(EnergyAsia, April 11 2011, Monday) — Crude oil prices closed at their highest levels since September 2008 on the worsening unrest and conflicts in the Middle East and Africa, and further weakness in the US dollar. Brent crude oil prices gained nearly US$8 last week to finish at US$126.74 a barrel while laggard US WTI (more…)
(EnergyAsia, April 11 2011, Monday) — Australia’s Cougar Energy Limited said it is making progress on its underground coal gasification (UCG) projects in China but not in Western Australia state. The ASX-listed company said it has signed a co-operation agreement with Inner Mongolia DeTailong Investment Energy Ltd for the cooperation and commercialisation of a UCG (more…)
(EnergyAsia, April 11 2011, Monday) — New York Stock Exchange-listed Puda Coal Inc said its 90% subsidiary, Shanxi Puda Coal Group Co Ltd, has been granted a transitional business licence by the Shanxi provincial government to operate the Dajinhe mine in China. Puda Coal said Shanxi Coal received approval last January to double Dajinhe Coal’s...
(EnergyAsia, April 11 2011, Monday) — In a bid to capitalise on growing oil demand in India and the strong outlook for refining margins, Chennai Petroleum Corp has set aside a budget of 123.4 billion rupees to expand and upgrade its Manali refinery in northern India over the next five years. (US$1=45 rupees). The company,...
(EnergyAsia, April 11 2011, Monday) — India’s state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) said it has raised its budget for its planned new refinery at Bina by more than 20% on account of soaring prices of raw materials. The original budget of 104 billion rupees in 2006 has been revised twice before to 113 billion...
(EnergyAsia, April 11 2011, Monday) – China’s Yanzhou Coal Mining Co said it made a net profit of 9.01 billion yuan in 2010, up sharply from 3.88-billion yuan in the previous year. (US$=6.55 yuan). Listed on the stock exchanges of New York, Shanghai and Hong Kong, China’s third-largest coal miner did not reveal its revenue...
(EnergyAsia, April 8 2011, Friday) — Indonesian coal producer PT Adaro is aiming to nearly double its annual production capacity to 80 million tons in the coming years. The company, which produced 42.2 million tons of coal last year, is looking to gradually raise its output to become a major regional player to meet the...
(EnergyAsia, April 8 2011, Friday) — Friends of the Earth (FOE), the Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS) and Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) said they have filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the US government to fully explain its decision calling for a 80-km evacuation radius for Americans near the damaged...
(EnergyAsia, April 8 2011, Friday) — The following is an edited version of a commentary by Chris Jochnick, director of Oxfam America’s Private Sector Department. As David and Goliath stories go, it would be tough to match the struggle between poor, marginalised communities and one of the most powerful companies in the world, Texaco (now (more…)
(EnergyAsia, April 8 2011, Friday) — Australian Stock Exchange(ASX)-listed MetroCoal Ltd said it has appointed Caldrex Capital Pty Ltd to market and manage expressions of interest for a joint venture (JV) partner for the wholly-owned Wandoan West tenement, or exploration permit for coal (EPC) 1164. The East Brisbane, Queensland-based energy company said in its 2009 (more…)
(EnergyAsia, April 8 2011, Friday) — Green Power Asia Pte Ltd (GPA) recently held a meeting to seek feedback from stakeholders and the public on its 6.32 megawatt (MW) cogeneration electricity plant which will be powering Fuji Oil (S) Pte Ltd’s manufacturing facility located in the northernmost region of Singapore. GPA, a Singapore-based efficient energy (more…)
(EnergyAsia, April 8 2011, Friday) — Sembawang Shipyard, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore’s Sembcorp Marine, said it has signed a long-term alliance contract with Canada’s Teekay Marine Services to provide ship-repair, refurbishment, upgrading and related marine services for its fleet of 137 ships. Teekay Marine Services is a subsidiary of Teekay Corporation, an international leader (more…)
(EnergyAsia, April 7 2011, Thursday) — Natural gas is emerging as a beneficiary of the ongoing crisis at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power complex, according to global business research and consulting firm, Frost & Sullivan. The crisis is a huge public relations disaster for the nuclear industry as it struggles to contain the huge radiation leaks (more…)
(EnergyAsia, April 7 2011, Thursday) — UK major BP said it has teamed up with two local companies to sign up four new coalbed methane (CBM) production sharing contracts (PSCs) in the Barito basin of South Kalimantan in Indonesia. The four PSCs cover an area of approximately 4,800 sq km. BP and Indonesian state energy (more…)
(EnergyAsia, April 7 2011, Thursday) — Australian mining giant BHP Billiton said it will invest its 50% share of a combined US$5 billion approved for three metallurgical coal projects in the Bowen basin in Central Queensland state. The company said it will add 4.9 million tonnes of fully-owned annual mine capacity through development of the...
