(EnergyAsia, December 27 2012, Thursday) — China’s apparent oil demand surged 9.1% year-on-year in November to a record high to 42.96 million metric tons (mt), or an average 10.5 million b/d, said US energy media Platts. In an analysis of recent Chinese government data, Platts said the November demand surpassed the previous record high of...
(EnergyAsia, December 27 2012, Thursday) — After decades of relative inaction in Canada’s oil-rich Alberta province, Japan Petroleum Exploration Co (Japex) said it plans to invest C$1.1-billion to boost production at its jointly-owned Hangingstone field from about 6,000 to 7,000 b/d to 30,000 b/d from 2016. (US$1=C$0.99). Japan’s second largest upstream company said subsidiary Japan (more…)
(EnergyAsia, December 27 2012, Thursday) — Russia’s Transneft has started up the US$11 billion second branch of the East Siberia Pacific Ocean (ESPO-2) pipeline to double its 15-million tonne/year export of the ESPO blend crude oil to Asia and the US. Completed after six years, the 4,200-km pipeline, which ends at the Far Eastern port...
(EnergyAsia, December 26 2012, Wednesday) — Russia’s gas giant Gazprom said it is continuing talks with China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) to secure a long-term deal to supply natural gas to China. Early this month, Gazprom chairman Alexey Miller met Zhou Jiping, CNPC’s President, at the Russian company’s Moscow headquarters in an attempt to narrow...
(EnergyAsia, December 26 2012, Wednesday) — Private Indian refineries account for nearly half of this year’s global increase in crude oil processing capacity and are spearheading an oil products export boom, said the International Energy Agency (IEA). Having increased their capacity by nearly 50% over the past five years, Indian refiners are shipping their products...
(EnergyAsia, December 26 2012, Wednesday) — BP said it has agreed to sell its 34.3% interest in the Yacheng gas field in the South China Sea to Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KUFPEC) for US$308 million cash. Expected to close in the second half of 2013 upon clearing regulatory, partner and third party approvals, the (more…)
(EnergyAsia, December 26 2012, Wednesday) — Following an unexpected surge in fourth-quarter consumption, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has raised its forecasts for world oil demand growth for 2012 and 2013. In its latest December monthly report, the Paris-based agency said world oil demand will grow by 800,000 b/d to 89.7 million b/d for 2012,...
(EnergyAsia, December 24 2012, Monday) — America can bank on plentiful domestic natural gas, but will have to continue relying on foreign oil, according to 250 oil and gas decision-makers who participated in a recent Deloitte survey. Three-quarters of the respondents think the US is already natural gas self-sufficient, or will be within 10 years. (more…)
(EnergyAsia, December 24 2012, Monday) — Russian gas giant Gazprom said it has executed the first successful shipment of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo through the Arctic northern sea route. This route cuts the maritime distance from Northern Europe to Northeast Asia by up to 40% compared to southern sea routes via the Suez (more…)
(EnergyAsia, December 24 2012, Monday) — Boosted by its surging natural gas output, Australia produced a record 143.2 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) in the latest September quarter, according to Adelaide-based EnergyQuest. Australia’s natural gas production reached a record 611 petajoules (PJ) in the July-September period, surpassing the previous high of 547 PJ in (more…)
(EnergyAsia, December 24 2012, Monday) — The Sri Lankan government is set to buy back the Trincomalee oil storage tank farm in northeastern China Bay now being leased to the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC). The leases was signed in 2002 by the United National Party (UNP) government when Colombo was fighting a civil war against...
(EnergyAsia, December 21 2012, Friday) — Wartsila, a Finnish supplier of flexible and efficient power plant solutions, said it has signed a contract to supply and install the largest gas-fired power plant in Mozambique worth 138 million euro. (US$1=0.75 euro). The company said it will also construct a sub-station and a gas pipeline as part (more…)
(EnergyAsia, December 21 2012, Friday) — UK gas major BG has named Chris Finlayson to succeed the retiring Frank Chapman as chief executive from January 1. Mr Finlayson, 56, who joined BG from Royal Dutch Shell in 2010, overcame close competition from chief financial officer Fabio Barbosa and chief operating officer Martin Houston to take (more…)
(EnergyAsia, December 21 2012, Friday) — With the acquisition of Canadian natural company Progress Energy, Malaysia’s state energy firm Petronas has raised the value of its proposed investment in an export-oriented liquefied natural gas (LNG) project which includes a terminal at Prince Rupert Port to between C$9 and C$11 billion as well as nearly tripled...
