(EnergyAsia, March 26 2012, Monday) — In defiance of US threats against countries trading with Iran, India’s Oil Minister Jaipal Reddy said it will continue to import crude oil from the Islamic regime as it does not violate international law. India, which imports around 400,000 b/d of crude oil from Iran to meet about 12% (more…)

(EnergyAsia, March 23 2012, Friday) — The Shaw Group Inc, a US-based global provider of engineering, construction, technology, fabrication, remediation and support services, said it has been awarded contracts to provide a process design package and technology licence for the addition of a 30,000 b/d deep catalytic cracking (DCC) unit for IRPC’s oil refinery in (more…)

(EnergyAsia, March 22 2012, Thursday) — Exploration and production spending is expected to rise in Asia in 2012, creating an environment ripe for oil and gas professionals to switch jobs, even though employers are frequently offering incentives to keep them in their current position, said Rigzone, a leading online resource for oil and gas information, (more…)

(EnergyAsia, March 22 2012, Thursday) — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief said Brent crude oil could surge 20% to 30% from its current level of US$125 a barrel if oil flows from Iran were disrupted in the event of conflict with the West. Following her visit to China and India earlier this week, Christine (more…)

(EnergyAsia, March 22 2012, Friday) — Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) said it is continuing its efforts to raise and upgrade the emirate’s power capacity and infrastructure to keep pace with the growth of demand. The agency upgraded its 132kV power transmission grid by opening a 120-million-dirham 132/11kV main substation with a 150 MVA (more…)

(EnergyAsia, March 22 2012, Thursday) — China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Shell China Exploration and Production Company Limited, a subsidiary of the European major, said they have signed what could be the country’s first shale gas production sharing contract (PSC). Still to be approved by the Chinese government, the contract is for the exploration, (more…)

(EnergyAsia, March 21 2012, Wednesday) — France’s Total and two subsidiaries of Kuwait Petroleum Corp said they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to develop an integrated oil refining-petrochemicals complex in Zhanjiang, China’s southern-most major city in Guangdong province with Chinese major Sinopec. Through its subsidiaries, Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI) and Petrochemicals Industries Company (more…)

(EnergyAsia, March 21 2012, Wednesday) — The following is an edited version of an article by Arabinda Acharya and Wang Zhihao of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS). At the National Peoples’ Congress early this month, the Chinese government announced an 11% increase in spending on domestic security. At US$ 111 billion, this is (more…)

(EnergyAsia, March 20 2012, Tuesday) — Rotating Offshore Solutions (ROS) has become the second company to invest in Singapore’s new Offshore Marine Centre (OMC) owned and managed by state industrial landlord JTC Corp. ROS, an engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning services (EPCC) for the oil and gas industry, said its S$25 million facility ona two-hectare (more…)

(EnergyAsia, March 20 2012, Tuesday) — As it struggles to replace depleting mature oil fields at a time of surging global energy demand, the upstream oil and gas sector will face a critical loss of more than 22,000 senior key technical professionals through retirement by 2015. According to oilfield services company Schlumberger, the industry will (more…)

(EnergyAsia, March 20 2012, Tuesday) — Malaysian state energy company Petronas said it has awarded the contract for the Front End Engineering Design (FEED) for a 3.6 million tons/year liquefied natural gas (LNG) project to JGC Corporation and to a Chiyoda Corporation-Saipem SpA partnership. Petronas, which is building train 9 at its LNG complex in (more…)

(EnergyAsia, March 20 2012, Tuesday) — Japan’s leading upstream company, INPEX Corp, said its subsidiary, INPEX Oil & Gas Australia Proprietary Limited, has agreed to acquire a 17.5% interest in the Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) project from Shell Development (Australia) Proprietary Limited (SDA), a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc. Neither company disclosed (more…)

(EnergyAsia, March 19 2012, Monday) — US major Chevron said it has approved a multi-million-dollar expansion of its Oronite lubricant additives plant on Singapore’s Jurong Island by 2014, more than double the plant’s original capacity when it started up in 1999. The additives are used to improve the performance of lubricants used in engines, hydraulic (more…)

