MALAYSIA: Prime Minister envisions regional oil and gas trading role for Pengerang at launch of independent storage terminal

(EnergyAsia, June 30 2014, Monday) — Two months after its start-up, Southeast Asia’s newest oil storage terminal built partly on reclaimed land on the eastern coast of Malaysia’s Johor state was officially launched last Thursday by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak. In April, Pengerang Independent Terminals Sdn Bhd (PITSB) started up the RM5-billion project’s first...

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IRAQ: Global oil markets strengthened by prospects of long-term political instability and supply disruptions

(EnergyAsia, June 30 2014, Monday) — The International Energy Agency (IEA) has served notice that it may lower its medium-term forecast for Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) production amid the worsening geopolitical situation in the Middle East, with Iraq effectively plunged into civil war. The agency and other analysts have long pinned their hopes...

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AUSTRALIA: Caltex expects sharp fall in H1 profit on reduced output from Kurnell refinery ahead of closure

(EnergyAsia, June 27 2014, Friday) —- With the impending closure of one of its two refineries, Australia’s largest downstream oil company expects its first-half after-tax profit to fall to between A$150 million and $170 million compared with A$195 million for the same period last year. (US$1=A$1.05). Caltex said it is winding down production at its...

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CHINA: Sinopec signs Kuwait refinery agreement, CNPC still to wrap up deal with Ecuador

(EnergyAsia, June 26 2014, Thursday) — Chinese state-owned companies are plodding away in talks with their counterparts in Kuwait and Ecuador to jointly develop two major oil refinery projects. Sinopec and Kuwait Petroleum Co (KPC) expect to start up an integrated oil refinery-petrochemical complex in China’s southern Guangdong province by 2017 while China National Petroleum...

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RUSSIA: Gazprom ties up LNG and exploration deals with Indian state companies

(EnergyAsia, June 25 2014, Wednesday) — Fresh from signing a world-record gas-supply deal with China, Russia’s Gazprom is expanding ties with India through new agreements to increase the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and to jointly develop upstream projects. The Russian firm’s Singapore-based subsidiary, Gazprom Marketing & Trading, will raise the annual supply of...

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MARKETS: As oil prices rise, OPEC maintains forecast for 2014 global oil demand at 91.14 million b/d

(EnergyAsia, June 24 2014, Tuesday) — Will rising oil prices crimp global demand growth, stimulate supply and hurt global economic growth? As Brent surged to a nine-month-high of more than US$115 a barrel in response to the latest outbreak of conflicts in the Middle East, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) may have to...

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AUSTRALIA: Shell’s sale of Woodside stake to free up role for both companies

(EnergyAsia, June 23 2014, Monday) — Royal Dutch Shell’s sharply reduced 4.5% stake holding in Australian upstream firm Woodside following last week’s sale of 156.54 million shares will give both companies a freer hand to decide on their respective investment strategies. The sale will ease more than a decade of tensions between the two companies...

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CHINA: FTS International to supply fracking expertise and services through 15-year JV company with Sinopec

(EnergyAsia, June 20 2014, Friday) — US-based FTS International (FTSI) said it has signed a 15-year joint venture agreement with state-owned Sinopec Group to supply its oilfield services and hydraulic stimulation expertise to China, initially focusing on shale-rich Sichuan province. The China-incorporated SinoFTS Petroleum Services Ltd, 55% owned by Sinopec and 45% by FTSI, will...

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ASIA: Region’s energy demand growth to outpace North America’s by five times, but rising supply will limit price rise, says Wood Mackenzie

(EnergyAsia, June 20 2014, Friday) — Driven by China, Asia’s energy demand will grow at five times the rate of North America’s by five times between 2014 and 2030, predicts UK-based consultant Wood Mackenzie. This is equal to adding a new Brazil to global energy demand every year over that 16-year period, but global supply...

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CHINA: BP secures 20-year deal to supply LNG to CNOOC

(EnergyAsia, June 19 2014, Thursday) — BP said it has signed an agreement for the annual supply of up to 1.5 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC)  over 20 years starting 2019. In London this week, BP’s executive vice president, Dev Sanyal, and CNOOC chairman, Wang Yilin,...

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SINGAPORE: Russia’s Gazprom lists on stock exchange to deepen Asia push as it cuts off gas supplies to Ukraine

(EnergyAsia, June 18 2014, Tuesday) — A day after cutting off natural gas supplies to Ukraine, Russia’s Gazprom celebrated the listing of its shares on the Singapore stock exchange. The listing underlines Gazprom’s pivot towards the world’s fast-growing economies, giving it access to capital from the region’s cash-flush investors barely a month after it had...

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CHINA: Natural gas demand to nearly double, domestic supply to rise sharply over next five years, IEA predicts

(EnergyAsia, June 16 2014,  Monday) — Following the boom in North America, the natural gas industry will experience a “golden age” of demand and supply growth in China over the next five years to 2019, predicts the International Energy Agency (IEA). In its latest Medium-Term Gas Market Report, the Paris-based agency said Chinese natural gas...

