(EnergyAsia, June 25 2013, Tuesday) — China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) said it has secured agreements to work on upstream and downstream projects in Costa Rica and Ecuador. During a visit to the two countries, chairman Zhou Jiping said China’s largest oil and gas producer was stepping up efforts to cultivate countries in Latin and...
(EnergyAsia, June 24 2013, Monday) — The biggest oil producers in Russia and China have signed what could be the world’s largest long-term contract with Rosneft agreeing to supply 300,000 b/d of crude to China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) for 25 years starting 2015. Rosneft President and Chairman Igor Sechin and CNPC Chairman Zhou Jiping...
(EnergyAsia, June 21 2013, Friday) — Indonesians reacted with fury to the government’s announcement that gasoline and diesel prices will rise sharply from Saturday, June 22, to curb the country’s fuel deficit from further rising beyond last year’s record US$20 billion. As in the past, protests against any attempt to reduce fuel subsidies quickly degenerated...
(EnergyAsia, June 20 2013, Thursday) — In sharply cutting back crude oil imports from Iran to around 210,000 b/d, India is turning to Venezuela, Iraq and Oman to meet its rising demand. According to official data, India has reduced its Iranian oil imports by more than 40% in the first five months of the year...
(EnergyAsia, June 19 2013, Wednesday) — Myanmar government officials said a major infrastructure project to deliver oil and natural gas to China is on course to start up next month amid reports of delays caused by security issues and ethnic conflicts along the path of the pipelines. Starting from a new terminal being developed on...
(EnergyAsia, June 19 2013, Wednesday) — Malaysia’s plan to build a RM60-billion oil refinery-petrochemical complex in the southern state of Johor has run into operational problems that will delay its start-up by at least a year to 2017. (US$1=RM3.15). State energy firm Petronas, which is implementing the ambitious project located near Singapore, has blamed the...
(EnergyAsia, June 18 2013, Tuesday) — Fossil fuels gained market share in the global energy mix last year largely as a result of the continuing sharp decline in nuclear energy production and consumption, said BP. Global nuclear energy output plunged by 6.9%, the largest decline on record for a second consecutive year, according to the...
(EnergyAsia, June 17 2013, Monday) — US WTI crude oil futures surged to a nine-month high of US$98.25 while Brent rose to a two-month high of US$106.64 last Friday amid signs that the civil war in Syria are escalating with greater involvement of outside forces. As President Assad continued to gain the upper hand against...
(EnergyAsia, June 14 2013, Friday) — Mongolia has resumed exporting coal to China as politicians on both sides work to repair bilateral ties that started fraying when a Chinese state-owned firm tried to buy into a miner with large Mongolian coal deposits last year. Officials confirm that Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi (ETT), Mongolia’s largest state-owned coal...
(EnergyAsia, June 13 2013, Thursday) — Brazil’s main energy company, Petroleo Brasileiro SA or Petrobras, said it has agreed with South Korea’s GS Holdings Corp to look into jointly building a 300,000 b/d oil refinery in the Latin American country. Petrobras said it has signed a letter of intent with GS Energy Corp, a subsidiary...
(EnergyAsia, June 12 2013, Tuesday) — US and Chinese analysts expect China’s coal demand to remain strong through 2015 despite recent reports of slowing power demand in response to weaker economic growth. The new government of President Xi Jinping has also announced that it plans to cap the nation’s coal demand to between four and...
(EnergyAsia, June 12 2013, Wednesday) — China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) will provide “significant funding” to help develop a multi-billion dollar plant in South Australia state to convert coal to liquid fuels, said project developer and partner Altona Energy. The London AIM-listed firm said the state government has agreed to extend its exploration licences...
(EnergyAsia, June 11 2013, Tuesday) — India’s Tata Power Company Ltd said it has secured a 100-billion-rupee contract to build a 1,200MW coal-fired supercritical power plant in Vietnam. (US$1=55 rupees). The company said it was awarded the contract by the Vietnamese government to build the Long Phu 2 project comprising two 660-MW units which is...
