(EnergyAsia, August 31 2010, Tuesday) — China is set to become the world’s largest importer of coal this year, with demand expected to continue surging to 3.8 billion tons over the next five years. According to state agency National Energy Administration (NEA), China will import 170 million tons of coal this year, up from 103...

(EnergyAsia, August 31 2010, Tuesday) — Malaysia’s state power company Tenaga Nasional Berhad said it is bidding for a RM7 billion government project to expand and upgrade the country’s power plants by 2015. (US$1=RM3.15). The Energy Commission is calling for bids to boost the country’s power capacity to meet its electricity demand, which is projected...

(EnergyAsia, August 31 2010, Tuesday) — The chairman of a Bangladesh-based conglomerate said it has proposed to India’s Tata Group to jointly invest in a 1,000-megawatt coal-fired power plant in his country. According to Nitol-Niloy chairman Abdul Matlub Ahmad, the plant, envisioned to be the largest in Bangladesh, will be fuelled by coal from Tata’s...

(EnergyAsia, August 31 2010, Tuesday) — Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) said it is hoping to start building its proposed 300 megawatt coal-fired power plant project in Malaysia’s Sabah state next month. The controversial project touted to help overcome an electricity supply shortage facing East Malaysia is facing enormous environmental opposition as it is to...

(EnergyAsia, August 31 2010, Tuesday) — Indonesia’s coal output this year is likely to be little changed from last year’s level of 300 million metric tons because of prolonged rainy season brought on by the La Nina weather pattern. That’s below the 2010 target of 320 million metric tons coal output projected earlier this year...

(EnergyAsia, August 30 2010, Monday) — State-owned Vietnam National Coal-Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) has announced that it plans to produce 60 million tons of coal by 2015, up from around 47-50 million tons this year. With coal prices expected to rise and exports rising to 18 million tons, Vietnam’s leading top miner expects its revenues...

(EnergyAsia, August 30 2010, Monday) — China’s oil demand for July dipped to 35.82 million mt or about 8.47 million barrels per day (b/d) from June’s record high of 36.74 million metric tonnes (mt), said oil media Platts. Nevertheless, this represented a 2.7% rise from year-ago levels. China’s apparent oil demand in the first seven...

(EnergyAsia, August 30 2010, Monday) — The world’s largest private-sector coal company, Peabody Energy, said it will expand the production capacity of the Wilpinjong thermal coal mine in Australia’s New South Wales state by two to three million tons annually from 2012. US-based Peabody said it expects to invest a total of US$90 million, including...

(EnergyAsia, August 30 2010, Monday) — Citing a sharp downward correction in coal prices, Australia’s Gloucester Coal Ltd has reported a sharp drop in its full-year net profit for the year ended June 30. Excluding transaction costs, its profit for FY2009 came in at A$36.4 million, down from A$90.7 million the previous year, which was...

(EnergyAsia, August 30 2010, Monday) — A consortium of international banks is holding up the proposed financing for a US$875-million floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel in Ghana after a review of the construction contract found that it was awarded to a company partly owned by a former government official. The FPSO vessel is...

(EnergyAsia, August 27 2010, Friday) — Singapore’s Sembcorp said it has signed a 20-year term agreement to supply steam, water and wastewater treatment services to Jurong Aromatics Corporation (JAC)’s proposed aromatics complex on the western side of Jurong Island. Sembcorp will build a S$800-million multi-utilities facility and a new gas-fired combined-cycle gas turbine cogeneration plant...

(EnergyAsia, August 27 2010, Friday) — Indonesia’s state engineering and construction firm PT Wijaya Karya said it has won a contract to relocate six LPG storage tanks in Tanjung Priok in Jakarta for state oil and gas firm PT Pertamina. The tanks will be moved to another site in Jakarta. Wika would also have to...

(EnergyAsia, August 27 2010, Friday) — Fears of a ‘double dip’ recession notwithstanding, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has raised its latest forecast for global oil demand by 100,000 b/d to a record 87.9 million b/d in 2011. In its previous forecast in July, the Paris-based oil watchdog for the developed economies said global oil...

(EnergyAsia, August 27 2010, Friday) — The Sri Lankan government is inviting foreign investors to participate in its US$1.5 billion flagship port project in Hambantota. Investors will have the opportunity to develop the port’s bunkering facilities, cold storage and bulk cargo handling, oil storage tanks, warehousing complex, and container-transhipment system. The US$361 million first phase...

(EnergyAsia, August 27 2010, Friday) — CME Group, the US-based world leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, said it will be launching trading and clearing services for four new coal swap futures and options on swap futures contracts. These new contracts are settled against the API 2 and API 4 indexes published in the Argus/McCloskey’s...

(EnergyAsia, August 27 2010, Friday) — Singapore’s Chemoil Energy Ltd said it has tied up with South Korea’s Hanjin Group to construct a fuel storage terminal at the port of Busan. The terminal will have to the capacity to store up to 250,000 cubic metres of fuel to serve ships calling in at the port,...

(EnergyAsia, August 27 2010, Friday) — Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp said it has agreed with Canada’s Penn West Energy Trust to invest C$450 million in a natural gas development project centred on shale gas in the Cordova embayment in northeastern British Columbia province. (US$1=C$1.05). The project is owned by Calgary-headquartered Penn West Energy Trust (PWE). The...

(EnergyAsia, August 27 2010, Friday) — Nigeria must implement oil reforms and pursue pro-business policies if it is to attract investments to realise the full potential of its hydrocarbon resources, according to the Nigerian Council of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Attracting the right investors will require updating some of the existing legal provisions for...

(EnergyAsia, August 26 2010, Thursday) — Engineering giant Foster Wheeler AG said it has won a contract to provide project management consulting services to Abu Dhabi Company (ADCO) to develop the UAE’s Bida Al Qemzan oilfield. ADCO is targeting to start producing 20,000 b/d of crude at the end of the third quarter of 2012....

(EnergyAsia, August 26 2010, Thursday) — US engineering firm KBR said it has been awarded two contracts by Iraq’s oil ministry to provide licensing and basic engineering services for the fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) and solvent de-asphalting (SDA) units at the planned grassroots oil refinery in Maissan. The contract was awarded through state-owned South Refineries...

(EnergyAsia, August 26 2010, Thursday) — Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, said its crude oil output rose 1.5% to 780 million barrels last year following a marked decline in armed attacks on industry infrastructure and personnel by the country’s various disaffected groups. Between 2006 and 2009, Nigeria lost more than a quarter of its oil...

(EnergyAsia, August 26 2010, Thursday) — Malaysia is well-positioned to become Asia’s leading offshore oil and gas centre, with output from deepwater fields expected to account for up to 40% of the country’s total oil production in 10 years. Malaysia has awarded 23 production-sharing contracts to develop its deepwater resources which are located mostly off...

(EnergyAsia, August 26 2010, Thursday) — Investors have warned that Indonesia’s two-year ban on forest clearing permits could delay as much as US$14 billion worth of coal and mining projects in the country. Among the companies expected to be affected are Newmont, which plans to develop the Elang copper reserve in Sumbawa island; BHP Billiton,...