(EnergyAsia, May 27 2011, Friday) — At least two people died and 20 others were injured when Iran’s largest oil refinery in the southwestern city of Abadan exploded during a scheduled visit by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last Tuesday. Officials said the explosion was caused by a gas leak but could not determine if it might...
(EnergyAsia, May 27 2011, Friday) — The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) is expected to start up its oil terminal in Fujairah this year, said the UAE’s minister of the economy Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri. In May 2010, SOCAR signed an agreement with Switzerland-based trader Aurora Progress to jointly develop the project. Comprising...
(EnergyAsia, May 27 2011, Friday) — Diesel prices in Asia may revert to the 30-month high level hit in April as China suspends export of the fuel to conserve domestic supply during the peak demand summer period. In Asia, fuel demand for air conditioning and transportation rise during the summer months. This year, Asia’s diesel...
(EnergyAsia, May 27 2011, Friday) — Led by Japan, Asia’s imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in April surged 20.4% over the same month last year, according to Waterborne, the US-based consultant monitoring and analysing global LNG markets. Its most recent edition of The Asian Waterborne Report reported that April was the 19th consecutive month...
(EnergyAsia, May 27 2011, Friday) — Dutch oil and chemical logistics firm Royal Vopak said it and State Development Investment Corporation (SDIC) of China have decided to jointly invest, build and operate a crude and oil products storage terminal in Yangpu on China’s Hainan Island. The 58-hectare terminal, which has been approved by the National...
(EnergyAsia, May 26 2011, Thursday) — Noble Group, a Singapore-listed global supply chain manager of agricultural and energy products, metals and minerals, said the sovereign wealth fund, Korea Investment Corporation (KIC), has acquired a “significant and strategic” stake in the company. KIC purchased 59,283,851 shares equal to about 0.9% of Noble’s outstanding shares from Noble...
(EnergyAsia, May 26 2011, Thursday) — Leo Moggie, chairman of Malaysian power utility Tenaga Nasional, gave an overview of the electricity industry and its role in supporting economic development in Southeast Asia when he spoke at last month’s inaugural Distinguished Speaker Programme presented by Singapore’s Energy Market Authority (EMA). A former energy minister in his...
(EnergyAsia, May 26 2011, Thursday) — New Zealand Refining Company (NZRC) is seeking board approval to invest NZ$500 million in upgrades to meet the country’s rising jet fuel and diesel demand, said chief executive Ken Rivers. (US$1=NZ$1.25). Having expanded its Marsden Point plant by 15% to 135,000 b/d last year, the company is eyeing another...
(EnergyAsia, May 26 2011, Thursday) — Thanks to rising prices and demand, and concerns with Middle East oil supply, global spot and short-term trades in liquefied natural gas (LNG) surged 40% to 727 cargoes in 2010 from a year earlier, according to the global association of LNG buyers GIIGNL. South Korea and Japan led the...
(EnergyAsia, May 26 2011, Thursday) — The Malaysian government has announced plans to build a US$20 billion integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex in Johor state located just north of Singapore by 2016. In announcing the ambitious project early this month, Prime Minister Najib Razak said state-owned oil and gas firm Petronas will lead an international...
(EnergyAsia, May 26 2011, Thursday) — Importers around the world are scrambling for liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes as a result of rising demand from Japan which lost a significant part of its nuclear power capacity following the March 11 earthquake-tsunami disaster. Traders say global LNG supply has tightened as more shipments head to Japan....
(EnergyAsia, May 25 2011, Wednesday) — Bharat Oman Refineries Ltd (BORL) said it plans to boost the capacity of its newly-commissioned six-million-tonnes-a-year Bina refinery to nine million tonnes a year by 2015 in the first-phase expansion. A joint venture between India’s Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) and Oman Oil Co, BORL has invested nearly 114 billion...
(EnergyAsia, May 25 2011, Wednesday) — Oman Oil Company (OOC) and India’s Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd last week officially inaugurated BharatOman Refinery Ltd (BORL) under the patronage of India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The event was also attended by Humaid al-Maani, Oman’s Ambassador to India, board members of the two companies, and other business and...
(EnergyAsia, May 25 2011, Wednesday) — China’s apparent oil demand in April rose 8.3% to 38.36 million metric ton (mt) or 9.37 million b/d, from year-ago levels due to increased consumption during the spring sowing season, said US energy media Platts. In an analysis of recent figures published by the Chinese government, Platts found that...
(EnergyAsia, May 25 2011, Wednesday) — UK’s BG Group said it faces delay meeting its deadline to expand its A$18 billion Queensland Curtis LNG plant at Gladstone as a result of the record rainfall and bad weather to hit Australia’s Queensland state between late 2010 and early this year. (US$1=A$1.05). The company said it has...
(EnergyAsia, May 24 2011, Tuesday) — China’s investments in Iran are expected to soon exceed US$1 billion, roughly double last year’s US$570 million, according to the Iran-China Joint Chamber of Commerce. Chairman Assadollah Asgaroladi said China is expected to invest another US$320 million in his country in the current financial year to March 2012. Iran,...
(EnergyAsia, May 24 2011, Tuesday) — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has made a startling prediction that China is likely to overtake the US to become the world’s largest economy by 2016. The agency said the Chinese economy will expand to US$19 trillion to eclipse the US, which is projected to grow to US$18.8 trillion...
(EnergyAsia, May 24 2011, Tuesday) — The six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states have set a goal to expand trade with China by 10 times to US$1 trillion by 2021, according to a United Arab Emirates foreign minister. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan said trade between China and the GCC states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman,...
(EnergyAsia, May 24 2011, Tuesday) — In response to rising domestic energy demand, Thai state oil and gas company PTT Plc said it is investing 33 billion baht to expand the capacity of its liquefied petroleum gas terminal. (US$1=30 baht). Executive vice president Nattachart Jaruchinda said PTT will expand an existing terminal in the eastern...
(EnergyAsia, May 24 2011, Tuesday) — At the same time that it has expressed alarm at declining OPEC production, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has reduced its global oil demand growth forecast for 2011 by 100,000 b/d to 1.3 million b/d. Citing persistent high oil prices and poor prospects for the developed economies, the Paris-based...
(EnergyAsia, May 23 2011, Monday) — The Philippines is expanding and upgrading the fuel depots at Subic Freeport to store and handle nearly four million barrels in response to rising demand. The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) is working to promote Subic as a one-stop logistics centre for all types of vessels and maritime cargo....
(EnergyAsia, May 23 2011, Monday) — Qatar is developing a second 150,000 b/d condensate refinery at Ras Laffan to meet rising demand for transportation fuels. The new plant will double Qatar’s refining capacity to 300,000 b/d when completed by 2015, said Minister of Energy and Industry Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada. The project will also...
(EnergyAsia, May 23 2011, Monday) — A US consultant recently delivered to the US House of Representatives Subcommittee on Energy and Power what he has described as “dire warnings about the likely development of China’s future energy demand.” At the April 4 hearing on the ‘The American Energy Initiative’, Douglas-Westwood LLP’s managing director, Steve Kopits,...
(EnergyAsia, May 23 2011, Monday) — China’s fuel oil imports could decline sharply if the government succeeds in its plan to shut down small refineries known as “teapots,” which account for 10%-15% of the country’s total refining capacity. Up to 90% of China’s small refineries, defined as those under 40,000 b/d in capacity, are being...
(EnergyAsia, May 23 2011, Monday) — As part of a tax reform programme, China is looking to introduce a new tax of 5%-10% on the domestic sales of crude oil and natural gas. The tax would be based on sales volume instead of value. For every tonne of crude oil sold, companies may have to...