(EnergyAsia, September 28, Monday) — A worldwide surplus in liquefied natural gas (LNG) production will grow bigger next year and may peak in 2011, according to an analyst at Scotland’s Wood Mackenzie Consultants Ltd.     Frank Harris, global head of LNG at the Edinburgh-based consultancy, expects LNG producers to earn smaller margins amid low demand...

(EnergyAsia, September 28, Monday) — South Korean state-owned oil firm Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) has won a suit seeking the restoration of two offshore oil prospecting licences granted in 2005 in oil-rich Nigeria. The licences had been revoked in January by the government on the ground that KNOC had not fully paid its pledged...

(EnergyAsia, September 28, Monday) — Finland’s Wartsila Corporation said its scrubber technology to reduce sulphur oxides in engines has been awarded the Sulphur Emission Control Area (SECA) Compliance Certificate by classification societies Det Norske Veritas and Germanischer Lloyd. Wartsila said its marine scrubbers, which clean exhaust gases of sulphuric oxides (SOx), are the first to...

(EnergyAsia, September 28, Monday) — The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has awarded a local company, Ecospec Global Technology Pte Ltd, S$2 million as co-funding to test-bed technology that reduces greenhouse gas and exhaust pollutants from ship emissions. (US$1=S$1.41). Pending International Maritime Organisation (IMO) approval, Ecospec said its CSNOx system could boost global...

(EnergyAsia, September 28, Monday) — Sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp (CIC) will pay $850 million for a 15% stake in Singapore-listed commodities trader and supplier Noble Group. CIC has agreed to pay S$2.1137, or 8.1% less than the price prior to trading suspension last week, for 438 million new shares and 135 million shares...

(EnergyAsia, September 28, Monday) — China has begun work on the second and third phases of its ambitious oil stockpiling programme to eventually raise the official crude oil reserves level to at least 90 days of consumption over the next few years. Having completed the first phase of more than 100 million barrels early this...

(EnergyAsia, September 28, Monday) — A company owned by China’s state defence conglomerate Norinco has started up a new 100,000-b/d oil refinery in Liaoning province. Zhenhua Oil’s first refinery will depend entirely on imports for its crude feedstock. The company has also started operating a 650,000-tonne-per-year ethylene cracker in the province through a local subsidiary....

(EnergyAsia, September 25, Friday) — Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL), a refining subsidiary of Indian Oil Corp, said it will invest in a 8.5-billion rupee single point mooring and offshore facilities to support the import of crude oil off Ennore port. (US$1=48 rupee). The facilities will enable CPCL to handle very large crude carriers to...

(EnergyAsia, September 25, Friday) — Taiwan’s most senior oil executive has been appointed the economics minister as the government struggles to reverse a slumping economy and contain the political fallout of a deadly storm that killed hundreds of people last month. Shih Yen-shiang, chairman of state oil firm CPC, has taken over from Yiin Chii-ming...

(EnergyAsia, September 25, Friday) — Developing countries can shift to lower-carbon paths while promoting development and reducing poverty, but this depends on financial and technical assistance from high-income countries, said a new World Bank report. High-income countries also need to act quickly to reduce their carbon footprints and boost development of alternative energy sources to...

(EnergyAsia, September 25, Friday) — The first phase of the Langsat oil storage terminal in Malaysia’s Johor state has started operations, said MISC Berhad, one of the project’s key backers. Langsat Terminal (One) Sdn Bhd, a joint venture company between Malaysia’s MISC and Dialog Group Berhad, and Puma Energy Asia Pacific BV, a subsidiary of...

(EnergyAsia, September 25, Friday) — Singapore’s Mirach Energy said its wholly-owned subsidiary has signed an agreement with Indonesia’s national oil company, PT Pertamina EP, for the rights to operate on a contract area known as the Wiriagar area. The 15-year agreement was signed through Indonesia’s Petroenergy Utama Wiriagar, an equal joint venture between Mirach and...

