(EnergyAsia, March 31 2011, Thursday) — Barely two months after signing off on two long-term deals to store crude oil in Japan, Saudi Aramco is watching with concern at the worsening nuclear power plant disaster in Fukushima. In February, Saudi Aramco announced that it had agreed to lease tanks from Japan Oil, Gas and Metals...
(EnergyAsia, March 31 2011, Thursday) — Oil prices could reach US$200 a barrel in the short term as a result of the political turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and the deadly earthquake in Japan on March 11, said Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin. However, he has made clear that his forecast...
(EnergyAsia, March 31 2011, Thursday) — Japan may have to increase oil product imports in coming years to overcome the long-term loss of several refineries from the effects of the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck the northeastern part of the country on March 11. Up to a third of the country’s 4.5 million b/d...
(EnergyAsia, March 31 2011, Thursday) — Russia, Qatar, Malaysia and Indonesia have offered to sell additional liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes to Japan to help it overcome the loss of energy supply from several nuclear power plants and refineries damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has proposed to...
(EnergyAsia, March 31 2011, Thursday) — World demand and prices for liquefied natural gas (LNG) are set to spike this year on account of higher imports from Japan, China and India. The massive earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11 caused the shutdown of several refineries and nuclear power plants, forcing the world’s...
(EnergyAsia, March 30 2011, Wednesday) — Despite the political upheavals in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and the global financial headwinds, Dutch storage terminal owner and operator VTTI remains confident of nearly doubling its global oil storage capacity over the next five years. While the troubled MENA region remains a key target, CEO...
(EnergyAsia, March 30 2011, Wednesday) — Saudi Aramco and China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to develop a 400,000 b/d full-conversion refinery in Yanbu city on the west coast of Saudi Arabia by 2014. Saudi Aramco will have a 62.5% stake in the Red Sea Refining Company (RSRC) while Sinopec...
(EnergyAsia, March 30 2011, Wednesday) — Shell Malaysia said it has begun building a RM810-million diesel processing unit at its refinery in Port Dickson on the west coast of peninsular Malaysia. (US$1=RM3). The company said the new unit will enable the refinery to vary its feedstock options, increase diesel production and improve its profit margin....
(EnergyAsia, March 30 2011, Wednesday) — ExxonMobil Group Japan said it has increased fuel supply into its Tohoku region dealer service station network by 140% above levels before March 11 when a 9-richter scale earthquake struck off the northeastern coast of the country. More than 26,000 people died or are missing when the quake struck,...
(EnergyAsia, March 29 2011, Tuesday) — China National Offshore Oil Corp Ltd (CNOOC) said it achieved record oil and gas production as well as net profit for the year ended December 31 2010. Its net production increased 44.4% year-on-year to reach 328.8 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE), while its net profit grew 84.5% to...
(EnergyAsia, March 29 2011, Tuesday) — China’s apparent oil demand in February rose 10.1% year-over-year to 36.65 million metric tons (mt), or an average 9.58 million b/d, to record the second strongest demand level, according to leading energy information provider Platts. Based on recent figures released by the Chinese government, the company’s analysis showed oil...
(EnergyAsia, March 28 2011, Monday) — The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said jet fuel supplies are running low in Japan after key jet fuel infrastructure facilities were damaged by the earthquake and tsunami that struck the country on March 11. More than 20,000 people are dead or missing after a 9-richter scale earthquake struck...
(EnergyAsia, March 28 2011, Monday) — Three Indian firms, Essar Group, GVK and Lanco Infratech, are interested to acquire Australian energy and resources company Hancock Coal’s two flagship mines. The mines, Alpha Coal Project and Kevin’s Corner, are located in the key Galilee basin with the capacity to produce up to 30 million tonnes of...
(EnergyAsia, March 28 2011, Monday) — The Chinese government’s oil reserves are sufficient to cover just one month’s worth of imports, according to an official with the powerful National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). Crude oil accounted for about 75% of the state’s strategic reserves while oil products accounted for the remainder, said Wang Qingyun,...
(EnergyAsia, March 28 2011, Monday) — PetroChina Co Ltd expects to raise its crude oil production by two million tonnes and natural gas output by 5%-10% this year, said chairman Jiang Jiemin. On the other hand, China’s second-biggest refiner said its refining business has been suffering losses since the start of the year as a...
(EnergyAsia, March 25 2011, Friday) — Singapore Exchange-listed Sembcorp Industries said it has awarded a S$900 million engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to Alstom Power Singapore and Alstom Switzerland for the development of the company’s second cogeneration plant on Jurong Island. (US$1=S$1.27). Work on the combined-cycle gas turbine cogeneration facility is due to begin...
(EnergyAsia, March 25 2011, Friday) — PetroVietnam expects its newly opened Vung Ang oil storage terminal in the central coastal province of Ha Tinh to become a hub serving the northern provinces of Vietnam. Launched last month, the terminal started off with a 60,000-cubic metre capacity built at a cost of 257-billion dong, and will...
(EnergyAsia, March 25 2011, Friday)— Royal Dutch Shell expects to complete a swap of assets with Russian gas monopoly Gazprom that will allow both companies to diversify their markets. Under the proposed arrangement, Shell will have access to Gazprom’s Russian projects while Gazprom will be allowed to tap promising gas fields in the Asia Pacific...
(EnergyAsia, March 25 2011, Friday) — US oil major Exxon Mobil and Russia’s state-owned Rosneft have begun work to jointly explore for oil and gas under the Black Sea. The companies expect to begin surveying the seabed this year using Exxon’s technology with the aim of uncovering a billion tonnes of oil and gas off...
(EnergyAsia, March 25 2011, Friday) — Plans to build an oil storage hub near Manila Bay are underway, potentially to replace the existing Pandacan oil depot, according to Philippines’ Energy Undersecretary Jose Layug. He said a company, which he declined to name, is conducting a feasibility study on the project that will aim to attract...
(EnergyAsia, March 25 2011, Friday) — The Chinese government has approved a proposal by state-owned Sinopec and Kuwait Petroleum International to jointly develop a US$9 billion oil refining and petrochemical complex in China. The equally-owned project to be sited in southern Guangdong province will consist of a 300,000-b/d oil refinery and a one-million-tonne-per-year ethylene cracker....
(EnergyAsia, March 24 2011, Thursday) — Azerbaijan state energy firm SOCAR plans to increase trade and export more crude oil to Asia this year. Its trading arm, SOCAR Trading, has leased a 160,000-tonne vessel from Thailand’s state-owned PTT to store its crude blend for export to the region. The tanker is anchored off Singapore to...
(EnergyAsia, March 24 2011, Thursday) — India’s Finance Ministry has agreed to pay cash, instead of bonds, to oil companies as compensation for losses incurred in selling fuel at below cost, according to finance secretary Ashok Chawla. Oil firms are worried that unless they receive cash compensation for selling gasoline, kerosene, diesel and liquefied petroleum...
(EnergyAsia, March 24 2011, Thursday) — Iraq has boldly forecast its oil production to top three million b/d by the end of 2011. According to the oil ministry, the country’s crude exports and revenues in January and February have reached their highest levels since the 2003 ouster of Saddam Hussein. If sustained at current production...
(EnergyAsia, March 24 2011, Thursday) — Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE have temporarily suspended crude oil exports to Japan less than a week after Asia’s second largest economy was struck by a massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11. Nuclear plants and ports in northeastern Japan have been badly damaged and could be closed for...