loans to Brazil for oil project development after agreeing to import between 100,000 b/d and 160,000 b/d of crude oil.  The agreements were signed last week following a meeting between Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and visiting Chinese vice president Xi Jinping in the capital city of Brasilia. Brazil’s state energy company, Petrobras,...

said it will not pay out a final dividend after its net profit fell more than 95% to A$34 million last year, compared with A$646 million in 2007. (US$1=A$1.55). It blamed the sharp decline on the fall in crude oil prices, which slashed the value of its stockpile, the “unprecedented drop” in the Australian dollar...

swooped the past few weeks to buy up energy and natural resources from various producing countries struggling to deal with plunging commodity prices and the global credit shortage. Between them, President Hu Jintao and Vice President Xi Jinping raised China’s political and economic standing with the developing world with high profile tours of the Middle...

gas deals with China. State-owned Chernomornaftogaz has signed a landmark memorandum of understanding inviting China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) to help build a pipeline to tap the Odessa offshore gas deposits in the Black Sea. Chernomornaftogaz, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Naftogaz, has responsibility to develop the offshore fields in the Black Sea and Azov...

their joint investment fund to $12 billion while concluding 12 new agreements including one that promises to raise oil exports to Asia’s fastest growing economy. The deals were signed during last week’s visit to Caracas by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping as part of a five-country tour of South America that included Mexico, Jamaica, Colombia...

 profit fell 39% to S$7.5 million from S$12.3 million in FY2007. The company, which supplies proprietary process equipment and technologies, clean energy solutions and environmental technologies, added that its revenue slipped from S$84.7 million to S$87.3 million over the same period. (US$1=S$ 1.53). Advanced said its profit margin was affected by rising business costs and...

Thailand’s main energy firm, PTT, has reported its first quarterly net loss since listing in 2001. Given the weak state of the global economy, there could be further downside for Thailand’s biggest listed company which reported a net loss of 22.2 billion baht for the October-December quarter compared with a 25.8 billion baht net profit...

including Royal Dutch Shell, India’s Essar, South Korea’s SK Energy and some Middle Eastern companies to acquire a stake in its first oil refinery in Dung Quat. Inaugurated yesterday, the 140,000 b/d refinery is designed to use only Vietnam’s fast depleting light low-sulphur crude oil. Lacking funds and technical expertise, PetroVietnam needs to expand and...

(EnergyAsia, February 20, Friday) — Vietnam will launch its long awaited first oil refinery in Dung Quat in Quang Ngai province this Sunday after more than two decades of planning and work.  Construction of the 130,000 b/d plant located nearly 900km south of Hanoi city began in 2005 after years of failed discussion with potential...

(EnergyAsia, February 20, Friday) — The Indonesian government has told state-owned firms to review and improve security and safety at their facilities following last month’s massive explosion at a fuel depot in Plumpang. A security guard was killed in the incident even though the Pertamina-owned terminal was located in a densely-populated part of the city....

(EnergyAsia, February 20, Friday) — World oil demand is expected to fall by 980,000 b/d or 1.1% to 84.7 million b/d this year, said the International Energy Agency (IEA). The decline would be the sharpest since 1982 as the world economy continues to falter under the weight of recession. The IEA said 2008 oil demand...

(EnergyAsia, February 20, Friday) — Malaysia’s Shell Refining Company has reported an after-tax loss of RM330 million in 2008 compared to a profit of RM523 million for 2007. (US$1=RM3.66). The company attributed the loss to a sharp drop in oil prices in 2008 which resulted in a stockholding loss of RM697 million in the fourth...

(EnergyAsia, February 20, Friday) — Malaysia’s Shell Refining Company has reported an after-tax loss of RM330 million in 2008 compared to a profit of RM523 million for 2007. (US$1=RM3.66). The company attributed the loss to a sharp drop in oil prices in 2008 which resulted in a stockholding loss of RM697 million in the fourth...

(EnergyAsia, February 20, Friday) — Nasdaq-listed engineering giant Foster Wheeler AG said its UK-headquartered subsidiary, Foster Wheeler Energy Limited, has been awarded a contract by the South Oil Company for the basic engineering of new oil export facilities, to supplement the existing Al-Basra terminal in Iraq. The new offshore facilities will include new single point...

(EnergyAsia, February 20, Friday) — Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOC) said it registered a profit of Rs29.59 billion for the third quarter of the current financial year ended December 2008, up 41.5% from the same quarter the previous year. It attributed the sharp rise to financial support from the government, which offset inventory losses and...

(EnergyAsia, February 20, Friday) — China could have a 10-million-ton refined oil product stockpile by end-2011 as it expand its stockbuilding programme as part of the national economic stimulus programme. Till now, the government has focused solely on stockpiling crude oil. Taking advantage of low oil prices now, planners want the government to spend part...

(EnergyAsia, February 19, Thursday) — Thailand’s state energy firm PTT said it wants to develop the country into a regional hub for the ethanol business in Southeast Asia. This goal ties in with the Thai government’s campaign to actively promote the domestic use of alternative fuels including biofuels and ethanol. Thailand has an abundance of...

(EnergyAsia, February 19, Thursday) — Sri Lanka’s Small Hydro Development Association (SHDA) plans to build more mini-hydro plants. New mini-hydro projects are expected to add some 250-450 megawatts (MW) to the country’s electricity grid in the coming three to four years. The projects are seen as an environmentally sustainable option to generate electricity. They are...

(EnergyAsia, February 19, Thursday) — US major Chevron Corporation has announced plans to commit $20 million over five years to form a partnership with the Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP) in Doha and establish a centre of excellence in renewable power and energy efficiency. The partnership with QSTP will create The Center for Sustainable...

(EnergyAsia, February 19, Thursday) — Praj Industries, India’s leading biofuels technology company, said it has made a breakthrough in developing a cellulosic biomass-to-ethanol technology. It has inaugurated a cellulosic ethanol pilot plant at its R & D Centre called the “Praj Matrix – The Innovation Centre” near Pune city. The laboratory facility at Praj Matrix...

(EnergyAsia, February 19, Thursday) — Germany’s LANXESS said it has appointed Stefan Limbach as head of its lubricants and oil additives (LOA) business line for the the ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand markets. The specialty chemicals company said Mr Limbach, who is based in Singapore, was previously a senior manager for the LOA business line...

(EnergyAsia, February 19, Thursday) — Taiwan’s administrative deputy-minister of economic affairs, Shih Yen-shiang, has been appointed to take over as chairman of state energy firm CPC Corporation. Mr Shih, who has been involved in the country’s industrial development, is expected to reform CPC’s refining operations. He has a doctorate in chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute...

(EnergyAsia, February 19, Thursday) — A new law mandating the use of biofuel in fuel has come into effect in the Philippines this month. The law, drafted in 2006, compels oil refiners to sell fuel with a 2% coco-methyl ester (CME) mix in diesel and a 5% blend in gasoline. The law is overseen by...

(EnergyAsia, February 19, Thursday) — Engineer Karen Agustiawan has become the first woman to be named President of Indonesia’s state oil and gas company Pertamina. She last held the post of upstream director. Ms Agustiawan, 50, entered the oil and gas industry 1984 after completing her physics engineering degree at the Bandung Institute of Technology...

(EnergyAsia, February 19, Thursday) — The US House Appropriations Committee recently announced a $300 million economic stimulus provision to provide consumers with rebates for buying Energy Star products to replace old appliances. Intertek, a global leader in testing, inspection and certification services, said it has fortified its global network of energy efficiency testing labs including...