(EnergyAsia, June 6 2013, Thursday) — US coal consumption is expected to surge 7.3% this year on a combination of rising power demand and increased substitution for natural gas as feedstock, said the Energy Information Administration (EIA). In its most recent monthly forecast issued in May, the EIA projected US coal consumption to top 955...
(EnergyAsia, June 5 2013, Wednesday) — Australia’s Leighton Holdings said its subsidiary Thiess has suspended work at two Indonesian coal mines since April 26 over a payment dispute with their owner PT Arutmin Indonesia. The Australian mining contractor said Thiess has stopped operations at the Senakin and Satui mines in southeast Kalimantan which produced about (more…)
(EnergyAsia, June 5 2013, Wednesday) — Singapore’s Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (Keppel O&M) said it has secured a contract from Caspian Drilling Company Ltd, a subsidiary of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), to build a US$800 million semisubmersible drilling rig that includes furnished equipment. Keppel O&M said it will deliver the (more…)
(EnergyAsia, June 5 2013, Wednesday) — Indonesian coal miner PT Adaro Energy Tbk said wholly owned subsidiary PT Adaro Indonesia has secured a US$380 million amortising loan facility that will mature in May 2020. The company said its application was oversubscribed 7.5 times, with 12 international banks committing to lend a total of US$2.85 billion....
(EnergyAsia, June 4 2013, Tuesday) — Australia’s Queensland state government has given the environmental approval for India’s GVK Group to develop its A$4.2 billion coal mine in Kevin’s Corner near the town of Alpha. (US$1=A$1.03). Subsidiary GVK Hancock Galilee is proposing to develop an underground and open-cut mine together with infrastructure to produce 30 million...
(EnergyAsia, June 4 2013, Tuesday) — The Vietnamese government has approved and included a 1,200MW coal-fired power plant by Sembcorp Industries in the country’s power development master plan for 2011 to 2020, the company said. The Singapore firm said subsidiary Sembcorp Utilities has also been appointed by the Vietnamese government to own and develop the (more…)
(EnergyAsia, June 4 2013, Tuesday) — The lingering dispute between workers and the operator of one of the world’s largest coal ports in Australia’s Queensland state is expected to continue through mid-year after unions successfully organised a series of short strikes last month. Hundreds of workers walked off at Newcastle’s Port Waratah for 24 hours...
(EnergyAsia, June 3 2013, Monday) — Australia’s Waratah Coal said it has secured renewal from the Federal government for project facilitation of its A$8 billion China First coal project in Queensland state. (US$1=A$1.03). The Brisbane-based company said it plans to build a thermal coal mine in the new Galilee Basin coal region near Alpha, west...
(EnergyAsia, June 3 2013, Monday) — France’s Air Liquide said it has just signed a long-term contract with Fujian Shenyuan New Materials Co Ltd to supply industrial gases for a coal gasficiation project in Fujian province in southeastern China. Air Liquide said it will build an eight-unit industrial gases complex comprising an air separation unit (more…)
(EnergyAsia, June 3 2013, Monday) — The Australian government’s decision to slash funding for clean energy initiatives including carbon capture and storage (CCS) programmes will hurt the country and the environment, said the coal lobby. Australian Coal Association CEO Nikki Williams said the world will continue to consume coal after using up a record seven...
(EnergyAsia, May 31 2013, Friday) — With its easy access to low-cost feedstock and proximity to the fast-growing markets of Asia and Africa, the Middle East is set to dominate the global petrochemicals industry by 2020, say experts at a recent industry event in Dubai. Middle Eastern companies are also raising their performance by adopting...
(EnergyAsia, May 31 2013, Friday) — ExxonMobil said it has boosted production of ethylene and other downstream chemicals on Singapore’s Jurong Island with the start-up of its long-delayed second world-scale steam cracker. Integrated with the existing petrochemical complex and powered by a 375-megawatt cogeneration plant, the new plant will enable the US major to increase (more…)
(EnergyAsia, May 31 2013, Friday) — Coal companies have helped launch another two indices to track the price of the commodity produced and traded in China, adding to two already in use since 2006. Producers in coal mining Shanxi province have helped create the China Taiyuan Coal Transaction Price Index, which they claim is the...
