US: Former Mobil EVP among experts petitioning government to halt shale gas fracking for LNG exports

(EnergyAsia, December 20 2012, Thursday) — Citing potential heath damage to Americans, a group of 107 medical and scientific experts has petitioned the US government to stop hydraulic fracturing, or fracking of shale gas to support the growing movement to develop liquefied natural gas (LNG) for export. One of the signatories was Louis W. Allstadt, (more…)

AUSTRALIA: Caltex expects to return to profitability this year

(EnergyAsia, December 20 2012, Thursday) — Buoyed by improved fuel sales and higher refinery output this year, Australia’s largest downstream company, Caltex, said it expects a return to profitability to reverse a loss of A$714 million from last year. (US$1=A$0.95). The company said it expects to achieve after-tax profit in the range of A$45 million...

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SINGAPORE: Shell expands role through new global gas HQ, increased petrochemical capacity

(EnergyAsia, December 19 2012, Wednesday) — Royal Dutch Shell has announced plans to expand an already substantial Singapore presence in its global weighting underlining the major’s continuing shift of focus to Asia. In recognition of Asia’s huge and still fast-growing energy market, the European major said it will relocate the global headquarters of its integrated...

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UPSTREAM: E&P investment seen up nearly 20% to boost oil and gas reserves by 2% last year, said Ernst & Young

(EnergyAsia, December 19 2912, Wednesday) — Oil and gas companies boosted upstream investments by nearly 20% to US$384 billion to raise hydrocarbon reserves by 2% last year, said consultant Ernst & Young. Growth was prominent in Asia’s natural gas reserves, Canada’s oil sands and US shale reserves, with global oil reserves edging up by 1% (more…)

ASIA: Platts said LNG spot prices for January cargoes up 15.5% to US$15.63 mmBTU

(EnergyAsia, December 19 2012, Wednesday) — Asia liquefied natural gas (LNG) spot prices for month-ahead delivery surged 15.5% in December from November to $15.63 per million British thermal units (mmBTU), said energy media Platts. That is the price based on the company’s latest monthly Japan/Korea Marker (JKM) data derived from an assessment of LNG prices (more…)

MARKETS: Iran to hold more military drills in Strait of Hormuz

(EnergyAsia, December 19 2012, Wednesday) — Iran plans to hold more military drills in the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s leading oil and gas shipping route, over the course of the first quarter of next year, said a naval commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Speaking to Iranian media, Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi...

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INDIA: Gulf Petrochem Group starts building oil terminal in Gujarat state

(EnergyAsia, December 18 2012, Tuesday) — Gulf Petrochem Group, a UAE-based oil company, said it has started building an oil storage terminal in the city port of Pipavav in India’s Gujarat state. Gulf did not disclose the size of the proposed investment or the capacity of the terminal which it said is located near vital...

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FUJAIRAH: VTTI on course to boost oil storage capacity to 2.18 million cubic metres

(EnergyAsia, December 18 2012, Tuesday) — Vitol Tank Terminals International (VTTI) is on course to start work in 2014 to add one million barrels of capacity to its 1.18-million barrel terminal at the port of Fujairah located outside the Strait of Hormuz. Jointly owned by European oil trader Vitol and Malaysia’s state-owned shipping company MISC...

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AUSTRALIA: ExxonMobil to complete demolition of Adelaide refinery by end-2013

(EnergyAsia, December 18 2012, Tuesday) — Exxon Mobil expects to complete the demolition of its 63-year-old refinery at Port Stanvac in Australia’s Adelaide state by end-2013. The company said contractor EDS Australasia Pty Ltd has started work to take down and remove the refinery’s units and facilities including pipes, storage tanks, chimney stack and office (more…)

INDIA: IndianOil Corp to build 15-million-tonne oil refinery at Paradip

(EnergyAsia, December 18 2012, Tuesday) — Indian Oil Corporation Ltd said it is planning to build a 15-million-tonne greenfield refinery at Paradip on the country’s west coast as part of a long-term programme to expand its refining business. India’s largest state-owned downstream company said it is aiming to raise its current 66-million tonne refining capacity...

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RUSSIA: Gazprom the world’s top oil and gas producer last year, but faces challenge from the US, says GlobalData

(EnergyAsia, December 17 2012, Monday) — UK-based consultant GlobalData has named Russia’s OAO Gazprom the world’s largest oil and gas producer, with last year’s output of 3,340 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) almost trebling the levels of its nearest rival. In its latest report, GlobalData placed Venezuelan state-owned firm Petróleos de Venezuela S.A (PDVSA) (more…)

MARKETS: US coal consumption for power generation seen rising 5% in 2013, says EIA

(EnergyAsia, December 17 2012, Monday) — After several years of decline, US coal consumption for power generation is expected to recover next year to grow by 5%, said the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). In its latest short-term energy forecast, the EIA said it expects US coal consumption for electricity generation to reach 873.6 million...

