VIETNAM: Work on Vung Ro refinery delayed

its Vung Ro refinery project to 2009. Work on the $1.7 billion project was to have begun in late 2008.   Without providing an explanation for the delay, state officials said that land clearing at the 200-hectare site in Phu Yen province was still continuing.  So far, the project located near a port has displaced...

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SINGAPORE: New S$25 million fund to boost energy R & D

the S$25 million Energy Research Development Fund (ERDF) to seek energy solutions suited to the local environment and needs. (US$1=S$1.5). The new fund is different from existing energy research public funds as it focuses on developing enabling capabilities. It will go beyond technology research, and will seek to build up knowledge to support policies including...

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ASIA: Conergy, GE launched region’s first renewable energy trust, aims to invest US$250 million

Singapore-based subsidiary of the Conergy Group in Asia-Pacific, have jointly launched the region’s first renewable energy private trust to spur their growth and investments in wind, solar, small hydroelectric, biogas and biomass power generation in Asia. The Renewable Energy Trust Asia (RETA) is an investment vehicle focused on the US$7 billion annual renewable energy markets...

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AUSTRALIA: AGL aquires Investec wind farm projects for $14 million

wind farm development projects from Investec Wind Holdings Pty Ltd for A$14 million. (US$1=A$1.5). They include a proposed 63MW project in Glenthompson in Victoria state and the two-stage 500MW project in Kingaroy in Queensland. AGL managing director Michael Fraser said the transaction was consistent with its strategy to develop a diverse pipeline of renewable projects...

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INDIA: Turkey offers BTC pipeline as alternative oil supply route

Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline to deliver Russian crude oil to consumers in Mumbai, Chennai and elsewhere on the subcontinent. Russia now ships oil supplies to India through the Black Sea via the capacity-constrained Turkish Straits. Tankers and ships have to be smaller than 130,000 tonnes according to restrictions imposed at the Turkish port of Ceyhan, which...

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MARKETS: Oil companies plan big offshore oil storage

barrels of crude oil in an offshore super tanker in a bet that oil prices will soon rise from their four-year low. Other companies and traders have also started booking offshore oil storage capacities in anticipation of higher oil prices. Crude oil has plunged to well below US$35 per barrel, down from its high of...

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MARKETS: World LNG output growth slows down dramatically

only 2% this year, the lowest growth rate in almost 30 years.   In the first nine months of this year, world LNG production was up by just 0.4% from the same period last year, consultant Andy Flowers recently told Bloomberg.  In 2007, world LNG imports reached 17m2.6 million tonnes, up 7.3% from 2006.  Production...

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MARKETS: Oil price plunge could trigger mergers, acquisitions

decline in oil companies’ share values, could trigger a new wave of mergers and acquisitions. Crude oil is now trading well below US$35 per barrel, sharply below its peak of US$147 in July. Some analysts now see oil dropping to as low as US$25 in 2009. As a first response, many oil companies have cancelled...

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RUSSIA: Lukoil seeks to boost CPC pipeline stake at BP’s expense

Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) by buying out BP’s stake.   Operated by US oil major Chevron, the CPC line delivers Kazakh crude oil to a Russian Black Sea port for shipment overseas. Its other shareholders include BP, Rosneft, Shell, Eni, BG Group and Kazakhstan’s KazMunaiGaz.   The Russians and the Kazakhs want to push out...

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KAZAKHSTAN: Stage set for crude oil to be delivered through BTC pipeline

(EnergyAsia, December 19, Friday) — Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have agreed to establish a transport system to deliver Kazakh crude oil through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline for export to Europe and other markets. Kazakhstan is looking to the BTC line as an alternative to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) which ships oil from its Tengiz field...

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CHINA: Bunker fuel sales seen to double by 2011, undercutting Singapore

(EnergyAsia, December 19, Friday) — China is expected to more than double its sales of marine and bunker fuel by 2011, thanks in large part to the arrival of cheap Venezuelan supplies. By 2011, China’s bunker sales are expected to hit one million tonnes each month, up from 400,000 tonnes now. China’s ports are aiming...

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AZERBAIJAN: Europe receives affirmation of oil and gas commitment

(EnergyAsia, December 19, Friday) — Azerbaijan has committed to play an increasingly vital role in supplying oil and gas to Europe, a move seen as weakening Russia’s attempt to tighten its grip on its neighbours’ energy vulnerabilities. This message was affirmed at last month’s Energy Summit in Baku city, capital of the strategically located Central...

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CHINA: Amid plunging oil prices, calls for faster buildup of stockpile

(EnergyAsia, December 19, Friday) — Local analysts are calling for the Chinese government to quickly to fill up the country’s strategic petroleum reserves (SPRs) as quickly possible to take advantage of current low oil prices. Oil has plummeted from a US$147 per barrel peak in July to just above US$50 per barrel. China’s state and...