(EnergyAsia, May 30 2013, Thursday) — Papua New Guinea’s economy will have a powerful new engine next year when an Exxon Mobil-led consortium starts up a US$19-billion plant near Port Moresby to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Asia. Starting with two trains with a combined 6.6-million-ton/year capacity, the PNG LNG project will help the...
(EnergyAsia, May 30 2013, Thursday) — Companies will maintain a high level of investment in Australia’s resource sector through 2015, building on this year’s projected record A$85 billion on natural gas, coal, iron ore and other resource projects, said UK-based consultant Wood Mackenzie. (US$1=A$1.03). Chris Graham, the company’s Head of Australasia Upstream Research, expects natural (more…)
(EnergyAsia, May 30 2013, Thursday) — With oil prices and production under pressure from slowing global demand, the economies of oil producing countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region will grow at a combined rate of 3.2% this year, down from 5.7% in 2013, said the International Monetary Fund (IMF). But with...
(EnergyAsia, May 29 2013, Wednesday) — The Philippines’ main oil refining and retailing company said it has started building storage facilities in three provinces to support growing local fuel demand as it prepares for the eventual closure of the country’s traditional storage and distribution hub in Pandacan in Manila city. Petron Corp expects to complete...
(EnergyAsia, May 29 2013, Wednesday) — Intertek, a leading global quality solutions provider, said it has invested £900,000 to develop a new centre in Malaysia to provide enhanced services to the oil exploration and production (E&P) sector in Southeast Asia. (US$1=£0.66). Based in Kuala Lumpur, the facility includes two specialised laboratories to support Intertek’s plan to (more…)
(EnergyAsia, May 29 2013, Wednesday) — China’s April oil demand rose by 2.1% to 9.66 million b/d, or 39.54 million metric tonnes, its lowest level last August, said US energy media Platts. In an analysis of just-released official government data, Platts said Chinese oil consumption fell compared with March’s average of 9.77 million b/d. For the...
(EnergyAsia, May 28 2013, Tuesday) — Saudi Arabia’s economy will face headwinds over the next two years on account of lower oil production, rising inflation and reduced fiscal and current account surpluses, said the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The kingdom’s GDP growth is expected to slide to 4.4% this year and 4.2% in 2014 after...
(EnergyAsia, May 28 2013, Tuesday) — A combination of reforms and rising natural gas production is attracting investors and blowing life into Myanmar’s previously stagnant economy, said the International Monetary Fund (IMF). For the current financial year to March 2014, the agency expects Southeast Asia’s latest emerging economy to grow by 6.75% to follow on (more…)
(EnergyAsia, May 28 2013, Tuesday) — Canada’s Federal Court has ruled on several points in favour of a government decision to allow a coal mining company to hire 201 temporary foreign workers from China deemed to have special skills not available among Canadians. The decision brought to a close a high-profile bitter battle brought on...
(EnergyAsia, May 27 2013, Monday) — Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and its partners BP and Niko Resources Ltd said they have made a “significant” gas and condensate discovery in the KG D6 block off the eastern coast of India. The KGD6-MJ1 well was drilled in a water depth of 1,024 metres – and to a (more…)
(EnergyAsia, May 27 2013, Monday) — Oman’s Takamul Investment Co and Singapore’s Sembcorp have announced they will jointly develop centralised utilities facilities for the Duqm Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in the Middle Eastern country. Takamul, an Oman Oil Company subsidiary, will be the majority owner with a 65% stake in building the country’s first centralised (more…)
(EnergyAsia, May 27 2013, Monday) — Sincro Energy Systems has opened an office and a centre in Singapore for distributing a range of rotating electrical machines for Italy’s Soga SpA to Asia. At last week’s launch ceremony attended by Enrico Soga, Soga’s CEO, and 50 business partners, the company announced that Sincro Energy Systems would (more…)