PAPUA NEW GUINEA: InterOil lobbies government to save troubled US$6 billion LNG project

(EnergyAsia, May 16 2012, Wednesday) — InterOil Corp is actively lobbying the Papua New Guinea government after it had been informed that the Department of Petroleum and Energy (DPE) plans to cancel its US$6 billlion liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. Energy Minister William Duma has denied the contract has been cancelled. Interoil has been in (more…)

JAPAN: Tohuku Electric signs 20-year contract to import LNG from Chevron’s Wheatstone project

(EnergyAsia, May 16 2012, Wednesday) — US major Chevron Corp said it has secured a 20-year agreement to sell liquefied natural gas (LNG) to a Japanese power company from its US$29 billion joint-venture Wheatstone project on the coast of Western Australia. Tohuku Electric Power Co will buy up to one million tonnes of LNG a (more…)

AUSTRALIA: Origin to sell gas reserves to rival Gladstone LNG project

(EnergyAsia, May 16 2012, Wednesday) — Australia’s Origin Energy Ltd said it has agreed to sell some of its vast coal seam gas reserves in Queensland state to a Santos-led consortium developing the nearby rival Gladstone project to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Asia. Origin Energy is developing its gas reserves for an export-oriented (more…)

ASIA: Shell, PetroChina, Mitsubishi Corp and Korea Gas Corp to develop giant LNG project in western Canada

(EnergyAsia, May 16 2012, Wednesday) — Royal Dutch Shell said it is leading a consortium comprising subsidiary Shell Canada Ltd, Korea Gas Corporation (Kogas), Mitsubishi Corporation, and PetroChina Company Limited to develop a giant liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal in western Canada. The 12-million-tonne/year project to be sited near Kitimat, a town on the (more…)

ENVIRONMENT: Carbon capture and storage sector stalled in 2011, says Worldwatch Institute

(EnergyAsia, May 15 2012, Tuesday) — Global financing for carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, a tool for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, was kept unchanged at US$23.5 billion in 2011, said US-based Worldwatch Institute. According to a new report by the Washington DC-based environmental and resources study group, there are 75 large-scale, fully (more…)

ASIA: Led by China, region to continue as world’s largest coal producer, says GBI Research

(EnergyAsia, May 15 2012, Tuesday) — Backed by China’s “impressive” coal reserves, Asia will continue to lead as the world’s leading coal-producing region that includes India, Australia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Vietnam and New Zealand, said natural resources intelligence group GBI Research. In a new report, the UK-based firm said China accounted for 68% of the...

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INDIA: Refining output up 3.2% to 121 million tonnes for FY2011

(EnergyAsia, May 15 2012, Tuesday) — Despite complaining about rising financial losses, Indian oil refiners raised their output by 3.2% to more than 121 million tonnes or 3.42 million b/d for the last financial year ending March 31 2012. The value of their products output also rose by 3.2% to US$170.15 billion, according to data provided...

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ASIA: Refining capacity to grow by average 3.4% a year through 2016, says consultant GlobalData

(EnergyAsia, May 15 2012, Tuesday) — Asia’s refining industry is “set to flourish” in over the next four years as a result of rising demand for refined petroleum products in fast growing countries such as China and India, according to a new report by business intelligence provider GlobalData. According to, “Refining Industry in Asia Pacific (more…)

US: Coal use for power generation to fall by 14% in 2012, says EIA

(EnergyAsia, May 15 2012, Tuesday) — Rising substitution by natural gas will help reduce US coal use for power generation by 14% in 2012, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). In its latest short-term forecast, the statistical agency of the US Department of Energy said it expects the power sector’s coal consumption to fall (more…)

INDIA: Energy ties with Iran to continue despite US pressure

(EnergyAsia, May 14 2012, Monday) — The Indian government has told US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton who was in New Delhi last week that it intends to maintain its annual US$15-billion trade ties with Iran despite the latest efforts by the West to isolate the Islamic regime. As if to underline this point, Iran...

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INDONESIA: Coal export tax yet to come

(EnergyAsia, May 14 2012, Monday) — The Indonesian government is still working out details for a proposed tax on coal exports after announcing that it had begun imposing a 20% tax on the shipment of metal ores and other raw minerals from May 6. The resource-rich Southeast Asian nation said it hopes the new tax...

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MONGOLIA: Steel Authority Of India aims for joint investment to produce coking coal, steel

(EnergyAsia, May 14 2012, Monday) — Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) said it has signed an agreement with the Mongolian government to explore opportunities for jointly investing in projects to produce steel, iron ore and coking coal in the landlocked Central Asian country. State-owned SAIL, India’s leading steel making company, said it is awaiting...

