(EnergyAsia, January 7 2013, Monday) — The Philippines faces a steady worsening in its energy supply outlook through 2015, with coal and natural gas seen as particularly vulnerable in the face of rising demand to fuel the country’s fast-growing economy. The Department of Energy (DOE) is projecting rapid depletion of domestic sources of both fuels...
(EnergyAsia, January 7 2012, Monday) — State-owned Coal India Limited (CIL) has been hit with fresh charges that it could be making excessive profit from rising prices without an attendant increase and improvement in coal supplies. The company, which accounts for over 90% of India’s domestic coal production and much of its imports, has started...
(EnergyAsia, January 7 2013, Monday) — China oil storage and distribution company Longwei Petroleum Investment Holding Ltd said it will defend itself against fraud allegations published in a report last week that caused its NYSE-listed stock price to plunge from around US$2.62 a share to US$0.62 before it was suspended. The stock was trading near (more…)
(EnergyAsia, January 7 2013, Monday) — Unconventional gas is becoming increasingly popular across the Asia-Pacific region as demand for cleaner burning fuel grows among its leading economies. One of the new sources of natural gas is coal bed methane (CBM), also known as coal seam gas (CSG) as it is extracted from coal seams, which...
(EnergyAsia, January 4 2013, Friday) — China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation or Sinopec, and US oil and gas company ConocoPhillips have begun a joint study to explore and develop in western China’s Sichuan basin over the next two years, the two companies have announced. Sinopec Exploration Southern Co, a subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned major (more…)
(EnergyAsia, January 4 2013, Friday) — The Mongolian government is still investigating Canadian coal miner SouthGobi Resources Ltd over “licensing issues” following last year’s botched attempt by its key shareholder to sell off its stake to China’s aluminum giant Chalco for US$920 million. The Hong Kong- and Toronto-listed company, controlled by a unit of Rio...
(EnergyAsia, January 4 2013, Friday) — Hong Kong-based Sino Oil and Gas Holdings Limited said it has started selling piped sales of coalbed methane (CBM) gas from the Sanjiao block in China’s Shanxi province while in a separate deal, European major Shell said it has bought into a tight gas block in Sichuan province. Sino (more…)
(EnergyAsia, January 4 2013, Friday) — With the right policies and equipment, open-pit coal miners are learning to rehabilitate and upgrade affected land at marginal additional costs, creating new useful space for communities even if the landscape is not returned to their previous state, said the International Energy Agency (IEA). Open-pit mines have long been...
(EnergyAsia, January 3 2012, Thursday) — The Australian coal industry has hailed the launch of what it calls the country’s first “’clean coal” carbon capture plant. The A$200-million callide oxyfuel demonstration plant is said to trap greenhouse gas generated by CS Energy’s Callide A coal-fired power station in Biloela in central Queensland. (US$1=A$0.95). The Australian (more…)
(EnergyAsia, January 3 2013, Thursday) — China’s coal imports are set to surge this year on expectations of rising demand from a pair of government decisions that will stimulate demand for steel-making coal as well as remove the ceiling on domestic thermal coal prices. China is expected to step up the production of coke, a...
(EnergyAsia, January 3 2012, Thursday) — Vancouver, Canada-based Carbon Friendly Solutions Inc said its wholly-owned subsidiary, MicroCoal International Inc (MCI), has signed a binding letter of intent with two companies to build a coal-fired power plant in Indonesia, its first in Asia. MCI, Carbon 2 Power Ventures Inc, also of Vancouver, and PT Wijaya Tri (more…)
(EnergyAsia, January 3 2013, Thursday) — With its spot price down 29%, metallurgical coal is the worst performing bulk commodity for 2012, proclaimed Goldman Sachs in its last research report for the year. Spot demand remains weak and prices have failed to track the uplift in iron ore prices. But Goldman Sachs said current prices...
