(EnergyAsia, July 30 2012, Monday) — China’s apparent oil demand fell for the first time in three years in June, dropping 1.9% year-on-year to 36.84 million metric tons (mt), or an average 9 million b/d, said US energy media Platts. In an analysis of latest Chinese government data, Platts said the 178,400-b/d fall from June...

(EnergyAsia, July 27 2012, Friday) — Chinese state oil firm Guangdong Zhenrong Energy Co has emerged as a white knight for financially-stricken shipping and oil storage firm Titan Petrochemicals Group Ltd which is facing a liquidation suit filed by partner and US private equity firm Warburg Pincus. The subsidiary of Zhuhai Zhenrong Co, one of...

(EnergyAsia, July 27 2012, Friday) — Through its guarantee of demand, Asia offers the best opportunity for Canada to overcome its biggest challenge as an energy exporting country, according to a joint report by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada and the Canada West Foundation. But Canada must act quickly to develop the political will...

(EnergyAsia, July 26 2012, Thursday) — The UAE has exported its first crude oil cargo from a new offshore terminal in Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman amid growing fears that Iran might shut down the crucial Strait of Hormuz through which about a third of the world’s oil flows. The cargo was exported to...

(EnergyAsia, July 26 2012, Thursday) — The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has forecast global oil demand to rise by 900,000 b/d to reach 88.7 million b/d in 2012, and by 800,000 b/d to 89.5 million b/d next year. In its July report, the oil-exporting cartel kept its 2012 world oil demand forecast unchanged...

(EnergyAsia, July 26 2012, Thursday) — The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) will boost its oil storage capacity on Kharg Island by four million barrels over the next few months, according to Fars News. The Iranian news service reported NIOC managing director Ahmad Qalebani urging the project’s contractor to speed up construction of the additional...

(EnergyAsia, July 25 2012, Wednesday) — An international consortium led by PetroChina has begun producing 100,000 b/d of crude oil at the 16-billion-barrel Halfaya oil field in southern Iraq, said Deputy Prime Minister Hussein al-Shahristani. The subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corp, the country’s largest energy producer, holds a 37.5% stake in the consortium while...

(EnergyAsia, July 24 2012, Tuesday) — The International Energy Agency (IEA) has turned bullish on global oil demand in its latest monthly report, forecasting it to rise by one million b/d to 90.9 million b/d in 2013. Significantly, the Paris-based agency expects oil demand from emerging economies to exceed demand in the world’s most industrialised...

(EnergyAsia, July 19 2012, Thursday) — Gas processed from coal and imports from other countries will help China meet its rising energy demand through 2030 as its domestic shale production will not be sufficient, said Wood Mackenzie analyst Gavin Thompson. Speaking at last month’s World Gas Conference (WGC) in Malaysia, he predicted that China’s natural...

(EnergyAsia, July 19 2012, Thursday) — Apart from growing at a projected slower rate of 7% this and next year, the Indian economy will face rising risks from its slow reform efforts, high oil prices, volatile inflation and the global economic crisis, said the business community and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In a recent...

(EnergyAsia, July 19 2012, Thursday) — China’s Export-Import Bank has agreed to lend US$1.13 billion of the US$1.68 billion needed by Kazakhstan for the upgrade of its largest and oldest oil refinery in Atyrau province. With the 13.5-year loan, state oil and gas firm KazMunaiGas will add an 48,000 b/d unit to enable the 100,000...

(EnergyAsia, July 18 2012, Wednesday) — Despite Saudi Arabia raising its production, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) crude output dipped by 30,000 b/d to 31.72 million b/d in June from 31.75 million b/d in May, said energy media Platts. The decline in Iranian production, as a result of tightening economic sanctions imposed...

(EnergyAsia, July 17 2012, Tuesday) — Resource nationalism, environmental opposition, slowing demand and rising cost may have effectively put an end to the current cycle of coal’s runaway growth in Asia. Faced with the same challenges of slowing external demand and rising cost, the region’s three major coal producing countries, Australia, Indonesia and Mongolia, are...

(EnergyAsia, July 16 2012, Monday) — Indonesia has written a Balinese ‘wayang kulit’ plot for its coal industry, leaving both investors and domestic consumers confused and deeply anxious over future policies governing export plans and supply availability. After months of well-founded rumours that the government was planning to impose a punitive tax on coal exports,...

(EnergyAsia, July 13 2012, Friday) — China Shenhua Energy Co said it plans to invest 4.57 billion yuan in building a coal storage and shipping hub in Zhuhai city in the country’s southern province of Guangdong. The Hong Kong-listed company said it received approval from China’s main planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission,...

(EnergyAsia, July 12 2012, Thursday) — The Chinese government is facing a new challenge from the country’s mounting coal stockpile following a near 66% surge in imports for the first-half of the year amid slowing demand as a result of weaker economic growth. According to official Customs data, China imported 140 million tonnes of coal...

(EnergyAsia, July 9 2012, Monday) — Chinese coal miner Inner Mongolia Yitai Coal Co’s Hong Kong initial public offering raised just over HK$6.99 billion or US$902 million, less than 19% what it might have achieved in more bullish times. (US$1=HK7.76). Despite being Hong Kong’s second largest stock offering this year, the sale of 162.7 million shares...

(EnergyAsia, July 6 2012, Friday) — Traders expect China’s benchmark Qinhuangdao thermal coal price to fall further after slumping to their lowest level since November 2009.Amid falling demand, coal with an energy value of 5,500 kilocalories per kg traded at Qinhuangdao port slumped around 1.5% to a between 660 and 680 yuan a metric ton...

(EnergyAsia, July 5 2012, Thursday) — State Vietnam Electricity Corporation (EVN) has awarded a contract to China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) to develop a seaport mostly for coal-handling to serve a major planned power complex in southern Tra Vinh province. As part of the US$181 million engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), the Chinese firm will...

(EnergyAsia, July 3 2012, Tuesday) — Amid weaker demand brought on by China’s cooling economy and higher hydropower output, traders said coal stockpiles at three major ports in northern Hebei province have reached a combined record high level of 18.3 million tonnes. Traders defaulting on purchase and import agreements have elected to leave their cargoes...

(EnergyAsia, July 2 2012, Monday) — Food prices have risen on account of higher oil prices according to a recent joint report by two United Nations agencies and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) which found that a key food index doubled while the Brent crude price tripled between 2004 and 2011. The report by the UN...

(EnergyAsia, July 2 2012, Monday) — India has surplus oil refining capacity while neighbour Pakistan is desperately short and needs to import fuel for its energy-starved economy. Instead suspicion and bilateral tensions are holding up what should easily have grown into a straightforward trading relationship. Officials from both countries are scheduled to meet in New...

(EnergyAsia, June 28 2012, Thursday) — The International Energy Agency (IEA) has reduced its June forecast for world oil demand to slightly under 89.9 million b/d for 2012, down from 90 million b/d in its previous forecast last month. In its latest oil market report, the Paris-based agency cited the “muted economic backdrop” for its...

(EnergyAsia, June 28 2012, Thursday) — The Thai government has approved a plan to invest around 200-billion baht to raise the country’s emergency oil stockpile to meet 90 days of consumption, up from the current level of 60 days, said Energy Minister Arak Chonlathanont. (US$1=32 baht). While details including the location and type of storage...

(EnergyAsia, June 27 2012, Wednesday) —  Shell North China Oil Group, a joint venture between the major and China’s Tianjin State Farms Agribusiness Group, is investing 550-million yuan to build a 200,000-cubic metre (cbm) storage terminal in the northern Chinese city port of Tianjin. (US$1=6.36 yuan). The company is aiming to complete and start up...