(EnergyAsia, March 31 2010, Wednesday) — Japan’s Panasonic Corporation recently completed the development of two new 18650-type (18 mm in diameter, 65 mm in height) high-capacity lithium-ion battery cells for use in laptop computers and environmentally-friendly energy technologies. The said it company boosted the capacity of 18650-type battery cells by improving electrode materials. The newly-developed...
INDONESIA: Argus says its ethanol pricing will be used in domestic formula
(EnergyAsia, March 31 2010, Wednesday) — Indonesia has indicated that it will use Argus prices in its domestic pricing formulas for ethanol and palm-based biodiesel, the UK energy media group has said. Indonesia aims to boost the use of the two biofuels from the limited uptake achieved so far under its two-year-old blending mandate. Argus...
MARKETS: Global deepwater expenditure to reach $167 billion between 2010 and 201
(EnergyAsia, March 31 2010, Tuesday) — Worldwide expenditure within the deepwater sector will total $167 billion between 2010 and 2014 for a 37% increase on the five preceding years, said upstream consultant Douglas-Westwood in a new research report. According to the ‘World Deepwater Market Report 2010-2014’, sector activity will largely remain within the, ‘golden triangle’ (more…)
CHINA: PetroChina strikes gasoil, jet fuel deals with Asian refiners
(EnergyAsia, March 31 2010, Wednesday) — PetroChina Co, the nation’s largest oil producer, has agreed to buy middle distillates from Asian refineries in line with its ambitions to become a major international trading player. The Chinese firm recently signed contracts to lift as much as 5.4 million barrels of gasoil and up to 9.6 million...
SINGAPORE: Trayport completes J-Oil Exchange’s new rack fix, float and swap contracts capability
(EnergyAsia, March 31 2010, Wednesday) — UK-based electronic trading systems specialists Trayport Exchange Systems said it has added new oil contracts for rack fix, float and swap to the J-Oil Exchange (JOX). Trayport has worked with JOX since 2007, supplying the bourse with its flagship product, the GlobalVision Exchange Trading System. The added contracts have...
CHINA: CSR-ZELRI orders $10 million worth of core wind turbine components from AMSC
(EnergyAsia, March 31 2010, Wednesday) — American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC), a NASDAQ-listed global power technologies company, said it has secured a $10 million order for wind turbine core electrical components from China’s CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Research Institute Co Ltd (CSR-ZELRI). This latest core component order is the fifth that CSR-ZELRI has booked with Massachusetts,...
SINGAPORE: Navy, shippers warn of terror threat on oil and gas tankers at Malacca Strait
(EnergyAsia, March 30 2010, Tuesday) — The Republic of Singapore Navy and Police Coast guard have warned of possible attacks on tankers at the Malacca Strait, raising concern of oil and gas supply disruptions to the economies of East Asia. The busy passageway handles more than 70% of the region’s oil supplies, as well as...
SINGAPORE: Shell starts up 800,000 tonne/year ethylene cracker
(EnergyAsia, March 30 2010, Tuesday) — Royal Dutch Shell said it successfully started up a new ethylene cracker at its Shell Eastern Petrochemicals Complex (SEPC) project in Singapore on March 22. The 100% Shell-owned plant has the capacity to produce of 800,000 tonnes of ethylene per year and 230,000 tonnes of benzene. These olefins and...
MARKETS: Oil companies consider permanently shuttering refineries in the US, Europe
(EnergyAsia, March 30 2010, Tuesday) — Oil companies are considering permanently closing down their refineries in the US and Europe in a desperate move to reduce excess capacity and improve profit margins. Chevron Corp is selling its Wales refinery and is considering what to do with one in Hawaii. It is also overhauling its fuel-making...
RUSSIA: Gazprom forced to look east to sell natural gas, says consultant (EnergyAsia, March 30 2010
(EnergyAsia, March 30 2010, Tuesday) – Russia will look increasingly to sell its natural gas to Asia as it faces “an extremely challenging” environment in the short-to-medium term, with both prices and market share coming under pressure, said UK consultant Wood Mackenzie. In a study of the future outlook for Russian gas, Wood Mackenzie said...
CHINA: Shell and CNPC to jointly develop and produce natural gas in Sichuan
(EnergyAsia, March 30 2010, Tuesday) — China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Royal Dutch Shell plc have announced plans to jointly develop and produce natural gas in China’s Sichuan basin. The companies have submitted a production sharing contract to the Chinese central government for approval. Under the 30-year contract, Shell and CNPC would appraise and...
COMPANY: ExxonMobil Corp more than replaced 2009 production
(EnergyAsia, March 30 2010, Tuesday) — US major Exxon Mobil Corp said that additions to its proved reserves in 2009 totalled two billion oil-equivalent barrels (boe), replacing 133% of production. Excluding the impact of asset sales, reserves additions replaced 134% of production, a development that could help dampen concerns that the largest US oil and...