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ENVIRONMENT: Heat-trapping pollution rose 3% last year as world slip further behind on climate goals

(EnergyAsia, December 17 2012, Monday) — The world generated three percent more heat-trapping pollution last year, with China leading the charge while the US and Germany were the only major economies to report reductions in their greenhouse gas emissions. According to the Global Carbon Project study, the world emitted a record of nearly 38.2 billion...

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MARKETS: ExxonMobil expects natural gas to surpass coal as second most popular fuel by 2025

(EnergyAsia, December 17 2012, Monday) — Natural gas will surpass coal as the world’s second most popular fuel after oil by 2025, predicts ExxonMobil in its latest long-term forecast to 2040. Coal demand will start declining after peaking around 2025 while natural gas will continue to surge as more countries consume cleaner-burning fuels to curb (more…)

INDONESIA: Energy ministry raised coal price to US$81.75 per tonne for December, but gloom continues

(EnergyAsia, December 14 2012, Friday) — Indonesia has raised its benchmark coal price for December to US$81.75 per tonne, making this the first increase in three months to coincide with a recovery in winter demand. The benchmark price was US$81.44 in November, according to the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry. But the market is still...

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KUWAIT: KNPC awards UK’s AMEC US$528 million contract to work on new refinery

(EnergyAsia, December 14 2012, Friday) — AMEC, the UK-based international engineering and project management company, said it has been awarded a US$528 million project management consultancy (PMC) contract by the Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) for a  new oil refinery  at Al Zour in Kuwait. The 615,000 b/d refinery is expected to be the largest (more…)

AUSTRALIA: China’s U&D Mining approved to acquire Endocoal for A$71 million

(EnergyAsia, December 14 2012, Friday) — China’s U & D Mining has been cleared by Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) to complete its A$71 million acquistion of Queensland-based coal explorer Endocoal. (US$1=A$0.94). Endocoal, whose board supports the takeover, said it was informed last week by FIRB that it had no objections to the Chinese (more…)

AUSTRALIA: Whitehaven awaits Federal clearance to develop Maules Creek coal mine

(EnergyAsia, December 14 2012, Friday) — Australia’s largest independent coal miner is confident of obtaining Federal government clearance to develop its largest project located in New South Wales state to produce more than 10 million metric tons of high quality coking coal for steel making from 2016. It also produces thermal coal for power generation....

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AUSTRALIA: BHP to sell stake in Browse LNG venture to PetroChina for US$1.63 billion

(EnergyAsia, December 13 2012, Thursday) — Australian national resources giant BHP Billiton Ltd said it has agreed to a US$1.63-billion cash sale of its stakes in the proposed Browse liquefied natural gas project (LNG) in Australia to PetroChina Co. According to BHP, China’s largest listed oil producer by market value will take over its 8.33% (more…)

THAILAND: PTT signs 20-year contract to import two million tonnes/year of LNG from Qatar

(EnergyAsia, December 13 2012, Thursday) — Qatargas Operating Company Limited said it has signed a 20-year contract for a jointly-owned subsidiary to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Thai state-owned PTT Public Company Limited starting 2015. Qatar Liquefied Gas Company Limited 3 or QatarGas will supply two million tonnes of LNG a year starting 2015, (more…)

MARKETS: ExxonMobil expects North America to become net energy exporter by 2025

(EnergyAsia, December 13 2012, Thursday) — ExxonMobil thinks energy independence would be too modest a goal for North America. By 2025, the region will become a net energy exporter, radically altering the global energy landscape to create new opportunities for international trade and economic growth, predicts the US major in its latest “Outlook for Energy: (more…)

MARKETS: Goldman Sachs sees modest recovery in coal prices in coming years

(EnergyAsia, December 13 2012, Thursday) — Seaborne coal prices will continue to recover from this year’s plunge, but will run into strong resistance next year on account of rising supplies from China and elsewhere, said Goldman Sachs. In its latest forecast, Goldman Sachs said coal prices will rise about 15% from this year to trade...

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INDONESIA: MedcoEnergi, Puma Energy starts up fuel trading and distribution business

(EnergyAsia, December 12 2012, Wednesday) — Indonesia’s MedcoEnergi and Switzerland’s Puma Energy have launched their new joint venture to build a major fuel trading and distribution business in Indonesia. In a joint statement, the companies said PT Puma Medco Petroleum started up early this month with around 60 staff to deliver high quality fuel products (more…)

AUSTRALIA: IEA predicts surge in coal, gas exports, warns against labour and infrastructure constraints

(EnergyAsia, December 12 2012, Wednesday) — Australia’s coal and gas exports are set to surge but will face serious constraints from labour shortages and infrastructure bottlenecks, said the International Energy Agency (IEA). In a review of the country’s energy policy, the Paris-based agency praised the government’s carbon price mechanism launched last July as a right...

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AUSTRALIA: Rail operator Aurizon secures contract with Rio Tinto Coal

(EnergyAsia, December 12 2012, Wednesday) — Rail operator Aurizon said it has secured a contract from Rio Tinto Coal Australia (RTCA) to haul coal from its Clermont mine to the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal (DBCT), both in Queensland state. Under the new 10-year contract which replaces an existing one due to expire in June 2013, (more…)