(EnergyAsia, December 27 2013, Friday) — The International Energy Agency (IEA) is dousing any hope for Iran to soon resume oil exports following the Islamic regime’s landmark preliminary agreement last month with six world powers to try resolve long-running disputes over its controversial nuclear energy programme. On November 24, the P5+1 group comprising the five...
(EnergyAsia, December 26 2013, Thursday) — Geopolitical fears have returned to haunt the oil markets with Brent reclaiming their old lofty levels above US$110 and US WTI creep back up towards US$100 on outbreak of fighting in South Sudan and continued troubles in Libya, Iraq and Nigeria. Oil has now snapped out of the brief...
(EnergyAsia, December 24 2013, Tuesday) — After more than four years of construction, Japan’s INPEX Corp recently announced the start-up of its new liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal in Joetsu city in Niigata Prefecture. The terminal at Naoetsu comprises two aboveground tanks with a combined capacity to hold 180,000 kilolitres of fuel, a berth...
(EnergyAsia, December 23 2013, Monday) — Having brushed aside Greenpeace’s protests, Russia has begun producing oil in the Arctic waters for the first time to open up the vast mineral riches buried in one of the world’s last major frontiers to full-scale exploitation. State-owned Gazprom said last week it has started oil production at the...
(EnergyAsia, December 20 2013, Friday) — While superpower rivalry has undermined the political stability of much of the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, the wily dictators of Central Asia’s energy-rich states have thrived on it to stay in power and successfully grow their nations’ economies. Since breaking away from the former Soviet Union in...
(EnergyAsia, December 18, 2013, Wednesday) — A BP-led consortium has given the final investment decision (FID) for the US$28 billion second-phase development of the Shah Deniz gas field in offshore Azerbaijan that will support plans to expand, build and connect major pipeline networks to export natural gas to Europe. The decision triggers plans to expand...
(EnergyAsia, December 17 2013, Tuesday) — In exchange for fuel supply security, Kyrgyzstan has given final approval to a deal by Russia’s state gas giant Gazprom to acquire and operate its loss-making indebted gas monopoly Kyrgyzgaz for US$1. Last week, 78 deputies of Kyrgyzstan’s 120-member Parliament voted in favour of the government’s earlier decision to...
(EnergyAsia, December 16 2013, Monday) — The following is an edited version of the Asia Development Bank’s recent report on the energy outlook for selected countries in Central Asia from 2010 to 2035. Kazakhstan: The country’s rapid economic growth over the past decade has been underpinned by the exports of its oil, coal and natural...
(EnergyAsia, December 13 2013, Friday) — Government spending, industrialisation, agriculture, construction and services will collectively continue to outperform the oil sector in driving Kazakhstan’s economic growth over the next five years, said the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In a recent survey, the fund projected Central Asia’s largest economy to grow by an annual average 5.6%...
(EnergyAsia, December 12 2013, Thursday) — Malaysia’s state energy firm Petronas said it and Brunei state agencies have signed a set of agreements to jointly develop projects in their countries and Canada. The most important ones to pre-empt and resolve border disputes and contested hydrocarbon reserves are for the merged development of Malaysia’s Kinabalu West...
(EnergyAsia, December 11 2013, Wednesday) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has announced it is lending a total of US$960 million to boost electricity supply in Pakistan and Myanmar. In Pakistan, the bank’s loan of US$900 million will support the construction of a supercritical coal power generation plant in Jamshoro town in Sindh province, about...
(EnergyAsia, December 10 2013, Tuesday) — To the peril of most investors, the allure of Asia’s hugely lucrative liquefied natural gas (LNG) business often obscures the view of an industry increasingly threatened by fast-rising cost and political risks. The industry is straining even the tolerance of experienced medium-sized players like Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas which this...
(EnergyAsia, December 9 2013, Monday) — The world’s third largest liquefied natural gas exporter has begun its transition to become a net importer expected sometime next decade with the signing of its first purchase agreement. As it struggles to meet Indonesia’s rising energy demand, state energy firm Pertamina will begin importing 800,000 tonnes of LNG...
(EnergyAsia, December 6 2013, Friday) — With the completion of the 488-metre-long hull of the “largest floating facility ever built”, Shell is preparing to unleash its floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) technology to mine the world’s oceans. The hull’s recent floatation marked a major step forward in the European major’s construction of its giant Prelude...
(EnergyAsia, December 5 2013, Thursday) — India has taken a first step to push for lower liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices by hosting a major forum for aggrieved Asian consuming countries in New Delhi this week. Apart from India, representatives from Japan, South Korea, China and Taiwan who represent 70% of global LNG consumption are...
(EnergyAsia, December 4 2013, Wednesday) — Qatar’s position as the world’s leading liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplier will not be threatened by the shale gas revolution in North America, said the Qatar National Bank (QNB) Group. While fracking has enabled the US to sharply reduce LNG imports and to even become an exporter in coming...
(EnergyAsia, December 4 2013, Wednesday) — ExxonMobil has reduced its original 60% shareholding in the development of a block of Iraq’s giant West Qurna oilfield to 25% after concluding sales to two state-owned firms of China and Indonesia. PetroChina said it has bought a 25% stake in the West Qurna-1 oilfield project from Exxon Mobil,...
(EnergyAsia, December 3 2013, Tuesday) — The Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) has tempered its forecast for global oil demand growth over the next two years in its latest November report. The US government agency now sees world oil demand averaging 90.25 million b/d in 2013 and 91.39 million b/d next year, just slightly lower than...
(EnergyAsia, November 29 2013, Friday) — The International Energy Agency (IEA) has raised its forecast for global oil demand over the next two years to another all-time high as the world economy continues to recover. The Paris-based agency expects global oil consumption to rise to 92.14 million b/d in 2014 and to 91.01 million b/d...
(EnergyAsia, November 28 2013, Thursday) — China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) has started up the country’s first floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal off Tianjin city with the receipt of a 59,000-tonne cargo on November 21. Following the success of this trial cargo, China’s leading LNG importer, will proceed to build on the project’s...
(EnergyAsia, November 27 2013, Wednesday) — The Indian government plans to add three storage terminals to the four caverns that state-owned Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd (ISPRL) is building to store up to 12.5 million tonnes of crude oil. The first phase of the caverns at Visakhapatnam and Mangalore is expected to start up early...
(EnergyAsia, November 26 2013, Tuesday) — The Americas’ exports to Asia, including liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US, will be greatly boosted when the Panama Canal adds a third lane by 2015 to accommodate the passage of giant ships and shorten sailing time, said the head of the US Federal Maritime Commission. In a...
(EnergyAsia, November 25 2013, Monday) — At least 52 people are confirmed dead and 166 injured after a Sinopec pipeline leaked oil and exploded in two locations in the eastern Chinese coastal city of Qingdao last Friday. The casualty rate is expected to climb in the city’s worst industrial accident after the massive blasts blew...
(EnergyAsia, November 22 2013, Friday) — Japan is looking to develop a futures market and a new pricing system to try contain the rising cost of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports. With producing countries unwilling to amend supply contract terms despite its numerous pleas, Japan has been paying an average five times more for...
(EnergyAsia, November 21 2013, Thursday) — Oil companies operating in Thailand must maintain crude oil stockpile levels to meet at least 43 days of consumption up from 36 days since the start of November. The energy ministry has informed the industry of the new requirement after delaying its implementation for years for fear it would...