up in advance for their fuel supplies. The practice is spreading to Europe and Asia as jet fuel suppliers are becoming increasingly worried about the credit-worthiness and solvency of many airlines amid rising oil prices. Prepayment requirements add to the woes of airlines which have been among the sectors most directly and quickly weighed down...

supply two ejector systems and three surface condensers in four international oil refineries located in South Korea, China, Malaysia and Russia. The orders are worth a total of more than $10 million. The first order is for an ejector system to be installed in a South Korean oil refinery that is expanding its capacity to...

much more greenhouse gases processing Canada’s oilsands than if they used ‘traditional’ crude oil. The Washington DC-based Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) and Toronto-headquartered Environmental Defence Canada (EDC) said the emissions production increase would be the equivalent of 16 new refineries in the US. In a joint statement, they said: “Future oil refining in the US...

energy crops has been widely touted as a clean, renewable alternative to fossil fuels, but has huge limitations, say researchers with the Carnegie Institution for Science. Ironically, they conclude that deployed on a large scale, producing energy crops could even threaten food security and exacerbate climate change. Research is booming to improve energy crops and...

inevitable next move as the crude price  continues to march on after breaking through $135 a barrel last month. With $200 oil on the horizon according to authoritative forecasts, the blame game can only intensify. Already, a number of suspects has been identified for public lynching if there is no relief at the pumps: OPEC,...

out our dog-eat-dog instincts (some say, it’s already out), there will be more wars and conflicts on the horizon.  Let’s consider the not-so-common view based on the fact that conflict uses up a huge amount of resources. To go to war over natural resources, the initiator has to be sure that his country has ample...

last year, said BP in its annual ‘Statistical Review of World Energy 2008’ report. World oil production fell by 0.2%, or 130,000 b/d, the first decline since 2002, said BP. OPEC production dropped by 350,000 b/d due to the cumulative impact of production cuts implemented in November 2006 and February 2007. Increased output in Angola...

they have completed the NZ$110 million acquisition of Swift Energy’s New Zealand oil and gas operations. (US$1=NZ$1.25). As a result, Origin Energy will acquire two oil and gas producing areas in the Taranaki area, the Rimu and Waihapa production stations, oil and gas transmission pipelines from Waihapa to New Plymouth, two offshore Taranaki exploration permits,...

their production targets for the year, said the Directorate General of Oil and Gas. For the four months ended 30 April, the agency said 22 of the 37 oil companies operating in the country were behind target. If the trend persists, Indonesia could miss its 2008 production target of 977,000 b/d of oil. It praised...

projects, said it would miss its targeted 122 million tonnes of avoided carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions due to troubles at its biodiesel projects. Rising palm oil prices have made the use of palm oil for biodiesel production uneconomic. Several planned biodiesel projects have been cancelled or delayed while existing plants are not operating, the company...

(EnergyAsia, June 16, Monday) — The Thai government has warned it could evoke a national emergency law to reduce or curb the profit margins of the country’s oil refiners in an effort to keep oil prices down. Under the Energy Business Act, the country’s energy minister has the power to fix gross refinery margins in...

(EnergyAsia, June 16, Monday) — Taiwan’s new government has quickly implemented a decision to raise fuel prices in a bid to prevent hoarding by consumers. Prices for unleaded 92, 95 and 98 gasoline sold by state refiner CPC were raised by NT$3.9/litre, to NT$33.9, NT$34.6 and NT$36.1 per litre, respectively. (US$1 = NT$30). The price...

(EnergyAsia, June 16, Monday) — Concerned that it is unprepared to deal with an energy crisis, the Pakistani government is pressuring the country’s oil marketing companies to invest in new storage tanks. Officials are worried that smaller marketing firms, in particular, do not have storage facilities despite their promise to keep oil stockpiles. Pakistan has...

(EnergyAsia, June 16, Monday) — Tyco Fire & Security is hoping to sell its high-technology flame detector to Asia’s shipyards, marine companies and the energy sector. The detector uses an infrared array with 256 infrareds sensors and integrated CCTV, FLAME Vision FV 300, enabling it to identify flame incidents automatically and reliably, as well as...

(EnergyAsia, June 16, Monday) —  Air New Zealand said it plans to be the world’s first airline to fly a large passenger aircraft using fuel produced from the jatropha crop. This is in line with its goal of producing and commercialising sustainable fuels for use in air travel. The airline said it expects to use...

(EnergyAsia, June 16, Monday) — The International Energy Agency (IEA) said the world would need to invest a total of US$45 trillion in new technology, carbon capture and renewable energy sources to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2050. Calling for an “energy revolution”, IEA executive director Nobuo Tanaka said the world needed...

(EnergyAsia, June 16, Monday) — The International Energy Agency (IEA) has reduced its forecast for world oil consumption this year to 86.8 million b/d, down from its previous forecast of 87.6 million b/d. The Paris-based agency attributed the downward revision to the reduction in fuel subsidies in several countries, mostly in Asia, in response to...

(EnergyAsia, June 16, Monday) — NYSE-listed Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited, a world leading vertically integrated photovoltaic (PV) product manufacturer, said it has entered into a sales contract with Germany’s EN-NEO NEUE ENERGIEN GmbH (EN-NEO), a leader in PV energy projects. Yingli Green Energy is expected to supply 9.19 MW of PV modules to...

(EnergyAsia, June 16, Monday) — More than 120 groups have banded together to jointly criticise and oppose the World Bank’s proposed ‘climate funds’ which aims to address climate change and its impacts in many developing countries. The groups issued a joint statement during the recent UN climate change talks in Bonn, Germany that coincided with...

(EnergyAsia, June 13, Friday) — US agriculture secretary Edward Schafer has defended his country’s biofuel policies amid rising criticism that growing food crops for fuel is causing food shortages around the world. Speaking at a press conference, Mr Schafer said biofuels are needed to combat the high price of crude oil. He said ethanol production...

(EnergyAsia, June 13, Friday) — Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said high oil prices, rather than biofuels, are driving up world food prices. Samak Sundaravej wants the UN and the Word Bank to deal with the world food crisis by targeting oil exporting countries instead of criticising biofuels producing countries like Thailand. The UN Food...

(EnergyAsia, June 13, Friday) — The state government of Pakistan’s Punjab region has ordered bureaucrats to speed up the implementation of small hydropower projects. The government has announced plans to build five hydropower projects with a total capacity of 25 MW. The projects are expected to receive Asian Development Bank (ADB) funding. However, the government...

(EnergyAsia, June 13, Friday) — India’s Tata Power is investing Rs5 billion to build up an additional 115 megawatts (MW) of wind power capacity. (US$1 = Rs43). The new wind farms will be set up in the states of Gujarat and Karnataka. The company has 85 MW of wind power capacity in operation in Maharashtra...

(EnergyAsia, June 13, Friday) — India’s state of Haryana is developing 20 biomass-based projects for a total additional power capacity of 183 megawatts (MW). Haryana wants to cut back on its expensive power imports from other Indian states. Officials said the plants and other renewable energy projects could generate up to 10% of the state’s...