CHINA: US power company AES completes 15% stake sale to China Investment Corp for US$1.58 billion
(EnergyAsia, March 30 2010, Tuesday) — US power company AES Corp said it has successfully closed a 15% equity sale worth US$1.58 billion to a wholly owned investment subsidiary of the China Investment Corporation (CIC). The deal, first announced last November 6, involved CIC acquiring 125.5 million shares of AES stock for $12.60 per share....
MARKETS: Crude oil still stuck at $80; natural gas falls below $4 for week ending March 26
(EnergyAsia, March 29 2010, Monday) — This article was written By Darrell Delamaide for www.Oilprice.com. Crude oil prices still found stubborn resistance above the $80-a-barrel level amid concerns about demand while natural gas continued its decline, to below $4 per million British thermal units, as burgeoning supply from unconventional sources depressed prices. The natural gas (more…)
VIETNAM: PetroVietnam unit to build underground fuel storage in Quang Ngai province
(EnergyAsia, March 29 2010, Monday) — A subsidiary of state PetroVietnam has been awarded a licence to build and operate a 600,000-cubic metre underground fuel storage terminal in Vietnam’s south central province of Quang Ngai. The province located on the coast of South China Sea is home to the country’s first oil refinery on the...
SINGAPORE: Gazprom unit aims to trade two million tonnes of LNG a year, derivatives and physical oil
(EnergyAsia, March 29 2010, Monday) — Gazprom Marketing & Trading (GM&T), a unit of the Russian gas giant, will aim to trade up to two million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) a year through its new Asia Pacific regional head office in Singapore. Speaking to EnergyAsia, Arthur Tait, managing director of Gazprom Marketing and...
IRAQ: Large current account and budget deficits expected in 2010-11, says IMF
(EnergyAsia, March 29 2010, Monday) — Iraq’s current account and government budget have shifted into large deficits in 2009, and, based on conservative oil price assumptions are expected to remain in deficit in 2010–11, said the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In an update on the country, the IMF said falling oil prices from the peak...
MARKETS: Traders reduce oil products stored in floating storage
(EnergyAsia, March 29 2010, Monday) — The volume of oil products in floating storage has dropped by 12 million barrels to 74 million at the end of February from the month before, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The Paris-based organisation also noted that crude oil held at sea declined by seven million barrels...
MARKETS: CFTC eyes closer look at oil storage at sea
(EnergyAsia, March 29 2010, Monday) — The US Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is taking a closer look at traders storing oil at sea to determine their impact on prices and if they could be a source of supply disruption and exaggerated volatility. The CTFC is concerned that this growing trend among traders to charter...
INDIA: IOC expects depot in Jharsuguda to be ready by end 2012
(EnergyAsia, March 29 2010, Monday) — State-run Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOC) expects to start up its planned Rs1-billion storage depot in Jharsuguda by the end of 2012. The local government has set aside 38 acres of land to IOC for the depot, which will have the capacity to hold 60 million litres of fuel,...
AZERBAIJAN: SOCAR, AIC and Singapore’s Keppel to jointly build and operate new shipyard
(EnergyAsia, March 29 2010, Monday) — Singapore’s Keppel Offshore & Marine Limited has teamed up with State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) and Azerbaijan Investment Company (AIC) to develop and manage a new 52-hectare shipbuilding and shiprepair facility in Baku city in Azerbaijan. The new SOCAR-Keppel Shipyard will be developed over a period of...
MARKETS: ESAI predicts reduced oil supply cushion after 2020, CGES says world demand back to 2007 le
(EnergyAsia, March 26 2010, Friday)— Two energy consultancies have issued reports predicting rising world oil demand in the years ahead, leading to the possibility of higher prices. US energy consultancy ESAI has released its long-term oil market outlook, advising its clients that the world will face higher prices from a significant decline in the supply...
CHINA: Oil Demand soars to record 8.5 million b/d in February, says Platts
(EnergyAsia, March 26 2010, Friday) — China’s apparent oil demand in February jumped 16.6% from a year ago to a historic high of around 8.5 million b/d or about 33.28 million tonnes, according to a Platts analysis of official data just released. February marked the sixth straight month the world’s second largest oil consumer posted...
THAILAND: PTT to rent out excess LNG storage capacity
(EnergyAsia, March 26 2010, Friday) — PTT, Thailand’s top energy firm, is seeking to rent out four million tonnes of excess capacity at its liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal to foreign companies. PTT vice president Termchai Boonnak said the company is in talks to rent out the country’s first LNG terminal to companies from China,...
AUSTRALIA: Law firm Herbert Smith advised CNOOC on LNG deal with BG Group and project in Queensland
(EnergyAsia, March 26 2010, Friday) — Law firm Herbert Smith said it advised China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) on two major liquefied natural gas (LNG) transactions in Australia. The state-owned Chinese firm recently announced that it had signed agreements to purchase 3.6 million tonnes of LNG year from the UK’s BG Group for 20...