CHINA: Oil storage capacity expansion goes into overdrive

(EnergyAsia, August 24 2010, Tuesday) — China is accelerating plans to expand its oil storage capacity as it increases import to take advantage of declining oil prices and diversify out of the US dollar. According to the Xinhua news agency, China’s oil product storage capacity could rise by nearly 50% from last year to reach...

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AZERBAIJAN: Japan’s Itochu has acquired an additional interest in the ACG project

(EnergyAsia, August 24 2010, Tuesday) — Japanese trading house Itochu Corporation said its wholly owned subsidiary, Itochu Oil Exploration (Azerbaijan) Inc, has agreed to purchase an additional interest in the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) oil field development in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea. The 5.63% stake held by Devon Energy Caspian Corporation in the development...

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SINGAPORE: Island Power expects to start construction of LNG-fired power plant in 4th quarter

  (EnergyAsia, August 23 2010, Monday) — Island Power is expected to begin construction of its long-delayed S$1.2 billion 800MW combined cycle power plant on Jurong Island in the fourth quarter. The plant is scheduled to start up in 2013. India’s GMR Group, which bought over Island Power last year, is expected to finalise the...

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SINGAPORE: Panalpina launches dedicated logistics complex to serve the oil and gas industry

(EnergyAsia, August 23 2010, Monday) — One of the world’s leading suppliers of forwarding and logistics services, the Swiss-based Panalpina Group, last week inaugurated what it claims to be the world’s first logistics complex dedicated to the oil and gas industry. Operated by subsidiary Panalpina World Transport (Singapore) Pte Ltd, the S$15 million facility will...

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GHANA: “Oil curse” looms as people told to temper expectations from new found wealth

(EnergyAsia, August 23 2010, Monday) — Ghana could find itself under the “oil curse” if its people do not tamper their rising expectations when the new Jubilee offshore field starts production later this year. The country’s Justice & Human Rights Institute (JHRI) recently warned that competing groups are making it harder for Ghana to make...

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CHINA: Angola to stay as top oil supplier as Sinopec looks to develop proven field

(EnergyAsia, August 23 2010, Monday) — China’s second-largest oil and gas producer Sinopec is looking to develop its recently acquired deep-water oil assets in Angola, which has emerged as the Asian nation’s largest crude oil supplier in the first half of this year. Sinopec recently completed its 16.77-billion yuan acquisition of a 50% stake in...

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AFRICA: Economic growth expected to gain pace

(EnergyAsia, August 23 2010, Monday) — Africa is outpacing the rest of the world in climbing out of economic recession, thanks to reforms implemented in the 1990s, a flexible exchange rate, and growing trade with China. Africa’s economy is expected to grow 4.5% this year, 5.5% in 2011 and 6% in 2012, according to the...

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AUSTRALIA: Riversdale Mining raising A$337 million to develop Benga coal project in Mozambique

(EnergyAsia, August 23 2010, Monday) — Australia’s Riversdale Mining has launched an exercise to raise A$337 million at a fixed offer price of A$9.40 per share to pay for the accelerated development of Stages 2 and 3 of its Benga coal project in Mozambique. (US$1=A$1.1). The exercise comprises a A$102 million fully-underwritten institutional placement and...

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AUSTRALIA: Two new coal terminals for Port of Abbot Point in Queensland state

(EnergyAsia, August 23 2010, Monday) — BHP Billiton and Hancock Coal Pty Ltd have been awarded contracts to build two major coal terminals at the Port of Abbot Point in Australia’s Queensland state. North Queensland Bulk Ports Corporation (NQBP), which awarded the preferred developer status, said the two new terminals will be located adjacent to...

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AUSTRALIA: Chevron announces “significant” natural gas find in Carnarvon Basin

(EnergyAsia, August 23 2010, Monday) — US major Chevron Corp said it has made a “significant” natural gas discovery in the Carnarvon Basin off the coast of Western Australia. The Acme-1 exploration discovery well is located in the WA-205-P permit area approximately 150 km from Onslow. Drilled in 878 m of water to a depth...

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TAJIKISTAN: ADB provides US$122 million grant to bolster energy security, trade

(EnergyAsia, August 20 2010, Friday) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it is extending a US$122 million grant to expand and modernise Tajikistan’s electricity transmission system, which will help it boost energy trading with neighbouring countries to meet winter shortages. ADB said its board of directors have approved the assistance from its concessional Asian...

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INDIA: Platts to introduce world’s first daily thermal coal price assessments for local markets

(EnergyAsia, August 20 2010, Friday) — Platts, one of the world’s foremost providers of energy and metals information, said that it is expanding its suite of thermal coal price assessments to include a daily spot value for thermal coal destined for the Indian marketplace from September 1. Thermal coal is used to generate electricity. The...

