(EnergyAsia, June 29 2011, Wednesday) — The economic outlook for Australia’s Queensland state is tied to its massive liquefied natural gas industry (LNG) that is showing no signs of slowing down, say analysts and government officials. The state is expected to pull in another A$10 billion worth of new investments, with half coming from the...
(EnergyAsia, June 29 2011, Wednesday) — Faced with dwindling domestic oil demand, Japan’s top refiner JX Nippon Oil and Energy Corp is looking to shut down its 180,000 b/d Muroran refinery in the north. It has been planning to reduce its crude refining capacity by 200,000 b/d by March 2014 after having slashed around 400,000...
(EnergyAsia, June 29 2011, Wednesday) — Asian refiners are expanding their capacities and global market share at a time when potential rivals in the US, Europe and Japan are either exiting the business, reducing operations or restructuring their businesses. India’s Bharat Petroleum Corp, Essar, Reliance and IOC, Malaysia’s state-run Petronas and China’s PetroChina and Sinopec...
(EnergyAsia, June 28 2011, Tuesday) — Faced with depleting domestic supply and rising oil prices, Indonesia’s state electricity monopoly PT PLN said it will have to import a significant volume of natural gas this year. The company is exploring the possibility of importing around 1,000 million standard cubic feet a day (mmscfd) from either Australia,...
(EnergyAsia, June 28 2011, Tuesday) — If International Energy Agency (IEA) members opened their emergency oil stockpiles last week to ward off a global recession, the move marks a major shift in countries’ approach to intervening in the oil market, two industry experts said on the Platts Energy Week, a US independent, all-energy television news...
(EnergyAsia, June 28 2011, Tuesday) — A subsidiary of state-owned China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) is expected to start work on expanding and upgrading the antiquated 65,000 b/d Cienfuegos refinery in Cuba. Haunqiu Contracting and Engineering Corp will team up with Cuban-Venezuelan oil company Cuven Petrol SA and Technip Itali SA, a unit of the...
(EnergyAsia, June 28 2011, Tuesday) — Saudi Arabia plans to raise its oil production to average nearly 10 million b/d in June and coming months following the failure of the OPEC meeting earlier this month to set a production quota. Citing anonymous sources, news agencies said state Saudi Aramco will proceed to stamp its authority...
(EnergyAsia, June 28 2011, Tuesday) — Canada could attract more than C$2 trillion worth of investments into its oilsands projects over the next 25 years, according to the Canadian Energy Research Institute. The institute said investors that had postponed projects during the price crash of 2009 have revived plans to expand or upgrade. In its...
(EnergyAsia, June 27 2011, Monday) — The global oversupply of natural gas could be over by late 2012 instead of 2014/15 as predicted earlier, causing spot prices to spike higher than contract prices in both Asia and Europe, said consultant Wood Mackenzie in its latest ‘Global Gas’ report. “The global oversupply of gas, which was...
(EnergyAsia, June 27 2011, Monday) — The following is an edited extract from the latest ‘Australian Commodities June quarter’ report by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES). “The Institute of Energy Economics Japan (IEEJ) has revised upward its forecast of Japan’s oil consumption for the year to March 31 2012...
(EnergyAsia, June 27 2011, Monday) — The volume and value of Australia’s coal exports are expected to recover strongly in the next fiscal year ending June 30 2012 to reach record highs after declining in the current year to June 30 2011, according to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES)....
(EnergyAsia, June 24 2011, Friday) — PetroChina may have just learnt to say “no” to overpaying for oil and gas assets abroad. This week, a subsidiary, PetroChina International Investment Company, decided to pack up after failing to complete a proposed C$5.4 billion joint venture with Canada’s Encana Corporation on large shale and natural gas resources...
(EnergyAsia, June 24 2011, Friday) — State-owned China Petrochemical Corp or Sinopec has committed to investing 3.5 billion yuan to build a new strategic crude oil stockpile in Tianjin city in northeastern China. The terminal will have an initial storage capacity of 32 billion cubic meters. (US$1=6.5 yuan). Sinopec will build and operate the stockpile...