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AUSTRALIA: Whitehaven offers to acquire Coalworks for A$172 million

(EnergyAsia, May 14 2012, Monday) — Australia’s Whitehaven Coal has offered to acquire the remaining 82.7% of coal explorer Coalworks that it does not own for A$1 per share, valuing the company at A$172 million. (US$1=A$0.99). The offer represented a 16.96% premium to Coalworks shares’ price of A$0.855 on the ASX when it was announced. (more…)

CHINA: Shenhua Group, GE launched joint venture to advance coal gasification technology

(EnergyAsia, May 14 2012, Monday)  — US industrial giant GE said it and China’s Shenhua Group have started up their equal joint venture GE Shenhua Gasification Technology Company Ltd to develop and deploy “cleaner coal” technology solutions in China. Based in Shanghai, the new company combines GE’s expertise in industrial gasification technologies with Shenhua’s expertise (more…)

AUSTRALIA: Linc Energy secures agreement with Golden Concord to commercialise coal gas-to-liquid fuel in China

(EnergyAsia, May 11 2012, Friday) — Australia’s Linc Energy said it and China’s GCL Projects Limited (GCL) will jointly build and operate a plant in China to produce and market fuel produced from underground coal gas (UCG). GCL will hold a two-third stake in the joint venture with Linc Energy the remaining third. GCL, a subsidiary...

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CHINA: NEA aims to shut down 625 coal mines this year

(EnergyAsia, May 11 2012, Friday) — The Chinese government aims to shut down 625 coal mines with an annual production capacity of 23.47 million tons by the end of this year as part of its long-term plan to improve the industry’s safety record, efficiency and profitability. According to the National Energy Administration (NEA), some of...

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RUSSIA: Mining company Mechel reports 10.8% rise in net income, 28.7% rise in revenue for 2011

(EnergyAsia, May 11 2012, Friday) — Russian steel and coal mining company Mechel OAO said its 2011 consolidated net income rose 10.8% to US$727.9 million while its revenue surged 28.7% to US$US$12.5 billion. Its mining income rose 37.9% to US$2 billion while revenue climbed by a third to US$4.1 billion, helped by the company’s competitive...

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SINGAPORE: Hyflux appoints NAES to operate 400 MW combined-cycle power plant

(EnergyAsia, May 11 2012, Friday) — NAES Corporation, a US-based provider of services to the energy industry, said it has secured an operations and maintenance (O&M) agreement from Singapore’s Hyflux Ltd for a 400-megawatt (MW) combined cycle power plant under construction in western Singapore Hyflux’s wholly owned subsidiary, Tuaspring Pte Ltd, is building the plant (more…)

INDIA: Crude oil import from Iran to be cut by 20%

(EnergyAsia, May 10 2012, Thursday) — Yielding to relentless US pressure, India has agreed to reduce its dependence on Iranian crude oil by committing to import 14 million tonnes for the current financial year ending March 31 2013, compared with 17.5 million tonnes previously. If this target is achieved, Iranian oil will account for just...

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INDIA: Numaligarh refinery to remain shut for the rest of May

(EnergyAsia, May 10 2012, Thursday) — India’s state Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) will likely extend the shutdown of a subsidiary’s fire-damaged refinery in the northern state of Assam for the rest of this month. Fire, believed to be deliberately set, damaged a 22,000 b/d hydrocracker unit at the 60,000 b/d refinery in Numaligarh town...

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AUSTRALIA: Linc Energy CEO to test jet fuel produced from gasified coal

(EnergyAsia, May 10 2012, Thursday) — Australia’s Linc Energy said its CEO Peter Bond has begun a 4,272-km test flight across the country powered by the synthetic jet A1 fuel produced from converting underground coal using its proprietary technology. Linc Energy said it used the underground coal gasification (UCG)-to-gas-to-liquid (GTL) process at its Chinchilla demonstration (more…)

INDIA: Fluor Corp to provide project management services for Reliance’s refinery, petrochemicals expansions

(EnergyAsia, May 10 2012, Thursday) — US engineering company Fluor Corporation said it has been selected by India’s Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) to provide project management services for the expansion of its world-scale Jamnagar refining and petrochemical complex in Gujarat state. Flour said it will work on Reliance’s petroleum coke gasification units, refinery off-gas cracker (more…)

MONGOLIA: Prophecy Coal claims top spot as coal supplier to local power plants

(EnergyAsia, May 10 2012, Thursday) — Having invested more than C$30 million to expand and upgrade its Mongolian Ulaan Ovoo mine in just over a year, Toronto Stock Exchange-listed Prophecy Coal said it has become the largest independent supplier of coal to the country’s power plants. (US$1=C$1). Supported by new and expanded roads, bridges, mining (more…)

SINGAPORE: China’s CGNPC begins construction of unique biomass-solar power plant in Jurong

(EnergyAsia, May 9 2012, Wednesday) — China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Corporation (CGNPC) has begun construction of an integrated biomass-solar power generation plant in Singapore at the same time that it has started up a wholly-owned subsidiary CGNPC Solar-Biofuel Power (Singapore) Pte Ltd to operate its regional clean energy activities. As the first overseas project (more…)