(EnergyAsia, April 7 2011, Thursday) — Japan, the leading buyer of Indonesian coal, is expected to increase its import this year following the significant loss of its nuclear power capacity from the devastating earthquake of March 11. One of Japan’s key suppliers and Asia’s biggest thermal coal exporter, PT Bumi Resources, has reported increased buying...
(EnergyAsia, April 7 2011, Thursday) — L & L Energy Inc, a Seattle, US-based company with coal mining and distribution businesses in China, said it has agreed to pay US$18 million for a 60% interest in the DaPing coal mine in China’s Guizhou province as of March 15. It did not identify the selling party....
(EnergyAsia, April 7 2011, Thursday) — The economy of Australia’s Surat Basin region has received “a significant boost” following the conditional approval announced by the Commonwealth Government for the proposed A$3 billion coal project at Wandoan in Queensland state, said one of the region’s investors, MetroCoal Limited. (US$1=A$0.97). The Commonwealth Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water,...
(EnergyAsia, April 6 2011, Wednesday) — International classification society Bureau Veritas said it has set up a joint development centre with COPPE/UFRJ, the Ocean Engineering department of Brazil’s Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, to develop tools and technical requirements for the country’s expansion into deepwater oil sector. The Paris, France-based company said the technical (more…)
(EnergyAsia, April 6 2011, Wednesday) — Canada’s Prophecy Resource Corp said it has stockpiled 5,000 tons of coal from its 100%-owned Mongolian Ulaan Ovoo mine for rail loading since April 1 for export. The coal has been customs cleared at Sukhbaatar station and freighted by rail to Russia and the Russian Eastern Sea Coal Terminals...
(EnergyAsia, April 6 2011, Wednesday) — Brent crude oil closed at a new 30-month high of US$121.06 a barrel on Monday, setting the stage for further price increases. US WTI was hovering at around US$108. Geopolitical worries in the Middle East and North Africa, along with the worsening nuclear crisis in Japan have been bolstering...
(EnergyAsia, April 6 2011, Wednesday) — Amid a worsening global energy crisis, the South Korean government has initiated a series of measures to curb the nation’s power consumption. In January, the cold weather had driven electricity demand in the country to record levels on three occasions, raising consumption to well over 7.3 million kilowatt hours...
(EnergyAsia, April 6 2011, Wednesday)— Saudi Arabia’s regime is capable of surviving the wave of unrest and pro-reform protests sweeping the Middle East and North Africa, said US consultants Eurasia Group. The conservative monarch-based country has had its share of protests in recent weeks, but none sufficiently large or organised to threaten the rule of...
(EnergyAsia, April 6 2011, Wednesday) — In a remarkable piece of deal-making, South Korea has secured access to at least one billion barrels of crude oil reserves from Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). The unprecedented deal, secured through state-owned Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC), has taken place as oil prices are surging again and...
(EnergyAsia, April 5 2011, Tuesday) — SSA Marine is likely to gain the support of Bellingham City Mayor Dan Pike in the northwestern US State of Washington for the proposed Gateway Pacific cargo terminal. SSA Marine expects the US$500 million project that will handle coal exports to Asia to generate 1,700 construction jobs, 280 permanent...