(EnergyAsia, June 24 2011, Friday) — Two major Indian oil players, Bharat Petroleum Corp Limited (BPCL) and Essar Oil, are expanding their refining capacities to help meet the country’s growing energy demand. BPCL is looking to invest a total of 180-billion rupees to double the capacity of its 60,000 b/d Bina refinery and to build...
(EnergyAsia, June 24 2011, Friday) — Following on its recent warnings that high oil prices had entered a “danger” zone, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said its 28 member countries have agreed to release a total of 60 million barrels of oil in the coming month in response to the ongoing disruption of oil supplies...
(EnergyAsia, June 24 2011, Friday) — Increased oil production will help the Saudi economy to grow by 6.5% this year, compared with last year’s expansion by 4%, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). “The Saudi economy has continued to strengthen in 2010 and early 2011, driven by a strong increase in non-oil GDP...
(EnergyAsia, June 23 2011, Thursday) — Russian mining and metals company Mechel OAO said it has signed two agreements with South Korea’s Posco group to expand cooperation on developing projects, and the construction of a residential complex for 3,000 workers at the Elga coal complex. The agreements were signed June 21 during a meeting between...
(EnergyAsia, June 23 2011, Thursday) —Companies hoping to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to China will have to closely watch the outcome of Russia’s attempt to supply natural gas from both west and east Siberia to its Asian neighbour, said UK energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie. If there is progress in Sino-Russian, leading to a supply...
(EnergyAsia, June 23 2011, Thursday) — As Thailand loses its fervour for nuclear energy, state PTT Plc is looking to import between five and 10 million tonnes a year of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to fuel its power plants. To achieve this target, it will have to raise LNG imports from the Middle East and...
(EnergyAsia, June 23 2011, Thursday) — Sri Lanka could have its first privately-owned oil refinery if local firm Global Energy & Industrial Operations Inc succeeds in raising capital for the proposed project expected to cost between US$1 and US$1.5 billion. The plan calls for the construction of a 100,000 b/d plant in Trincomalee, twice the...
(EnergyAsia, June 23 2011, Thursday) — Chinese state-run company CNOOC is withdrawing from its joint bid with Indonesia’s national oil company Pertamina for ExxonMobil’s US$3.5 billion stake in an Angolan oil project. CNOOC’s withdrawal stemmed from a dispute with Pertamina over the terms of the renewal of oil concessions at West Madura in Indonesia. The...
(EnergyAsia, June 23 2011, Thursday) — PetroChina Company Limited and Russia’s Rosneft are expected to soon start construction of their joint oil refinery in Tianjin city in northern China. Located at the Nangang industrial zone, the 30-billion-yuan Oriental Refinery has the capacity to process 13 million tonnes of crude annually when it starts up in...
(EnergyAsia, June 22 2011, Wednesday) — An Iranian oil official said the country has raised its strategic fuel stockpile level to 13 billion litres from 11.5 billion litres at the end of last year. Jalil Salari, CEO of the National Iranian Oil Refining & Distribution Company (NIORDC), said state agencies have expanded the national infrastructure to...
(EnergyAsia, June 22 2011, Wednesday) — Thanks to Qatar’s expanded capacity and rising global demand, the world’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade surged 22.6% to reach 218.8 million tonnes last year, said Doha-based QNB Capital. Qatar accounted for 25.5% of last year’s global LNG exports after raising its sales 53% to 55.7 million tonnes, compared with...
(EnergyAsia, June 17 2011, Friday) — Philippines’ largest oil company Petron Corp said it plans to invest nearly 75 billion peso to modernise and expand its refinery in Bataan province north of Manila. (US$1=44 peso). The project seeks to double Petron’s refining capacity, supply clean fuels and improve plant efficiency. It aims to reduce the...