(EnergyAsia, November 23 2010, Tuesday) — Russia’s Sakhalin Energy has exported its first cargo of Vityaz crude oil from the Sakhilin-2 project from the Sea of Okhotsk to Thailand. The tanker Zaliv Aniva of the Primorsky Sea Shipping Company delivered the 764,000-barrel cargo to buyer Petro Diamond of Japan. Since starting year-round oil shipments...

(EnergyAsia, November 23 2010, Tuesday) — Russia’s Gazprom has reduced its natural gas production forecast for this year by nearly one percent on account of weakness in its main markets in Europe. The company, which accounts for a quarter of Europe’s gas supply, said falling demand at home and abroad will force it to lower...

(EnergyAsia, November 23 2010, Tuesday) — Scientists have alleged that the US government is still blocked them from disclosing the worst-case scenario and extent of the damage arising from the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. According to a report by the national panel investigating the spill which began in April with the...

(EnergyAsia, November 23 2010, Tuesday) — As it continues to rebuild after decades of civil war, Sri Lanka is seeking investors to build a bitumen packaging plant, said Petroleum Minister Susil Premajayantha. State-run Ceylon Petroleum Corp needs to pack and distribute the bitumen tar that it produces and imports to contractors who are building and...

(EnergyAsia, November 23 2010, Tuesday) — Saudi Arabia is expected to sell 50 million metric tons of crude to China this year, up more than 16% from last year, according to the Saudi Press Agency. Citing the Chinese ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Yang Honglin, China, which recently overtook the US as the biggest buyer of...

  (EnergyAsia, November 23 2010, Tuesday) — Russia is expected to remain the world’s largest crude oil producer this year after overtaking Saudi Arabia in 2009 for the first time since 1991. Last year, Russia produced an averaged 10 million b/d to eclipse Saudi Arabia which reduced production by more than 10% to 9.7 million...

(EnergyAsia, November 22 2010, Monday) — In response to Iran’s constant threats to shut down the strategic Straits of Hormuz, the UAE has opened a naval base on its east coast to protect the passage of its crude oil exports. Iran has repeatedly stated it will stop all traffic through the straits if it is...

(EnergyAsia, November 22 2010, Monday) — China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Corporation (CGNPC) has announced that it will invest S$65 million in building an integrated solar-biomass power generation project. (US$1=S$1.3). The integrated solar-biomass power generation project, the first in Singapore, features a 19.8MW biomass power plant, fuelled by wood and horticultural waste, as well as...

(EnergyAsia, Oct 24 2010, Sunday) — Singapore power companies will have to sell 60% of their electricity output at or below ceiling prices next year despite the possibility of a shortfall due to an expected surge in demand. The Energy Market Authority (EMA) said it will raise the ceiling from this year’s 55% level to...

(EnergyAsia, November 22 2010, Monday) – With an eye to expanding in Asia, Lukoil, one of Russia’s largest energy companies, may list some of its shares in Hong Kong or Singapore as early as 2011. The move, set to widen the company’ shareholder base, would follow a buyback of its shares from Houston-based ConocoPhillips. Lukoil...

(EnergyAsia, November 22 2010, Monday) — Fed up with constant wranglings with the European Union while at the same time seeking to expand to new markets, Russia’s Gazprom, the world’s largest gas producer, is stepping up its focus on Asia. Gazprom feels threatened by the EU’s current attempt to consolidate the energy policies of its...

(EnergyAsia, November 22, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — China’s apparent oil demand in October rose by a strong 11.8% from a year ago to 37.88 million metric tons (mt), or an average of 8.95 million barrels per day (b/d), according to oil media Platts in an analysis of latest official China data. October demand was 3.1% higher...

(EnergyAsia, November 19 2010, Friday) — Malaysian engineering group Dialog Group said its subsidiary, Dialog E&C Sdn Bhd, has secured a contract to build and commission a new condensate tank and associated facilities at the Bintulu crude oil terminal. The RM60.66 million contract for the terminal in the Malaysian state of Sabah was awarded by...

(EnergyAsia, November 19 2010, Friday) — China Huaneng Group will be investing S$800 million to repower two oil-fired steam plants at its Tuas Power subsidiary in Singapore to use natural gas. (US$1=S$1.3). Tuas Power will replace a 10-year-old plant with a 400-megawatt combined-cycle gas turbine. Construction will start soon, and is expected to be finished...

(EnergyAsia, November 19 2010, Thursday) — Pakistan’s navy chief Noman Bashir wants his government to review its 40-year deal with Singapore’s port operator PSA International for the strategic deepwater port of Gwadar. Mr Bashir alleged that the Singapore firm, a unit of sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings, has not been performing to expectations since it...

(EnergyAsia, November 19 2010, Friday) — Australia’s Hunnu Coal Limited said it has raised A$40 million through a placement to institutional and sophisticated investors to accelerate the exploration and development of its coking and thermal coal projects in Mongolia. (US$1=A$1). The company has secured firm commitments from subscribers to participate in a placement by which...

(EnergyAsia, November 19 2010, Friday) — Australia’s Leighton Group said its subsidiary Leighton Offshore Private Limited has won a US$733 million contract from the Iraqi government to build a new oil export terminal in the southern city of Basra. The terminal has the capacity to handle 1.8 million barrels of crude oil a day, and...

(EnergyAsia, November 19 2010, Friday) — Finland’s Neste Oil said it has started up what it claims is the world’s largest renewable diesel plant in Singapore with the capacity to produce 800,000 tonnes of fuel a year. Neste said the 550-million-euro plant was completed on-schedule and on-budget, and will be gradually ramped up to produce...

(EnergyAsia, November 19 2010, Friday) — Indonesia could turn to building small liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminals to meet its energy needs and reduce dependence on costly oil imports. Thanks to improved technology and the lower cost of gas relative to other energy sources, it is increasingly feasible for companies to own and operate...

(EnergyAsia, November 18 2010, Thursday) — Engineering giant Foster Wheeler AG said its Global Engineering and Construction Group has been awarded a contract by Indonesia’s Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN) to provide project management consultancy (PMC) services for a new floating LNG (FLNG) receiving terminal in Medan in north Sumatra. Foster Wheeler declined to disclose the...

(EnergyAsia, November 18 2010, Thursday) — Singapore will have “no choice” but to adopt nuclear energy as a power source, said industry observers at a recent conference. Pointing out that neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia are hopping onto the nuclear bandwagon, a senior Sembcorp Industries executive said nuclear energy is “inevitable” and that Singapore should...

(EnergyAsia, November 18 2010, Thursday) — PetroChina’s unit PetroChina Tarim Oilfield Co said two large gas fields in the Tarim Basin in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region will add 1.5 billion cubic metres of gas output a year. The company started production from the Kela gas field and the Tazhong NoGMT field early this month....

(EnergyAsia, November 18 2010, Thursday) — China needs Myanmar to meet its growing demand for energy and other resources, a message that was highlighted by the recent visit of Senior General Than Shwe to Beijing where he met with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. The meeting helped consolidate political and economic ties...