(EnergyAsia, April 8 2011, Friday) — Indonesian coal producer PT Adaro is aiming to nearly double its annual production capacity to 80 million tons in the coming years. The company, which produced 42.2 million tons of coal last year, is looking to gradually raise its output to become a major regional player to meet the...
(EnergyAsia, April 8 2011, Friday) — Friends of the Earth (FOE), the Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS) and Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) said they have filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the US government to fully explain its decision calling for a 80-km evacuation radius for Americans near the damaged...
(EnergyAsia, April 7 2011, Thursday) — Australian mining giant BHP Billiton said it will invest its 50% share of a combined US$5 billion approved for three metallurgical coal projects in the Bowen basin in Central Queensland state. The company said it will add 4.9 million tonnes of fully-owned annual mine capacity through development of the...
(EnergyAsia, April 7 2011, Thursday) — Japan, the leading buyer of Indonesian coal, is expected to increase its import this year following the significant loss of its nuclear power capacity from the devastating earthquake of March 11. One of Japan’s key suppliers and Asia’s biggest thermal coal exporter, PT Bumi Resources, has reported increased buying...
(EnergyAsia, April 7 2011, Thursday) — L & L Energy Inc, a Seattle, US-based company with coal mining and distribution businesses in China, said it has agreed to pay US$18 million for a 60% interest in the DaPing coal mine in China’s Guizhou province as of March 15. It did not identify the selling party....
(EnergyAsia, April 7 2011, Thursday) — The economy of Australia’s Surat Basin region has received “a significant boost” following the conditional approval announced by the Commonwealth Government for the proposed A$3 billion coal project at Wandoan in Queensland state, said one of the region’s investors, MetroCoal Limited. (US$1=A$0.97). The Commonwealth Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water,...
(EnergyAsia, April 6 2011, Wednesday) — Canada’s Prophecy Resource Corp said it has stockpiled 5,000 tons of coal from its 100%-owned Mongolian Ulaan Ovoo mine for rail loading since April 1 for export. The coal has been customs cleared at Sukhbaatar station and freighted by rail to Russia and the Russian Eastern Sea Coal Terminals...
(EnergyAsia, April 6 2011, Wednesday) — Brent crude oil closed at a new 30-month high of US$121.06 a barrel on Monday, setting the stage for further price increases. US WTI was hovering at around US$108. Geopolitical worries in the Middle East and North Africa, along with the worsening nuclear crisis in Japan have been bolstering...
(EnergyAsia, April 6 2011, Wednesday) — Amid a worsening global energy crisis, the South Korean government has initiated a series of measures to curb the nation’s power consumption. In January, the cold weather had driven electricity demand in the country to record levels on three occasions, raising consumption to well over 7.3 million kilowatt hours...
(EnergyAsia, April 6 2011, Wednesday)— Saudi Arabia’s regime is capable of surviving the wave of unrest and pro-reform protests sweeping the Middle East and North Africa, said US consultants Eurasia Group. The conservative monarch-based country has had its share of protests in recent weeks, but none sufficiently large or organised to threaten the rule of...
(EnergyAsia, April 6 2011, Wednesday) — In a remarkable piece of deal-making, South Korea has secured access to at least one billion barrels of crude oil reserves from Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). The unprecedented deal, secured through state-owned Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC), has taken place as oil prices are surging again and...
(EnergyAsia, April 5 2011, Tuesday) — SSA Marine is likely to gain the support of Bellingham City Mayor Dan Pike in the northwestern US State of Washington for the proposed Gateway Pacific cargo terminal. SSA Marine expects the US$500 million project that will handle coal exports to Asia to generate 1,700 construction jobs, 280 permanent...
(EnergyAsia, April 5 2011, Tuesday) — Thai coal mining giant Banpu Plc expects to sell its coal at an average price of US$90 per tonne this year, up from US$74.6 a tonne last year, said CEO Chanin Vongkusolkit. This should boost sales revenue by some 40% to 90 billion baht this year (US$1=30 baht). Coal...
(EnergyAsia, April 5 2011, Tuesday) — With an eye on rising domestic energy consumption, China’s National Development and Reform Commission has again reduced the country’s quota for coal exports. The first batch of the quota, about 18 million tonnes, has been released, the commission said. That’s 30% lower than the first batch of export quota...
(EnergyAsia, April 5 2011, Tuesday) — The world isn’t about to see coal demand outpacing production capacity given the plentiful supply in parts of the US as well as in western China and Mongolia. That’s according to Fred Palmer, chairman of the World Coal Association and a key executive at Peabody Energy, the world’s largest...
(EnergyAsia, April 5 2011, Tuesday) — Ensham Coal Sales Company of Australia has agreed to a long-term deal to supply coal to Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam). A deal was recently reached between Ensham and PetroVietnam’s coal distribution and import company, PV Coal. Ensham has three 35-year mining licences to exploit an area...
(EnergyAsia, April 4 2011, Monday) — A Thai firm is looking to build a 4,000MW coal-fired power plant in Tavoy town on the southern Tenesserim coastline of Myanmar. The Italian-Thai Development Public Company Ltd said it has won approval for a 60-year concession from the Myanmar ruling junta to also establish a deep-sea port and...
(EnergyAsia, April 4 2011, Monday) — Mongolia has trimmed the number of contenders for the contract to develop the central-west part of its giant Tavan Tolgoi coal field to six from the initial 15. State-run Erdenes MGL, which owns the asset, plans to pick one to three winners by July said executive director Baasangombo Enebish....
(EnergyAsia, April 4 2011, Monday) — India would be badly hit if Indonesia proceeds with its plan to ban the exports of low-grade thermal coal by 2014 that would reduce global supply by 10%, said analysts. Indonesia accounts for around 30% of the global thermal coal supply, the bulk of it low-quality material of between...
(EnergyAsia, April 4 2011, Monday) — Having identified coal as a strategic commodity, China will be looking to use some of its nearly US$3-trillion worth of foreign exchange reserves into acquiring tangible assets such as iron ore and coal mines. There are plans to establish iron ore and coal reserves along the lines of emergency...
(EnergyAsia, April 4 2011, Monday) — In a bid to secure stable coal supply, Japan’s Chubu Electric Power Co is buying a 5.95% stake in the Integra Coal Mine project in Australia from trading firm Toyota Tsusho Corp. This will be the first investment by Japan’s third-biggest power firm in an international coal mine. Separately,...
(EnergyAsia, April 1 2011, Friday) — US-based Peabody Energy said it will source over two years two million tons of coal from an East Kalimantan mine for export to its Asian customers. Peabody said its Singapore office will undertake the deal with the mine’s owner, Indonesia’s PT Cahaya Energi Mandiri (CEM). Peabody said the agreement...
(EnergyAsia, April 1 2011, Friday) — Oil producing countries are getting so used to the US$100/barrel price now that they are setting their sights on making US$120 the new normal. With inflation of food, fuel and essentials a permanent scourge on their national budgets, oil producers realise US$100 oil has lost its shock value, and...
(EnergyAsia, April 1 2011, Friday) — Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region was China’s largest coal-producing province with an output of 786.65 million tons in 2010. According to the Coal Industry Bureau of Inner Mongolia, the region produced 46 million tons more than Shanxi Province, the largest producer of raw coal in China in 2009. Inner Mongolia’s...
(EnergyAsia, April 1 2011, Friday) — Citing the need to meet the country’s growing demand for electricity, Indonesia’s Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Darwin Zahedi Saleh has appealed to domestic miners to sell coal to state utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) at below market prices. He made the appeal as PLN has been struggling to...