(EnergyAsia, November 19, Thursday) — China’s second-largest refiner, PetroChina, has accelerated its oil storage tank building programme, adding 1.5 million cubic meters or about 9.5 million barrels of product capacity in the first nine months of this year. In the same period, the subsidiary of state-owned oil and gas giant CNPC also completed preliminary work...

(EnergyAsia, November 19, Thursday) — Finland’s Wartsila said it played a key role in building Nishat Power Ltd’s new 200MW power plant at Jambar Kalan in Pakistan’s District of Kasur. Wartsila said it was responsible for the plant’s engineering, procurement and project management, which included supplying 11 Wartsila 18V46 generating sets, each with a rated...

(EnergyAsia, November 19, Wednesday) — Leaders of the world’s main economies have dashed hopes for a climate deal to be reached at next month’s global summit of 192 countries in Copenhagen, Denmark. At last week’s Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Singapore, the US spoke for the world’s leading polluters when it said it would...

(EnergyAsia, November 18, Wednesday) — Saudi Aramco and Japan’s Sumitomo Chemical have completed the first phase of their joint petrochemical complex in the Red Sea port city of Rabigh. The partners upgraded and expanded Aramco’s existing Rabigh oil refinery. Aramco will supply the crude oil, ethane and butane feedstock, and will market the plant’s refined...

(EnergyAsia, November 18, Wednesday) — One of India’s worst oil disasters at an Indian Oil Corporation storage depot in Rajasthan state has caused the death of 12 people and injured at least 200 people. On October 29, a massive fire broke out at the Sitapura industrial area on the outskirts of Jaipur city, causing an...

(EnergyAsia, November 18, Wednesday) — Indian state-run firms have formed a special purpose vehicle to invest in overseas coal resources to meet the country’s rising demand for the fuel. Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal said that Coal India, Steel Authority of India, steel firm Rashtriya Ispan Nigam and National Mineral Development Corp have established International Coal...

(EnergyAsia, November 18, Wednesday) — Downstream oil company Longwei Petroleum Investment Holding Ltd said it has raised $14.8 million from a private placement to finance the construction of an oil depot facility in Gujiao City in China’s Shanxi province The Taiyuan, Shanxi-based company said it sold 13.5 million series A convertible preferred shares and warrants...

(EnergyAsia, November 18, Wednesday) — Singapore’s Sembcorp Marine said it achieved a record net profit of S$145 million for its third quarter with revenue surging 33% to S$1,520 million compared with the same period last year. (US$1=S$1.38). On a nine-month basis, its turnover was up 27% to S$4,382 million while operating profit rose 43% to...

(EnergyAsia, November 18, Wednesday) — Saudi Aramco and its joint venture partners, Fujian province, Sinopec and ExxonMobil, last week celebrated the full commercial operation of their integrated refining and ethylene joint venture project in Fujian province in China. The complex is China’s first integrated refining and petrochemical facility with foreign participation. The consortium has tripled...

(EnergyAsia, November 17, Tuesday) — The consortium developing Papua New Guinea’s natural gas reserves has signed a long-term contract to export two million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to China. The ExxonMobil-led PNG LNG group said it signed a heads of agreement with Unipec Asia Co Ltd, a subsidiary of China Petroleum & Chemical...

(EnergyAsia, November 17, Tuesday) — Oil prices are likely to stay supported despite fears of rising stockbuilds in crude and products around the world, said broking firm Newedge. Persistently strong oil prices, ironically, have attracted continued buying, aided by the growing belief that the world economy has bottomed out after last year’s crash and expectations...

(EnergyAsia, November 17, Tuesday) — BP and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) said they have signed a technical service contract with Iraq’s state-owned South Oil Company (SOC) to expand production from the Rumaila oilfield, near Basra in southern Iraq. The signing follows the partners’ successful bid for contract in Baghdad in June. The consortium led...

(EnergyAsia, November 17, Tuesday) — India’s state-owned power firm NTPC said it plans to develop five coal mines to provide up to 48 million tonnes of feedstock per year for captive use. The mines in Pakri-Barwadih, Kerandari, Chatti-Bariatu, Dulanga and Talaipalli were allotted to the company by the government which is increasingly concerned about rising...

(EnergyAsia, November 17, Tuesday) — Brazilian state oil and gas company Petrobras said it is studying the possibility of investing in a fertiliser plant in Saudi Arabia to produce ammonium nitrate. It will consider building a green petroleum coke calcining (CVP) unit in the kingdom to supply the Saudi aluminum industry. Petrobras made the announcement...

(EnergyAsia, November 17, Tuesday) — Qatargas Operating Company Ltd said it has signed separate memorandum of understanding (MoU) with two of China’s largest oil and gas companies, China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) and PetroChina International Company Ltd, for additional long-term supplies of liquefied natural gas to China. Qatargas will supply an additional three million...

(EnergyAsia, November 16, Monday) — Providing off-grid charging solutions such as solar phones or external solar chargers could offer mobile operators a US$2.3 billion market opportunity, said GSMA in a report, ‘Charging Choices’. Commissioned by GSMA’s green power for mobile (GPM) programme, the study estimated that 485 million mobile users around the world are without...

(EnergyAsia, November 16, Monday) — Clenergen Corp said it has secured long-term leases on plantation land parcels in the Tirunelveli district of India’s Tamilnadu state for cultivation of feedstock for a biomass plant. Clenergen said it has begun detailed survey on the first parcel of 850 acres before designing the irrigation system and commercial planting....

(EnergyAsia, November 16, Monday) — German oil storage group Oiltanking said it has begun building another 450,000 cbm of capacity at its joint venture company in Oman’s Sohar port. Oiltanking Odfjell Terminals & Co LLC awarded the engineering, procurement and construction contract to a consortium comprising Indian Oiltanking Engineering & Construction Services LLC and Larsen...

(EnergyAsia, November 16, Monday) — ExxonMobil said it and its partners, Sinopec, Fujian Province and Saudi Aramco, recently celebrated the completion and operation of China’s first integrated refining and petrochemical facility with foreign participation. They said the Fujian Integrated Refining and Ethylene Joint Venture Project, will help meet the region’s growing need for fuels and...

(EnergyAsia, November 16, Monday) — The following is an edited version of the Monetary Authority of Singapore annual lecture by Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). “We find ourselves at a pivotal moment in history. The last two years have revealed deep fissures in the global economic and financial framework, making...

(EnergyAsia, November 13, Friday) — A looming ban on exports of rare earth metals by the world’s biggest producer threatens to jeopardise the ambitious plans of governments and the auto industry to develop a global electric vehicle industry. A draft report by China’s Minstry of Industry and Information Technology suggests the government is planning to...

(EnergyAsia, November 13, Friday) — Singapore’s Economic Development Board said it has granted S$15 million for eight projects related to research and development of solar power technology. (US$1=S$1.38). One project will focus on tapping the 80% of solar energy that becomes heat to boil water, replacing electricity. Researchers are seeking to install a 10 kilowatt...

(EnergyAsia, November 13, Friday) — The International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) has warned that passenger ships sailing in EU territorial waters might be subject to three differing fuel sulphur limits from next July. The maximum allowable sulphur content of ship fuel in use in the Baltic and North Sea/English Channel emission control areas (ECAs) will...

(EnergyAsia, November 13, Friday) — CNPV said it is launching a new photovoltaic (PV) module series with power ranging from 190Wp to 200Wp made with high efficiency 125x125mm mono crystalline cells. CNPV said that, to date, it has shipped out 8MWp of these premium modules to key customers in Germany, France, Belgium and the Czech...