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MARKET: Gulf of Mexico oil disaster prompts insurers to reassess underwriting cost

(EnergyAsia, August 20 2010, Friday) — BP’s oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, now deemed the worst environmental disaster in North America, will sharply raise the cost of insurance for offshore activities, which could force companies to self-insure or abandon deepwater drilling and exploration. Since the sinking of the Transocean Deepwater Horizon rig on...

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CANADA: Alberta’s 2009 oil sands production up 14%

(EnergyAsia, August 20 2010, Friday) — Oil sands production from Canada’s Alberta province rose 14% to 1.49 million b/d last year while conventional oil production fell 8.6% to 461,300 b/d. The province’s oil sands output was boosted by increased mine operations of established players like Suncor Energy Inc and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. This was...

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AUSTRALIA: Snowy Hydro starts up small hydro power station

(EnergyAsia, August 20 2010, Friday) — Australia’s Snowy Hydro recently started up its A$30 million small hydro power station which has the capacity to produce 55,000 MWh of electricity a year. (US$1=A$1.1). The Jounama hydro station in New South Wales state is linked to the local 66-kilovolt transmission network to supply power to more than...

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ASIA: Region may account for a quarter of global solar energy capacity in five years

(EnergyAsia, August 20 2010, Friday) — Asia may account for a fourth of the global solar energy capacity in five years, overtaking the US, according to the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA). The EPIA forecasts the region’s solar market to grow nearly nine times to 7,500 megawatts by 2014. Last year, its biggest solar markets...

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ASIA: Clean Coal Technologies Inc signs strategic consulting agreement with consultant

(EnergyAsia, August 20 2010, Friday) — Clean Coal Technologies Inc, a Florida, US-based a clean energy technology company, said it has signed a consulting agreement with MMB Global Advisors (MMB). MMB will provide various strategic consulting services, including redefining CCTI’s global corporate structure, and re-aligning the company to attract key personnel while facilitating the development...

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GHANA: US oil firm Anadarko and partners make ‘significant’ offshore oil discovery

(EnergyAsia, August 19 2010, Thursday) — US upstream company Anadarko Petroleum Corporation said it and its joint venture partners have made “another significant discovery” of light crude oil at the Owo prospect in the deepwater Tano block off the coast of Ghana. The company said it encountered approximately 174 net feet of high-quality oil pay...

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SOLAR: Global market set to continue growth in 2011, says consulting firm iSuppli Corp

(EnergyAsia, August 19 2010, Thursday) — The global photovoltaic (PV) market will continue to expand next year as falling prices make solar energy more attractive, more than offsetting the negative impact from governments reducing incentives and subsidies for PV installations, according to US consulting firm iSuppli Corp. The firm predicts global PV system installations to...

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PHILIPPINES: Norway’s SN Power to expand hydropower investments

(EnergyAsia, August 19 2010, Thursday) — Norwegian firm SN Power is eyeing expansion opportunities in the Philippines with the Aboitiz group, a partner in existing hydropower projects. Their joint venture firm, SN Aboitiz Power Inc. (SNAP), has already invested US$1.2 billion in various projects including the 360-megawatt Magat and 175-MW Ambuklao-Binga hydropower facilities, said SN...

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SINGAPORE: Jurong Aromatics’s latest delay to push start-up to 2014

(EnergyAsia, August 19 2010, Thursday) — Jurong Aromatics Corp (JAC) has again delayed the start-up of its proposed aromatics complex in Singapore as the company struggles to raise financing for the troubled US$2 billion project. The Jurong Island project, which has a large number of shareholders, will now likely start up in the first quarter...

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MARKETS: Shrinking production capacity to exacerbate oil price swings

(EnergyAsia, August 19 2010, Thursday) — OPEC’s shrinking spare production capacity, the focus of increasing global concern, could exacerbate oil price swings in the coming years. Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ 12 members are under growing pressure to raise production to meet record global demand as a result of growth in China and India, and...

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RUSSIA: Uphill struggle to win global LNG market share

(EnergyAsia, August 19 2010, Thursday) — Despite its intense recent efforts, analysts said Russia is likely to fall behind in the race to supply the world’s natural gas market, in particular Asia’s, due to lengthy delays in the start-up of Gazprom’s projects in the Arctic Ocean and Sakhalin while rivals in the Middle East, Norway,...

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CHINA: WRI and ERI helping Shanghai industrial facilities scale up energy efficiency

(EnergyAsia, August 19 2010, Thursday) — The World Resources Institute (WRI) said that it and the Energy Research Institute at Shanghai Jiao Tong University have launched a joint initiative to help industrial facilities in China’s Shanghai city become more energy efficient. The project, if successful, could reduce energy emissions by 60,000 tons per year and...

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TANKERS: World LPG fleet nearing 1,100-vessel mark

(EnergyAsia, August 18 2010, Wednesday) — The world now has 1,092 liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) vessels with another 166 ships on the orderbook awaiting construction, according to LPG World Shipping journal. “Although the LPG fleet, like all sectors of shipping, has been impacted by the economic recession, contracts for new gas carriers have begun to...

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