(EnergyAsia, May 6 2011, Friday) — Mongolia is looking to invest in a modern railway network as part of a major plan to develop the giant Tavan Tolgoi coal mine to help meet China’s growing energy demand. Mongolia had to suspend its coal exports to China for several days in April following a series of...
(EnergyAsia, May 6 2011, Friday) — To make up for the loss of a suspended Chinese coal mine, Thailand’s largest mining firm, Banpu Pcl, is looking to expand production in Indonesia and Australia, said CEO Chanin Vongkusolkit. The company has offered to sell its stake in China’s Daning mine for $669 million after the mine...
(EnergyAsia, May 5 2011, Thursday) — PSL Holdings Limited, a Singapore Exchange-listed foundation-engineering specialist and supplier of construction equipment and crawler cranes, said it has ventured into the coal mining business in Indonesia. Its wholly owned subsidiary, PSL Energy Resources Pte Ltd, has bought a 11.5% stake in Sindo Resources Pte Ltd which owns PT...
(EnergyAsia, May 5 2011, Thursday) — Indonesian coal producer Adaro Energy aims to raise production by 14% this year to 48 million tons, said corporate secretary Devindra Ratzarwin. It also seeks to increase its sales value by 24%, with the average selling price expected to rise 18.5% to US$69 per ton. The company is looking...
(EnergyAsia, May 5 2011, Thursday) — India expects to attract up to 650 billion rupees in oil investments including refineries, said Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister S. Sundareshan. (US$1=44 rupees). India’s refining capacity is set to expand to 240 million tonnes per year by March 2012 from 188 million at present. Its refining capacity currently...
(EnergyAsia, May 5 2011, Thursday) — Bohai Sea could provide much-needed supply of water to support coal production in the mines in the arid Inner Mongolia region of China, according to a university professor. Huo Youguang, a professor in the Center for Environment and Modern Agriculture Engineering at Xi’an Jiaotong University in Zhanxi Province, has...
(EnergyAsia, May 4 2011, Wednesday) — Japan’s earthquake-tsunami-nuclear disaster of March 11 will have a major impact on the country’s industrial production and Asian economies, and the possibility of “large” downside risks over coming months, said the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In a special report, IMF economists suggest industrial production will be particularly hard hit...
(EnergyAsia, May 4 2011, Wednesday) — NYSE-listed Puda Coal Inc said it has received a preliminary non-binding proposal from its chairman, Ming Zhao, to acquire all its outstanding common stock shares in a private transaction at up to US$12 per share in cash. Mr Zhao, who is under investigation for alleged unauthorised transactions in the...
(EnergyAsia, May 4 2011, Wednesday) — The coal industry in Australia’s Queensland’s state remains hobbled by the inability of Dalrymple Bay, Australia’s largest export terminal for coking coal, to resume full operations as a result of damages suffered from months of floods and cyclones. Queensland, which accounts for 90% of Australia’s steel-making coal exports, is...
(EnergyAsia, May 4 2011, Wednesday) — The Chinese government is aiming to build up an emergency stockpile of five million tonnes of steam coal by end-May to guard against future supply shortages. Ironically, news of the impending move contributed to the tightening of supplies and a run-up in thermal coal prices higher to a four-month...
(EnergyAsia, May 4 2011, Wednesday) — China Shenhua Energy Co Ltd is planning to invest 10 billion yuan to build a coal processing plant near the border between China and Mongolia, according to the Wulate Middle Banner commission of development of reform. (US$1=6.5 yuan). The proposed plant, to be located in Ganqimaodu Customs Processing Park,...
(EnergyAsia, May 4 2011, Wednesday) — Bumi Resources, Asia’s biggest thermal coal exporter, expects higher-than-expected coal prices to boost its revenue for 2011. Bumi said the average selling price for coal may reach at least US$80 per tonne this year, up from its earlier budgeted price of US$77 per tonne. With that, Bumi has raised...
