(EnergyAsia, May 2 2012, Wednesday) — Latin and Central America’s heavily export-oriented coal mining industry are at risk of losing market share as their customers are demanding cleaner energy sources, said industry intelligence experts GBI Research. In a new report, GBI Research said Latin and Central American coal exports may decline as a result of (more…)

(EnergyAsia, May 2 2012, Wednesday) — Asia needs a new energy compact to balance sustainable development with its pursuit of economic growth, according to top UN Asia-Pacific official. At a recent forum attended by policymakers in Singapore, Noeleen Heyzer, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the (more…)

(EnergyAsia, April 30 2012, Monday) — A Malaysian-Dutch consortium expects to complete the RM1.9-billion first phase of its oil storage terminal in Johor state by early 2014 that will include Southeast Asia’s first independent facility to handle crude oil. (US$1=RM3.05). Owned by Malaysian engineering company Dialog Group, Royal Vopak of the Netherlands and the Johor (more…)

(EnergyAsia, April 30 2012, Monday) — OPEC has kept unchanged its forecast for world oil demand to rise by 900,000 b/d to reach 88.6 million b/d in 2012. Continued strength in the emerging economies will offset weakness in the US and Europe, with the net result that the world economy is expected to grow by 3.3%, (more…)

(EnergyAsia, April 27 2012, Friday) — China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corporation Ltd (CAO), Asia’s largest physical jet fuel trader, said it has secured a revolving debt facility for US$125 million from a syndicate of the Singapore branch of five major banks. Known as book-running mandated lead arrangers (BMLAs), ABN AMRO Bank NV, ANZ Bank, Bank (more…)

(EnergyAsia, April 27 2012, Friday) — Two US engineering firms, Black & Veatch and Chemtex, have been selected by Jilin Qianyuan Energy Development to deliver a major liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in north-eastern China by late 2013. Black & Veatch said the 500,000 normal cubic metres/day plant will feature its patented PRICO® LNG (more…)

(EnergyAsia, April 26 2012, Thursday) — Weak global demand will weigh on Asia’s developing economies in 2012 but growth rates in most economies remain robust and should tick back up in 2013 with private consumption providing support, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said in its latest annual economic report. In its Asian Development Outlook 2012 (more…)

(EnergyAsia, April 26 2012, Thursday) — Shareholders of New Zealand’s only oil refinery are expected to approve its proposal to invest NZ$365 million in building a new unit to process crude into gasoline, kerosene and diesel. (US$1=NZ$1.23). Shareholders are expected to vote in favour of the continuous catalyst regeneration platformer (CCR) project at The New (more…)

(EnergyAsia, April 26 2012, Thursday) — High crude oil prices helped Thai state upstream company PTT Exploration and Production Pcl (PTTEP) report a 66% gain in its first quarter net profit to 18.288 billion baht. (US$1=31 baht). It earned 10.979 billion baht for the same quarter last year. PTTEP, a subsidiary of state energy firm (more…)

(EnergyAsia, April 25 2012, Wednesday) — Sembcorp Industries yesterday officially started up a S$34 million woodchip-fuelled biomass steam production plant on Singapore’s Jurong Island as part of its offering to supply sustainable and competitive energy to customers. (US$1=S$1.25). Sembcorp said its first waste-to-energy (WTE) plant in Singapore produces 20 tonnes per hour of steam using (more…)

(EnergyAsia, April 25 2012, Wednesday) — Securing natural gas feedstock in the Middle East has become increasingly difficult in the last few years, threatening the region’s dominance as the most economical petrochemicals producer, according to a new report by business intelligence company GlobalData. The report said the Middle East is facing a natural gas scarcity (more…)

(EnergyAsia, April 25 2012, Wednesday) — A Japanese consortium led by Marubeni Corp has started work to develop an experimental offshore floating wind farm project off the coast of Fukushima, the site of the nculear plant that was damaged by earthquake and tsunami last year. Sponsored by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the (more…)

(EnergyAsia, April 25 2012, Wednesday) — The Iranian government has cut off Internet access to six of the country’s oil refineries after it came under attacks from hackers and computer viruses. According to the Iranian Mehr News Agency, the attacks launched against the refineries, the Oil Ministry, the National Iranian Oil Company and the country’s (more…)

