(EnergyAsia, October 21 2014, Tuesday) — Russia’s largest energy firm, Rosneft, said it and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) have agreed to expand their strategic partnership by venturing into liquefied natural gas projects, and accelerating the joint construction of a long-delayed oil refinery in China and development of upstream projects in Russia. Rosneft CEO Igor...
(EnergyAsia, October 21 2014, Tuesday) — The Indian government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi expects to soon begin auctioning off the mining and development licences for 214 coal blocks that were among 218 cancelled by the Supreme Court last month. Speaking to the local media last week, Financial Services Secretary G.S. Sandhu said the five-month-old...
(EnergyAsia, October 20 2014, Monday) — PacificLight Power Pte Ltd (PLP) said it has secured Singapore’s largest project to earn carbon emissions credits following the registration of its S$1.2 billion power plant under the UN’s clean development mechanism to fight climate change. (US$1=S$1.27). The company owns and operates the 800MW state-of-the-art combined cycle gas turbine...
(EnergyAsia, October 17 2014, Thursday) — Oil prices rebounded sharply on the overnight markets as traders closed out their positions ahead of the expiry of crude options and futures contracts in New York and London. North Sea Brent crude skidded to a near four-year low of US$82.60 a barrel on Wednesday before surging to a...
(EnergyAsia, October 16 2014, Wednesday) —- Caltex Australia said it has completed the two-year conversion of its 58-year-old oil refinery at Kurnell in Sydney into the country’s largest fuels import terminal this week. With the loss of the 124,500-b/d refinery, Caltex, half-owned by US major Chevron, will be left with only the Lytton plant in...
(EnergyAsia, October 15 2014, Wednesday) — Nearly five months after signing a world-record US$400 billion agreement to sell natural gas to China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), Russia’s Gazprom said it is advancing on technical and banking arrangements towards implementing the deal from 2019. On Monday, the two state-owned companies announced they had signed a technical...
(EnergyAsia, October 14 2014, Tuesday) — Elected on high hopes that it would revive India’s stuttering economy, the five-month-old government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has yet to show that it has a plan to solve the country’s worsening power supply shortages that contributed to the previous government’s downfall. The sharp decline in global oil,...
(EnergyAsia, October 13 2014, Monday) — India’s state-owned International Coal Ventures Private Limited (ICVL) has completed its acquisition of European miner Rio Tinto’s coal assets in Mozambique. Rio Tinto said the US$50 million sale, announced on July 30, was completed following the fulfilment of all conditions needed for regulatory approvals. The assets, which the firm...
(EnergyAsia, October 10 2014, Friday) — Faced with the possibility of having to cancel its proposed C$9-to-C$11 billion liquefied natural gas plant in Canada, Malaysia’s state energy firm Petronas said it is “encouraged” by high-level talks with British Columbia provincial government leaders. This week, the company’s President and CEO Shamsul Azhar Abbas held several meetings...
(EnergyAsia, October 9 2014, Thursday) — North Sea Brent crude oil prices have been on an extended weak run trading below US$100 a barrel since September 5, even slipping below US$94 to its lowest level in more than two years. Ironically, Brent began falling after hitting a peak of US$115 a barrel on June 19...
(EnergyAsia, October 8 2014, Wednesday) — India remains deeply mired in an energy supply crisis, but for now, it is at least reaping the benefits of an unexpectedly prolonged weakness in global oil, gas and coal prices. Since reaching a peak of US$115 a barrel in June, Brent crude prices have plunged to a two-year...
(EnergyAsia, October 7 2014, Tuesday) — Singapore Exchange (SGX) is on course to offer electricity and energy futures trading after paying S$23 million to complete the takeover of the remaining 51% stake in the nation’s electricity market operator. (US$1=S$1.27). SGX, which bought a 49% in Energy Market Co (EMC) in August 2012, had announced its...
(EnergyAsia, October 3 2014, Friday) — The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects global oil demand growth to weaken over the next two years even after Brent crude’s sustained weak run below US$100 a barrel. Instead of inducing fresh buying, the oil market’s collapse — as Brent dipped below the US$100-mark for the first time since...
(EnergyAsia, October 3 2014, Friday) — The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) has raised its forecasts for global oil supply over the next two years while retaining its previous month’s prediction for consumption growth to remain little changed. In its September short-term outlook report, the agency said it expects global liquid fuels production to rise...
(EnergyAsia, October 1 2014, Wednesday) — Despite keeping unchanged its outlook for the global economy, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has raised its latest monghtly forecast for global oil demand for 2014 and 2015. In its September report, the cartel said it expects the world to consume 91.19 million b/d in 2014 and...
(EnergyAsia, September 30 2014, Tuesday) — Dutch oil and chemical logistics giant Royal Vopak said it has completed the acquisition of a 30% stake in a 890,000 cubic metre (cbm) petrochemicals storage terminal in Gulei in China’s Fujian province. Commissioned last year, the renamed Vopak Terminal Haiteng was launched after the Dutch firm said it...
(EnergyAsia, September 29 2014, Monday) — The breakthrough announcement that Canada had secured its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) sales memorandum to Asia last week was completely overshadowed by the somewhat expected threat by the CEO of Malaysia’s state energy firm Petronas to call off its proposed C$9-to-$11 billion export terminal in British Columbia (BC)…
(EnergyAsia, September 25 2014, Thursday) — Pavilion Energy said it has signed another two long-term agreements to purchase liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US as it plans to work with other companies to help develop Singapore into Asia’s trading and pricing hub for the fuel. The subsidiary of Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings...
(EnergyAsia, September 24 2014, Wednesday) — Investment decisions on many major upstream projects will be delayed if crude oil prices fall below US$85 a barrel at the same time that companies are struggling to contain rising business costs, said consulting firm Douglas Westwood (DW). Oil prices have been falling in recent months on account of...
(EnergyAsia, September 23 2014, Tuesday) — The statement at the end of a hurriedly concluded energy summit of the world’s biggest economic bloc on September 2 was conspicuous by what was not mentioned: the growing threats to global oil supplies from the expanding conflicts in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Sudan and Nigeria, the emergence of the...
(EnergyAsia, September 22 2014, Monday) — ExxonMobil said it has begun construction of a new plant at its Jurong facility in Singapore to meet Asia’s growing demand for grease. Located next to an existing lubricants plant, the new unit is expected to be completed and ready in 2016 to add to the US major’s network...
(EnergyAsia, September 19 2014, Friday) — Saudi Arabia could be pushing for crude prices to fall to US$85 a barrel for years in a desperate attempt to stop the oil-fuelled rise of the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group by undermining its finances, said the Bank of America Merrill Lynch. But the strategy would also inflict...
(EnergyAsia, September 18 2014, Thursday) — Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc has announced that it will build a jet fuel storage depot in Cebu province to serve Cebu Pacific Air, the country’s largest domestic airline. In its statement, the company did not provide details like the project’s estimated cost and storage capacity, and when it expects...
(EnergyAsia, September 16 2014, Tuesday) — Nearly two-thirds of the world’s 365 large oil and gas projects being implemented have exceeded their original combined budget of US$1.2 trillion by more than 40%, according to a new report by EY. Adding to this grim news, Axel Preiss, EY’s Global Oil & Gas Advisory Leader, said rising...
(EnergyAsia, September 15 2014, Monday) — Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon and his visiting Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping were in Dushanbe city last Saturday to jointly launch two major energy projects to further integrate Central Asia with the world’s second largest economy. The leaders officially marked the start of construction of the Tajikistan section of Line...