(EnergyAsia, February 26, Tuesday) — Global Cryo Systems, a member of the Dubai-based Global Process Systems Group, is launching its concept for mini-LNG plants at Gastech 2008, the industry’s largest gas expo to be held in Bangkok, Thailand from March 10 to 13. The company said it is developing skid-mounted small to medium-scale plants...
(EnergyAsia, February 25, Monday) — Singapore has launched a solar energy research institute to develop solar photovoltaic devices and innovative materials for solar and energy-efficient buildings.Located at the National University of Singapore, the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS) will help the country tap into the US$30 billion world solar market that is expected...
(EnergyAsia, February 25, Monday) — Malaysia’s Green Power Land Berhad said it is building a RM30 million jatropha mill in Nabawan in the country’s eastern state of Sabah. (US$1=RM3.22).Feedstock for the facility – the first such plant in Sabah – will come from a nearby a 200-acre jatropha plantation.Green Power believes its investment will enable...
(EnergyAsia, February 25, Monday) — Finland’s Neste Oil, which is building a large biodiesel plant in Singapore, said it welcomes the new sustainability criteria on biofuels imposed by the European Commission. The company agreed with the EU’s proposal that feedstock obtained from tropical wetlands and highly diverse rainforests should not be permitted.Neste said its proprietary...
(EnergyAsia, February 25, Monday) — Singapore-listed agricultural group Wilmar International Limited said the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) has accepted its response to complaints by environmental and civil organisations related to the destruction of rainforests in Indonesia for the cultivation of the oil palm crop.Wilmar said it was informed by the Roundtable on Sustainable...
(EnergyAsia, February 25, Monday) — Thailand’s PTT Public Company Limited has signed a long term agreement to import one million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) a year from Qatargas Operating Company Limited.Qatargas will supply the LNG into PTT’s LNG receiving terminal when it becomes operational in 2011. The terminal will be capable of handling...
(EnergyAsia, February 25, Monday) — GE Energy said it has established its Asia commercial operations centre in Singapore to make decisions for the company’s projects in the region, taking over some responsibilities that until now had been solely held in the US.Two GE veterans have relocated to Singapore to lead this unit. Alan Sides, commercial...
(EnergyAsia, February 25, Monday) — China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation or Sinopec Corp and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) recently signed a Heads of Agreement (HOA) to form an equal venture company to build a one-million-ton-per-year complex to produce ethylene derivatives in the Chinese city of Tianjin. The complex has the capacity to produce 600,000...
(EnergyAsia, February 25, Monday) — The US economic downturn, high oil prices and the looming global food shortages are the biggest threats to the world this year, said the World Economic Forum (WEF).They replaced terrorism, conflicts and diseases as the main concerns for world business leaders in the findings contained ‘Global Risks 2008’ report.The report...
(EnergyAsia, February 25, Monday) — Caltex Australia Limited, the country’s only listed downstream oil company, said it will pay shareholders a full-year 2007 dividend of A$0.80 per share, unchanged from the previous year. (US$1=A$1.1). It was unable to raise dividends despite reporting a 3.2% rise in after-tax profit, warning instead that it is preparing to...
(EnergyAsia, February 22, Friday) — World coal prices are set to rise sharply this year on the back of soaring demand from power plants and steel mills, and tight supply conditions. Analysts at Goldman Sachs are forecasting an almost 100% price increase for thermal coal, to US$110/tonne. Spot prices for thermal coal have soared 37%...
(EnergyAsia, February 22, Friday) — Despite more than a decade of talks, Indonesia and Exxon Mobil have failed to reach agreement on developing the country’s large Natuna D-Alpha natural gas field. Indonesian upstream oil and gas regulator BP Migas claims that Exxon had failed to submit plans on developing the field and commercialising the gas....
(EnergyAsia, February 22, Friday) — US oil futures surged to a new record well above $101 a barrel on Wednesday as supply fears, rather than talks of a US economic recession, dominated the markets. NYMEX crude had closed above $100 a barrel for the first time the day before, for a $14 gain over the...
(EnergyAsia, February 22, Friday) — Malaysia is looking to hike electricity, gas and gasoline prices as it attempts to reduce subsidies for these products sold on the domestic market. Malaysia’s power utilities buy natural gas at discounted rates from state oil firm Petronas while on the retail front, motorists pay heavily subsidised gasoline and diesel...
(EnergyAsia, February 22, Friday) — As food and fuel prices continue to rise on the world markets, Indonesia’s government is under growing pressure to maintain, if not increase, subsidies to ensure that the majority of its 220 million people are able to survive. Energy Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said the government was recently forced to shift...
(EnergyAsia, February 22, Friday) — Fitch Ratings said it views a British court order to freeze up to US$12 billion of Petroleos de Venezuela SA’s (PDVSA; rated BB- with a Negative Outlook by Fitch) worldwide assets as a potential concern for the PDVSA partnered refineries, HOVENSA and Merey Sweeny Limited Partnership (MSLP). While day-to-day operations...
(EnergyAsia, February 22, Friday) — Japan has insisted that oil and fuels it supplies to other countries as part of global anti-terrorism efforts are not to be used for other purposes. Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has approved plans to press for such stipulations in talks with US, Britain, France, Germany, Canada and Pakistan. Last year,...
(EnergyAsia, February 22, Friday) — Singapore-listed Rotary Engineering Limited said it is increasing its stake in a Saudi Arabia joint venture company, Petrol Steel Co Ltd, to 51%. This follows a move to increase Petrol Steel’s capitalisation from 5 million riyal to 20 million riyal. Rotary also revealed that, through Petrol Steel, it has secured...
(EnergyAsia, February 22, Friday) — Hongkong-listed Kiu Hung International Holdings Limited said it has approved the acquisition of the entire equity interest of Lucky Dragon Resources Limited for HK$840 million at an extraordinary general meeting early this week. (US$1=HK7.78). Lucky Dragon owns Tongliao City Heng Yuan Mining Company Limited which in turn owns the mining...
Recherche & Development SA said they have set up a joint venture to supply, study and design offshore and marine facilities as well as provide related services in the offshore and marine industry in Southeast Asia. The proposed joint venture company to be incorporated in Singapore will be 51% owned by Principia, and 49% owned...
2007 after-tax net profit fell 28% to A$1,030 million as a result of taking on a net loss on significant items. (US$1=A$1.1). It said underlying net profit was down 15% to A$1,182 millio due to the rise in value of the Australian dollar against the greenback, higher exploration expenses and increased depreciation and amortisation which...
small car designed to give poor Indians the chance to own and use gasoline-powered vehicles — environmentalists proclaimed the end of the world had just begun. The birth of the ‘Nano’ last month adds to environmentalists’ fear that they have lost the fight to stop climate change. Defeat will be confirmed in the coming months...
collaboration development agreement partner, Pioneer Materials Inc, has completed staffing for Nuovo’s pilot production project in Chengdu in China. The project will be headed by Leon Chiu, President and CEO of PMI, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the UCLA. The principal investigator and solar engineer for work at the Chengdu facility...
world oil product demand to reach 87.6 million b/d, down 200,000 b/d from an earlier prediction. The Paris-based agency said weaker economic growth in the developed economies will offset continued robust growth in China and the Middle East, the key oil demand growth centres. In its most recent oil market report, the IEA said world...
to set up a large integrated refinery-petrochemicals complex in Bangladesh. The proposed 300,000 b/d refinery is expected to cost up to $7 billion and could start up by 2012. It will use crude oil imported from Saudi Arabia, said partners Hitch International of Saudi Arabia, and Cosmopolitan Oil Refinery Management Limited of Bangladesh. Bangladesh’s only...