VIETNAM: BP to sell gas and power businesses to TNK-BP

(EnergyAsia, November 1 2010, Monday) — BP said it has agreed to sell its upstream businesses and associated interests in Venezuela and Vietnam to TNK-BP for a total of $1.8 billion. TNK-BP, Russia’s third largest oil company, is owned equally by BP and the AAR consortium comprising Alfa Group, Access Industries and Renova. The agreement...

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NEW ZEALAND: Gull launches biodiesel fuel

(EnergyAsia, November 1 2010, Monday) — Gull New Zealand, an independent oil company, said it has sourced biodiesel from leading biodiesel manufacturer Environ Fuels to launch the nation’s only B5 blended biodiesel available to the public at a service station. With the current availability of Gull Diesel Max, three Gull service stations now solely sell...

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MARKETS: BIMCO and IBIA launched electronic guide to bunkering at SIBCON

(EnergyAsia, November 1 2010, Monday) — Two international associations representing the shipping and bunker fuel industries said they have launched an electronic guide to bunkering. BIMCO, the world’s largest international shipping association, and the International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) said the new guide is designed primarily for use by ships’ crew. BIMCO’s Asia Liaison Officer,...

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IRAQ: IMF lowers oil production forecast for 2011 and 2012

(EnergyAsia, November 1 2010, Monday) — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has sharply lowered Iraq’s 2011 oil production forecast to 2.2 million b/d from its previous expectation for 2.9 million b/d set in February. In a review of its February US$3.7 billion standby loan to the war-battered country, the IMF also reduced its forecast for...

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EV: Future global demand may be “over-hyped”, says consultant

(EnergyAsia, November 1 2010, Monday) — Future global demand for hybrid and battery electric vehicles may be “over-hyped”, reaching just 7.3% of total vehicle sales in 2020 from 2.2% this year, according to US consultant J.D. Power and Associates. In a special report, the company has forecast that the combined global sales of hybrid electric...

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INDIA: Ghana’s oil and gas sector beckons

(EnergyAsia, November 1 2010, Monday) — India is interested to participate as a co-investor in Ghana’s booming upstream oil and gas sector. Officials from both sides are following up on the September meeting that India’s commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma held with Ghanaian President John Evans Atta Mills and his ministers during his visit...

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CHINA: September oil demand up 5%to 8.7 million b/d, says Platts

(EnergyAsia, October 29 2010, Friday) — China’s apparent oil demand in September rose 5.1% year-on-year to 35.53 million metric tons (mt) or an average of 8.68 million b/d, said US oil media group Platts. According to its analysis of Chinese official data, Platts said the September demand figure is almost unchanged from August’s 35.54-million-mt level....

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SINGAPORE: Rotary Engineering secures US$250m contract to build MidEast oil storage facility

(EnergyAsia, October 29 2010, Friday) — Singapore’s Rotary Engineering Limited said it has secured a US$250 million engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to build a 1.1-million-cubic-metre oil storage facility in the UAE. The contract was awarded by Singapore-based oil trader Concord Energy Pte Ltd for the Fujairah oil terminal to be completed in the...

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MIDDLE EAST: GPSChemoil secures financing to expand fuel terminal in Fujairah

(EnergyAsia, October 29 2010, Friday) — GPSChemoil said it has secured loans totalling US$90 million to help finance the phase four construction of its storage terminal in Fujairah, UAE that will make it one of the biggest in the Middle East. Upon completion in 2012, the terminal’s capacity will be expanded from its existing 95,000...

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SOUTH KOREA: KNOC inches closer to acquiring, delisting UK’s Dana

(EnergyAsia, October 29 2010, Friday) — South Korea’s state-owned Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) is edging closer towards acquiring and delisting British oil explorer Dana Petroleum. It recently gained the support of Dana’s shareholders to acquire an additional 34% stake after having completed the buy-out of 29.5% in September. It is offering to pay 18...

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MONGOLIA: Japanese firms to build first oil refinery

(EnergyAsia, October 29 2010, Friday) — Japan’s Marubeni Corporation and Toyo Engineering Corporation have signed an agreement with Mongol Sekiyu Corporation to look into jointly constructing a US$600 million oil refinery in the Mongolian city of Darkhan, about 200 km north of the capital city of Ulaanbaatar. Marubeni said the 44,000 b/d refinery will have...

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PAPUA NEW GUINEA: InterOil, Energy World to build two-million-tonne-a-year LNG plant

(EnergyAsia, October 29 2010, Friday) — InterOil Corporation said its partly-owned subsidiary, Liquid Nuigini Gas Ltd, has signed an agreement with Hong Kong-based Energy World Corporation Ltd (EWC) to build a two-million-tonne-per-year (mt/y) land-based liquefied natural gas LNG plant in the Gulf province of Papua New Guinea. Liquid Nuigini Gas, which is jointly owned by...

