(EnergyAsia, August 22, Friday) — IndianOil Skytanking (IOSL) is interested to build and operate fuel storage facilities at the country’s largest 15 airports, in particular the upgraded international airports in New Delhi and Mumbai, following its success in at the Bangalore International Airport. IOSL, a joint venture between Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Indian Oiltanking and...
(EnergyAsia, August 21, Thursday) — Oil and gas companies are no longer queuing up to explore in Canada’s hydrocarbon-rich Alberta province. The province’s takings from the sale of its land for exploration and production have been steadily declining, the consequence of its new royalty regime that will increase the government’s share of future oil and...
(EnergyAsia, August 21, Thursday) — Canada’s British Columbia province may have enough natural gas to make it self sufficient for decades, according to recent exploration results. The Horn River Basin in the province’s northeastern corner may have more than gas reserves of over 50 trillion cubic feet. Companies keen on tapping the province’s new gas...
(EnergyAsia, August 21, Thursday) — China Petrochemical Corporation or Sinopec Group said it has started filling up its new Chenshan oil products depot in Shanghai city. The 335,000-cubic metre depot is located within the storage terminal of Sinopec subsidiary Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co Ltd. The facility includes 175,000 cubic metres of new tank capacity and...
(EnergyAsia, August 21, Thursday) — Fire has destroyed two oil storage tanks in the southern Malaysian port of Tanjung Langsat in Johor state. About 500 firemen fought the blaze for 67 hours before putting it under control. Local police said the fire started at one of the tanks holding 17.8 million litres of unleaded gasoline...
(EnergyAsia, August 21, Thursday) — Shell Refining Company, the Malaysian subsidiary of the oil major, has reported a record after-tax net profit of RM357 million for the second quarter of 2008. This represented an increase of RM189 million over the same period last year. (US$1=RM3.33). The second quarter earnings included an after-tax stockholding gain of...
(EnergyAsia, August 21, Thursday) — Canada’s Red Hill Energy said it is undertaking a five-tonne bulk sampling and open pit expansion program at its Ulaan Ovoo coal project in northern Mongolia. As part of the program, carried out under the supervision of Australia’s Minarco-MineConsult Ltd (MMC), a five-tonne working section representative sample will be removed...
(EnergyAsia, August 21, Thursday) — Canada’s increasingly stringent requirements to bury carbon dioxide (CO2) set free during oil sands extraction could add another US$13 a barrel to the cost of producing oil from Alberta province’s heavy crude deposits. Already, the industry is faced with rising cost from scarce labour and materials which have pushed production...
(EnergyAsia, August 21, Thursday) — Tougher environmental regulations being proposed could hamper the development of oil sands projects in Canada’s Alberta province, French oil giant Total has warned. Often lauded as the “next Saudi Arabia” with proven oil reserves of 177 billion, Alberta may not live up to its promise if proposed tight environmental regulations...
(EnergyAsia, August 21, Thursday) — North America is probably home to much larger natural gas reserves than previously thought due to increasing discoveries and production of gas in shale rock or tight formation. This could potentially reverse the region’s decline in gas production. Firms such as EnCana, Apache and EOG Resources have all put out...
(EnergyAsia, August 21, Thursday) — Lanka Marine Services (LMS), the bunker fuel subsidiary of John Keells Holdings (JKH), said it has been given till September 10 to vacate the land and oil storage tanks in Sri Lanka’s Colombo port. The extension from the original deadline of August 21 was granted by the Supreme Court which...
(EnergyAsia, August 20, Wednesday) — Shipping traffic through Singapore surpassed one billion tons on August 15, far earlier than previous years, showing the growth of the country’s maritime sector. The Maritime and Port Authority said the vessel which set the one-billion-ton mark was APL Australia, a 50,243-gross ton (GT) container ship which arrived at the...
(EnergyAsia, August 20, Wednesday) — Several prominent US city mayors have voiced strong opposition against Canada’s oil sand industry, accusing it of contributing to global warming. At a recent conference in Miami, the mayors have called for US cities to stop using oil and energy sources that leave a large environmental footprint, in particular heavy...
