to ensure the economy will not be tripped up by energy shortages. CNPC and Sinopec, the country’s two largest oil and gas producers, recently ordered their refineries to produce more diesel for electricity generation to counter widespread power shortages caused by the severe winter weather that hit several provinces most of the last two months....

rise by 1.9% to 87.6 million b/d. This is about 200,000 b/d or 0.4 percentage points below its earlier forecast after taking into account the latest signs that the US economy has weakened further. The world economy is growing at its weakest pace since 2003 this year on the spreading impact of the US credit...

with their oil stockpiling programmes despite crude oil prices reaching US$100 a barrel this week. The US Department of Energy (DOE) told Congress it will not stop its programme to add 70,000 b/d of crude to the national emergency stockpile. By end-March, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve will hold a record of more than 700 million...

fall in fourth-quarter production due largely to a shutdown at its key Mutineer-Exeter field. The Adelaide-based company did not provide an update on its 2008 production outlook. Its fourth-quarter production fell to 14 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe), bringing the full-year production to 59.1 million boe. While it was within the forecast range of...

storage capacity will rise by a third to 12 billion litres by March 2010. The National Iranian Oil Derivatives’ Distribution Company said it has signed deals for setting up 81 storage tanks in 34 out of 82 warehouses. New warehouse facilities are being built at 11 cities across the country. The agency said Iran now...

has admitted it may sideline the US dollar and switch to the Euro to price its oil in response to the weakening greenback. In a first admission by the oil cartel, secretary-general Abdullah al-Badri said the move could happen within 10 years. The US currency has fallen by 50% against the Euro since 2000. Iran,...

rates of recent years as worsening power shortages and political instability are taking an increasing toll on daily life. In recent weeks, the country’s industrial electricity deficit fell to some 3,600 megawatts (MW), the result of low water levels at hydro-power damns and supply disruptions after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto last December. Water levels...

448,000 cubic-metre Helios oil storage terminal on Singapore’s Jurong Island to Brazil’s state oil major Petrobras. The terminal, which started up last month, will be officially opened today. Petrobras has been in the Singapore bunker fuel market since 2004, offering mainly low-sulphur fuel oil. The long-term lease with Chemoil will enable the Brazilian firm to...

(EnergyAsia, February 27, Wednesday) — The Northern Liquefied Petroleum Gas Trading Joint Stock Company has started building a depot in the northern Vietnamese port city of Haiphong to store and handle LPG. Located in the Dinh Vu Industrial Park, the 388-billion-dong depot will store up to 7,500 tonnes when fully completed. (US$1=16,000 dong). Its first...

(EnergyAsia, February 27, Wednesday) — Saudi Arabia will raise its crude production capacity to 12 million b/d by end 2009, said the CEO of the kingdom’s state oil and gas company, Aramco. Abdallah Jum’ah dismissed fears that Saudi oilfields including the giant Ghawar wells are at or near their reserves peak, and could soon begin...

(EnergyAsia, February 27, Wednesday) — Australia’s Queensland state is looking to reduce its oil consumption as part of the government’s strategy to help its people reduce their reliance on fossil fuels. A subscriber to the ‘peak oil’ theory, Minister for Sustainability, Climate Change and Innovation, Andrew McNamara, said the future availability of fossil fuel and...

(EnergyAsia, February 27, Wednesday) — China’s crude oil production and oil consumption reached record levels last year, said the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association (CPIA). Its crude oil output rose 1.6% to a new high of 186.7 million tons, while its net import surged 14.7% to 159.28 million tons. Domestic consumption of crude oil...

(EnergyAsia, February 27, Wednesday) — China and Venezuela have agreed to jointly build three oil refineries in China to process heavy crude oil imported from the Latin American country, said the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. Venezeula is ready to export 350,000 b/d of crude to China this year, said the ministry. The agreement has yet...

(EnergyAsia, February 27, Wednesday) — The Australian government said it has allocated A$6.4 million to upgrade the navy’s fuel storage terminal in Darwin in Northern Territory state. (US$1=A$1.10). Calling the tanks a strategic asset, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced the investment during a recent visit to the country’s northernmost city, located south of Indonesia and...

(EnergyAsia, February 27, Wednesday) — The Philippines’ Department of Energy (DOE) wants the country’s three largest oil firms to obey the Supreme Court’s order to move out of the Pandacan oil depot in Manila by 2013. Petron Corp, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp and Chevron Philippines Inc have been fighting to keep their oil storage and...

(EnergyAsia, February 27, Wednesday) — Bahrain is launching the first Sharia-compliant bank focused on the investment, financing and service needs of the energy sector, with the formation of the First Energy Bank with a planned paid-up capital of US$750 million. Gulf Finance House said it has obtained the ‘in principle’ approval of the Central Bank...

(EnergyAsia, February 27, Wednesday) — Australia’s upstream oil sector has released a special study calling for government action and increased research to stem the country’s growing deficit in its oil products trade. The study written by leading geoscientist Trevor Powell said the government must increase financial investment in geoscientific research to stop Australia’s growing oil...

(EnergyAsia, February 26, Tuesday) — Thai Oil, the country’s largest oil refiner, said strong refining margins boosted its 2007 net profit by almost 9% to 19.2 billion baht. (US$1=32 baht). Its revenue fell 6.5% to 261 billion baht while expenses were also down, by 8.8%, to 237 billion baht. Margins rose along with crude oil...

(EnergyAsia, February 26, Tuesday) — Reliance Industries and Essar Oil are expected to play a bigger role in supplying aviation fuel in India as new rules are allowing private-sector players access to that lucrative high-growth market segment. India’s new “Open Access” model for fuel supplies at airports allows all eligible players – public and private...

(EnergyAsia, February 26, Tuesday) — Indian engineering firm Larsen and Toubro (L and T) said it has won a $421 million contract to supply 22 hydrocrackers and desulphurisation reactors for the upgrade two of Kuwait’s three oil refineries. Mumbai-based L and T senior executive vice president M.V. Kotwal said it will deliver the reactors for...

(EnergyAsia, February 26, Tuesday) — Indonesia’s state oil firm Pertamina said it plans to import 150,000 b/d of crude oil from Libya to feed its proposed 300,000 b/d Banten refinery project after start-up in 2013. Iran will supply the rest. Pertamina and Libya’s National Oil Corp (NOC) have sealed a 20-year deal to supply the...

(EnergyAsia, February 26, Tuesday) — Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) said it has set aside a budget of Rs90 billion to upgrade its refineries to produce higher quality gasoline and diesel fuels. (US$1 = Rs40). The upgrades are scheduled to be completed in 2009. Some of its biggest investments will be made at its Haldia refinery...

(EnergyAsia, February 26, Tuesday) — Jet fuel suppliers to India’s new GMR Hyderabad International Airport which starts up on March will have to pay a special fuel infrastructure fee of Rs1,500 per kilolitre. (US$1=Rs40). The suppliers complain that they are already paying the Airports Authority of India Rs670 per kilolitre as throughput fees at a...

  (EnergyAsia, February 26, Tuesday) — The Indian government appears to have made the correct political gamble when it raised fuel prices nearly two weeks ago as there had been warnings of widespread protests and anger. The public seems to have accepted that the price hikes were justifiable in the face of record world crude...

  (EnergyAsia, February 26, Tuesday) — US oil firm ConocoPhillips said its joint venture company in Malaysia has approved plans to expand its 128,000-b/d oil refinery in the western state of Malacca by 2010. ConocoPhillips, which owns a 47% stake, and partner, Malaysian state oil firm Petronas, which owns the remaining majority stake, has approved...