(EnergyAsia, September 25, Friday) — Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) has begun building a 2.24-billion-rupee oil terminal at Ennore as part of a plan to shift work from an ageing facility in Tondiarpet in north Chennai. (US$1=48 rupee). The 75-year-old terminal is located in an increasingly congested area, posing safety, environmental and health risks to...

(EnergyAsia, September 25, Friday) — Dubai’s Port of Fujairah has awarded a multi-million-dollar construction contract to Nico International, a subsidiary of local ship building firm Topaz Engineering. Under the 10-month project, Nico will develop facilities at the port’s Oil Terminal 2 as well as build additional berthing capacity to handle the region’s growing oil products...

(EnergyAsia, September 25, Friday) — Hong Kong-listed bunkering and storage company Brightoil Petroleum (Holdings) Limited, said its profit for the year to June 30 2009 surged more than 4.1 times to HK$263.4 million compared with the previous year. Its revenue jumped sharply from HK$41.2 million in FY2008 to nearly HK$5.455 billion. (US$1=HK$7.75). The company said...

(EnergyAsia, September 24, Thursday) — Azerbaijan’s state oil company (SOCAR) is in talks to store some of its crude oil in South Korea. SOCAR is interested to use South Korea’s 22-million-ton terminal to store, trade and distribute crude in East Asia to reduce its dependence on markets in Europe and Central Asia. Azerbaijan, which produces...

(EnergyAsia, September 24, Thursday) — Keppel FELS Limited, a a subsidiary of Singapore’s Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd, said it is on track to deliver Gold Star, the first of two DSSTM 38 deepwater rigs to Brazilian operator Queiroz Galvão Óleo e Gás (QGOG) later this year. Progressing on time and within budget, Keppel FELS...

(EnergyAsia, September 24, Thursday) — Banks in developing countries are showing keener interest in climate issues, with two-thirds recognising business risks posed by climate change. A recent survey of 154 financial institutions by Germany’s DEG found that many have begun to consider climate-related opportunities and risks in their decision-making, but there is still much room...

(EnergyAsia, September 24, Thursday) — Caltex Australia Limited has warned that its second-half outlook may not be as rosy after reporting a 52% surge in its first half after-tax profit to A$298 million compared with A$196 million for the same period last year. (US$1=A$1.15). The first-half performance includes after-tax gains from product and crude oil...

(EnergyAsia, September 24, Thursday) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Japanese government have announced funding for a pilot project in Mongolia which is expected to pave the way for the delivery of low-cost, reliable electricity to poor, remote communities across the country. The Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, financed by Japan and administered...

(EnergyAsia, September 24, Thursday) — International commodities trader Trafigura Beheer BV last month signed a contract with South Korea’s SK Chemicals Co Ltd for the sale and purchase of 60,000 metric tonnes of palm methyl esther (PME). Trafigura will be taking delivery of the total shipment from SK Chemical’s plant in Ulsan city in 12...

(EnergyAsia, September 24, Thursday) — AP Moeller-Maersk, the Danish owner of leading international container shipper Maersk Line, will use proceeds of an ongoing 9.2 billion kroner share sale to finance acquisitions in the upstream oil and storage terminal businesses. (US$1 =5.06 kroner). Oil terminals around the world are fully booked, forcing many traders to lease...

(EnergyAsia, September 24, Thursday) — The Chinese government is mounting a direct challenge to Wall Street by telling state firms to renege on oil derivative contracts that reportedly have resulted in trading losses worth billions of dollars. In a statement, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) of the State Council said it would...

(EnergyAsia, September 23, Wednesday) — CNPC, China’s largest oil and gas producer, plans to build new tanks and expand existing ones to add three million cubic metres of oil product storage capacity. CNPC has mapped out the construction of 13 tanks along the Lanzhou-Zenghzhou-Changsha oil product pipeline and another 12 tanks in various places including...

(EnergyAsia, September 23, Wednesday) — Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has delivered on his promise for early production licences and retention leases for a proposed A$50 billion joint venture LNG development in Western Australia’s offshore greater Gorgon gas region. (US$1=A$1.15). Three of the Western world’s majors, Chevron, ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell, have responded by...