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INDONESIA: Greenpeace accuses Sinar Mas unit of attempting to cover up rainforest destruction

(EnergyAsia, October 29 2010, Friday) — Greenpeace International said it has exposed an attempt by the Sinar Mas Group to cover up the destruction of Indonesia’s rainforest by its paper subsidiary, Asia Pulp and Paper (APP). Greenpeace described as “flawed” an audit conducted by ITS GLOBAL’s Alan Oxley for APP that was aimed at discrediting (more…)

SINGAPORE: Keppel Merlimau Cogen starts building 800 MW plant on Jurong Island

(EnergyAsia, October 28 2010, Thursday) — Keppel Energy Pte Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore’s Keppel Corporation Limited, said it has started construction of a 800MW unit at its natural gas-fired Keppel Merlimau Cogen plant (KMC), on Jurong Island. Expected to be completed by 2013, the S$900 million expansion project will boost KMC’s generation capacity...

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PAKISTAN: Taliban threatens more attacks after destroying fuel depots

(EnergyAsia, October 28 2010, Thursday) — Building on their success early this month, Taliban militia groups have threatened to launch more attacks on fuel trucks and depots in Pakistan operated by North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) troops. In a lightning raid, up to 12 Taliban gunmen damaged or destroyed 27 fuel trucks and killed a...

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SINGAPORE: Singapore Exchange to clear OTC Indonesian coal swap

(EnergyAsia, October 28 2010, Thursday) — Singapore Exchange (SGX) said it will be start clearing trades for over-the-counter (OTC) Indonesian sub-bituminous coal swap contracts from November 3, making it the first exchanget to offer such a service. The extension of SGX’s OTC clearing service to the Asian coal market offers traders and physical players an...

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PAKISTAN: PSO plans to expand capacity, purchase Pakistan Refinery

(EnergyAsia, October 28 2010, Wednesday) — The Pakistan State Oil (PSO) said it is acquiring Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL) as part of the government’s plan to consolidate fuel distribution operations in the country. The acquisition is expected to be completed by early 2011. The country’s largest oil marketing company with a market share of 71%...

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VIETNAM: Dung Quat refinery faces storage capacity shortage

(EnergyAsia, October 28 2010, Thursday) — Operating at full capacity, Vietnam’s only oil refinery is grappling with the challenge of limited space to store its growing stockpiles of gasoline and diesel. Managers at the 140,000 b/d Dung Quat refinery have failed to anticipate the increased import volumes ordered by end users, leading to a fuel...

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JAPAN: Oil refiners reducing capacities

(EnergyAsia, October 28 2010, Thursday) — Faced with declining domestic consumption, a rising currency and mounting financial losses, Japanese oil companies are racing to reduce their combined 4.8 million b/d refining capacity. The government has added to the industry’s burden with its recent regulation that refiners raise the rate of their heavy oil-cracking capacity to...

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PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Attacks threatening to delay ExxonMobil’s LNG project

(EnergyAsia, October 28 2010, Thursday) — Unrest stemming from disagreements between various landowner groups and labour unrest may delay the development of the US$15 billion ExxonMobil-led liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Papua New Guinea. Police are investigating a surprise attack in late September on LNG contractors Clough Niugini and Queensland company Curtain Brothers near...

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INDIA: Indian Oil Corp to import more crude to feed expanded refinery

(EnergyAsia, October 28 2010, Thursday) — Indian Oil Corp (IOC) is preparing to import an additional three million tonnes of crude oil a year to feed its newly expanded refinery near Panipat in the northern Indian state of Haryana. IOC invested more than 10 billion rupees to expand the Panipat refinery to process 15 million...

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MIDDLE EAST: Industry doubts new Iran, Iraq oil reserves data

(EnergyAsia, October 27 2010, Wednesday) — Without substantiated evidence, Iran’s and Iraq’s respective claims of having higher oil reserves are unreliable and cannot be accepted, according to analysts including a former Iraqi oil minister. Iraq raised its estimate of proven oil reserves to 143 billion barrels, briefly putting it in third place in terms of...

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IRAN: Minister announced 9% boost in crude oil reserves

(EnergyAsia, October 27 2010, Wednesday) — Iran has substantially boosted its oil reserves data to 150.31 billion barrels on the heels of a similar revision by Iraq earlier this month. The revisions, unsubstantiated by independent surveyors, will likely spark similar moves by other members of the Organisation Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) seeking to increase their...

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CHINA: Brightoil building major oil products base in Zhoushan

(EnergyAsia, October 27 2010, Wednesday) — Hong Kong-listed Brightoil Petroleum (Holding) Co Ltd has begun building an oil products storage and logistics base on the port in Zhoushan island in east China’s Zhejiang Province. The terminal is envisioned to be the largest oil products base in the Yangtze River Delta. The first phase of the...

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MARKETS: Uncertain policy is number one risk to oil and gas companies, says E&Y survey

(EnergyAsia, October 27 2010, Wednesday) — Uncertain energy policy has replaced access to reserves as the top risk facing the industry across the globe in 2010, said consultant Ernst & Young. According to its Oil and Gas Business Risk Report 2010, uncertainties in the direction of energy policy have been prolonged by the vague outcome...

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