(EnergyAsia, March 19 2014, Tuesday) — Underlining its desperate search for energy diversity, Japan is expected to continue support for the development of coal-fired power plants in the face of growing opposition from environmentalists, development banks and the US government. The Obama administration has been quietly pressing the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and...

(EnergyAsia, March 18 2014, Tuesday) — Thanks to the shale revolution, US crude oil production reached a 25-year high of 7.5 million b/d last year after surging 14.8% from 6.53 million b/d in 2012, said the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The agency expects the gains to continue over the next two years, raising production to...

(EnergyAsia, March 17 2014, Monday) — With Japan’s nuclear power capacity still idle, coal’s share will soon rise to account for more than 25% of its primary energy mix for the first time in about half a century, said the country’s leading energy think tank. In a recent report, the Institute of Energy Economics Japan...

(EnergyAsia, March 14 2014, Friday) — Japan will look to coal to generate more of its electricity as three large industrial groups plan to build large plants using the fuel by the end of the decade. Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) and the Mitsubishi group have begun work on jointly developing and building a new...

(EnergyAsia, March 11 2014, Tuesday) — In 2013, North Sea Brent crude oil, the most important global benchmark for waterborne light sweet crude, traded in the narrowest price range since 2006 and exhibited the lowest magnitude of daily price movements in more than 10 years, said the US Energy Information Analysis (EIA). According to EIA...

(EnergyAsia, March 10 2014, Monday) — Japan will continue to enjoy a current account surplus in 2014, but it will shrink as a result of rising energy import cost, according to a Bank of America (BoA) analysis. Last year, the country’s current account surplus, which reflects the balance of payment, fell by 1.5 trillion yen...

(EnergyAsia, March 7 2014, Friday) — Four vessel collisions within 45 days leading to oil spills and an under-reported first transfer of flammable liquefied natural gas (LNG) are raising questions of “systemic issues” in Singapore’s increasingly busy shipping lanes which handled record traffic and cargo tonnage last year. Three of the most recent collisions took...

(EnergyAsia, March 6 2014, Thursday) — One expert believes the Ukraine crisis will have no impact on the world oil markets while another says it could cause prices to spike as Russia’s retaliation against Western actions could disrupt energy supplies to its highly dependent customers in Europe. In a memo, US consulting firm, ESAI Energy,...

(EnergyAsia, March 6 2014, Wednesday) — Helped by a weaker currency and the full-year contribution of its Canadian subsidiary, Malaysian state energy firm Petronas reported increases in its net profit, revenue, oil production and asset base in 2013 to reverse a decline from previous years. The company, which accounts for 40% to 45% of the...

(EnergyAsia, March 5 2014, Wednesday) — With its nuclear plants still largely idle, Japan’s consumption of coal and natural gas will surge to record high levels over the next two financial years, predicts the country’s main energy think tank. In a recent report, the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ) said it expects domestic demand...

(EnergyAsia, March 4 2014, Tuesday) — The US Federal Reserves’s decision to reduce the pace of money creation will not restrain global oil demand growth, judging by the International Energy Agency’s latest forecast. While emerging economies and the world’s stock markets reacted negatively to the initial suggestions made as far back as last year, the...

(EnergyAsia, March 3 2014, Monday) — The world will consume nearly 93 million b/d of oil for 2015, said the Energy Information Administration (EIA) in its latest monthly forecast, making it the most bullish call among the world’s leading energy agencies. In its February report, the EIA also revised upward its forecast for this year’s...

(EnergyAsia, February 28 2014, Friday) — The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has boosted its forecast for this year’s global oil demand to 90.98 million b/d in its February report, up from 90.91 million b/d in January, and 90.84 million b/d in December. The cartel also raised its estimate for last year’s oil demand...

(EnergyAsia, February 26 2014, Wednesday) — Singapore is planning to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal on a new site while expanding the current one on Jurong Island as it prepares to become more dependent on the fuel as an energy source, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Planners are studying various sites...

(EnergyAsia, February 25 2014, Tuesday) — A low-key 11-year-old Singapore firm has emerged as the surprise leader in a crowded field of established global giants racing to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Canada’s British Columbia province to Asia. While the likes of Chevron, Shell, BG, ExxonMobil, CNOOC, Sinopec, Inpex and Petronas dominate the headlines,...

(EnergyAsia, February 24 2014, Monday) — Work on expanding the Panama Canal is said to have resumed after a recent construction shutdown for two weeks while the European-led consortium building it and the Panama government try to resolve their differences over an estimated US$1.6 billion cost-overrun. The consortium led by Spain’s Sacyr and Italy’s Salini...

(EnergyAsia, February 21 2014, Friday) — Malaysian state oil firm Petronas said it has awarded the engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning (EPCIC) portion for its second floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) project to a consortium comprising Japan’s JGC Corporation and South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries. Petronas announced the award at the same time that...

(EnergyAsia, February 17 2014, Monday) — Following three recent vessel collisions in Singapore’s busy waterways in under two weeks, the country’s Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) said it is investigating the possibility of “systemic issues” while announcing that it is immediately implementing measures to minimise such incidents It, the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO),...

(EnergyAsia, February 14 2014, Friday) — Singapore’s Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M) said subsidiary Keppel FELS Limited has secured contracts to build three high-specification KFELS B Class jackup rigs worth about US$650 million from new customer Fecon International Corp. Described by Keppel O&M as cost-effective and high-performance with the ability to operate in water...

(EnergyAsia, February 13 2014, Thursday) — Switzerland’s automation technology and services provider ABB will supply the integrated electrical and marine propulsion systems for Russia’s newest two icebreaker vessels to operate in the harsh Arctic region. The Swiss firm said last September that it had secured the US$25 million contract from Russia’s State Maritime Rescue Coordination...

(EnergyAsia, February 12 2014, Wednesday) — China imported a record 11.85 million tonnes of crude oil from Kazakhstan last year, up nearly 14.1% from 2012. The oil was exported entirely through the 1,200km pipeline linking the two countries, starting from Atasu in Kazakhstan into China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in its far western region. According...

(EnergyAsia, February 11 2014, Tuesday) — An international consortium comprising UK’s Tullow Oil, France’s Total and China National Offshore Oil Company Ltd (CNOOC) has agreed to support Uganda’s plans to build an oil refinery and a pipeline as part of a bigger plan to develop the East African country’s oil industry. Speaking to the media...

(EnergyAsia, February 10 2014, Monday) — As it continues to debate the revival of its idled nuclear energy plants, Japan is also looking to develop new sources of coal supplies from Africa and Poland as part of its energy diversification measures. Japan has shut down its entire nuclear power capacity which used to supply 29%...

(EnergyAsia, February 7 2014, Friday) — After years of debate and planning, the Singapore Refining Company (SRC) has decied it will proceed to invest US$500 million to upgrade its 290,000 b/d refinery on Jurong Island. Equal shareholders Chevron and Singapore Petroleum Company (SPC), a fully-owned subsidiary of PetroChina International, will add a cogeneration plant to...

(EnergyAsia, February 6 2014, Thursday) — In anticipation of Japan’s power sector reform, trading house Marubeni Corp has set up a new subsidiary with near-term plans to add at least 400MW of capacity through the construction of four power plants to serve the greater Tokyo market. Marubeni Thermal Power Co Ltd (MTPC), which will operate...