(EnergyAsia, August 20, Wednesday) — Oil and gas prices may have roughly doubled from last year’s levels but the mood in Canada’s oil patch remains sober and cautious. Despite numerous forecasts for oil to reach US$200 or more, the industry and its backers are worried if the high prices will be sustainable over the long...
(EnergyAsia, August 20, Wednesday) — Oil firms are rushing to buy up land in the northeastern part of Canada’s British Columbia province for oil and gas exploration. In recent auctions, the provincial goverment launched bidding on 99 licences and lease parcels covering 61,500 hectares of prospective land. The hotspots are the Montney area near Fort...
(EnergyAsia, August 20, Wednesday) — The Haida Nation, a native group in Canada’s British Columbia province, said it is opposed to any attempts by government or private companies to open the offshore waters for oil and gas development. The Haida fear that exploration and production activities would permanently destroy the natural environment. British Columbia’s Queen...
(EnergyAsia, August 20, Wednesday) — US presidential contender Senator Barack Obama has pledged to cure his country of its addiction to “dirty” and expensive imported oil, with potentially adverse impacts for Alberta’s growing oil sands industry. Mr Obama said he might exclude the oil sands as a part of the US energy mix if elected...
(EnergyAsia, August 20, Wednesday) — The development of Alberta’s oil sands projects is being held back by labour and materials shortages and rising costs. Projects are running over budget as many firms began expansion work all at the same time to capitalise on soaring oil prices, thus triggering expansive bidding wars for labour and materials....
(EnergyAsia, August 20, Wednesday) — Royal Dutch Shell plc said it and Canadian biotechnology firm Iogen Corporation will extend their commercial alliance to accelerate the development and deployment of cellulosic ethanol. The terms of the agreement include a significant investment by Shell in technology development with Iogen Energy Corporation, a jointly owned development company dedicated...
(EnergyAsia, August 20, Wednesday) — Origin Energy (Kenya) Ltd said it has been granted a six-month extension on its production sharing contracts (PSCs) for Blocks L8 and L9 located in the Lamu Basin off Kenya. Kenya’s Ministry of Energy extended the contracts to Origin Energy Kenya, a subsidiary of Australia’s Origin Energy, as operator. The...
(EnergyAsia, August 20, Wednesday) — French major Total said it has found natural gas in the offshore Mimia-1 exploration well in its 40%-owned WA-344P permit in Australia. Total E&P Australia and operator Inpex of Japan acquired the WA-344P exploration acreage last November and completed the Mimia-1 well in July. A 72-metre gas column was found...
(EnergyAsia, August 19, Tuesday) — Courage Marine Group Limited, a Singapore-listed dry bulk shipper focused on infrastructure and energy commodities, said its second quarter net profit rose 67% year-on-year to US$17.8 million. Firm demand for raw materials to meet the energy and infrastructure needs in Asia lifted group revenue 56% to US$28.5 million. This increase...
(EnergyAsia, August 19, Tuesday) — Canada’s oil and gas reserves in the western provinces of Alberta and British Columbia could help relieve the global supply crunch, said the International Energy Agency (IEA). The country would have to continue expanding Alberta’s oil sands production and start developing British Columbia’s offshore oil and gas deposits, said IEA...
(EnergyAsia, August 19, Tuesday) — Labour shortages, regulatory hurdles, a lack of clarity over government climate change policies as well as soaring materials and engineering costs are slowing down investment into developing oil sands deposits in Canada’s Alberta province. The industry is complaining that the growing list of negatives is preventing them from increasing their...
(EnergyAsia, August 19, Tuesday) — The recent initial public offer (IPO) of Sohar Power Company (SPC) on Oman’s stock exchange in Muscat was oversubscribed 21 times. The company sold 9,730,000 shares, representing 35% of its equity, for Omani Rial 1.350 (US$3.51) to raise US$35 million. The shares, which were offered primarily to individual investors in...