(EnergyAsia, December 20 2012, Thursday) — A PetroChina International subsidiary and Canada’s Encana Corp have signed a C$2.18 billion venture to jointly develop the latter’s Duvernay gas reserves in Alberta province. (US$1=C$0.99). Encana said it did not need to seek the approval of the Canadian government as Phoenix Duvernay Gas would acquire a 49.9% stake (more…)
(EnergyAsia, December 20 2012, Thursday) — UK’s Petrofac said it has been awarded two engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) packages worth a total of US$1.4 billion for a US$4 billion oil refinery and storage terminal project in the southwestern Saudi Arabian city of Jazan. Saudi Aramco, which awarded the contracts, expects to start up the (more…)
(EnergyAsia, December 20 2012, Thursday) — Citing potential heath damage to Americans, a group of 107 medical and scientific experts has petitioned the US government to stop hydraulic fracturing, or fracking of shale gas to support the growing movement to develop liquefied natural gas (LNG) for export. One of the signatories was Louis W. Allstadt, (more…)
(EnergyAsia, December 20 2012, Thursday) — Buoyed by improved fuel sales and higher refinery output this year, Australia’s largest downstream company, Caltex, said it expects a return to profitability to reverse a loss of A$714 million from last year. (US$1=A$0.95). The company said it expects to achieve after-tax profit in the range of A$45 million...
(EnergyAsia, December 19 2012, Wednesday) — Royal Dutch Shell has announced plans to expand an already substantial Singapore presence in its global weighting underlining the major’s continuing shift of focus to Asia. In recognition of Asia’s huge and still fast-growing energy market, the European major said it will relocate the global headquarters of its integrated...
(EnergyAsia, December 19 2912, Wednesday) — Oil and gas companies boosted upstream investments by nearly 20% to US$384 billion to raise hydrocarbon reserves by 2% last year, said consultant Ernst & Young. Growth was prominent in Asia’s natural gas reserves, Canada’s oil sands and US shale reserves, with global oil reserves edging up by 1% (more…)
(EnergyAsia, December 19 2012, Wednesday) — Asia liquefied natural gas (LNG) spot prices for month-ahead delivery surged 15.5% in December from November to $15.63 per million British thermal units (mmBTU), said energy media Platts. That is the price based on the company’s latest monthly Japan/Korea Marker (JKM) data derived from an assessment of LNG prices (more…)
(EnergyAsia, December 19 2012, Wednesday) — Iran plans to hold more military drills in the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s leading oil and gas shipping route, over the course of the first quarter of next year, said a naval commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Speaking to Iranian media, Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi...
(EnergyAsia, December 18 2012, Tuesday) — Gulf Petrochem Group, a UAE-based oil company, said it has started building an oil storage terminal in the city port of Pipavav in India’s Gujarat state. Gulf did not disclose the size of the proposed investment or the capacity of the terminal which it said is located near vital...
(EnergyAsia, December 18 2012, Tuesday) — Vitol Tank Terminals International (VTTI) is on course to start work in 2014 to add one million barrels of capacity to its 1.18-million barrel terminal at the port of Fujairah located outside the Strait of Hormuz. Jointly owned by European oil trader Vitol and Malaysia’s state-owned shipping company MISC...
(EnergyAsia, December 18 2012, Tuesday) — Exxon Mobil expects to complete the demolition of its 63-year-old refinery at Port Stanvac in Australia’s Adelaide state by end-2013. The company said contractor EDS Australasia Pty Ltd has started work to take down and remove the refinery’s units and facilities including pipes, storage tanks, chimney stack and office (more…)