(EnergyAsia, April 25 2012, Wednesday) — China’s oil demand turned in a mixed performance for March, rising year-on-year, but down from February, said energy media specialist Platts. Its analysis of government data showed that Chinese oil demand rose 3.3% from year-ago levels to 40.23 million metric tons (mt), or 9.5 million b/d. But, this was (more…)

(EnergyAsia, April 24 2012, Tuesday) — Dubai’s ENOC said its wholly-owned subsidiary, Horizon Terminals Ltd, will build a 141,000-cubic metre bulk oil terminal in the Jebel Ali Free Zone and a 60-km jet fuel pipeline linking it to the Dubai International Airport. Horizon Terminals has awarded the engineering, procurement and construction contract to Indian construction (more…)

(EnergyAsia, April 24 2012, Tuesday) — Singapore’s Keppel Corporation Limited said its wholly-owned subsidiary, Keppel Energy Pte Ltd, has signed an agreement with Malaysia state energy firm Petronas to import an additional 43 million cubic feet per day (mmcf/d) of natural gas. Based on historical oil prices, Keppel Energy said the additional supply, worth about (more…)

(EnergyAsia, April 23 2012, Monday) — Riding on high oil prices, OPEC’s oil export revenues will surge to hit a new record high of US$1.171 trilllion this year before easing off to US$1.133 in 2013, said the US Energy Information Administration. In its April 2012 Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) report, the EIA said the Organisation (more…)

(EnergyAsia, April 23 2012, Monday) — French energy infrastructure company GDF SUEZ said it has been selected by Andhra Pradesh Gas Distribution Corporation (APGDC) as strategic partner to develop a floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) import terminal project on the east coast of India. GDF SUEZ said it expects to complete a feasibility study by (more…)

(EnergyAsia, April 23 2012, Monday) — Japan’s Toyota Tsusho Corp said it is paying Encana C$602 million for a 32.5% royalty interest in natural gas production from the Canadian firms’s coalbed methane (CBM) reserves in Alberta province.  (US$1=C$0.99). The agreement includes production from a total of about 5,500 existing wells and potential future drilling locations (more…)

(EnergyAsia, April 23 2012, Monday) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has agreed to provide the Mongolian government US$434 million of loans and technical assistance as part of a new five-year development assistance strategy to help the country diversify its economic activities and narrow its inequality gap. ADB said its board of directors has endorsed (more…)

(EnergyAsia, April 20 2012, Friday) — The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has established a Joint Industry Project (JIP) to investigate the operational feasibility of developing liquefied natural gas (LNG) into a shipping fuel in Singapore in collaboration with Det Norske Veritas (DNV) Clean Technology Centre and 21 industry partners. The JIP, co-funded (more…)

(EnergyAsia, April 20 2012, Friday) — World oil prices are being kept high by fears of Middle East supply disruption which are offsetting reports of rising production in the US and other non-OPEC countries, according to consultants Ernst & Young LLP. As a result, Brent has remained well supported at around US$120 a barrel while (more…)

(EnergyAsia, April 20 2012, Friday) — The Middle East is rapidly expanding its petrochemicals and plastics industries to reduce its economic dependence on the production and export of crude oil and natural gas. In a new report, industry intelligence company GlobalData traced the emergence of the region’s upstream petrochemicals industry over the last decade, which (more…)

(EnergyAsia, April 20 2012, Friday) — Qatargas said it achieved a milestone last month when it loaded its 1,000th liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo for export from a loading base built less than three years ago. Bound for Elba Island in Georgia state in the US, the cargo was loaded from the Common Lean LNG (more…)

(EnergyAsia, April 19 2012, Thursday) — VTTI said the ATB oil terminal in Pelepas Port in Malaysia’s southern Johor state has received its first oil cargo, marking the facility’s start as an oil storage and logistics hub serving the region. VTTI, an equal joint venture between Swiss trader Vitol and Malaysian energy shipping firm MISC Bhd, (more…)