(EnergyAsia, March 27, Friday) — Indonesian government officials have expressed concern that some of its key customers could reduce their imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) amid the global economic crisis. The economies of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have been battered in the wake of the global economic crisis. Lower LNG export revenues would...

(EnergyAsia, March 27, Friday) — China is looking to develop offshore oil storage facilities after having filled up all four of its newly completed strategic petroleum reserves (SPR) terminals. Industry officials said the government raced to fill up the terminals’ 100-million-barrel capacity in recent months to take advantage of low oil prices. They said China...

(EnergyAsia, March 27, Friday) — Tony Tan, the former head of exploration and production at Singapore Petroleum Co, has been appointed CEO of Orchard Energy. The new subsidiary of Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings was established last year to undertake offshore oil and gas exploration. Earlier, Temasek’s chairman S. Dhanabalan told EnergyAsia that Orchard...

(EnergyAsia, March 27, Friday) — World natural gas demand is expected to remain weak through 2009 and possibly into 2010 on account of the global financial crisis, said ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson. Despite the current weakness, long-term energy demand was expected to increase 35% by 2030 from today’s levels, he said. Analysts said that huge...

(EnergyAsia, March 27, Friday) — PetroChina, the listed arm of China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), plans to expand its refining and storage complex in Qinzhou in the southern Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. After completion, Qinzhou’s refining capacity would double to 20 million tonnes per year, while its terminals will store up to three million tonnes...

(EnergyAsia, March 27, Friday) — The Chinese government is encouraging its trading partners in Africa and Asia to settle their trades in its currency, the yuan, instead of using the US dollar or the euro. Beijing is also looking to start giving out aid, loans and grants in yuan rather than the dollar. Officials expect...

(EnergyAsia, March 27, Friday) — PetroChina, the world’s second largest company after ExxonMobil, said refining losses caused most of the 22% drop in its full-year profit for 2008. Sales rose 28% to 1.1 trillion yuan. (US$1=6.85 yuan). Reporting its first loss since 2001, China’s second largest refiner said net income slumped to 114 billion yuan,...

(EnergyAsia, March 26, Thursday) — Oil trader Trafigura is set to expand its Singapore operations as it ventures into the bunker fuels business and expands its biofuels trading activities.Mike Scott, the company’s Asia head of crude oil and crude derivatives, told reporters that it plans to start up bunker fuels trading next year following the...

(EnergyAsia, March 26, Thursday) — Amid the global financial crisis, Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund will focus its investments on food, energy, water and natural resources from this year.The US$60 billion fund is confident that commodities prices will begin to pick up in the second half of the year, making the natural resources a good investment.Other...

 (EnergyAsia, March 26, Thursday) — Chinese port operator Qingdao Port Group Co plans to invest 3-billion-yuan this year to boost its commodity-handling capability.Located in the active north-eastern corner of the country, the port will focus on expanding its role in China’s trade in oil, iron ore, coal, grains and merchandise goods. The port authority expects...

 (EnergyAsia, March 26, Thursday) — PetroChina and Venezuela have agreed to form a joint venture to build and operate a 400,000 b/d refinery in China’s Guangdong province.PetroChina will take a 51% stake while Venezuela will hold the remaining 49% in the proposed $8 billion refinery to be built at Yuedong. The plant will process heavy...

 (EnergyAsia, March 26, Thursday) — The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said the world air transport industry faces record losses of US$4.7 billion in 2009, sharply worse than its December forecast for a US$2.5 billion loss.As a result of the deterioration in world economic conditions, IATA said industry revenues are expected to fall by 12%...

(EnergyAsia, March 26, Thursday) — Hong Kong-based power utility CLP Holdings said it will acquire a 50% equity interest in a wholly owned subsidiary of China WindPower Group for HK$101.3 million. (US$1=HK$7.75).The new joint venture, CLP-CWP Wind Power Investment, will own 49% of two wind projects under construction in Fuxin city in China’s Liaoning province....

(EnergyAsia, March 25, Wednesday) — Indonesia’s state energy firm Pertamina remains keen on upgrading its Balikpapan refinery, and recently recruited Japan’s Itochu and Dubai-based ETA Star to review plans for the project. Pertamina is considering expanding the refinery by 20,000 b/d to 280,000 b/d, with a technology upgrade to allow for more processing of sour...

(EnergyAsia, March 25, Wednesday) — The Bharat Oman Refineries Company has delayed its plan for an initial public offering (IPO) to raise money to help finance a Rs104 billion refinery. (US$1=Rs51). The company, a joint venture between India’s Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Oman Oil Company, was set up largely to build a six-million...

(EnergyAsia, March 25, Wednesday) — The Chinese government wants private companies and refiners to join in the national effort to stockpile oil for emergency use. It is working with six independent refineries to use their combined 2.3 million tonnes of storage capacity to hold strategic oil stockpiles. The refiners have reduced operating rates in past...

(EnergyAsia, March 25, Wednesday) — The Kuwaiti government has cancelled a proposed US$15 billion refinery project after it ran into further opposition in parliament. Opposition politicians and government watchdogs have repeatedly said that the contract awards for the 615,000 b/d project violated the country’s regulations, with some critics alleging corruption. The project has been the...

(EnergyAsia, March 25, Wednesday) — ExxonMobil Chemical Company, the fully-owned subsidiary of the US oil major, said it has decided to build a technology centre in Shanghai city, China to provide product applications support for its growing business in Asia. Expected to start up next year, the new technology centre in the Shanghai Zizhu Science-based...

(EnergyAsia, March 25, Wednesday) — Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang toured the state-of-the-art SunFab Solar Module Reliability Testing facility of US-based Applied Materials in Xi’an city in Shaanxi province, China last week. He discussed with company executives the prospects for solar photovoltaic (PV) electricity in China, viewed the solar PV array at the campus, and...

(EnergyAsia, March 25, Wednesday) — China has completed filling up the first phase of its four strategic petroleum reserves (SPR) terminals as it took advantage of the recent sharp decline in oil prices. The reserves hold an estimated 100 million barrels of crude oil. In a second expansion phase, China is planning to lift its...

(EnergyAsia, March 24, Tuesday) — India’s privately held Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is bidding to take over Reliance Petroleum Ltd (RPL) to boost their competitiveness on the world oil market. As part of the deal, RIL is offering to pay Rs60 per share for Chevron’s 5% stake in RPL. (US$1 = Rs51). With RPL firmly...

(EnergyAsia, March 24, Tuesday) — China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) said it has received approval from the central government to build a large oil refinery in the southern province of Guangdong.   The proposed 10-million-ton-per-year refinery, CNPC’s first unit on China’s southeastern coast, will process heavy Venezuelan crude oil. The bulk of CNPC’s refining capacity...