(EnergyAsia, September 12 2011, Wednesday) — Indonesia could boost its coal exports to Japan by a third to 30 million tons this year, according to the Indonesian Association of Coal Miners. Following the March 11 tsunami-earthquake tragedy, Japan has shut down more than two thirds of its nuclear power capacity, and has turned to generating...
(EnergyAsia, September 14 2011, Wednesday) — Australia’s Cougar Energy Limited said it is considering appealing to the Queensland Land Court against the Queensland state government’s decision to restrict its underground coal gasification (UCG) activities near Kingaroy town, 210 km northwest of Brisbane city. The state’s Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) has told the...
(EnergyAsia, September 14 2011, Wednesday) — Solid Energy New Zealand (SENZ) said it has begun constructing a commercial-scale demonstration plant using GTL Energy Ltd’s proprietary coal upgrading process and equipment. SENZ is due to start up the first phase of its plant at Mataura by mid-2012 producing up to 90,000 tonnes a year of low-moisture (more…)
(EnergyAsia, September 12 2011, Wednesday) — Indonesia could boost its coal exports to Japan by a third to 30 million tons this year, according to the Indonesian Association of Coal Miners. Following the March 11 tsunami-earthquake tragedy, Japan has shut down more than two thirds of its nuclear power capacity, and has turned to generating...
(EnergyAsia, September 14 2011, Wednesday) — Australia’s MetroCoal said it is selling 32 million shares representing a 15% stake to a leading Chinese coal services groups, DADI Engineering Development Group Co Ltd (DADI), for A$24 million. (US$1=A$0.95). MetroCoal said the money raised from selling 32 million shares at A$0.75 each will be used to develop (more…)
(EnergyAsia, September 13 2011, Tuesday) — Thai coal miner Banpu PCL has made a A$423 million cash offer to acquire the remaining 88% stake in Australia’s Hunnu Coal Ltd that it does not yet own, the two companies said. (US$1=A$0.95). At A$1.80 a share, the offer price represents a 30% premium over the A$1.385 that...
(EnergyAsia, September 13 2011, Tuesday) — Thai state-owned energy company, PTT, has affirmed its long-term goal to expand coal production in Indonesia. Already with two mines in Indonesia, PTT is in talks with local companies to acquire their stakes in producing mines as well as concessions. Natthachart Charuchinda, a PTT executive vice president, told a...
(EnergyAsia, September 13 2011, Tuesday) — Australia’s Victory West Metals Ltd (VWM) said it has agreed to fully acquire South East Asia Energy Resources Pte Ltd (SEAE), a special purpose company registered in Singapore with interest in coal projects and concessions as well as sales agreements. VWM will pay for the acquisition through 330 million...
(EnergyAsia, September 13 2011, Tuesday) — Mongolian state-owned miner Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi (ETT) has selected a consortium comprising Australia’s Macmahon Holdings Ltd and Germany’s BBM Operta as contractors to mine a section of its giant Tavan Tolgoi coal deposit. Mcmahon said the consortium will undertake large scale open cut mining operations in the Eastern Tsankhi...
(EnergyAsia, September 13 2011, Tuesday) — Six months after the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster in Japan, three experts at a forum in the US have laid out eight key concerns related to continuing health threats, unaddressed design flaws with nuclear plants and inadequate regulatory responses. The regulatory, scientific and health experts who agree that the “3/11” (more…)
(EnergyAsia, September 12 2011, Monday) — Mechel OAO, a leading Russian mining and metals company, said its Trade Port Posiet subsidiary loaded 26 cargo ships carrying a record 509,000 tonnes of coal last month. It attributed the achievement to the port’s improved technical support made as part of a US$73 million modernisation programme to be...
(EnergyAsia, September 12 2011, Monday) — Asia’s coal consumers are bracing for higher prices as Indonesia works towards banning the export of lower-grade material for use in power generation from 2014. China and India, which rely on coal for more than 70% of their power supply, have the most to fear from a proposed Energy...