(EnergyAsia, May 3 2011, Tuesday) — The US could raise its coal exports to Asia by 70% to more than 20 million tonnes this year, thanks to a weaker dollar, increased demand from Japan and a worsening supply squeeze in the region, said US coal producer Xcoal Energy & Resources. This would continue the recent...
(EnergyAsia, May 3 2011, Tuesday) — China’s coal production rose at a faster rate than sales in the first quarter compared with the same period last year, said the China Coal Industry Association. The country’s coal production rose 60.6 million tones or nearly 8.3% to 792 million tonnes during the quarter while sales rose 48.5...
(EnergyAsia, May 3 2011, Tuesday) — Contrary to the claims of industry promoters, natural gas drawn from shale isn’t cleaner than coal, said researchers at Cornell University in the US. A study by a group of researchers led by Robert Howarth published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal found that more greenhouse gases are emitted by...
(EnergyAsia, May 3 2011, Tuesday) — Khalid A. Al-Falih, president and CEO of the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco), has invited South Korea to expand economic ties and increase its investments in the energy sector in Saudi Arabia. Speaking to the Korean Chamber of Commerce last week, Mr Al-Falih said his country admired the...
(EnergyAsia, May 3 2011, Tuesday) — Two international banks have agreed to lend state Vietnam National Coal, Mineral Industries Holding Corp (Vinacomin) US$275 million to build a coal-fired power plant in northern Vietnam by end-2012. BNP Paribas and Bank of China signed the contract last month for the 440MW plant at Mao Khe in Quang...
(EnergyAsia, April 29 2011, Friday) — OPEC said its reference basket price rose sharply to US$120 a barrel in late April, its highest level since 2008, capping a run of seven consecutive months of price increase. The reference price averaged nearly US$110 in March, and just over US$100 in February, showing the strength of the...
(EnergyAsia, April 29 2011, Friday) — China and Russia appear to be taking different approaches to settle a dispute over a 20-year oil supply deal hailed as one of their most important bilateral achievements when it was signed in 2009. While Russia’s state-owned oil and gas firm Rosneft and oil pipeline operator Transneft have gone...
(EnergyAsia, April 29 2011, Friday) — The contract price of thermal coal has risen to an all-time high, supported by rising demand from China and India, and Japan’s renewed interest. With nuclear power programmes facing cutbacks around the world following the crisis at Japan’s Fukushima reactors, countries will increase their demand for the three main...
(EnergyAsia, April 28 2011, Thursday) — High inflation and soaring oil prices in emerging economies create new challenges but the global economic recovery should continue, according to the latest assessment by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In its recently released World Economic Outlook report, the IMF has maintained its global economic growth forecasts at 4.4%...
(EnergyAsia, April 28 2011, Thursday) — China Petrochemical Corp (Sinopec), Asia’s leading oil refiner, said it will stop oil-product exports indefinitely in the face of a worsening domestic supply squeeze and rising fuel prices that has triggered a major truckers’ strike in Shanghai. “We have suspended exports to regions other than Hong Kong and Macau,”...
(EnergyAsia, April 28 2011, Thursday) — Abu Dhabi’s state-owned International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) said it will proceed with plans to invest US$3 billion in a 200,000 b/d oil refinery in Fujairah. Expected to start up in 2016, the refinery will be linked by pipeline to a new deepwater terminal in Fujairah designed to handle...
(EnergyAsia, April 27 2011, Wednesday) — BP said it is investing A$20 million to expand its Largs North fuel terminal in Adelaide to enhance supply security in South Australia state. (US$1=A$0.93). The new tanks will increase the terminal’s diesel storage capacity from 75 million to 105 million litres when operational in late 2012. The UK...
(EnergyAsia, April 27 2011, Wednesday) — Shell Australia said it recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Marstel Holdings for the development of a greenfield diesel import facility at Newcastle Harbour by 2012. The new terminal will enable Shell to continue to grow its business in the Hunter Valley and through New South Wales state...