PEOPLE: BHP Billiton names Ian Maxwell president of coal unit

(EnergyAsia, May 9 2012, Wednesday) — Australia’s mining giant BHP Billiton said it has appointed Ian Maxwell as president of its Sydney-based coal unit to succeed Jimmy Wilson who has taken over as president of its iron ore unit. Mr Maxwell, who joined BHP Billiton in 2004 as president of minerals exploration, was previously managing (more…)

MONGOLIA: SouthGobi share falls on official investigations, lproposed imit on foreign ownership

(EnergyAsia, May 9 2012, Wednesday) — Coal mining firm SouthGobi Resources Ltd has attributed the sharp fall in its share price in the stock exchanges of Canada and Hong Kong to a near three-year low to events in Mongolia. SouthGobi, which is fully exposed in the resource-rich Asian country, said yesterday its share price tumbled (more…)

INDIA: Police tighten security at new Punjab refinery following terror threat

(EnergyAsia, May 9 2012, Wednesday) — Following a terror alert, Indian police have tightened security around the recently dedicated refinery in Bathinda city in the northern state of Punjab located just south of Pakistan. The nine-million-tonne/year refinery, owned by Hindustan Mittal Energy Limited (HMEL), was officially launched by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last month. Last...

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CHINA: Fitch blames “non-viable” coal-based power tariff for continuing blackouts

(EnergyAsia, May 9 2012, Wednesday) — A US ratings agency has predicted that China will face further face power shortages as it continues to rely on a tariff framework for its coal-fired plants that is “not sustainable in the long term”. “The problem centres on China’s thermal or coal-fired plants, which in 2011 represented 72.5%...

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SINGAPORE: SGX reports clearing record 590 lots of OTC coal swaps contract in April

(EnergyAsia, May 8 2012, Tuesday) — Singapore Exchange said it cleared a record volume of 590 lots on its OTC coal swaps contracts last month, exceeding the previous high set last October by more than 19%. It noted the clearance of 120 lots, representing a total of 120,000 metric tonnes, on April 20. Each lot (more…)

INDONESIA: IEV secures a major CNG supply contract from PT Unilever Indonesia TBK

(EnergyAsia, May 8 2012, Tuesday) — IEV Holdings Limited, a Singapore-based provider of engineering and clean energy solutions, said its subsidiary, PT IEV GAS, has received a letter of award for a two-year contract from PT Unilever Indonesia Tbk to supply compressed natural gas (CNG) to its manufacturing plant in West Java. While an agreement (more…)

AUSTRALIA: Woodside sells Browse LNG stake to Japan Australia LNG for US$2 billion

(EnergyAsia, May 8 2012, Tuesday) — Australian upstream company Woodside Petroleum said it has sold a 14.7% stake in the proposed Browse liquefied natural gas (LNG) project to Japan Australia LNG, also known as MIMI Browse Pty Ltd, for US$2 billion. As part of the deal backdated to January 1 2012, Woodside also said MIMI (more…)

ASIA: Pike forecasts 382 million electric two-wheel vehicles to be sold between 2012 and 2018

(EnergyAsia, June 8 2012, Tuesday) — Asia will purchase nearly 382 million two-wheel vehicles including scooters, motorcycles and bicycles in China, India and Southeast Asia nations between 2012 and 2018, according to a new report from US consultant Pike Research. Nearly 92% of these vehicles will be sold in China, where annual sales will reach (more…)

CHINA: Inner Mongolia region aims to process coal into diesel and electricity

(EnergyAsia, May 8 2014, Tuesday) — Instead of continuing to export all its raw coal to neighbouring provinces, China’s largest coal-producing region has declared it is looking to process some of that into higher-value diesel and electricity that would enable the local economy to build up an industral base. The up-graded use of coal would...

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CHINA: South Sudan steps up lobby after winning US$8 billion fund to develop infrastructure

(EnergyAsia, May 7 2012, Monday) — The Chinese government has offered South Sudan a two-year loan package of US$8 billion to develop the war-battered nation’s road, hydropower, energy and agriculture infrastructure. The offer was made after South Sudan President Salva Kiir made a groundbreaking visit to Beijing last month to seek help to end his...

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SINGAPORE: Rotary Engineering Q1 profit falls 41% to $3.16 million on rising cost, forex losses

(EnergyAsia, May 7 2012, Monday) — Singapore’s Rotary Engineering Limited said its first quarter net profit fell 41% to S$3.16 million on rising construction costs at a project in Saudi Arabia and foreign exchange losses. (US$1=S$1.24). Revenue for the January-March period rose 2% to S$133.4 million while orders on its book stood at S$596.9 million. (more…)

AUSTRALIA: Gloucester Coal tripled quarterly output to 1.276 million tonnes

(EnergyAsia, May 7 2012, Monday) — Australia’s Gloucester Coal Ltd said it more than tripled third quarter production to 1.276 million tonnes from 342,000 tonnes in the same January-March period last year. The bulk of the increase came from the relatively new Donaldson (497,000 tonnes) and Middlemount (173,000 tonnes) mines while the main Gloucester Basin (more…)

CHINA: Chalco expects to complete acquisition of 29.9% stake in Winsway Coking Coal

