharing oil reserves and stockpile

(EnergyAsia, August 28, Tuesday) — Japan is interested to explore sharing oil reserves and stockpile with New Zealand as part of a wider programme to deal with future energy supply crisis. Japan’s Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Akira Amari met with New Zealand associate minister of energy Harry Duynhoven in Singapore, which is hosting a...

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MYANMAR: Sharp fuel price hikes sparked political protests

(EnergyAsia, August 28, Tuesday) — Myanmar is being rocked by a series of angry protests following a shock fivefold increase in the price of compressed natural gas (CNG) and doubling of fuel prices on August 15. Protesters defied warnings from the repressive military junta to openly demonstrate against the price hike, which is having a...

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PEOPLE: Philip Choi is new president of SIETCO

(EnergyAsia, August 28, Tuesday) — Philip Choi has been named to take over as president of Shell International Eastern Trading Co (SIETCO) from October 1, succeeding Phil Snaith. Mr Choi, the global head of fuel oil and feedstocks, will be the first Asian to head the Anglo Dutch Shell subsidiary which oversees and trades oil...

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SINGAPORE: k1 Ventures to divest retail gasoline business in Hawaii

(EnergyAsia, August 28, Tuesday) — Singapore-listed k1 Ventures Limited said it has agreed to sell its Hawaii retail company, Mid Pac Petroleum LLC, to Koko’ oha Investments Inc for US$44 million in cash plus adjustments. The price took into account, among other things, the net tangible assets and EBITDA of Mid Pac. k1 said it...

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PHILIPPINES: Fuel shortage looms after Bataan oil depot is shut down

(EnergyAsia, August 27, Monday) — The greater Manila area could be hit by fuel shortages after the Philippine Bureau of Customs closed down the country’s fourth largest oil depot in Mariveles, Bataan. The bureau said Oilink International Depot, which owns the facility, owes more than 353 million pesos in back taxes and penalties. The agency...

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CHINA: Alstom awarded 135-million euro contract to supply steam turbine generator packages

(EnergyAsia, August 27, Monday) — France’s Alstom said it has won a 135-million Euro order from Chinese industrial group Dong Fang to supply four 1000 MW-Class steam turbine-generator packages for a new nuclear power plant to be built at Hong Yan He, in China’s Liaoning province. (US$1=0.74 euro). The order comes after China Nuclear Power...

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AUSTRALIA: Stuart Petroleum to build fuel import terminal, diesel refinery

(EnergyAsia, August 27, Monday) — Australia’s Stuart Petroleum said it is planning to set up a fuel import terminal and a small oil refinery in South Australia state. The move comes amid forecasts of growing diesel consumption in the state after ExxonMobil shut down its oil refinery at Port Stanvac in 2003. Adelaide-based Stuart said...

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INDONESIA: Kerosene shortage hits Jakarta again

(EnergyAsia, August 27, Monday) — Residents in many parts of Jakarta city are facing a serious kerosene shortage brought on by hoarding, panic buying and insufficient supplies from state oil company Pertamina. Long queues at retail outlets have formed as Pertamina is restricting each buyer to four liters at the heavily subsidised price of Rp2,250...

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AUSTRALIA: Caltex reports 45.7% rise in first half operating profit

(EnergyAsia, August 27, Monday) — Caltex Australia said its first half operating profit rose 45.7% to A$255 million compared with the same period last year. (US$1=A$1.2). It attributed the strong performance to higher refining throughput and an improved refiner margin of US$10.74 a barrel compared with US$9.76 a barrel in the same period last year....

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SRI LANKA: Fuel conservation, renewable energy needed to save economy

(EnergyAsia, August 27, Monday) — Sri Lanka needs to institute an energy policy that emphasises fuel conservation and the use of renewable energy sources at the expense of increasingly expensive fossil fuels, said a former chairman of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC). Jaliya Medagama said Sri Lanka’s economy is in need of a sustainable energy...

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INDIA: Bharat Oman aims to sell small stake in Bina refinery project

(EnergyAsia, August 27, Monday) — Bharat Oman Refineries, the joint venture company set up to build an oil refinery for Bharat Petroleum (BPCL), is planning to sell up to 20% of the project to strategic investors. Saudi Aramco and Brazil’s Petrobras are said to be interested in the six-million-tonne/year refinery in Bina in Madhya Pradesh...

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CHINA: Sinopec, PetroChina plan new oil refineries

(EnergyAsia, August 27, Monday) — Two of China’s main oil companies, Sinopec and PetroChina, are planning to build new oil refineries in the country. Sinopec, Asia’s largest refiner, said it is planning to build a 200,000 b/d refinery and a one-million-ton/year ethylene plant in Caofeidian in the northern province of Hebei. It is also looking...

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CHINA: Lower refining throughput growth on weaker margins

(EnergyAsia, August 27, Monday) — China’s refinery output grew by 6.7% last month over year-ago levels, down from the 10% growth seen the previous two months on weaker refining margins. Rising crude oil prices on the world markets and fixed retail fuel prices on the domestic markets have combined to slash Chinese refining margins. China’s...

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ASIA: “A Regional Approach To The Energy Challenge” by Singapore

(EnergyAsia, August 27, Monday) — The following speech was delivered by S. Jayakumar, Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister, Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Law, at the 25th Asean Energy Ministers Meeting, in Singapore on August 23. Energy security is a key theme of the ASEAN Summit to be held in Singapore later this...

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