(EnergyAsia, April 24 2012, Tuesday) — India faces a near-term shortfall of diesel following the unexpected loss of about 8% of its total refining capacity this month when two refineries were forced to shut down for several weeks. The 60,000 b/d Numaligarh refinery in Assam state remains idle after it was damaged by fire early...
(EnergyAsia, April 23 2012, Monday) — Australia’s BHP Billiton said it plans to indefinitely cease production at its loss-making joint-venture Norwich Park coal mine in central Queensland state that the Queensland Resources Council said could result in the loss of about A$1 billion worth of coal exports. (US$1=A$0.96). In a statement, the company said the...
(EnergyAsia, April 20 2012, Friday) — One of Indonesia’s largest fuel storage terminals remains under heavy police protection weeks after protestors threatened to torch it in protest against the government’s attempt to raise fuel prices. The Plumpang depot in North Jakarta, which had prevously been set on fire, was not harmed this time as police...
(EnergyAsia, April 18 2012, Wednesday) — Canada’s SouthGobi Resources Ltd said the Mongolian government has suspended exploration and mining licenses for its Ovoot Tolgoi coal mine which is being targeted for a stake buyout by Chinese state aluminum firm Chalco. SouthGobi said the Mineral Resources Authority of Mongolia (MRAM) held a press conference in the...
(EnergyAsia, April 18 2012, Wednesday) — State-owned Indian Oil Corp said its refineries processed a record volume of 55.6 million tonnes (MT) of crude oil for the last financial year ending March 31 2012. It achieved its previous best of 53 million tonnes the previous year. It is India’s largest refiner with a nameplate capacity...
(EnergyAsia, April 18 2012, Wednesday) — China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) is planning to expand its existing 160,000 b/d oil refinery and petrochemical complex on Hainan Island. Together with the Hainan provincial government, the company is hoping to obtain Beijing’s approval this year for the proposed 39-billion-yuan investment to add 100,000 b/d of refining...
(EnergyAsia, April 16 2012, Monday) — Swiss trading giant Vitol Group said its subsidiary, Vitol Energy (Bermuda) Ltd, has bought a 9.1% stake in Canada’s CIC Energy Corp, which owns and operates a coal mine in Botswana, for C$10 million. (US$1=C$0.99). Vitol said it bought a total of 5,263,158 CIC Energy common shares through a...
(EnergyAsia, April 16 2012, Monday) — India’s Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) said it will be investing 142.25 billion rupees to expand as well as upgrade its 190,000 b/d Kochi oil refinery in the southwestern part of the country. (US$1=51 rupees). On completion by December 2015, the plant will have the capacity to refine 310,000...
(EnergyAsia, April 16 2012, Monday) — Helped by its rising oil bill, India’s trade deficit surged more than 77% to reach a record US$185 billion for the financial year ending March 31 2012. Oil accounted for US$150 billion of India’s US$485 billion import bill last year as its economy took on the chin with...
(EnergyAsia, April 13 2012, Friday) — China’s power companies have set an ambitious target to reduce energy consumption from the middle of this decade. China Electricity Council (CEC) said the industry is aiming to use just under one billion metric tonnes of coal equivalent of energy (CEE) by 2015 and 770 million tonnes CEE by 2020,...
(EnergyAsia, April 13 2012, Friday) — SOCAR Trading, the trading subsidiary of State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), has begun operation of its jointly owned Aurora terminal in Fujairah port in the UAE. The company recently took in its first shipment of fuel oil at the terminal’s first phase 114,000-cubic metre facility which it jointly...
(EnergyAsia, March 13 2012, Friday) — China’s appetite for coal shows no signs of letting up despite growing calls to reduce the country’s energy intensity and greenhouse gas emissions. While it improved its energy efficiency slightly last year, China did not meet its conservation targets. Its economy expanded by 9.2% last year but its total...
