(EnergyAsia, December 19 2013, Thursday) — Singapore-based Keppel FELS Limited, the world’s top offshore-drilling rig maker, said it has delivered to US-based Hercules Offshore Inc a second KFELS Super A Class jackup rig for use in the harsh conditions of the North Sea. Singapore Energy Series: http://energycontents.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=59&product_id=270 The Hercules Resilience was officially delivered on November...

(EnergyAsia, December 19 2013, Thursday) — After a lengthy debate, Mexican energy reform will revive the world’s ninth-largest crude oil industry by opening it up to direct foreign investment, said US consultant ESAI Energy. Foreign participation will take many forms that will eventually reverse a steady decline in Mexico’s crude output, enabling it to compete...

(EnergyAsia, December 18 2013, Wednesday) — A BG Group-led consortium building a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Australia’s Queensland state said it has made its first delivery of natural gas from the Surat Basin coal seam fields to Curtis Island. BG Group said the delivery will enable commissioning work to begin in the first...

(EnergyAsia, December 17 2013, Tuesday) — The world consumed 38.7 million metric tons of lubricants last year, little changed from 2011, said US-based consulting and research firm Kline & Company. North America and Western Europe stagnated below pre-recession levels while Asian demand slipped after picking up in 2011, with the most significant change being a...

(EnergyAsia, December 16 2013, Monday) — Buoyed by an improving outlook in the global economy, the economies of the Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA) region are expected to grow by a collective 6.1% next year, up from an annual average of 5.8% in 2012 and 2013, said the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The fund said...

(EnergyAsia, December 13 2013, Friday) — Russia’s En+ Group said it and China’s largest coal producer, Shenhua Group, have secured the rights to jointly explore for and develop a major deposit of high-quality coal in Transbaikal Territory near their countries’ common border. http://energycontents.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=60&product_id=301 Razrez Ugol LLC, an equal joint venture between En+ subsidiary Vostsbiugol and...

(EnergyAsia, December 12 2013, Thursday) — Japan Petroleum Exploration Co (Japex) has announced plans to invest 60-billion yen in a new terminal to import and store liquefied natural gas (LNG) at Soma Port in Fukushima Prefecture still struggling to recover from the earthquake-tsunami devastation of March 2011. (US$1=102 yen). Japex said it has made a...

(EnergyAsia, December 11 2013, Wednesday) — Having launched a “large-scale modernisation programme”, the government of Uzbekistan expects the nation’s economy to grow by more than 8% in 2013 and 7% next year, said the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Despite facing a deteriortaing external environment, the IMF said Uzbekistan’s near-term economic outlook is favourable and the...

(EnergyAsia, December 10 2013, Tuesday) — Dutch oil and chemicals storage giant Royal Vopak has announced that it will be building Southeast Asia’s first independent liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) facility in Singapore. Vopak said it expects to complete the refigerated import terminal on Jurong island with an initial capacity of 80,000 cubic meters (cbm) in...

(EnergyAsia, December 9 2013, Monday) — UK’s AMEC said it has secured a contract from Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) to provide project engineering and management services for the Mina Al Ahmadi, Mina Abdullah and Shuaiba oil refineries in Kuwait. The five-year call-off contract, which has an optional one-year extension, is worth up to 72...

(EnergyAsia, December 6 2013, Friday) — Singapore Exchange (SGX) said its suite of thermal coal futures products achieved record volume and open interest last month. The exchange said traders transacted a record high of 705 lots representing 705,000 metric tonnes and maintained 605 open interest lots at the end of November. “Participation in SGX thermal...

(EnergyAsia, December 5 2013, Thursday) — As it shifts investment focus from conventional onshore projects, Russia will need the support of international oil companies to develop its more difficult and expensive tight oil and Arctic reserves, and liquefaction facilities to maintain hydrocarbon production in the long term, said consultant Wood Mackenzie. The new projects will...

(EnergyAsia, December 4 2013, Wednesday) — Mechel OAO, a leading Russian mining and metals company, said its Elgaugol OOO project company has received the US$150-million first tranche of financing for a major coal project from Vnesheconombank. Mechel is borrowing a total of US$2.5 billion from the Russian bank to develop the first stage of the...