(EnergyAsia, March 19 2012, Monday) — The Shaw Group Inc, a US engineering company, said it has been awarded a contract to provide the technology licence and process design package for the revamp of a residue fluid catalytic cracking (RFCC) unit for the Star Petroleum Refining Company in Thailand. Shaw Group will incorporate the latest (more…)

(EnergyAsia, March 19 2012, Monday) — Malaysia’s state energy company Petronas and German chemicals giant BASF said they will jointly invest a total of RM4 billion to develop an integrated oil refinery-petrochemical complex in the southern Malaysian state of Johor, and expand their existing venture in nearby Pahang state. (US$1=RM3.05). The two projects are targeted (more…)

(EnergyAsia, March 16 2012, Friday) — OPEC expects Japan’s oil demand to grow by about 2% this year, making it one of the fastest in recent memory as the country looks to fossil fuels after shutting down most of their nuclear power plants. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said Japan’s oil consumption edged (more…)

(EnergyAsia, March 16 2012, Friday) — Cummins Westport Inc is completing a factory to build the ISX12 G, a 12-litre heavy-duty natural gas engine for use in long-haul truck, tractor, vocational and refuse applications.  The new ISX12 G, based on the Cummins ISX12 diesel engine platform, is in field trials with full production expected in (more…)

(EnergyAsia, March 16 2012, Friday) — Lawyers acting for Bangladesh have claimed victory in the country’s territorial dispute with Myanmar over a full 320-km exclusive economic zone in the Bay of Bengal, and to a substantial share of the outer continental shelf beyond 320 km. According to US-based Foley Hoag LLP, the International Tribunal for (more…)

(EnergyAsia, March 15 2012, Thursday) — Norway’s Höegh LNG has signed an agreement to provide Indonesian state utility PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN) with a floating storage and regasification (FSRU) and mooring system off the coast of Indonesia’s North Sumatra province from September 2013. Höegh LNG, which has contracted South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries Ltd (more…)

(EnergyAsia, March 15 2012, Thursday) — UK major BP said it plans to sell off its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) bottling and tank filling operations in several countries as well as its non refinery-integrated wholesale business by end-2013. Also included in the sale of the businesses in Portugal, UK, Austria, Poland, Netherlands, Belgium, Turkey, China (more…)

(EnergyAsia, March 14 2012, Wednesday) — The World Energy Council (WEC) said the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster in Japan in March 2011 had limited impact on the nuclear energy plans of many countries around the world. In a report, ‘World Energy Perspective: Nuclear Energy One Year After Fukushima’, WEC found that “very little has changed, (more…)

(EnergyAsia, March 14 2012, Wednesday)— German chemicals giant BASF has made three senior appointments to oversee its paper chemicals, crop protection and mobile emissions catalysts business units in the Asia Pacific region. Lin Heng, who joined BASF-YPC Company Ltd as senior legal counsel in 2001, has been appointed as senior vice president to lead the (more…)

(EnergyAsia, March 14 2012, Wednesday) — US ratings agency Fitch said Indonesia’s coal mining sector faces strong growth prospects but “can benefit from clearer and more predictable regulations.” “Fitch expects medium-term demand-supply dynamics for thermal coal to remain well balanced, leading to healthy prices and strong operational cash flows for Indonesian coal miners,” said Shahim (more…)

(EnergyAsia, March 14 2012, Wednesday) — An equal engineering and construction joint venture between Australia’s Clough Limited and BAM International of the Netherlands said it has received a letter of intent for a A$140 million contract to design and construct a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project near Darwin city in Australia’s Northern Territory. BAM Clough (more…)

(EnergyAsia, March 14 2012, Wednesday) — Riding on Asia’s economic boom, Australia’s resources and energy export earnings rose 15% to a record A$190 billion in 2011, said the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics (BREE). (US$1=A$0.93). The main items of export include iron ore, coal, liquefied natural gas (LNG), oil and base metals. Iron ore (more…)