(EnergyAsia, June 10 2013, Monday) — Indian industrial group Lanco Infratech is preparing to invest A$1 billion to expand the production capacity of its Griffin Coal subsidiary in Australia by four times to 16 million tonnes. (US$1=A$0.96). Lanco, which acquired Griffin Coal for about A$730 million in March 2011, plans to export the additional output...
(EnergyAsia, June 7 2013, Friday) — Chandgana Coal LLC has agreed to supply coal to Prophecy Power Generation (PPG) LLC for a 600MW power plant being developed about two km from the Chandgana mine in Mongolia, said Prophecy Coal, which owns both companies. Canada-based Prophecy Coal, which is developing energy projects in Mongolia, said Chandgana...
(EnergyAsia, June 6 2013, Thursday) — US coal consumption is expected to surge 7.3% this year on a combination of rising power demand and increased substitution for natural gas as feedstock, said the Energy Information Administration (EIA). In its most recent monthly forecast issued in May, the EIA projected US coal consumption to top 955...
(EnergyAsia, June 5 2013, Wednesday) — Indonesian coal miner PT Adaro Energy Tbk said wholly owned subsidiary PT Adaro Indonesia has secured a US$380 million amortising loan facility that will mature in May 2020. The company said its application was oversubscribed 7.5 times, with 12 international banks committing to lend a total of US$2.85 billion....
(EnergyAsia, June 4 2013, Tuesday) — Australia’s Queensland state government has given the environmental approval for India’s GVK Group to develop its A$4.2 billion coal mine in Kevin’s Corner near the town of Alpha. (US$1=A$1.03). Subsidiary GVK Hancock Galilee is proposing to develop an underground and open-cut mine together with infrastructure to produce 30 million...
(EnergyAsia, June 4 2013, Tuesday) — The lingering dispute between workers and the operator of one of the world’s largest coal ports in Australia’s Queensland state is expected to continue through mid-year after unions successfully organised a series of short strikes last month. Hundreds of workers walked off at Newcastle’s Port Waratah for 24 hours...
(EnergyAsia, June 3 2013, Monday) — Australia’s Waratah Coal said it has secured renewal from the Federal government for project facilitation of its A$8 billion China First coal project in Queensland state. (US$1=A$1.03). The Brisbane-based company said it plans to build a thermal coal mine in the new Galilee Basin coal region near Alpha, west...
(EnergyAsia, June 3 2013, Monday) — The Australian government’s decision to slash funding for clean energy initiatives including carbon capture and storage (CCS) programmes will hurt the country and the environment, said the coal lobby. Australian Coal Association CEO Nikki Williams said the world will continue to consume coal after using up a record seven...
(EnergyAsia, May 31 2013, Friday) — With its easy access to low-cost feedstock and proximity to the fast-growing markets of Asia and Africa, the Middle East is set to dominate the global petrochemicals industry by 2020, say experts at a recent industry event in Dubai. Middle Eastern companies are also raising their performance by adopting...
(EnergyAsia, May 31 2013, Friday) — Coal companies have helped launch another two indices to track the price of the commodity produced and traded in China, adding to two already in use since 2006. Producers in coal mining Shanxi province have helped create the China Taiyuan Coal Transaction Price Index, which they claim is the...
(EnergyAsia, May 30 2013, Thursday) — Papua New Guinea’s economy will have a powerful new engine next year when an Exxon Mobil-led consortium starts up a US$19-billion plant near Port Moresby to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Asia. Starting with two trains with a combined 6.6-million-ton/year capacity, the PNG LNG project will help the...
(EnergyAsia, May 30 2013, Thursday) — With oil prices and production under pressure from slowing global demand, the economies of oil producing countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region will grow at a combined rate of 3.2% this year, down from 5.7% in 2013, said the International Monetary Fund (IMF). But with...