(EnergyAsia, September 7 2010, Tuesday) — Caltex said it plans to proceed with a major expansion of its fuel terminal at Port Hedland in Western Australia to support the state’s growing diesel market. Caltex Australia expects to start operating two new 20-million-litre diesel tanks and a road tanker loading facility in late 2011. It...
(EnergyAsia, September 7 2010, Tuesday) — Antwerp, Belgium-based Euronav NV said its subsidiary TI Africa Ltd has signed a contract to provide floating offshore services to Maersk Oil Qatar AS (MOQ) for work on Qatar’s Al Shaheen oil and gas field. TI Africa will deploy its vessel FSO Africa to work on the field...
(EnergyAsia, September 7 2010, Tuesday) — Seroja Investments, a Singapore-listed Indonesian maritime transportation firm, said its joint venture with Guangzhou-based Zhushui Energy Resource Group Co, has started work on tapping China’s growing appetite for coal and other natural resources. Formed in June, the JV company Seroja-Zhushui Shipping Ltd has already signed up a charter...
(EnergyAsia, September 7 2010, Tuesday) — Singapore’s Keppel Corp is expected to start work on expanding a 500MW power plant to 1,400MW later this year. The company has called for tenders to expand its Keppel Merlimau Cogen plant on Jurong Island as part of a long-term plan to increase its competitiveness. The project could...
(EnergyAsia, September 7 2010, Tuesday) — Citing a lack of clarity in the country’s oil sector regulation and management of oil revenues among other factors, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has lowered its credit ratings for Ghana. The US agency also cited concerns with Ghana’s large fiscal deficit, high debt levels, and unclear policies...
(EnergyAsia, September 7 2010, Tuesday) — China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) is expected to soon secure a stake in a major West African offshore oil field which became available after the Ghanaian government nixed a proposed private sale to Exxon Mobil. The US major was reportedly close to concluding a proposed US$4 billion...
(EnergyAsia September 7 2010, Tuesday) — Boosted by profits from its upstream oil and gas sector, Hong Kong-listed Citic Resources Holdings Ltd said it made a net income of HK$167.53 million for the first half of the year, reversing a loss of HK$307.3 million for the same period last year ago. In a...
(EnergyAsia, September 6 2010, Monday) — Singapore-based JOil (S) Pte Ltd said it has formed a strategic alliance with Indian plant biotech company KF Bioplants Pvt Ltd (KFB) to produce and deliver an initial volume of one million tissue-culture derived ‘elite’ jatropha curcas plants. Grown from JOil’s proprietary tissue culture technology, the plants will...
(EnergyAsia, September 6 2010, Monday) — The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) said it has begun producing oil and gas from the Gbaran-Ubie project in the Niger Delta, providing an important new source of energy for export and domestic markets. When fully operational next year, it will be capable of producing one...
(EnergyAsia, September 6 2010, Monday) — The Indian government said it will have enough oil in stockpile to meet 80 days of consumption by end-2011, up from 74 days now. Petroleum secretary S. Sundareshan said that three oil storage facilities now under construction will boost the country’s national oil reserves capacity by five million...
(EnergyAsia, September 6 2010, Monday) — The Chinese government is looking to impose a new tax on the extraction of coal, oil and gas in the country’s poorer western areas to generate revenues to stimulate the economy. Premier Wen Jiabao said the government plans to extend the new 5% price-based tax after it was...
(EnergyAsia, September 6 2010, Monday) — China’s coal shortfall is set to worsen by 2015, completely reversing a possible brief glut in the second half of this year, said industry insiders. The country’s coal demand is expected to rise to a record 3.8 billion tons by 2015, exceeding domestic production by 0.2 billion tons....
(EnergyAsia, September 6 2010, Monday) — The US Department of Defence has opened bidding on a lucrative contract to deliver fuel to Afghanistan’s Bagram air base, a vital logistic link in the US war effort against the Talibans. The contract will stipulate that the supplier must deliver certain amounts of jet and diesel fuel...