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CHINA: Oil, chemical sales growth slows amid global turmoil

(EnergyAsia, December 19, Friday) — China’s refiners and petrochemicals producers are facing losses, slower sales and production growth amid the global economic slowdown and financial crisis, said the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association (CPCIA). Both sales and production growth slowed markedly in August and September. Oil refiners reported losing more than 120 billion yuan...

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CHINA: Qatar plans 200,000 b/d joint venture refinery

(EnergyAsia, December 19, Friday) — Qatar is planning to build a 10-million-tonne-per-year refinery and petrochemicals project in a joint venture with PetroChina and Shell. The project’s location has yet to be determined but will most likely be somewhere on China’s eastern coast. PetroChina would hold a majority stake of 51% in the venture, with Shell...

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CHINA: Calls for Myanmar and Bangladesh to talk over oil and gas dispute

(EnergyAsia, December 19, Friday) — China is working to mediate a dispute between two of its allies, Myanmar and Bangladesh, over offshore oil and gas exploration rights in the Bay of Bengal. The quarrelling neighbours recently deployed warships to protect their interests. Bangladesh insists that the disputed area near St Martin’s Island falls within its...

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INDIA: US Commerce Dept, business council to send largest commercial nuclear mission

(EnergyAsia, December 19, Friday) — The US-India Business Council (USIBC) said it will partner with the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) and US Department of Commerce to undertake the largest trade mission of American commercial nuclear executives ever to visit India. The visit will take place in January after the original mission on November 27 was...

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CHINA: Longwei Petroleum Investment hires RedChip Companies for public and investor relations

(EnergyAsia, December 19, Friday) — China‘s Longwei Petroleum Investment Holding Ltd said it has hired RedChip Companies Inc. to lead its public and investor relations programmes. Operating through its subsidiary, Longwei Trading, the company is a leading distributor and wholesale supplier of diesel, gasoline, fuel oil and solvent oil in Taiyuan city in China‘s Shanxi province....

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ASIA: DHL says region’s rising income, oil prices to have growing impact on world trade

(EnergyAsia, December 19, Friday) — Asia’s fast rising income and volatile oil prices will have a greater impact on world trade than income growth in the West next year, said a study commissioned by DHL, the world’s leading express and logistics company. The study undertaken by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Fuelling Global Trade: How GDP...

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SINGAPORE: Planners push offshore oil storage plan

building and locating very large floating storage (VLFS) facilities for oil, refined products and petrochemicals in the waters off the island state. Preliminary studies already found such projects technically feasible if they are designed with a minimum capacity of 300,000 cubic metres, about the size of a very large crude carrier, or VLCC. In a...

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AUSTRALIA: PACCAR Australia and Westport to produce natural gas trucks

Australia Pty Ltd will jointly develop and commercialise liquefied natural gas (LNG) Kenworth trucks for the Australian market. Australia’s Kenworth Trucks, a division of PACCAR, plans to begin factory-installed production in mid-2009 beginning with the T908, K108 and T408SAR truck chassis and roll out across additional models into the future. The LNG trucks, featuring the...

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INDIA: Thorium Power Ltd and Punj Lloyd Group sign memorandum of understanding

proliferative nuclear fuel technology and consultant for emerging nuclear programmes, said it and Punj Lloyd Group, an India-based engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) company, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU). The MOU establishes a framework to explore and identify the strengths of Thorium Power in deploying its nuclear fuel designs in India, Southeast Asia...

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INDONESIA: Kobe Coal starts up vital upgraded brown coal plant

demonstration plant in Indonesia’s South Kalimantan province started operations early this month. The project is being undertaken by the Japan Coal Energy Center (JCOAL), in which Kobe Steel is a member, and is supported by Japan‘s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). Total investment is expected to reach eight billion yen, of which METI...

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MARKETS: World airlines to lose record $5 billion in 2008 and $2.5 billion in 2009, says IATA

industry is expected to lose a record $5 billion this year and $2.5 billion for 2009. All regions, except the US, are expected to report larger losses in 2009 than in 2008. Calling these conditions the worst in over 50 years, IATA unveiled grim news on all fronts except for the outlook on oil prices...

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MARKETS: Asian refining margins will continue to suffer as distillates weaken on surpluses

the near term as rising stocks and weak demand force panicked regional producers to seek new markets for refined products, said US-based consultant ESAI. This is the outlook presented in the December edition of the Pacific Basin Stockwatch Marketview, released by petroleum market analysts at the Wakefield, Massachusetts firm. ESAI expects Chinese and Indian oil...

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