(EnergyAsia, December 20 2011, Tuesday) — Singapore state industrial landlord JTC Corporation (JTC) said it has launched a two-stage request for proposal (RFP) to engage an operator to manage and operate the first phase of the Jurong Rock Caverns (JRC), Southeast Asia’s first underground hydrocarbon storage facility. Located beneath Jurong Island, the cavern’s S$890 million (more…)
MARKETS: ESAI study focuses on seven trends impacting world oil markets in 2012-2013
(EnergyAsia, December 19 2011, Monday) — US energy consultant ESAI has released a study, Global Oil Trends 2012-2013, focusing on the impact of seven trends on the world oil markets in 2012 and 2013. These include refining capacity expansion, rising caution towards nuclear energy, tighter regulations on shipping carbon emissions, a slowdown in the supply (more…)
COMPANY: BDP names Richard Strollo managing director for South Asia
(EnergyAsia, December 19 2011, Monday) — Logistic specialist BDP International (BDP) has named Richard Strollo to the position of managing director for South Asia. BDP is a leading privately owned logistics firm, serving more than 4,000 customers globally including chemical and petrochemical companies. Mr Strollo will lead a team of more than 600 across six (more…)
MONGOLIA: MEC starts up new road to deliver coal to China
(EnergyAsia, December 19 2011, Monday) — Mongolia Energy Corporation (MEC) Limited said it has started delivering coal to China with the completion of a new 311-km road linking the Khushuut mine in Mongolia to Takeshensken in the Xinjiang region. Following last month’s official recognition of the project’s completion by Mongolia’s State Commission Inspection Committee, MEC (more…)
CHINA: Sinopec Kantons aims to become a major oil storage operator with proposed acquisitions in five terminal
(EnergyAsia, December 19 2011, Monday) — Sinopec Kantons Holding Ltd is aiming to become a major oil storage terminal owner and operator in Asia with its proposed acquisitions of stakes in five joint ventures from its parent China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec). The Hong Kong Stock Exchange-listed company has announced that it will fund...
AUSTRALIA: Caltex cuts profit forecasts, moves closer to ceasing oil refining
(EnergyAsia, December 19 2011, Monday) — Australia’s largest downstream oil company may follow the lead of its rivals to scrap its loss-making refinery operations following another warning of a large full-year profit downgrade. Caltex, which has already begun reviewing its refining business, expects its 2011 after-tax operating profit including significant items to fall to between (more…)
MARKETS: Fitch expects sustained M&A activity in Asian oil and gas sector in 2012
(EnergyAsia, December 16 2011, Friday) — US ratings agency Fitch said it expects merger-and-acquisition (M&A) activities to remain strong in Asia’s oil and gas sector in the coming year. In a new report, “2012 Outlook: Asia Oil & Gas”, Fitch Ratings said it is keeping its ‘stable’ rating on the sector even though sustained high...
MARKETS: HIS says 2011 Brent crude price highest in 151-year history
(EnergyAsia, December 16 2011, Friday) — The annual average price of global crude benchmark Brent for 2011 is expected to be the highest in both real and nominal terms in the 151-year history of the industry, said US consultant HIS CERA. It expects Brent to average about $111 for the year at the end of...
VIETNAM: PHI Group, Sao Nam Group to jointly build coal-fired power plant in Quang Tri province
(EnergyAsia, December 16 2011, Friday) — US-based energy and natural resources company PHI Group Inc said it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Sao Nam Group, a Vietnamese company engaged in energy, mining, real estate, and infrastructure, to build a coal-fired power plant in Hai Lang District in Vietnam’s southeast Quang Tri Economic Zone....
INDONESIA: Ramba divests subsidiary to raise S$3.18 million for exploration works
(EnergyAsia, December 16 2011, Friday) — Singapore-based upstream company Ramba Energy Limited said it expects to raise S$3.18 million from the sale of shares in a subsidiary to finance its exploration of the Lemang block in southern Sumatra in Indonesia. (US$1=S$1.3). Ramba, which plans to start drilling the block in the first quarter of next (more…)
AUSTRALIA: China’s DADI completes A$24 million investment in MetroCoal
(EnergyAsia, December 16 2011, Friday) — China’s DADI Engineering Development (Group) Co Ltd has completed its acquisition of a 15.3% stake in Australia’s Metrocoal for A$24 million. (US$1=A$1). The Australian miner said the Chinese firm has fully paid for its purchase of 32 million of its ASX-listed shares at A$0.75 each. With Chinese regulators giving (more…)
SHIPPING: More vessels to use LNG as marine fuel, says consultant Zeus Development
(EnergyAsia, December 15 2011, Thursday) — Forty-eight carrier ships will soon be fuelled by liquefied natural gas (LNG), with more to follow, said consultant Zeus Development Corporation which will share this and other findings from its survey of the marine industry at an upcoming conference in Houston, Texas. The company will discuss the use of (more…)
KAZAKHSTAN: Government acquires 10% stake in Karachaganak project for US$3 billion
(EnergyAsia, December 15 2011, Thursday) — KazMunaiGas, the state-owned oil and gas company of Kazakhstan, has agreed to pay US$3 billion for a 10% stake in the country’s Karachaganak gas and condensate project in a landmark agreement to settle years of disputes with foreign investors. According to the consortium developing the project, KazMunaiGas (KMG) will (more…)
IRAQ: Engineering firm Shaw group to undertake feasibility study to rehabilitate 140,000 b/d refinery
(EnergyAsia, December 15 2011, Thursday) — The Shaw Group Inc, a US engineering company, said it has been awarded a contract by Iraq’s state-owned South Refineries Company to provide a feasibility study for the rehabilitation of its 140,000 b/d refinery in Basra city. The study will assess the refinery’s condition and estimate the engineering, equipment (more…)
COMPANIES: Maersk Oil, Siemens to work on developing clean-power turbines
(EnergyAsia, December 15 2011, Thursday) — Denmark’s Maersk Oil said it and Germany’s Siemens have agreed to jointly develop and build turbines for its proprietary tri-generation clean power generation technology. Maersk Oil said its TriGen power generator burns natural gas mixed with pure oxygen to produce clean power, water and ‘reservoir ready’ carbon dioxide (CO2) (more…)
AUSTRALIA: Japan’s Inpex sign 15-year deal to import US$70 billion worth of LNG
(EnergyAsia, December 15 2011, Thursday) — Japanese companies have agreed to import around 70% of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) output from the Ichthys project off Australia’s Northern Territory state for 15 years from 2017. Upstream company Inpex Corp said its 74.8%-owned Ichthys LNG Pty Ltd will supply a total of four million tonnes of...