(EnergyAsia, January 2 2013, Wednesday) — Boosted by surging demand from China and India, coal will “come close” to surpassing oil as the world’s top energy source by 2017, said the International Energy Agency (IEA). In its annual Medium-Term Coal Market Report (MCMR), the Paris-based agency pinpointed China and India as the main source of...
(EnergyAsia, January 2 2013, Wednesday) — UK gas giant BG Group PLC said it has obtained a US$1.8 billion loan from the US Export-Import Bank to purchase the services of American companies for the construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Australia’s Queensland state. The loan is part of the company’s attempt to (more…)
(EnergyAsia, January 2 2013, Wednesday) — The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) has boosted its forecast for world oil demand growth for 2013 while keeping it unchanged for 2012. In its December short-term energy outlook, the agency expects world demand for 2012 to grow by 750,000 b/d to reach 89.04 million b/d, just slightly off...
(EnergyAsia, January 2 2013, Wednesday) — The Singapore government has teamed up with private companies to jointly launch financing firm Clifford Capital to invest in infrastructure projects around the world. Owned by sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings (40.5%), DBS Bank (9.9%), Standard Chartered Bank (9.9%), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp (9.9%), Prudential Assurance Company Singapore (19.9%)...
(EnergyAsia, December 31 2012, Monday) — Global expenditure on oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) is expected to reach a record US$1,039 billion for 2012, said natural resources consultant GlobalData. In a recent report, the UK-based firm predicts that the sector’s capital expenditure will increase by 13.4% over 2011’s US $916 billion as oil (more…)
(EnergyAsia, December 31 2012, Monday) — Having contributed to recent bullish sentiments that the US could soon become the world’s largest oil and gas producer, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) has published a commentary laced with doubts and questions that this scenario is far from certain. “Could the US become the leading global producer of...
(EnergyAsia, December 31 2012, Monday) — After more than a year of delay, ExxonMobil said it has started up operations at one of the world’s largest ethylene steam crackers, the centrepiece of the company’s multi-billion dollar expansion project at its Singapore petrochemical complex. The US major has added a new 220-megawatt cogeneration power plant, and (more…)
(EnergyAsia, December 31 2012, Monday) — The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has kept its forecasts for global oil demand to grow to grow by just under 800,000 b/d for 2012 and 2013. With no major revision to its December oil report outlook, OPEC said it is holding its forecast for world demand to...
(EnergyAsia, December 28 2012, Friday) — Shipping executives predict their industry will benefit from China’s long-term shift to becoming a domestic consumer-driven economy. As the world’s second largest economy continues to grow at more than seven percent a year, the shipping industry will likely see further growth in new vessel deliveries in 2013, said Xu (more…)
(EnergyAsia, December 28 2012, Friday) — Amid falling oil prices, OPEC’s net oil export revenues will fall by 9.2% next year to US$955 billion after reaching a record US$1.052 trillion in 2012, predicts the US Energy Information Administration’s (EIA). In 2011, the 12-member Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries earned US$1.27 trillion from oil exports (more…)
(EnergyAsia, December 28 2012, Friday) — With three new contracts worth a total S$420 million, Singapore’s Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd said the combined value of its rig orders for 2012 reached S$9.9 billion, just short of last year’s record S$10 billion. (US$1=S$1.22). Two of the contracts went to Keppel Singmarine Pte Ltd while the (more…)
(EnergyAsia, 28 2012, Friday) — The Australian government is mulling over a call the International Energy Agency (IEA) that it should build up a national oil stockpile and reduce reliance on private companies to meet any demand for emergency oil supplies. The Paris-based agency has criticised Canberra for failing to meet the minimum 90-day supply...
(EnergyAsia, December 27 2012, Thursday) — Switzerland-based Foster Wheeler AG said its global engineering and construction group has been awarded a US$500 million project management and consultancy (PMC) services contract for a clean fuels project at the Mina Al-Ahmadi and Mina Abdullah refineries in Kuwait. Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC), which awarded the contract, is (more…)