(EnergyAsia, April 3 2012, Tuesday) — Australia’s MetroCoal Limited said it welcomes the “significant” progress made by Tenement to Terminal (3TL) in developing infrastructure and expanding port capacity vital to its Bundi and Columboola JV coal projects. MetroCoal said the availability of port capacity, 3TL’s proposed port construction and commissioning timetable are critical to the...
(EnergyAsia, April 3 2012, Tuesday) — Unable to proceed with its long awaited floatation to raise US$3 billion, Mongolia’s state-owned Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi (ETT), which owns possibly the world’s largest coking coal deposits, will have to find an alternative to fund its expansion plans. Bickering among the country’s politicians has prevented ETT from proceeding with plans...
(EnergyAsia, March 30 2012, Friday) — The tab for world oil imports will reach a record US$2 trillion this year at current prices, with the European Union contributing a quarter of that sum, according to a Reuters report citing the International Energy Agency (IEA). “For the first time, the world will pay US$2 trillion of...
(EnergyAsia, March 30 2012, Friday) — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has given the Philippines economy a positive assessment, noting that it has grown amid the gloom in the West while keeping inflation and the deficit low. In its annual Article IV review of the economy, the IMF said that while the Philippines has been...
(EnergyAsia, March 29 2012, Thursday) — OPEC expects world oil demand to grow by 860,000 b/d, or 0.98%, to 87.84 million in 2012, unchanged from its previous month’s forecast, but still above last year’s increase of 800,000 b/d. The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries issued this forecast in its latest monthly report based on its...
(EnergyAsia, March 29 2012, Thursday) — Despite weak global demand, oil prices are being supported at current high levels by below-expectations supply growth from non-OPEC countries, continuous production outages and declining spare inventory, said the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday. The agency said oil supply from producers outside the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting...
(EnergyAsia, March 29 2012, Thursday) — Chinese motorists are paying record pump prices after the government allowed refiners and marketing companies to raise gasoline and diesel by six to seven percent last week. Following intense lobbying by the oil companies, the National Development and Reform Commission allowed gasoline and diesel prices to rise by 600...
(EnergyAsia, March 28 2012, Wednesday) — Indian companies will no longer have to pay tax on imported natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes for power generation in the current financial year to March 31 2013 as the government looks to encourage increased use of the fuel. In his budget speech, Finance Minister Pranab...
(EnergyAsia, March 28 2012, Wednesday) — India is targeting to more than triple its liquefied natural gas (LNG) import capacity to 50 million tonnes a year by the second half of this decade from around 13.6 million tonnes in 2010. Petronet LNG Ltd, Indian Oil Corp and Gujarat State Petroleum Corp (GSPC) are at various...
(EnergyAsia, March 28 2012, Wednesday) — Four of India’s state oil and gas companies have told the Petroleum Ministry they are interested to acquire the Asian Development Bank’s 5.2% stake in state gas firm Petronet LNG Ltd. Indian Oil Corp, Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd and GAIL, which each already...
(EnergyAsia, March 28 2012, Wednesday) — Indian refiners are targeting to export oil products to energy-deficit Pakistan as the South Asian neighbours look to improve trade ties despite their often tense political relations. Muslim Pakistan is expected to soon confer Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status on largely Hindu India, opening up the possibility for Hindustan...
(EnergyAsia, March 26 2012, Monday) — China has started stockpiling crude oil at a new emergency storage reserve in Gansu province and is planning another in nearby Henan province, both in the country’s northwest. The Lanzhou depot in Gansu, which can hold 18.9 million barrels of crude, is part of China’s second-phase programme to stockpile...
(EnergyAsia, March 26 2012, Monday) — Announcing a five-year programme to tap China’s vast unconventional gas reserves, the country’s energy regulator has set a target for shale gas production to reach 6.5 billion cubic metres (bcm) a year by end-2015. Zhang Yuqing, head of the National Energy Administration (NEA)’s oil and gas department, said production...
(EnergyAsia, March 26 2012, Monday) — Fujairah is expected to nearly double the capacity of its oil storage terminal as well as set up liquefied natural gas (LNG) trading terminals over the next three years. According to Salem Kelil, a government technical adviser, Fujairah will nearly double its oil storage capacity of 6.8 million cubic...
(EnergyAsia, March 23 2012, Friday) — Canadian oilsands producer Cenovus Energy Inc has exported its first crude oil cargo to China that it hopes could lead to a long-term supply deal. The Calgary, Alberta-based company declined to reveal the identity of the Chinese buyer which took the 250,000-barrel cargo of heavy crude last month as...
(EnergyAsia, March 23 2012, Friday) — China’s latest plan to reform energy use and resource pricing will benefit the state companies that own and operate the nation’s electricity grid, nuclear power plants and retail oil markets, but not the thermal power industry, said US ratings agency Fitch. In his report to the National People’s Congress...
(EnergyAsia, March 23 2012, Friday) — China failed to meet its targets to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions last year, putting the government under pressure to accelerate its energy conservation and environmental plans as part of an ambitious economic restructuring programme in coming years. According to Zhang Ping, Minister of the National Development and...
(EnergyAsia, March 23 2012, Friday) — Three of China’s main state oil companies each plan to build new storage terminals to serve major markets in the northern and southern parts of the country. China Petrochemical Corp (Sinopec Group) and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) said they will each build a 300,000-ton terminal in Tianjin city...
(EnergyAsia, March 22 2012, Wednesday) — As a strategy to stay ahead of their East Asian rivals, India’s oil refiners are aggressively expanding plant capacity and upgrading capabilities while boosting product exports to offset losses from their domestic downstream operations. Led by IndianOil Corp, BPCL, HPCL and Essar Oil, Indian refiners expect to increase their...
(EnergyAsia, March 21 2012, Wednesday) — Vietnam has substantial biomass resources, which are mainly used by households and small businesses. Finland’s VTT Technical Research Centre is hoping to leverage the country’s solid biomass fuel resources on an industrial scale through an energy and environment partnership programme operated by the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. In...
(EnergyAsia, March 21 2012, Wednesday) — As part of its great economic rebalancing act, China appears to be reducing its US dollar holdings, de-emphasising exports and increasing oil imports that contributed to a larger-than-expected trade deficit of US$31.49 billion for February, its biggest monthly on record. Even taking into account reduced activity during the Lunar...
(EnergyAsia, March 21 2012, Wednesday) — India’s privately owned Essar Oil Ltd said its Vadinar refinery in Gujarat state produce can now produce Euro V-grade gasoil with the start-up of a new diesel hydrotreater unit. The Essar Group company said it would complete the first phase expansion of the refinery with the commissioning of the...
(EnergyAsia, March 19 2012, Monday) — India’s largest gas importer, Petronet LNG Limited, said it has begun work on expanding the capacity of its 10-million-tonne/year Dahej terminal in Gujarat state to handle more liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes to meet the country’s rising energy consumption. After pushing Dahej to its operational limits to import 11...
(EnergyAsia, March 19 2012, Monday) — India’s state planners expect the country’s annual oil refining capacity to grow by 15% year-on-year to 214 million tonnes (4.31 million b/d) for the current year ending March 31. According to their ‘Economic Survey 2011-12’ report submitted to Parliament last week, India’s 21 refineries are expected to produce 206.15...
(EnergyAsia, March 16 2012, Friday) — Vitol’s VTTI expects to start up its equal joint venture oil storage terminal with Malaysia’s MISC in Johor state’s Tanjung Bin sometime this month. Starting with 41 tanks with a total of 841,000 cubic metres of capacity, the ATT Tanjung Bin oil terminal will begin storing and handling fuel...