PHILIPPINES: Trans-Asia to set up 270-mw coal-fired power plant in Batangas

(EnergyAsia, July 22 2010, Thursday)— Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp, the power arm of Philippine Investment Management  Inc, plans to put up a 270-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Batangas province. The additional capacity to be installed in an area south of Manila city will augment Luzon island’s power generating capacity over the next two...

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MALAYSIA: Power shortages in five years’ time, warns Tenaga CEO

(EnergyAsia, July 22 2010, Thursday) — Malaysia may face power shortages within five years unless it builds power plants from early next year, warned power generation company Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) CEO Che Khalib Mohamad Noh. The country last faced massive power shortfalls in 1991. Malaysia’s new five-year infrastructure plan forecasts the country’s power demand...

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KYRGYZSTAN: Uzbeks threatened to blow up major oil depot

(EnergyAsia, July 22 2010, Thursday) — Some ethnic Uzbeks escaped troubled Kyrgyzstan last month after they had seized control of the largest oil depot in the southern part of the country and threatened to blow it up. Demanding the Kyrgyz government let them leave safely, the Uzbeks sought the protection of Russian or international forces...

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CHINA: Primary energy demand seen rising by more than 30% by 2015

(EnergyAsia, July 22 2010, Thursday) — China’s primary energy demand will increase to 4.2 billion tonnes of standard coal in 2015 from more than 3 billion tonnes in 2009, according to the General Office of the State Administration of Work Safety. Out of that demand, 3.8 billion tonnes will have to be met by coal...

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CHINA: State-owned companies in talks to acquire BP assets

 (EnergyAsia, July 22 2010, Thursday) — China’s state-owned companies and Western majors are eyeing bits or all of BP, which is desperately looking to raise funds to pay for damages brought on by the Gulf of Mexico oil leak disaster. State-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) is in talks with BP about acquiring its...

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SAUDI ARABIA: King orders halt to new oil field development “for future generations”

(EnergyAsia, July 21 2010, Wednesday) — Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has halted all work to explore and develop new oil fields, citing the need to save the wealth for future generations, according to a report by the official Saudi Gazette. His message delivered in a recent speech to a group of Saudi students returning from...

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INDONESIA: Bayan lowered 2010 coal output forecast, Bumi expects to beat forecast

(EnergyAsia, July 21 2010, Wednesday) — Two Indonesian coal miners recently provided contrasting forecasts for their 2010 production. PT Bayan Resources has lowered its 2010 production forecast to 13 to 13.5 million tonnes, while the country’s largest coal miner Bumi Resources expects to exceed its earlier forecast to produce 67 million tonnes. Bayan said events...

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CHINA: DME advocates Oman futures as solution for East of Suez price risk

(EnergyAsia, July 21 2010, Wednesday) — Dubai Mercantile Exchange Ltd’s (DME) chief executive, Thomas Leaver, is stepping up his message that the exchange’s Oman Crude Oil Futures Contract (DME Oman) is the most credible and transparent pricing benchmark for East of Suez crude oil markets. He made this call in a speech to oil industry...

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CHINA: Sinopec to raise refinery output by 10% this year, starts up fuel oil team

(EnergyAsia, July 21 2010, Wednesday) — Sinopec Corp, Asia’s largest oil refiner, has announced plans to increase its products output by 10% this year as well as raise its fuel oil and bunker sales. The company said its refinery output could reach a record 250 million tonnes this year, after several consecutive years of 10%...

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MARKETS: China, India demand and rising mining costs to buoy thermal coal prices, says Merrill Lynch

(EnergyAsia, July 21 2010, Wednesday) — The thermal coal market will remain strong over the next few years on a combination of rising global demand, supply bottlenecks and cost inflation affecting the mining sector, according to a recent analysis by Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The bank concluded that rising demand from India and China...

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CLIMATE CHANGE: Earth to experience hottest year on record

(EnergyAsia, July 21 2010, Wednesday) — The planet is on course to experience its hottest year since record-keeping began in 1880, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). So far this year, the average temperature is holding around 0.7 degree Celsius above the 20th-century average. Earth experienced its hottest April on record...

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INDONESIA: Law suit could affect Berau Coal’s IPO plans

(EnergyAsia, July 21 2010, Wednesday) — An ownership lawsuit recently filed by British Virgin Islands-based Montelena Capital could upset the planned initial public offering of shares by Indonesia’s fifth largest coal producer, PT Berau Coal. In a May 18 writ filed with the Singapore High Court, Montelena alleged that Armadian Tritunggal, the Indonesian firm which...

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ASIA: Start-up of major projects to strain global supply of skills and equipment, warns UK industry

(EnergyAsia, July 21 2010, Wednesday) — UK oil, gas and engineering firms must move quickly to take advantage of major opportunities emerging from the launch and start-up of large oil and gas projects in the Asia Pacific region, said Subsea UK. “With 10 massive projects in the Australian North West Shelf, amounting to around US$130...