(EnergyAsia, September 12 2011, Monday) — Texas, US-based Kosmos Energy plans to raise U$50 million from a proposed listing in Ghana later this year, said the Securities and Exchange Commission of the West African country. Backed by private equity firms Blackstone Group and Warburg Pincus, Kosmos owns a 23.49% stake in the offshore Jubilee oilfield,...
(EnergyAsia, September 12 2011, Monday) — The Australian Coal Association (ACA) has issued a statement questioning the findings of the Grattan Institute report on the impact of the government’s proposed carbon tax on the coal, liquefied natural gas and steel industries. ACA executive director, Ralph Hillman, said the Grattan Institute report was not based on...
(EnergyAsia, September 12 2011, Monday) — Japan’s Zeon Corporation is looking to add a S$1 billion project in Singapore after breaking ground on its S$240 million synthetic rubber plant on Jurong Island early this month. (US$1=S$1.22). Naozumi Furukawa, Zeon’s President and CEO, said it is weighing a decision by next March on whether to build (more…)
(EnergyAsia, September 9 2011, Friday) — South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering and Construction said it has landed a 1.6-trillion-won contract to build a 1,000MW power plant in Vietnam. (US$1=1,070 won). The company expects to shortly begin construction of the 1,000 MW coal-fired plant in Mong Duong in Quang Ninh province, 250 km northeast of the capital...
(EnergyAsia, September 9 2011, Friday) — The rising cost and supply shortages of coal is threatening India’s ambitious goal of adding 100GW of power capacity during its next 5th year plan to 2017. In turn, these trends will jeopardise the reliability of India’s electricity supply and undermine its economic prospects under its 12th development plan,...
(EnergyAsia, September 9 2011, Friday) — China Power Investment Corp, one of the country’s five-largest power companies, is planning to build a coal-fired power plant, a deepwater port and an aluminum refinery in one of Africa’s most backward countries in exchange for the right to develop a large bauxite mine costing nearly US$6 billion. Located...
(EnergyAsia, September 9 2011, Friday) — Australia’s QR National said it and a consortium of coal mining companies have agreed to construct an A$900 million rail link that will expand the coal carrying capacity from the southern Bowen Basin region to a new export terminal at Gladstone in Queensland state by 30%. (US$1=A$0.95). QR National...
(EnergyAsia, September 9 2011, Friday) — The Chicago Mercantile Exchange has begun listing two coking coal futures contract settled against prices published by two mainstream energy media, McGraw-Hill’s Platts and UK’s Argus. Argus prices will be use for the Australian coking coal (Argus) low volume swap futures contract which began trading on the floor of...
(EnergyAsia, September 9 2011, Friday) — Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd (MHI) said it and CTCI Corporation, Taiwan’s largest engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firm, have received a full-turnkey order from Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) to jointly construct three 800MW coal-fired supercritical-pressure power generation units. The project’s value was not disclosed. The three units will (more…)
(EnergyAsia, September 8 2011, Thursday) — China Shenhua Energy Co Ltd, the country’s largest coal producer, said its first-half net profit rose 16.1% to 21.9 billion yuan while revenue jumped 40.5% over the same period last year. (US$1=6.45). In a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the company said the half-year revenue exceeded 100...
(EnergyAsia, September 8 2011, Thursday) — China’s Puda Coal said its internal investigations have found that chairman Ming Zhao may have illegally transferred ownership of two of its subsidiaries to himself and a state-owned company without the approval of shareholders. The company launched the investigations following an April 8 article by a short-selling trader that...
(EnergyAsia, September 8 2011, Thursday) — Nigeria has become the first African country and possibly the first major oil producer to include the Chinese yuan in its foreign exchange reserves. In an unexpected and significant move, Central Bank governor Lamido Sanusi said the yuan would eventually account for between five and 10% of Nigeria’s reserves,...
(EnergyAsia, September 8 2011, Thursday) — Mechel OAO, a leading Russian mining and metals company, said it has jointly established Mechel Somani Carbon Private Limited with the Somani Group to distribute metallurgical coals in India. Mechel Carbon AG, a subsidiary of Mechel OAO’s mining division Mechel Mining OAO, owns a 51% stake in the new (more…)