(EnergyAsia, Aug 30 2013, Friday) — Nigeria has appointed Goldman Sachs, UBS and Credit Suisse to manage part of its US$1 billion sovereign wealth fund that was set up to protect and invest the country’s finances. The three banks will manage US$200 million from the Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) fund alloted to protecting the fund...
(EnergyAsia, August 30 2013, Friday) — China’s slowing economy is hurting its coal miners as they face up to the prospects of mounting losess and reduced production for 2013. For the first half of the year, the China Coal Transport and Distribution Association (CCTD) said the country’s mines fell 3.7% to 1.79 billion tonnes with...
(EnergyAsia, August 29, Thursday) — Z Energy, New Zealand’s main downstream oil company, said it raised NZ$840 million through a public offer of its share at NZ$3.50 apiece. (US$1=NZ$1.26). NZSF Aotea Limited sold 60% of the company at the midpoint of a predetermined NZ$3.25-to-NZ$3.75 range, giving Z Energy a market value of NZ$1.4 billion. With...
(EnergyAsia, August 29 2013, Thursday) — Report from the September 2013 issue of EnergyAsia Report. US WTI and North Sea Brent crude oil prices continued to edge higher on fears that the US and its allies could make good on their threats to launch a military attack on Syria. In New York, US WTI ended...
(EnergyAsia, August 28 2013, Tuesday) — Citing demand contraction in Japan and Europe, and weaker growth outlook in China and India, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) has reduced its global oil demand forecasts for the next two years. In its latest August energy outlook, the EIA said world oil consumption will grow by 1.23%...
(EnergyAsia, August 28 2013, Wednesday) — It’s been a long wait and it’s now Africa’s turn to say it has some of the world’s fastest growing economies. According to the African Development Bank (AfDB), most of the growth will take place in the western corner of the continent that is home to several of its...
(EnergyAsia, August 27 2013, Tuesday) — The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has raised its forecasts for global oil consumption for 2013 and 2014, building on last month’s observation that the world has regained its oil appetite after four years of slow growth. The 12-member cartel now expects the world to consume a record...
(EnergyAsia, August 27 2013, Tuesday) — Reflecting a more cautious outlook on the world economy, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has tempered its latest forecasts for global oil consumption over the next two years. In its latest August report, the IEA raised its forecast for this year’s oil consumption growth rate to 1% compared with...
(EnergyAsia, August 26 2013, Monday) — Nigeria’s state revenue for July plunged 42% to 498 billion naira from the previous month due largely to theft and losses in crude oil flows that feed over 80% of the government’s budget. (US$1=161 naira). The losses could mount and become permanent if the government proceeds to pass a...
(EnergyAsia, August 26 2013, Monday) — At least four workers have died and five others reported missing after fire damaged the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) refinery in India’s Andhra Pradesh state last Friday. The death toll will most certainly rise with another 39 workers injured when a cooling tower under construction exploded at the...
(EnergyAsia, August 23 2013, Friday) — Ghana will have a second major oil-producing area comprising the three offshore fields of Tweneboa, Enyenra and Ntomme (TEN) in 2016, said operator Tullow of the UK, which helped launch the first at Jubilee in 2010. Located in the Deepwater Tano contract area 60 km off the coast of...
(EnergyAsia, August 23 2013, Friday) — Residents and fishermen in Manila Bay’s Cavite coastal villages hit by a second major oil spill in three years are demanding that Philippine state-owned Petron shut down a nearby oil storage depot believed to be the cause of the leaks. Through the newly formed Close Petron Depot Movement (CPDM),...
(EnergyAsia, August 22 2013, Thursday) — The Nigerian government is pushing for a showdown with the oil majors amid accusations that the companies are involved in organised theft and corruption followed by threats to revoke the award of a major offshore block. Last month, a top adviser to the President said the majors were complicit...
(EnergyAsia, August 21 2013, Wednesday) — Petroleo Brasileiro or Petrobras said it has agreed to sell US$2.1 billion worth of oil and petrochemical assets, the bulk to China’s Sinochem Group, to lighten up its debt burden to fund a massive investment programme through 2017. Sinochem Group will pay US$1.54 billion for the Brazilian state firm’s...
(EnergyAsia, August 21 2013, Wednesday) — Oil and gas companies are looking beyond Nigeria, Ghana and Angola as they scour West Africa’s smaller countries like Ivory Coat and Senegal for new offshore riches. In April, Total E&P Côte d’Ivoire, a subsidiary of the French major, announced it found a rich layer of “high-quality oil” in...
(EnergyAsia, August 20 2013, Tuesday) — As it continues to raise output and find favour with investors, Angola could overtake troubled Nigeria to become Africa’s largest crude oil producer by mid-decade. Angola’s production could rise 15% to reach two million b/d by 2015 while Nigeria’s current output of 2.3 to 2.4 million b/d may decline...
(EnergyAsia, August 20 2013, Tuesday) — Ghana’s economy is expected to grow by 8% this year, up from last year’s 7.1%, on rising earnings from oil, cocoa and gold exports and large investments in the extractive industries, public infrastructure and commercial agriculture, said the African Economic Development Bank (AfDB). The West African country has also...
(EnergyAsia, August 19 2013, Monday) — Nigeria could see further sharp declines in both its oil production and reserves if the government insists on raising taxes while failing to address the growing threats posed to the industry by theft, corruption and terrorism, said two of the country’s largest foreign investors. ExxonMobil has warned the government...
(EnergyAsia, August 19 2013, Monday) — A decade after being at the centre of Africa’s deadliest war, Congo’s oil-dependent economy is just starting to show signs of recovery but continues to perform well below potential. Still among the continent’s poorest countries, the resource-rich West African nation can look forward to a stable period of healthy...
(EnergyAsia, August 16 2013, Friday) — Crude oil prices climbed to recent month highs as military conflicts in Egypt and Libya reignited fears that geopolitical unrest are poised to threaten supplies from the volatile Middle East-North Africa region. Brent oil prices surged above US$111 per barrel to a four-month high in London yesterday on fears...
(EnergyAsia, August 16 2013, Friday) — China will overtake the US to become the world’s largest net oil importer in October, predicts the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). In its August short-term energy outlook report, the EIA said China’s net oil imports will exceed those of the US by October 2013 on a monthly basis,...
(EnergyAsia, August 15 2013, Thursday) — Minute air-borne particles released by coal combustion in northern China have been found to cause various serious illnesses that drastically shorten life spans, according to a recent study jointly conducted by researchers from China, Israel and the US. The study estimates that 500 million residents in northern China have...
(EnergyAsia, August 15 2013, Thursday) — The Chinese government has re-affirmed its commitment to a programme to achieve certain targets on carbon emissions reduction, energy savings and environmental technology investment by 2020 in an attempt to clean its polluted air and water supplies. But China’s coal use, already the world’s largest, will continue to grow...
(EnergyAsia, August 14 2013, Wednesday) — China’s coal sector is rapidly depleting the country’s scarce water resources and causing pre-mature deaths of thousands of people, according to two recent studies published by Greenpeace. Last month, the environmental group released a report accusing China’s largest coal miner, Shenhua Group, of draining and poisoning vital water supplies...
(EnergyAsia, August 14 2013, Wednesday) — The World Coal Association (WCA) has criticised a recent report from Australia’s Climate Commission as being “ideologically driven, one-sided and inherently unscientific.” In calling for the closure of Australia’s coal industry, the WCA said the report, “The Critical Decade 2013: Climate Change Science, Risks & Response”, crossed the line...