(EnergyAsia, September 20 2010, Monday) — Some refiners in Japan may have to reduce their capacity or exit from the business as they may not be able to meet the government’s new rule calling for increased heavy oil processing. Under the new regulation, refiners must either build new residue cracking units or scrap refining capacity...

(EnergyAsia, September 20 2010, Monday) — Longwei Petroleum Investment Holding Limited, an NYSE-listed oil and gas storage and distribution company operating in China, said its gross profit surged by 119% to US$68.5 million for the financial year ended June 30 2010. The Taiyuan City, Shanxi provice-based company reported a 72% rise in revenue to US$339.4...

(EnergyAsia, September 20 2010, Monday) — The US government wants Nigeria and its resource-rich neighbours to tighten security in the Gulf of Guinea, an increasingly vital trade passageway and source of oil and carbon production. In making the call last week, the US Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, William Fitzgerald, offered to work with...

(EnergyAsia, September 20 2010, Monday) — Russia’s second largest oil company, Lukoil is planning to invest a total of US$780 million in exploring for oil and gas in Ghana and Ivory Coast (Cote d’Ivoire). Having found oil in Ghana early this year, Lukoil believes West Africa holds great potential as it aims to drill up...

(EnergyAsia, September 20 2010, Monday) — It is easy to see why the ‘forgotten continent’ has become the focus of global political and economic competition of late. According to consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers, Africa is expected to pass North America in 2011 to become the third largest producing area after the Middle East and Central/Eastern Europe. In...

(EnergyAsia, September 17 2010, Friday) — Encouraged by the boom in Africa and Brazil, Angola is expected to consider opening bidding for its offshore oil prospects next year after suspending all activities the past four years. With oil prices holding steady in the US$70-80 range, the African nation expects strong investor interest given the recent...

(EnergyAsia, September 17 2010, Friday) — Nigeria’s finance minister, Olusegun Aganga, believes his resource-rich country has a realistic chance of achieving 10% to 12% annual economic growth in the coming years. Despite its well-known problems with militia groups, separatists, and unreliable electricity supply, Nigeria is running high on confidence these days as investors, led by...

(EnergyAsia, September 17 2010, Friday) — Boosted by the development of coal seam gas (CSG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects, Australia’s pipeline industry is on the cusp of a multi-billion dollar expansion of the nation’s gas transmission infrastructure. The construction of the high-pressure gas transmission pipelines associated with Queensland’s massive coal seam gas projects...

(EnergyAsia, September 17 2010, Friday) — Ghana has set its sight on becoming the regional oil refining centre for West Africa, said the head of the country’s only refining company, which operates a 45,000 b/d ageing plant. Ato Ampiah, the recently appointed managing director of Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), said Ghana is looking to build...

(EnergyAsia, September 17 2010, Friday) — Weaver’s Cove Energy LLC is bent on building its proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal and shipping route in affluent Massachusetts state in the US. LNG vessels will sail through two Taunton River bridges to a land-based Fall River terminal despite moves from the Coast Guard to reject the...

(EnergyAsia, September 17 2010, Friday) — The Dow Chemical Company said it and American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC) have each acquired a minority equity investment in Blade Dynamics Ltd, a designer and manufacturer of advanced wind turbine blades based on proprietary materials and structural technologies, through its venture capital group. Monty Bayer, the global director of...

(EnergyAsia, September 16 2010, Thursday) — Intergraph®, a US-based global provider of engineering and geospatial software, said it has launched a series of Intergraph 2010 conferences that will be held in six countries in the Asia-Pacific region with over 2,000 customers attending.  The company said the conferences will feature Smart 3D (SmartPlant® and SmartMarine® 3D)...

(EnergyAsia, September 16 2010, Thursday) — Nigeria lost a total of US$100 billion worth of oil investments over the last five years as a result of flawed reforms by its government, said Anglo-Dutch major Shell, the country’s leading oil producer. Ann Pickard, Shell’s top executive in charge of upstream operations in Africa and Australia, said...

(EnergyAsia, September 16 2010, Thursday) — Gazprom Marketing & Trading (GM&T), a unit of the Russian gas giant, said it and InfiniteEARTH have approved the world’s first methodology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) under the Voluntary Carbon Standard programme, the leading international standard for voluntary emission reduction credits. Gazprom said...

(EnergyAsia, September 16 2010, Thursday) — In the latest sign of its resolve to diversify its energy markets, Russia last month officially opened a vital section of a major pipeline to export crude oil to China. The 64-km section on Russian soil is envisioned to initially carry 30 million tons of oil a year to...

(EnergyAsia, September 16 2010, Thursday) — State-owned Qatargas has continued to operate all five of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) trains over the last two months, helping to put downward pressure on natural gas prices in recent months. The plants, each capable of producing 7.8 million tonnes of LNG per year, were briefly shut down...

(EnergyAsia, September 16 2010, Thursday) — The Nigerian government plans to establish a sovereign wealth fund that will be funded by oil revenues, according to Finance Minister Olusegun Aganga. The US$1 billion fund, targeted to be ready next month, will help pay for the construction of infrastructure projects the country badly needs. Part of it...

(EnergyAsia, September 16 2010, Thursday) — The oil industry has understated the risks of deepwater oil activities, and does not really know how to deal with a full-scale disaster such as the recent Deepwater Horizon rig tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico, said industry insiders and analysts. Eleven workers were killed when the BP-chartered rig...

(EnergyAsia, September 15 2010, Wednesday) — China’s new natural resources tax, which will soon be implemented nationwide, could sharply reduce the profits of the country’s large oil and gas companies. The government has proposed to link the tax to oil prices instead of the volume of oil produced. Analysts estimate that PetroChina Company Limited could...

(EnergyAsia, September 15 2010, Wednesday) — India’s oil refiners learnt the value of stockpiling crude oil last month when they were forced to draw on inventories after two major Mumbai ports was briefly closed following an accident. Two Panamanian-registered vessels collided off the coast, causing the closure of Mumbai Port Trust and Jawaharlal Port Trust,...

(EnergyAsia, September 15 2010, Wednesday) — Slumping foreign investments in Nigeria’s oil industry will check the country’s ability to raise production. Foreign direct investments in the troubled West African country’s petroleum sector fell to US$5.85 billion in 2009 from US$13.96 billion three years earlier. The sharp decline, triggered by the government’s failure to shell out...

(EnergyAsia, September 15 2010, Wednesday) — Nigeria needs crucial policy reforms to make the country’s oil work for the good of its citizens, according to a U.S. academician and opinion writer. Jason Hickel, a doctoral candidate at the University of Virginia’s Department of Anthropology, has proposed five key provisions for Nigeria’s Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB)...