(EnergyAsia, November 21 2011, Monday) — Russian energy giant Gazprom and its subsidiaries are on course to claim a world record US$51 billion in oil and gas capital expenditures this year, according to local media reports. The amount includes Gazprom’s programme to invest US$41.4 billion, and nearly US$10 billion in total by its various subsidiaries...
(EnergyAsia, November 21 2011, Monday) — Thanks to the restructuring of its oil exports including improved taxation, Russia has achieved a “sustainable role” as a global oil power, according to US-based consultant ESAI Energy. In a new multi-client study entitled “Russia Comes of Age: Restructured Exports Strengthen Russia’s Hand in Oil Markets,” ESAI said changes...
(EnergyAsia, November 21 2011, Monday) — The US Clean Air Council (CAC) has asked the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) to intervene as a result of the failure of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s (PA DEP) to properly regulate fracking and gas processing pollution that contributes to climate change. Clean Air Council, a non-profit environmental...
(EnergyAsia, November 18 2011, Friday) — The supply of natural gas from shale and unconventional sources, on which the world is relying to meet its future energy demand, now faces new concerns that the controversial fracturing method of production may have caused localised earthquakes in the UK and the US. Cuadrilla Resources, a British company...
(EnergyAsia, November 18 2011, Friday) — Singapore has moved forward with its plans for using smart grids and renewable energy sources to develop a robust and efficient future electricity system. The Agency for Science, Technology and Research’s (A*STAR) has launched the nation’s S$38-million Experimental Power Grid Centre (EPGC) to support the development of future smart (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 18 2011, Friday) — US engineering giant Bechtel said it has secured contracts involving two major liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects in the US and Australia. Bechtel said it has been awarded a US$3.9 billion contract by Cheniere Energy Partners LP to provide engineering, procurement, and construction services for two new liquefaction trains (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 18 2011, Friday) — EIG Global Energy Partners (EIG) said it will be opening an office in Hong Kong, its fifth, in early 2012. EIG said the new office will position it to take advantage of opportunities for investments in energy, resources and related infrastructure fuelled by demand growth in Asia. It will (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 17 2011, Thursday) — Norway’s Stolt-Nielsen has started up the first phase of its S$350 million petrochemicals tank storage terminal on Singapore’s Jurong Island. (US$1=S$1.3). The Oslo Børs-listed company last week launched three gas spheres with the capacity to store 73,000 cubic metres (cbm) at its Tembusu site as part of a bigger (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 17 2011, Thursday) — Annual operating costs in the shipping industry rose by an average 2.2% in 2010, reversing the 2% decline the previous year, said international accountant and shipping consultant Moore Stephens. All cost categories showed an overall increase this time, with the exception of stores and insurance which fell by 4.7%. (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 17 2011, Thursday) — The Brent-WTI spread fell to US$9.29 a barrel, its lowest level since March 8, as the US crude surged 3.2% to a five-and-a-half-month high of $102.59 a barrel. Traders attributed WTI’s climb to an unwinding of long Brent positions, which had taken the spread to a high of US$28 (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 17 2011, Thursday) — Guy Carpenter & Company LLC, a leading global risk and reinsurance specialist and a member of Marsh & McLennan Companies, has announced the expansion of its risk management capabilities in the Asia Pacific region with a number of senior-level appointments. Christian Schirmer has been appointed head of GC Analytics® (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 17 2011, Thursday) — Singapore is looking to launch an electricity futures market for industry players to hedge their pricing risks and open up new business opportunities for financial firms and traders, said the head of the city-state’s energy regulator. “We see an electricity futures market having the potential to enhance our energy...
(EnergyAsia, November 16 2011, Wednesday) — Equatorial Guinea expects Dutch oil and chemical logistics giant Royal Vopak to start building an oil storage terminal in the second half of next year and to complete it a year later. The government of the West African country has awarded Vopak the contract to build and operate the...
(EnergyAsia, November 16 2011, Wednesday) — After months of speculation, Caltex Australia Ltd, half owned by Chevron, said it will close one of two gasoline refining units at its Kurnell facility in Sydney. Australia’s largest downstream oil company joins its domestic rivals in throwing in the towel, citing the impact of the strong local currency,...
(EnergyAsia, November 16 2011, Wednesday) — China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) said it has imported a total of 16.88 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas from three Central Asian countries through a 2,000-km pipeline since its start-up at the end of 2009. The west-to-east pipeline draws natural gas from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan before...
(EnergyAsia, November 16 2011, Wednesday) — Hydrocarbon-rich Turkmenistan is aiming to expand its network of gas pipelines to increase exports to countries in Europe and Asia. At an energy conference last week, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov described natural-gas exports to Europe as the “most important” objective of the country’s foreign policy as it races to compete...
(EnergyAsia, November 16 2011, Wednesday) — Europe’s GDF SUEZ has signed an agreement to sell India’s Petronet LNG Limited nine cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) totalling 600,000 tons for 2012. The French-Belgian utilities company, which owns a 10% stake in Petronet, said it will source the LNG from its global portfolio and deliver the (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 15 2011, Tuesday) — Singapore is considering importing electricity as a further measure to diversify its energy mix and enhance supply security. The Energy Market Authority (EMA) will soon begin consulting private companies and relevant stakeholders on the regulatory framework and other issues related to importing electricity from neighbouring countries, said S. Iswaran,...
(EnergyAsia, November 15 2011, Tuesday) — Even though oil and gas is the most traded product in the Asia-Pacific region, there is virtually no energy trade across the Pacific. A new report recently released by the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) suggests that this anomaly could be corrected in the foreseeable future. Yuen Pau Woo,...
(EnergyAsia, November 15 2011, Tuesday) — Australia’s Cougar Energy Limited has begun legal proceedings against the Queensland state government and three of its officials seeking more than A$34 million in compensation over their decision to halt the company’s development of a power plant project. The company said it is suing the previous Department of Environment...
(EnergyAsia, November 15 2011, Tuesday) — The Asia Pacific market accounted for an unprecedented two-thirds of the insured catastrophe losses worldwide in the first three quarters of 2011, according to a new report released by Guy Carpenter & Company LLC, aleading global risk and reinsurance specialist and a member of Marsh & McLennan Companies. The (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 14 2011, Monday) — China should increase imports of piped natural gas from Central Asia, primarily Turkmenistan, to meet near-term demand as an alternative to costly liquefied natural gas (LNG), said energy consultant Wood Mackenzie. The firm’s China Gas Service said the country’s delays in implementing structural gas price reforms have weakened...
(EnergyAsia, November 14 2011, Monday) — Blaming BP Plc for not clearing anti-trust regulatory approvals, Bridas Corp has cancelled its proposed deal to acquire the UK major’s 60% stake in Argentine crude producer Pan American Energy LLC for US$7.06 billion. Bridas Corp, which will retain its 40% stake in PAE, also cited an order by...
(EnergyAsia, November 14 2011, Monday) — The Indonesian government said it plans to build at least two coal-fired power plants on Batam Island with the intention to sell the bulk of their output to nearby Singapore, located just 15 km away. Deputy Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Widjajono Partowidagdo said at least three quarters of...
(EnergyAsia, November 14 2011, Monday) — The New Zealand government has charged the CEO of Pike Coal River for failing to prevent a blast at its mine last year which killed 29 workers in the country’s worst industrial accident in almost a century. Last week, the Department of Labour tabled 12 charges against Peter Whittall...