(EnergyAsia, April 11 2012, Wednesday) — Qatar and India have signed a broad agreement to cooperate on oil and gas projects, but remain far apart on meeting New Delhi’s increasingly urgent request for additional supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes. The pact to jointly develop upstream and downstream projects was among six agreements signed...
(EnergyAsia, April 11 2012, Wednesday) — Days after a refinery in Assam state was set on fire by local separatists, India’s intelligence and security officials warn that two of the country’s largest oil refineries are being targeted by Pakistan-based terrorists, The country’s Intelligence Bureau (IB) said the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) group is planning to bomb...
(EnergyAsia, April 11 2012, Wednesday) — India’s power shortages are set to worsen following disruptions to coal supplies from Indonesia and Australia, and Qatar’s decision to sharply raise its liquefied natural gas (LNG) export prices. Indonesia has followed up recent moves to nationalise its main coal mining companies with plans to impose a 25% tax...
(EnergyAsia, April 10 2012, Tuesday) — India is stunned by Qatar’s offer to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) at a new all-time high price of over US$16 per million BTU at the port of loading. The Indian government had previously indicated it might agree to pay around US$10, which already represents a sharp mark-up from...
(EnergyAsia, April 10 2012, Tuesday) — The economy of resource-rich Mongolia could expand by 20% in 2012, making it the world’s top performer, according to a CNBC report citing a fund manager. Alisher Ali, managing partner at Silk Road Management, told the financial news station that Mongolia’s economy will benefit from an increase in exports,...
(EnergyAsia, April 10 2012, Tuesday) — BHP Billiton Ltd, the world’s biggest coking coal exporter, has declared force majeure on near-term supplies as it faces production disruptions from labour unrest and heavy rain at its mines. BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA), the world’s biggest supplier of steelmaking coal, has been affected by ongoing and indefinite...
(EnergyAsia, April 10 2012, Tuesday) — As its currency rise in value against the US dollar, China’s coastal thermal coal supply will become less competitive against seaborne imports, predicts energy consultant Wood Mackenzie. The UK-based firm said that 857 million tonnes of coal imported into China by 2015 will fall below the 90th percentile of...
(EnergyAsia, April 9 2012, Monday) — Armed separatists bombed and set fire to a three-million-ton/year refinery in the northeastern Indian state of Assam last Saturday. Police said no one was injured and the blaze was put under control within 30 minutes, but the refinery will not be operating for at least a few days. A...
(EnergyAsia, April 9 2012, Monday) — As its next step in nationalising the country’s natural resources, the Indonesian government may “ask” to buy over the majority stakes in large mines from foreign owners. Investors in Indonesia’s massive mining and energy sector were caught off-guard when the country’s President signed a decree in late February barring...
(EnergyAsia, April 5 2012, Thursday) — SK Networks Co, the trading arm of South Korea’s SK Group, is on course to expand its 5.5% stake in Australia’s cash-strapped Cockatoo Coal Ltd to 40% by mid-year. Calling it a “strategic placement to support growth”, the Australia-listed coal explorer and mine developer has welcomed the A$313 million...
(EnergyAsia, April 5 2012, Thursday) — Asia’s influence on the global seaborne thermal coal trade will grow with China’s annual demand rising to one billion tonnes by 2030 and India’s to 400 million tonnes, said energy consultant Wood Mackenzie. As a result, thermal coal prices will stay high despite forecasts for supply to rise, said...
(EnergyAsia, April 4 2012, Wednesday) — Helped by higher coal prices, Canada’s SouthGobi Resources Ltd reported a net loss of C$18.9 million for 4Q2011, down from C$28.7 million for the same period a year ago. The Toronto-listed company, which is also developing new deposits in Soumber and Ovoot Tolgoi in Mongolia said revenue rose 23%...
(EnergyAsia, April 4 2012, Wednesday) — US coal miner and supplier Peabody Energy chairman and CEO Gregory H. Boyce said the global supercycle for coal is “alive and well” with strong market trends related to rising electricity generation and steel demand in China and India, along with constrained global coal supplies. Presenting at the recent...