(EnergyAsia, August 18 2010, Wednesday) — Foster Wheeler AG said a subsidiary of its global power group has been awarded a contract by Daewoo Engineering Company to design and supply two coal-fired circulating fluidised-bed (CFB) steam generators to Indonesia’s PT Merak Energi. Located in Banten Province on the western part of Java Island in Indonesia,...

(EnergyAsia, August 18 2010, Wednesday) — The US Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) has forecast global oil supply to grow by a mere 0.6% per year between 2011 and 2020. The forecast, contained in the recently released International Energy Outlook 2010, stands in sharp contrast to a forecast in 2007 when EIA said oil...

(EnergyAsia, August 18 2010, Wednesday) — Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Malaysia’s largest power company, is expected to bid for a RM7-billion government contract to upgrade the country’s power plants to help meet rising electricity demand. (US$1=RM3.22). It will face competition for the project from rivals MMC Corp, Malaysia’s second-biggest generator, and independent power company Jimah Energy...

(EnergyAsia, August 18 2010, Wednesday) — A government minister has warned that unless Malaysia could face a debt crisis similar to Greece’s unless it cuts price subsidies for fuel, food, electricity and other staples. Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Idris Jala, who had earlier warned the economy was far too dependent on its depleting...

(EnergyAsia, August 18 2010, Wednesday) — As part of a national plan to avert a potential power supply shortage, Malaysia’s MMC Corp said it may invest as much as US$1.2 billion to expand its coal-fired power plant. Malaysia is under threat of brownouts following warnings from the government that the Bakun hydroelectric dam on Borneo...

(EnergyAsia, August 18 2010, Wednesday) — The Indian government has approved the sale of a 10% stake in state-owned Coal India Ltd as part of its efforts to raise revenues for infrastructure projects. The sale of the government’s stake in Coal India will be attempted through an initial public offering or backdoor listing. There are...

(EnergyAsia, August 17 2010, Tuesday) — Into its fourth year of operations, the Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) said it has achieved several trading records for its flagship Dubai Oman crude oil contracts. The exchange’s total open interest in the contract reached a record of 20,160 contracts while open interest held by market participants has exceeded...

(EnergyAsia, August 17 2010, Tuesday)—Complete energy self-sufficiency is beyond the reach of Singapore, said founding father Lee Kuan Yew, citing the city state’s lack of natural resources. Singapore imports natural gas from Indonesia to generate 80% of its electricity. But plans by Indonesia and other suppliers in the region to raise prices have prompted the...

(EnergyAsia, August 17 2010, Tuesday) — Saudi Arabia’s oil export capacity will begin to wane in the coming years because of an increase in domestic demand and a drop in spare production capacity, according to national oil company Saudi Aramco’s CEO. If Saudi Arabia does not improve its energy efficiency, its surplus capacity for export...

(EnergyAsia, August 17 2010, Tuesday) — The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) has forecast higher oil prices to boost OPEC’s oil export revenue by 31.7% this year to US$752 billion, and by a further 9.2% to a new high US$821 billion in 2011. The cartel’s export revenues reached US$276 billion for the first seven months...

(EnergyAsia, August 17 2010, Tuesday) — PetroChina plans to start up operations of a 200,000 b/d refinery in southwestern Guanxi province next month. The company is working to expand the navigation channel and an oil terminal for the refinery in Qinzhou, which will process crude from Sudan. Earlier, PetroChina launched a 1.2-million cubic metre terminal...

(EnergyAsia, August 17 2010, Tuesday) — The International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA), the trade association for the global bunker industry, will be highlighting a debate on greenhouse gases at its seventh annual convention in Stamford city in the US state of Connecticut on September 20-24 2010. Two key speakers will be presenting their views to...

(EnergyAsia, August 17 2010, Tuesday) — Notwithstanding global concerns about carbon emissions, the coal business offers strong long-term returns on capital as a result of the boom in demand in Asia and fears of reserves depletion. In India, 31 of the 81 power plants monitored by the country’s Central Electricity Authority are facing ‘critical’ shortages...

(EnergyAsia, August 16 2010, Monday) — Abu Dhabi’s state investment agency, Mubadala Development Co, has expressed interest in buying BP Plc’s assets, although no direct discussions have taken place. BP’s outgoing CEO, Tony Hayward, has also expressed a desire for Abu Dhabi to acquire a 10% stake in the UK oil major. BP has promised...

(EnergyAsia, August 16 2010, Monday) – Thai coal importer Asia Green Energy Plc (AGE) is looking to switch to exporting coal to China, which is facing a growing shortage of the product. Managing director Panom Kuansataporn said the company expects to start exporting 30,000 and 40,000 tons of coal per month to China later this...

(EnergyAsia, August 16 2010 Monday) — The Shaw Group Inc, a US-based engineering company, said it, Japan’s Toshiba Corporation and Exelon Nuclear Partners have agreed to team up to pursue opportunities to provide a full complement of services to design, engineer, construct and operate new nuclear electric generating plants in Saudi Arabia. Shaw Group said...

(EnergyAsia, August 16 2010, Monday) — Solid Energy is expected to soon start building an underground coal gasification (UCG) pilot plant in Waikato in New Zealand’s north island with the capacity to convert 30,000 tons of coal into synthetic gas. The NZ$22-million UCG plant is envisioned to complement traditional mining by providing access to coal...

(EnergyAsia, August 16 2010, Monday) — World coal demand stayed flat at 3.28 billion metric tons last year as increased consumption in Asia’s economic power houses China and India offset decline in the Western world. According to BP’s annual statistical energy review, coal consumption in the developed countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and...

(EnergyAsia, August 16 2010, Monday) — In a breakthrough agreement, Iraq has agreed to enable its once bitter enemy, Iran, to exports of up to 300 million cubic feet of gas per day through its territory enroute to Syria. The oil ministries of the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding in Baghdad agreeing to...

(EnergyAsia, August 13 2010, Friday) — Iran will need to attract a total of $46 billion to upgrade its nine refineries and build seven new ones to develop fuel self-sufficiency in the face of tightening trade and economic sanctions imposed on the country by the US and Europe, said the Iranian oil ministry. China is...

(EnergyAsia, August 13 2010, Friday) — Iran’s oil minister has claimed that his country will reverse its position as a large fuel importer to exporter by 2013 with the impending expansion of its refining capacity. Seyed Massoud Mir-Kazemi told Russia Today TV station that the government will launch “several oil refineries” over the next few...

(EnergyAsia, August 13 2010, Friday) — Oil will likely continue trading at US$70 to US$80 a barrel, a range that is fair for both producers and consumers, according to Saudi Oil Minister Al Al Naimi. In a recent press interview, he described this price range as “ideal” to encourage investments as well as encourage economic...

(EnergyAsia, August 13 2010, Friday) – Russia’s Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corp made little progress in their latest round of negotiations for the export of Russian natural gas delivery to China. A Gazprom delegation led by deputy chairman Alexander Medvedev met a CNPC team led by vice president Wang Dongjin in Beijing last month...