(EnergyAsia, January 29 2013, Tuesday) — Asia could face higher liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices as global demand for the fuel is set to exceed supply this year, said Steve Hill, vice president of global LNG and oil marketing at UK’s BG Group. LNG spot prices in Asia have stayed stubbornly in the US$15-$20 per...
(EnergyAsia, January 28 2013, Monday) — China faces four major challenges in reforming its natural gas sector to help meet a targeted doubling in consumption to 260 billion cubic metres by 2015 from 2011 levels, said the International Energy Agency (IEA). Planners will face their most important challenge in aligning domestic gas prices with the...
(EnergyAsia, January 25 2013, Friday) — After reaching a post-Soviet record last year, Russian oil production will probably peak in the next few years as the gains from new oil fields are offset by falling output from brownfield sites, said US ratings agency Fitch. The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. According to the Ministry of...
( (EnergyAsia, January 25 2013, Friday) — Mechel, a leading Russian mining and metals companies, said it has sold a part of its earlier acquired controlling stake in the Vanino port on the Pacific coast to investors. In line with the conditions for financing the acquisition of a 55% stake in Vanino Sea Trade Port,...
(EnergyAsia, January 24 2013, Thursday) — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has provided an update on Qatar’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry as part of its latest assessment of the economy of the Middle Eastern country. Qatar holds 12% of the world’s proven 7,361 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves, putting it in third...
(EnergyAsia, January 24 2013, Thursday) — Boosted by an end-of-the-year surge, China’s oil demand rose 3.4% to a record high of 9.68 million for 2012, said US energy media Platts. And it could go higher this year if the economy continues to improve and the government maintains its stimulus measures. December’s consumption was up 7.7%...
(EnergyAsia, January 23 2013, Wednesday) — Brent crude’s position as the global benchmark was confirmed last year when its futures trading volume last year exceeded US WTI for the first time. According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), trades in the Brent contract surged while the WTI volume fell in response to the growing...
(EnergyAsia, January 23 2013, Wednesday) — While US majors ExxonMobil and Chevron are undergoing a bad patch with the Indonesian govervnment, BP has found strong official backing for one of its most important projects to expand a liquefied natural gas project in Tangguh in West Papua province. The UK major is expected to make a...
(EnergyAsia, January 22 2013, Tuesday) — New Zealand’s economy could be brought to its knees if its sole oil refinery was hit by an earthquake, fire or tsunami, warned the country’s air carrier in its submission to the government’s review of energy security. In its report to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, Air...
(EnergyAsia, January 22 2013, Tuesday) — Amid declining investor confidence, Indonesia may not achieve its modest crude oil production target of 900,000 b/d for 2013, and certainly not the one-million b/d goal for 2014, said the head of upstream regulator SKMigas. The government, which is currently embroiled in bitter disputes with ExxonMobil and Chevron, two...
(EnergyAsia, January 21 2013, Monday) — With an eye on the Asian markets, two leading Russian natural gas producers have agreed to form a joint venture to produce liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the hydrocarbon-rich remote northern Yamal peninsula. State-owned Gazprom and Novatek, Russia’s leading independent gas producer, will invest in facilities to begin producing...
(EnergyAsia, January 18 2013, Friday) — The world is becoming increasingly dependent on unconventional sources of oil and gas to meet its energy needs, said BP in its latest supply-demand outlook to 2030. The recent surge in unconventional supplies has had the biggest impact in the US where the application of technology has enabled the...
(EnergyAsia, January 18 2013, Friday) — US majors ExxonMobil and Chevron are threatening to reduce investments in Indonesia amid souring relations with the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Jakarta wants ExxonMobil to replace its country president, Richard J. Owen, and has accused Chevron of mismanaging the re-mediation of an ageing oilfield in Riau province....
(EnergyAsia, January 17 2013, Thursday) — Russia said its crude and condensate output surged to a new high of 10.4 million b/d last year, a figure not seen since the days of the Soviet Union which collapsed in 1991. Russia, the world’s largest oil producer ahead of Saudi Arabia, remains dependent on oil and gas...
(EnergyAsia, January 17 2013, Thursday) — Singapore’s bunker sales volume fell 1.2% to 42.7 million tonnes last year as the maritime sector continued to face “challenging” conditions brought on by a prolonged economic recession in the US, Europe and Japan, said the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA). The decline ended several consecutive years...
(EnergyAsia, January 16 2013, Wednesday) — Liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from the US will hasten the global market’s shift away from oil-linked pricing to favour buyers in Asia who are waging a campaign against current suppliers to reduce the fuel’s cost. According to a recent study by consultant Deloitte, the US could export around...
(EnergyAsia, January 16 2013, Wednesday) — Police have arrested five people, including three executives of state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), following last week’s fire that killed at least three workers at the company’s oil storage depot in the north-western state of Gujarat. Another two workers are still unaccounted for after the fire destroyed a tank...
(EnergyAsia, January 15 2013, Tuesday) — Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions will grow at a slower rate this year, rising by just 0.4% from 2012 levels on the back of reduced output from the metals sector and an increase in the nation’s renewable power generation, said carbon consulting firm RepuTex. The company expects Australia’s emissions to...
(EnergyAsia, January 14 2013, Monday) — China’s coal trade deficit widened sharply last year after preliminary data released by the General Administration of Customs showed exports plunged 36.7% while imports rose 29.8% over 2011 levels. In 2011, China exported 14.67 million tons of coal and imported 223.4 million tons million metric tons last year. ...
(EnergyAsia, January 14 2013, Monday) — Boosted by increases in onshore basins, US crude oil production is expected to rise from 6.4 million b/d last year to 7.3 million b/d in 2013 and 7.9 million b/d in 2014, said the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The agency pinpointed the bulk of new production as taking place...
(EnergyAsia, January 11 2013, Friday) — The China Coal Trade and Development Association will hold the industry’s annual coal supply contracts conference in Haikou City in Hainan province on January 15-18. The association has told coal producers and buyers to submit their contracts and proposals for discussion by January 15. The negotiations are vital for...
(EnergyAsia, January 11 2013, Friday) — The global coal market is awaiting the impact of China’s decision to scrap the 40% tax on coking coal exports since the start of the year. The Finance Ministry may also be considering lifting the export tariff on crude coal to help align domestic prices, hurt by excess capacity...
(EnergyAsia, January 10 2013, Thursday) — Six months after experiencing the world’s largest power blackout affecting more than 650 million people, India continues to struggle with keeping the lights on despite the government’s promise to fix the problem. What was once an issue for inhabitants in the country’s vast rural regions and smaller cities has...
(EnergyAsia, January 10 2013, Thursday) — The Indian government should appoint an independent regulator to oversee the country’s troubled coal sector and a special committee of experts to provide solutions into its worsening energy problems, said a local non-governmental organisation (NGO). In a report on India’s coal sector, Pune-based Prayas Energy Group said an independent...
(EnergyAsia, January 9 2013, Wednesday) — After years of public pressure, the Indian government has taken the first tentative step to consider restructuring and even spiltting up Coal India Limited (CIL), which is responsible for over 80% of the country’s domestic production and much of its imports. This week, the Coal Ministry issued a tender...