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MARKETS: Gulf of Mexico most productive oil region in world, says BP

(EnergyAsia, July 20 2010, Tuesday) — More new oil was produced in the Gulf of Mexico in 2009 than in any other region in the world, said beleaguered BP as it attempted to persuade the US government not to impose a ban on deepwater drilling. The world needs to tap deepwater reserves for fresh oil...

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MARKETS: Norway imposes deepwater oil drilling moratorium

(EnergyAsia, July 20 2010, Tuesday) — Norway has imposed a moratorium on new deepwater oil drilling in the North Sea, taking its cue from the US government, which banned deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico following a massive oil spill from a well by British oil giant BP. Terje Riis-Johanse, Norway’s oil minister, said...

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SINGAPORE: Government counter environmental study’s critical findings

(EnergyAsia, July 20 2010, Tuesday) — The Singapore government is still smarting from the conclusion of a study ranking the affluent country as one of the world’s worst environmental offenders. The joint study by the National University of Singapore and the University of Adelaide had ranked Singapore, with Japan, Denmark, New Zealand and Iceland, among...

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INDONESIA: Report says coal output could be reduced by moves to curb greenhouse gas emissions

(EnergyAsia, July 20 2010, Tuesday) — Indonesian coal production could be reduced in the near term as a result of a government directive to curb open pit mining, according to a new report by Companies and Markets. “In a bid to achieve a 26% carbon emissions cut, the government may wind down open pit coal...

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MARKETS: The role of deepwater production in the world’s oil supply

(EnergyAsia, July 20 2010, Tuesday) —The April 20 blowout in the US Gulf of Mexico (GOM) has introduced a new dimension of uncertainty to the offshore oil and gas sector, said a US-based energy consultant. While it is too soon to know the ultimate impact of the blowout and subsequent spill, IHS CERA has provided...

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INDONESIA: Environmental rules are coal industry’s biggest issue, says mining group

(EnergyAsia, July 20 2010, Tuesday) — Indonesia’s coal miners are clearly not happy with the country’s new environmental laws and view them as a threat to their operations and profitability. Under pressure from local and international green groups, Indonesia recently imposed a moratorium on deforestation, passed a new environmental law and begun classification of areas...

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MARKETS: Global LNG short-term, spot trade dropped in 2009

(EnergyAsia, July 20 2010, Tuesday) — Sluggish demand caused by weak economic growth last year caused a decline in last year’s world trade in short-term and spot contracts of liquefied natural gas (LNG), said the International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers. It reported that trade fell by seven cargoes to 491 cargoes (for a...

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SINGAPORE: IBIA certifies first bunker cargo officer course graduates

(EnergyAsia, July 20 2010, Tuesday) — The International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA), the 600-member worldwide bunkering confederation with consultative status at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), said it concluded its inaugural Bunker Cargo Officer Course in Singapore. The association awarded certificates of competency to its first batch of graduates, Chen Chao, Mohamed Riszuan and Shahrizal (more…)

SINGAPORE: Infineum starts construction of salicylate manufacturing plant on Jurong Island

(EnergyAsia, July 19 2010, Monday) — Oil additive producer Infineum Singapore Pte Ltd said it has started work on building a grass roots salicylate manufacturing plant on Jurong Island. The initial project work will include the completion of front end engineering and design by early 2011. The construction phase is scheduled for 2012-13, with commissioning...

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MARKETS: Consultant says refinery and petrochemical construction costs are still rising

(EnergyAsia, July 19 2010, Monday) –The costs for designing and constructing downstream refining and petrochemical projects rose 1.5% from the third quarter of 2009 to the first quarter of 2010, according to US consultant IHS CERA. Its Downstream Capital Costs Index (DCCI) showed the second straight increase since prices bottomed out at 9% below peak...

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CHINA: Wood Mackenzie predicts new refinery investments will not meet fuel needs over next decade

(EnergyAsia, July 19 2010, Monday) — China is unlikely to meet its hugely increased demand for oil products in the coming decade despite accelerating the construction of new refining capacity, said international energy and metals consultancy Wood Mackenzie. In a recent study, “Will China become self-sufficient in oil products?” analysing the challenges facing the world’s...

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VIETNAM: State firm says country to remain net coal exporter through 2015

(EnergyAsia, July 19 2010, Monday) — Vietnam is likely to remain a net coal exporter through 2015 because of delays to construction of numerous coal-fired power plants, said Dinh Quang Trung, general manager of state-owned Vietnam National Coal Mineral Industries Group. He said the lack of funding and investor confidence as a result of the...

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