SAUDI ARABIA: Platts disputes Oil Minister’s claim of oil output exceeding 10 million b/d
(EnergyAsia, December 14 2011, Wednesday) — US energy media group Platts said Saudi Arabia produced just 9.7 million b/d of crude oil last month, well below the 10 million b/d figure claimed by Oil Minister Ali Al Naimi at a conference in Riyadh early this month. In a speech delivered on his behalf by a...
MARKETS: FAO says ‘energy-smart’ agriculture needed to escape fossil fuel trap
(EnergyAsia, December 14 2011, Wednesday) — The global food system needs to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels to succeed in feeding a growing world population, said the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). “There is justifiable concern that the current dependence of the food sector on fossil fuels may limit the sector’s ability to...
CHINA: US Peabody Energy acquired 5.1% stake in Winsway Coking Coal Holdings
(EnergyAsia, December 14 2011, Wednesday) — US Peabody Energy said it has acquired a 5.1% equity interest in Hong Kong-listed Winsway Coking Coal Holdings Ltd for an undisclosed sum. Deutsche Bank brokered the acquisition which was made over a series of purchases, said Peabody. The two companies, which operate a joint venture in Mongolia that holds...
MARKETS: World Energy Council predicts fuel demand to grow sharply in China and India, decline in developed countries
(EnergyAsia, December 14 2011, Wednesday) — The World Energy Council (WEC) expects rapid Chinese and Indian transport fuel demand growth to enable consumption in the developing countries to exceed that of the developed world by 2025. Between now and 2050, the council expects fuel demand to grow by 200% in China and by 300% in (more…)
GAS: US government confirms ‘fracking’ chemicals found in water aquifer
(EnergyAsia, December 14 2011, Wednesday) — In a report confirming the complaints of environmental and farming groups, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it found toxic chemicals used in producing natural gas through the hydraulic fracturing process in drinking water in Wyoming state. The agency said its draft analysis of data obtained from an (more…)
AUSTRALIA: Sinopec to raise stake in LNG project from 15% to 25%, commits to additional imports
(EnergyAsia, December 13 2011, Tuesday) — China Petrochemical Corp (Sinopec), Asia’s biggest oil refiner, has agreed to raise its 15% holdings in a US$20 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Queensland state to 25%. Sinopec Group, which paid US$1.5 billion for its initial 15% stake in the Australia Pacific LNG Pty Ltd project in...
MARKETS: Platts says OPEC raised crude oil output to 30.6 million b/d in November, disputes Saudi version
(EnergyAsia, December 13 2011, Tuesday) — The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) raised its crude oil output by 550,000 b/d to 30.6 million b/d in November from 30.05 million b/d in October, said energy media group Platts. But the McGraw-Hill subsidiary disputed Saudi Arabia’s claims that it was producing more than 10 million...
CLIMATE CHANGE: Greenpeace says “polluters won, people lost” at Durban talks
(EnergyAsia, December 13 2011, Tuesday) — Governments submitted to the wishes of polluting corporations at the expense of the people after two weeks of the UN climate summit in the South African city of Durban, said Greenpeace. On the closing of the latest round of UN climate talks, Greenpeace said it became “clear that governments (more…)
COMPANY: Mercuria Energy Group Ltd signs US$755 million syndicated revolving credit facility in Asia
(EnergyAsia December 13 2011, Tuesday) — Singapore-based Mercuria Energy Trading Pte Ltd said it received “overwhelming” response in securing a US$755 million revolving credit facility with 29 international banks syndicated for one and three-year terms. The facility, launched at US$480 million, closed oversubscribed and was upsized to US$755 million. The company said it plans to (more…)