(EnergyAsia, June 2 2014, Monday) — The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has kept unchanged its May forecast for this year’s global oil demand and economic growth from the previous month. The cartel retained its previous forecast for global oil consumption at 91.15 million b/d in 2014 and world economic growth at 3.4%. “Global...
(EnergyAsia, May 30 2014, Friday) — Australia has started channelling its inner Hamlet as it prepares to become the next global king of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. The thrill over its rapid ascension to hydrocarbon wealth and power is increasingly giving way to doubts and guilt over the uncertain long-term impacts of LNG exports...
(EnergyAsia, May 29 2014, Thursday) — The collapse of US-led economic sanctions against Iran is all but complete with China increasing its oil trade and investment with the Middle Eastern powerhouse. Following on last week’s landmark US$400-billion deal to import natural gas from Russia, China is said to be planning to invest more than US$2...
(EnergyAsia, May 28 2014, Wednesday) — In a move to reduce trade dependence on the US dollar, Russia and China have agreed to use their currencies to settle payment for their breakthrough US$400 billion natural gas deal signed last week. At the same time that Gazprom signed the 30-year deal to supply China National Petroleum...
(EnergyAsia, May 28 2014, Wednesday) — The International Energy Agency (IEA) has raised its latest forecast for 2014’s global oil demand to 92.8 million b/d, up significantly from the previous month’s prediction of 92.68 million b/d. This implies a rise of more than 1.5% over last year’s consumption of 91.4 million b/d, putting pressure on...
(EnergyAsia, May 27 2014, Tuesday) — Russian gas giant Gazprom has agreed to help market liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Region to India and other parts of Asia through its soon-to-be-listed Singapore subsidiary. Novatek, Russia’s largest independent gas producer, last week signed an agreement to supply Gazprom Marketing & Trading Singapore up...
(EnergyAsia, May 26 2014, Monday) — The builder of Canada’s largest proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) project has told the country’s regulators to avoid repeating Australia’s mistakes in making policies that have led to cost over-runs and start-up delays. Malaysia’s state-owned energy firm Petronas is drawing on its costly experience as a minority partner in...
(EnergyAsia, May 22 2014, Thursday) — After a decade of negotiations, Russia’s Gazprom and state-owned China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) have signed a 30-year agreement for the annual supply of 38 billion cubic metres of natural gas to China worth a record total of US$400 billion for both companies. Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller and CNPC...
(EnergyAsia, May 20 2014, Tuesday) — US major Chevron has affirmed that it is on course to start up its massive Gorgon gas development and liquefied natural gas (LNG) project off the coast of West Australia state by mid-2015. In a conference call, CFO Pat Yarrington assured investors that the US$54 billion project, which had...
(EnergyAsia, May 19 2014, Monday)— US WTI benchmark crude could plunge by half to US$50 a barrel within the next 12 to 24 months as rising global supplies outweigh geopolitical risks and demand growth, said BofA Merrill Lynch. “We forecast average WTI crude oil prices of US$94 per barrel in 2014 and US$91 in 2015,...
(EnergyAsia, May 16 2014, Friday) — Australia’s Queensland state government has rejected the concerns of environmental groups and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in affirming its support for two liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects worth a total of US$40 billion that are due to start up near Gladstone in 2014 and 2015....
(EnergyAsia, May 15 2014, Thursday) — Russia’s economic growth will slow sharply to a miserly 0.2% this year from last year’s 1.3% as rising political tensions with the West accelerate capital flight, reduce in-bound investment flows and stoke inflation, said the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Already hobbled by what the IMF has described as “pre-existing...
(EnergyAsia, May 14 2014, Wednesday) — Analysts said US should brace for self-inflicted damages if it proceeds with a plan to release crude oil from its 700-million barrel strategic petroleum reserves (SPR) to punish Russia over the Ukraine crisis. Media reports have suggested the Obama administration plans to sell anything from five million barrels of...
(EnergyAsia, May 13 2014, Tuesday) — Amid continued uncertainties over energy demand-supply outlook, Asian governments are still evolving their policies toward liquefied natural gas (LNG) while China will remain addicted to coal, said UK consulting firm Wood Mackenzie. In recent separate comments, the company said uncertainty over Asian governments’ energy policies is limiting the development...
(EnergyAsia, May 12 2014, Monday) — Australia’s export of liquefied natural gas (LNG) will more than triple from 24 million tonnes in financial year 2012 to 79 million tonnes six years later, said the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics (BREE). With several major projects due to start up over the next few years in...
(EnergyAsia, May 9 2014, Friday) — South Korea and Japan are positioning to become northern Asia’s hub to serve the region’s growing oil traffic by expanding their storage facilities and adopting trade-friendly policies and regulations, said the International Energy Agency (IEA). In its April market report, the IEA said South Korea has made it a...
(EnergyAsia, May 8 2014, Thursday) — Europe’s inability to intervene in Ukraine’s crisis has been laid bare with the G7 industrial nations admitting this week that the continent will remain dependent on Russia for natural gas supplies “for years”. Meeting in Rome, the energy ministers of the seven industrialised nations could only state that they...
(EnergyAsia, May 6 2014, Tuesday) — British Columbia Premier Christy Clark’s first visit to Singapore and Malaysia this week has come with the belated realisation that perhaps these two countries, and not the coveted giant markets of China, Japan, India and South Korea, hold the key to the Canadian province’s C$1-trillion dream to develop and...
(EnergyAsia, May 5 2014, Monday) — Like OPEC, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has raised its latest forecast for 2014’s global oil demand from the previous month. In its April report, the Paris-based agency said it expects the world to consume 92.69 million b/d, slightly higher from its March forecast of 92.68 million b/d. But...
(EnergyAsia, May 5 2014, Monday) — The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has slightly raised its April forecast for this year’s global oil demand from the previous month despite lowering its expectations for world economic growth. The cartel expects the world to consume 91.15 million b/d of oil in 2014, up by 1.27% from...
(EnergyAsia, May 2 2014, Friday) — China’s year-on-year oil demand growth fell by 0.6% in the first quarter, says energy media Platts, but Deutsche Bank estimates it surged by 5.2%. The contrasting view underlines the market’s difficulty with reading the current state of China’s energy sector amid conflicting signals over the government’s plans to clean...
(EnergyAsia, April 30 2014, Wednesday) — Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas has taken a major step forward in building a US$35 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in western Canada with the sale of a 15% stake to China’s state-owned China Petrochemical Corp or Sinopec. The Chinese firm has also agreed to purchase a total of 4.8...
(EnergyAsia, April 28 2014, Monday) — State-owned Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company (Orpic) has begun work on US$7 billion worth of investments to develop the sultanate into a major energy hub to serve the Middle East. CEO Musab Al Mahruqi said Orpic is upgrading its Sohar oil refinery, building a 290km pipeline to...
(EnergyAsia, April 24 2014, Thursday) — Royal Dutch Shell has secured the support of Russian President Vladimir Putin for its plans to expand oil and gas production around Sakhalin Island to meet rising demand in the Far East. Shell and its partners will likely proceed with a planned 50% expansion of the country’s only liquefied...
(EnergyAsia, April 23 2014, Wednesday) — Russia will establish an integrated system of naval bases backed by the latest telecommunications system and infrastructure to defend its interest in the Arctic, President Vladimir Putin announced days after he hailed the shipment of the first cargo of crude oil extracted from the region’s freezing waters. The bases...