Energy News From Asia
(EnergyAsia, November 30 2011, Wednesday) — Japanese demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) could grow by more than 25% to over 100 million tonnes next year after surging by over 15% this year to a record of more than 80 million tonnes in 2011, said a senior executive from the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals...
(EnergyAsia, November 30 2011, Wednesday) — Oil, not the financial markets, is the key driver of current account fluctuations and global economic dislocations, and is leading the world down an unsustainable path of development, according to the Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Oil will likely account for 96% of the US trade deficit this year and...
(EnergyAsia, November 30 2011, Wednesday) — Air Liquide said it has secured a contract to supply China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation or Sinopec 200,000 normal cubic metre per hour (Nm3/h) of gaseous oxygen and nitrogen for use at its existing MPCC oil refinery in Maoming in China’s Guangdong province as well as an upcoming coal-to-hydrogen (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 30 2011, Wednesday) — A Japanese consortium of upstream company Inpex and engineering firm JGC has agreed to pay C$700 million for a 40% stake in a shale gas prospect in Canada’s British Columbia province. Calgary, Alberta-based Nexen Inc retains a 60% stake and will continue to operate the project to extract and (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 29 2011, Tuesday) — CNOOC Ltd, China’s leading offshore oil company, said it has completed its C$2.1 billion acquisition of Opti Canada Ltd, a financially stricken oilsands producer in Alberta province. The acquisition gives CNOOC a 35% stake in the Nexen-operated C$6.1-billion Long Lake oil sands project, which is producing below its 72,000 (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 29 2011, Tuesday) — In response to growing environmental pressures, one of Australia’s main local oil and gas companies said it is pulling out of a controversial gas pipeline project while warning that any attempts to delay or halt coal seam developments would hurt the industry and the economy. Addressing a Parliamentary inquiry,...
(EnergyAsia, November 29 2011, Tuesday) — Global oil demand is expected to rise by 900,000 b/d to 87.8 million b/d this year, and by 1.2 million b/d to 89 million b/d next year, according to the latest monthly forecast issued by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). In keeping unchanged its forecast for global...
(EnergyAsia, November 29 2011, Tuesday) — The Australian government said it will apply increased research and scientific investigations into the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, method of gas production amid growing complaints in the country and around the world that it is causing water contamination and earthquakes. Prime Minister Julia Gillard said her government will provide...
(EnergyAsia, November 29 2011, Tuesday) — Global oil demand is expected to rise by around 900,000 b/d to 89.2 million b/d this year and by 1.3 million b/d to 90.5 million b/d next year, according to the latest monthly forecast issued by the International Energy Agency (IEA). The latest forecast represents a slight decline from (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 28 2011, Monday) — Liquid Niugini Gas Ltd, a company jointly owned by InterOil Corp and Pacific LNG Operations Ltd, has signed a heads of agreement (HOA) to supply Gunvor Singapore Pte Ltd one million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) a year for 15 years from 2015. The LNG will be sourced (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 28 2011, Monday) — Oil and gas pipelines and transportation infrastructure are among projects being considered by Central Asian governments and senior representatives of development agencies who met in Baku in Azerbaijan last week to work out a new 10-year strategy for the region. An oil transportation system and a natural gas pipeline (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 28 2011, Monday) — State-owned natural gas company GAIL said its subsidiary, GAIL Global (Singapore) Pte Ltd, has started trading and procuring liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply for the Indian market. The company expects to import its first cargo in coming months with India’s domestic natural gas demand expected to rise to 189...
(EnergyAsia, November 28 2011, Monday) — India will boost its oil refining capacity by over 60% to more than 310 million tonnes over the course of the current five-year plan to March 31 2017, predicts Oil Minister S. Jaipal Reddy. The completion of new world-scale refineries in Orissa and Punjab states will substantially expand the...
(EnergyAsia, November 28 2011, Monday) — China’s apparent oil demand for October edged up by 1.4% year-over-year to 38.42 million metric tons (mt) or 9.08 million b/d, the highest in five months, according to Platts’ analysis of recently released government statistics. Last month’s demand was the strongest since May’s 9.31 million b/d, and was also...
(EnergyAsia, November 25 2011, Friday) — Two international energy companies separately have predicted that China’s demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) will rise by six times by the end of this decade. Europe’s GDF Suez SA expects China’s annual LNG consumption to surge to 44 million tonnes while Australia’s Woodside Petroleum believes demand from both...
(EnergyAsia, November 25 2011, Friday) — Two years after the launch of a major pipeline linking the two countries, Turkmenistan will soon meet more than half of China’s natural gas demand. On Wednesday, November 23, China signed a new agreement to raise its annual gas purchase volume from the Central Asian producer from 40 billion...
(EnergyAsia, November 25 2011, Friday) — Brazil has banned Chevron Corp from further offshore drilling despite the US oil major accepting full responsibility for an oil spill and pledging to counter the damage. State regulator Agencia Nacional do Petroleo (ANP) demanded that Chevron, which operates the US$3.6 billion Frade offshore field, improve its safety practices, while (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 25 2011, Friday) — US engineering firm Black & Veatch said it has hired Kaushik Mukherjee as its India regional general manager for sales to work with local clients on energy infrastructure. Based in Black & Veatch’s Mumbai office, Mr Mukherjee has 18 years of extensive planning and engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 24 2011, Thursday) — CNOOC Limited, China’s largest offshore oil and gas producer, has appointed Li Fanrong as its new CEO with immediate effect, succeeding Yang Hua. Mr Li has served in a variety of operating, engineering and management positions in the Chinese offshore oil and gas industry for over 27 years, including (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 24 2011, Thursday) — Australia Pacific LNG Pty Limited said it has signed an agreement for the annual supply of one million tonnes of liquefied natural gas to Japan’s Kansai Electric Power Company for 20 years. The Australian firm will supply the LNG from its planned export terminal on Curtis Island in Queensland (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 24 2011, Thursday) — Singapore’s move to consider importing electricity from its Southeast Asian neighbours appears to be borne more out of weakness and desperation rather than planned strategy. Dependent on Indonesia and Malaysia for natural gas supplies to generate 80% of its electricity, Singapore has been working hard to diversify its energy...
(EnergyAsia, November 24 2011, Thursday) — The following is an edited version of an interview by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with Ana Lucia Coronel, its Mission Chief for Kazakhstan, and Narayanan Raman, an economist in the fund’s Strategy, Policy, and Review Department. With nearly 40 billion barrels in reserves and 2% of global production,...
(EnergyAsia, November 24 2011, Thursday) — As spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices surged from US$7 to US$18-19 per million British thermal unit (BTU) over the course of 2011, Singapore bolstered its position as Asia’s leading energy trading centre. With oil already in the bag, it has been quietly building up its leadership in coal...
(EnergyAsia, November 23 2011, Wednesday) — With at least 15 projects being planned, Australia’s natural gas production is expected to triple to over 6,000 petajoules or 5,700 billion cubic feet (bcf) over the next decade, said energy economics group EnergyQuest. Of the 15 projects, eight projects will be under construction by the end of 2011,...
(EnergyAsia, November 23 2011, Wednesday) — Indian Oil Corp, the country’s largest refiner, said it is targeting to boost its annual refining capacity by 87% to 123 million tonnes or 2.46 million b/d by March 2021. Indian Oil and its subsidiary Chennai Petroleum Corp, which now control 10 refineries with a total capacity of 65...