(EnergyAsia, December 8 2010, Wednesday) — Malaysia’s state energy firm, Petronas, has hired Klaus Reinisch as chief executive of its trading unit in Britain to strengthen its push into Europe. Reinisch, who previously served in senior positions in the marketing and trading subsidiary of Russia’s Gazprom and the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, started work...

(EnergyAsia, December 8 2010, Wednesday) — CNOOC Limited said its partly-owned subsidiary, Bridas Corporation, has agreed to acquire BP’s 60% equity interest in Pan American Energy for around US$7.06 billion. Bridas Corp, a 50/50% joint venture between CNOOC International Limited and Bridas Energy Holdings (BEH) will take over PAE’s assets in Latin America except Bolivia....

(EnergyAsia, December 8 2010, Wednesday) — The International Energy Agency (IEA) said Iraq won’t meet its ambitious target of producing 12 million barrels of oil a day by 2017, citing political uncertainty and large infrastructure needs as limiting factors. In its annual World Energy Outlook report, the IEA said Iraq would need 20 years to...

(EnergyAsia, December 8 2010, Wednesday) — Southeast Asia’s first nuclear energy plants are likely to be developed in Vietnam and Thailand after 2025, while Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore may not see any, said UK consulting group Wood Mackenzie in a recent report analysing nuclear power as a possibility for the region. Graham Tyler, who heads...

(EnergyAsia, December 7 2010, Tuesday) — China Coal Geology Engineering Corporation (CCGEC) recently signed a five-year agreement with Wanbei Coal & Electricity Group Company Limited to jointly explore and develop coal deposits in the Surat Basin in Australia’s Queensland state. Focusing on the 924-sq km Wallumbilla block, the partners are planning to uncover an estimated...

(EnergyAsia, December 7 2010, Tuesday) – Jurong Aromatics Corp (JAC) is hoping to start work on its troubled US$2.4 billion petrochemicals complex in Singapore next year after having a US$1.56 billion loan from a syndicate of mostly European banks with a 80% debt guarantee by South Korean state export credit agencies. European banks and the...

(EnergyAsia, December 7 2010, Tuesday) — Underlining their blossoming political and economic ties, China, the world’s biggest energy consumer, and Russia, the world’s biggest energy producer, have agreed to expand cooperation in oil, gas, coal and nuclear power. With bilateral trade forecast to exceed US$50 billion this year, the neighbours confirmed their expanded economic ties...

(EnergyAsia, December 7 2010, Tuesday) — The combination of rising demand and cold weather has pushed up power station coal prices in China to their highest levels in two years at Qinhuangdao port. China’s domestic coal prices usually rise during winter on rising demand for heating and slumping stockpiles. The country is expected to increase...

(EnergyAsia, December 7 2010, Tuesday) — Lured by higher prices overseas, US companies are increasingly re-exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes to Asia. Weak domestic prices caused by ample supplies, weak demand and swelling inventories are forcing US gas companies firms to look to Asia to improve their profits. With China, Taiwan, South Korea and...

(EnergyAsia, December 7 2010, Tuesday) — The unconventional gas industry comprising shale and coalbed methane holds long-term potential in China, but will not be able to develop as quickly as the sector in the US, said UK consulting firm Wood Mackenzie. Speaking at the GASEX 2010 conference in Taipei last month, Gavin Thompson, Wood Mackenzie’s...

(EnergyAsia, December 7 2010, Tuesday) — Australia’s MetroCoal Limited said it has joined other companies to co-fund a study to determine the feasibility of expanding the Wiggins Island Coal Export Terminal (WICET) as part of its strategy to advance the development of the Surat Basin coal deposits. A number of coal producers have already announced...

(EnergyAsia, December 6 2010, Monday) — UK consulting group Wood Mackenzie has predicted that the US will surpass Australia and Indonesia as the world’s leading region for coal mergers and acquisitions. Gero Farruggio, head of coal supply research at the Edinburgh, Scotland-based consulting company, said: “Wood Mackenzie’s analysis indicates a global shift in activity towards...

(EnergyAsia, December 6 2010, Monday) — Mercuria Energy Group Ltd said it has acquired a 6,000-hectare coal concession site in south eastern Kalimantan in Indonesia for an undisclosed price. The company said it plans to develop the asset to export two million tons of good quality bituminous coal for export. The new asset represents a...

(EnergyAsia, December 6 2010, Monday) — Australia’s Environmental Clean Technologies Limited (ECT) believes it has the technology to enable China to consume coal to meet its rising energy demand while mitigating carbon emissions. ECT CEO Kos Galtos said his company’s coldry technology will enable China to achieve the cost-effective development of domestic lignite reserves for...

(EnergyAsia, December 6 2010, Monday) — UK’s Xstrata Coal and Mitsubishi Development Pty Ltd (MDP), an Australian subsidiary of Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation, have jointly approved the A$1.3 billion expansion of their Ulan coal mine joint venture in Australia. (US$1=A$1.02). MDP, which holds a 10% interest in the Ulan Coal Mines Limited, said the partners will...

(EnergyAsia, December 6 2010, Monday) — The approval of a major coal project by Australia’s Queensland state government has boosted the industry’s prospects in the Surat Basin region, said one of its emerging players. MetroCoal Limited said the Queensland Co-ordinator General’s approval for UK-based Xstrata’s proposed A$3 billion Wandoan project has greatly enhanced the region’s...

(EnergyAsia, December 6 2010, Monday) — Australia’s Linc Energy said it is working at the same time to both sell off and develop its Teresa coal resource, located 17 km north of the major regional town of Emerald in the prolific Bowen Basin. The Brisbane-based company said it has drilled four core holes and planning...

(EnergyAsia, December 3 2010, Friday) — The National Solar Repository (NSR) was launched November 30 by the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS) in collaboration with Singapore Polytechnic. The launch took place at an industry event co-organised by the Singapore Business Federation (SBF), the Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore (SEAS) as well as the...

(EnergyAsia, December 3 2010, Friday) — US-based Peabody Energy said it has named an ex-World Bank official, Arshad Sayed, as President for Peabody Mongolia and India with responsibility for managing the company’s business development initiatives in the two countries. He recently completed a four-year appointment as country manager and resident representative for the World Bank...

(EnergyAsia, December 2 2010, Friday) — The Saudi Arabian government plans to extract more crude from Ghawar oil field, the world’s largest single oil field, through the deployment of new technology. The field is believed to hold a significant portion of unrecovered oil residues because of an extensive micro-pore system of hidden passages in carbonate...

(EnergyAsia, December 2 2010, Friday) — In line with an expected rise in coal consumption, Indonesia’s state utility PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) is looking to raise coal purchases by 26% next year. The company is preparing to start up new coal-fired power plants next year, helping to boost Indonesia’s coal-fired power plant capacity to...

(EnergyAsia, December 3 2010, Friday) — China’s imports of liquefied natural gas may swell to 25 million metric tonnes a year by 2015 from 5.5 million tonnes last year, according to LNG vessel builder Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding. The company’s vice director of business and marketing Shen Ning recently issued this prediction as China is aiming to...

(EnergyAsia, December 3 2010, Friday) — With rising coal demand in China and India, UBS has recommended that investors bet on above average returns for investments in global coal stocks in coming years. China is the world’s biggest producer and consumer of coal, the investment bank’s most preferred commodity. India is also among the world’s...