(EnergyAsia, September 6 2010, Monday) — Australian upstream company Santos said higher oil prices and lower exploration expense helped its first half after-tax net profit surge 94% to A$198 million from the same period last year. (US$1=A$1.15). Sales revenue climbed 7% to A$1.091 billion. Its first half production fell 9.4% to 24.2 million barrels...
(EnergyAsia, September 1 2010, Wednesday) — Shell said it has been forced to halt the export of Bonny light crude oil from Nigeria following recent attacks on its pipelines in the Niger Delta. The force majeure declared by Shell took effect on August 16, disrupting deliveries for August and September. The company said it has...
(EnergyAsia, September 1 2010, Wednesday) — Far East Wind Power Corp (FEWP) said it plans to invest US$20 million in a proposed 49.5MW wind farm in China’s Yunnan province after signing a Letter of Intent (LOI) to acquire a 49% stake in it from Taitong Energy Limited. FEWP said it will be paid back by...
(EnergyAsia, September 1 2010, Wednesday) — Fund managers consider Nigeria as one of the most attractive investment destinations these days as Africa’s second-largest economy pursues banking and oil sector reforms. Some say Africa’s largest oil producing country is starting to look as attractive as the leading emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China, given...
(EnergyAsia, September 1 2010, Wednesday) — Norwegian bank DnB NOR has forecast that 70 of the world’s leading upstream companies will increase their collective exploration and production (E&P) spending by 11% to US$435 billion this year, and by a further 8% in 2011. In its annual E&P spending report, the bank found that the 70...
(EnergyAsia, September 1 2010, Wednesday) — Three companies have been shortlisted to house a new coal-fired power plant that will supply the Malaysian national electricity grid by 2015. The Energy Commission said it will choose between MMC Corp subsidiary Malakoff Corp Bhd’s Tanjung Bin Power Plant, Jimah Power Plant in Port Dickson in Negri Sembilan...
(EnergyAsia, September 1 2010, Wednesday) — State-owned Korea National Oil Corp is using robots to monitor its 957,000-square metre oil storage terminal south of Seoul. Together with Samsung Techwin Co, KNOC has put into operation five robots and 24 security cameras at the Seosan oil storage facility. The Ministry of Knowledge Economy said it is...
(EnergyAsia, September 1 2010, Wednesday) — US, Texas-based Kosmos Energy said it has cancelled an agreement to sell its stake in Ghana’s offshore Jubilee oilfield to ExxonMobil. The cancelled deal was valued at US$4 billion, and would have delivered a huge profit to Kosmos. The Ghana government was believed to have blocked the planned sale...
(EnergyAsia, September 2 2010, Thursday) — The Gulf of Mexico oil leak will lead to tighter operating and regulatory standards that are likely to undermine the industry’s ability to explore and produce oil from new offshore sources, said the International Energy Agency (IEA). Financial liabilities from deepwater development will rise if new legislation being considered...
(EnergyAsia, September 2 2010, Thursday) — Oil and gas infrastructure contractor Rotary Engineering said it is looking to build, own and operate oil storage terminals in Asia and the Middle East as it expands beyond engineering and procurement work. The breakaway move is viewed by analysts as positive for Rotary’s bottomline as it will generate...
(EnergyAsia, September 2 2010, Thursday) — Oil trader Trafigura Beheer BV is likely to appeal a one-million euro fine imposed by a Dutch court that found the company guilty of illegally exporting toxic waste to Ivory Coast four years ago. (US$1=EUR0.78). The ruling said Trafigura failed to disclose the harmful nature of the waste and...
(EnergyAsia, September 2 2010, Thursday) — The administration of Philippine President Benigno Aquino III is reviving a decade-old plan to set up an oil stockpile facility to bolster the country’s energy security. The details of the plan, including the location and capacity of the facility, have yet to be finalised, said Energy Secretary Jose Rene...