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RUSSIA: Minister for Far East region tours Mechel’s facilities

(EnergyAsia, June 13 2014, Friday) — Russia’s Minister for Development of the Far East, Alexander Galushka, recently visited the facilities of mining firm Mechel in the region as part of his work tour to monitor the country’s ports and infrastructure projects serving the Pacific markets. The company said its chairman, Igor Zyuzin, accompanied Mr Galushka,...

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MARKETS: World faces vicious cycle of high oil prices to pay for rising cost of production

(EnergyAsia, June 12 2014, Thursday) — The world will face the twin threats of rising oil prices and production cost in its quest to develop hydrocarbon reserves to meet growing energy demand, said the International Energy Agency (IEA). It estimates that over the next two decades to 2035, the world will have to invest a...

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SHIPPING: Wartsila says its engines will power world’s first LNG-fuelled icebreaker

(EnergyAsia, June 11 2014, Wednesday) — Finland’s Wartsila said its dual-fuel engines will power the world’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fired icebreaker now being built by the Arctech Helsinki Shipyard for the Finnish Transport Agency. Wartsila said it will fit the vessel with a 8-cylinder 20DF, two 9-cylinder 34DF and two 12-cylinder 34DF engines, enabling...

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CHINA: Central Asia countries aim to raise gas exports to 80 billion cubic metres/year by end-2020

(EnergyAsia, June 10 2014, Tuesday) — Central Asia is increasing efforts to export natural gas to China, with four fully operating pipelines expected to nearly triple delivery to 80 billion cubic metres per year by 2020. Two pipelines, A and B, are currently delivering a total of 30 bcm/year from Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, while line...

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ASIA: Aggreko opens new depot in Thailand, expands power generation capacity in Bali to 170 MW

(EnergyAsia, June 9 2014, Monday) — Aggreko, a UK-based leading provider of temporary power and temperature control services, has expanded its Southeast Asian operations by opening a new depot in Songkhla in Thailand and adding to the electricity generation capacity on Indonesia’s Bali Island. Aggreko said the Songkhla depot will help raise service standards for...

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SINGAPORE: Pavilion Gas signs 10-year agreement to boost LNG import from France’s Total

(EnergyAsia, June 9 2014, Monday) — Singapore’s Pavilion Gas has signed a new 10-year agreement to increase the annual purchase of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to 700,000 tonnes from France’s Total starting 2018, the two companies have announced. Replacing last year’s agreement for the annual purchase of 500,000 tonnes, the subsidiary of Pavilion Energy, a...

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AUSTRALIA: Origin Energy to pay up to US$800 million for offshore gas interest to support LNG project

(EnergyAsia, June 6 2014, Friday) — Australia’s Origin Energy has agreed to pay up to US$800 million for a 40% stake in two major gas reserves in the Browse Basin located off the coast of Western Australia state. Origin said it will acquire Karoon Gas Ltd’s WA-315-P and WA-398-P exploration permits in the Poseidon area...

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THAILAND: PTT plans to sell off stakes in two domestic refineries

(EnergyAsia, June 6 2014, Friday) — The oil refining industry in Thailand is joining its counterparts in Australia, Singapore and Japan in beating a retreat as it feels the competitive pressure from much larger and more sophisticated plants in the Middle East, China and India. State-owned PTT is planning to sell off its holdings in...

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ASIA: Studies tell region to better plan, prepare for oil shocks as energy demand continues to grow rapidly

(EnergyAsia, June 5 2014, Thursday) — Asia must better plan and prepare for potential oil shocks and supply disruptions as its rapid energy demand growth shows no signs of slowing down, said two recent studies. US ratings agency S&P said Asia’s energy deficit will continue to rise with its energy imports reaching a record 40%...

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SINGAPORE: PacificLight Power starts up S$1.2 billion power plant on Jurong Island

(EnergyAsia, June 4 2014, Wednesday) — PacificLight Power Pte Ltd, a company jointly owned by Filipino and Malaysian interests, has started up the first power plant in Singapore to be fired entirely by liquefied natural gas (LNG). PacificLight Power, which is 70% owned by Manila-based FPM Power Holdings Ltd, invested S$1.2 billion in the state-of-the-art...

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SINGAPORE: Refining industry continues decline as Shell writes off 500,000 b/d plant

(EnergyAsia, June 3 2014, Tuesday) — The decline of Singapore’s once-mighty oil refining industry looks set to continue despite hitting a new low with Shell recently writing off the US$2.3 billion value of its 500,000 b/d plant. At its peak in the 1990s, the giant Bukom Island refinery was described as the crown jewel of...

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MARKETS: OPEC maintains forecast for 2014 global oil demand at 91.15 million b/d

(EnergyAsia, June 2 2014, Monday) — The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has kept unchanged its May forecast for this year’s global oil demand and economic growth from the previous month. The cartel retained its previous forecast for global oil consumption at 91.15 million b/d in 2014 and world economic growth at 3.4%. “Global...

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MARKETS: EIA lowers forecasts for global oil demand growth for 2014 and 2015 on weaker outlook for former Soviet states

(EnergyAsia, June 2 2014, Monday) — Citing the impact of Ukraine’s political crisis on Central Asia, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) has lowered its May forecasts for global oil demand growth from its previous April call. The world will consume 91.56 million this year and b/d 92.80 million b/d in 2015, said the US agency’s...

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