(EnergyAsia, May 7 2012, Monday) — Rebuffed in its attempt to acquire a Mongolian coal miner, Aluminum Corp of China Ltd (Chalco) expects to complete its proposed buy-out of a 29.9% stake in Hong Kong-listed Winsway Coking Coal Holdings Ltd for HK$2.39 billion. (US$1=HK$7.77). Winsway shareholders are expected to accept Chalco’s offer to pay HK$2.12 a (more…)

RUSSIA: Mechel subsidiary resumes production at Sibirginsk coal mine

(EnergyAsia, May 7 2012, Monday) — Mechel OAO, a leading Russian mining and metals company, said subsidiary Southern Kuzbass Coal Company OAO has resumed production at its Sibirginsk mine. Southern Kuzbass suspended operations at the open-pit mine near the town of Irkutsk in central Siberia last June due to coal self-heating in the mined-out area. (more…)

CHINA: NEA plan aims to limit coal use and production through 2015

(EnergyAsia, May 4 2012, Friday) — China wants to curb its coal addiction with a five-year plan to curb its use and production of the fuel to 2015. In an attempt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and pollution caused by fossil fuels use, the world’s biggest coal user and producer has set a target to...

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INDONESIA: Adaro Energy reports 11.8% rise in Q1 profit increase on rising coal price

(EnergyAsia, May 4 2012, Friday) — Adaro Energy, Indonesia’s second largest coal producer, said rising coal prices helped raise first quarter net income by 11.8% to US$122 million. In a filing to the Indonesia Stock Exchange, the company said revenue surged 21% to US$916 million, thanks to a combination of rising coal prices, production and (more…)

PEOPLE: Coal India Limited appoints S. Narsing Rao as chairman

(EnergyAsia, May 4 2012, Friday) — Coal India Limited, one of the world’s largest coal mining companies, has appointed S. Narsing Rao as chairman from last month. Mr Rao, previously chairman of Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) in Andhra Pradesh state, succeeded Zohra Chatterji, who had held the post in addition to her position as (more…)

US: EIA forecasts further drop in coal use for power generation due to low natural gas prices

(EnergyAsia, May 4 2012, Friday) — US power companies will switch to using cheaper natural gas to generate electricity, causing nation’s coal consumption to fall well below 900 million short tons for this and next year, said the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Henry Hub natural gas prices recently fell to a 10-year low below US$2 (more…)

CHINA: A major Arctic player? Comment by Francois Perreault for the RSIS*

(EnergyAsia, May 4 2012, Friday) — The following is an edited version of a commentary published by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS). Though a non-Arctic state without geographical or historical ties to the region or legal basis to contest existing sovereignty claims, China has ambitions to be a major player in the (more…)

ASIA: Argus, IHS McCloskey launch new API coal indexes covering Asia Pacific and Australian markets

(EnergyAsia, May 3 2012, Thursday) — Two energy media companies, Argus Media and IHS McCloskey, said they have added to their list of API coal indexes for the Asia-Pacific markets from tomorrow. They will launch a new joint API coking coal index as well as two API coal price indexes to the Argus/McCloskey’s Coal Price...

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INDIA: Eyeing fuel exports to Pakistan, Mittal aims to double capacity of new Bhatinda refinery

(EnergyAsia, May 3 2012, Thursday) — The joint-owner of India’s newest oil refinery, the Guru Gobind Singh plant in Punjab state, said he is already planning to double its capacity to 18-million-tonnes/year. Steel billionaire Lakshmi N. Mittal disclosed his intention to reporters at last week’s launch of the 215-billion-rupee plant in Bhatinda city, but did...

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ASIA: Outlook for strong growth, but rising threats from Eurozone, energy prices and inflation, says IMF

(EnergyAsia, May 3 2012, Thursday) — Asia’s economic growth  is expected to pick up this year after slowing in the last quarter of 2011, but its leaders must undertake the “difficult task of adjusting policies to support stable, non-inflationary growth”, said the International Monetary Finance (IMF). At its regular outlook briefing for the region in (more…)

MONGOLIA: China’s Chalco and Canada’s Ivanhoe attempt to placate local anger over SouthGobi Resources

(EnergyAsia, May 3 2012, Thursday) — In a belated move to contain the political fall-out in Mongolia over their proposed trade of a major coal mining firm, Aluminum Corporation of China Limited (Chalco) and Canada’s Ivanhoe Mines Ltd said they will cooperate with the government and consider issues related to tax and fair pricing involving (more…)

QATAR: Qatar Asset Management Co, Barclays unit partnering to jointly invest in natural resources project

(EnergyAsia, May 3 2012, Thursday) — The Qatar Asset Management Company (QAMC) and Barclays Natural Resource Investments (BNRI), a division of Barclays Bank PLC, have jointly announced that they have formed a strategic partnership to invest in natural resources projects. QAMC is jointly owned by the Qatar Financial Centre Authority (QFC Authority) and the Qatar (more…)

MARKETS: Latin and Central American coal exports losing their competitiveness, says consultant GBI Research

(EnergyAsia, May 2 2012, Wednesday) — Latin and Central America’s heavily export-oriented coal mining industry are at risk of losing market share as their customers are demanding cleaner energy sources, said industry intelligence experts GBI Research. In a new report, GBI Research said Latin and Central American coal exports may decline as a result of (more…)