(EnergyAsia, March 2 2012, Friday) — US major Chevron Corporation said its subsidiary, Chevron Nigeria Limited, has confirmed the start-up of oil production from the deepwater offshore Usan project in Nigeria. Operated by Total E&P Nigeria Limited which owns a 20% stake, the project will utilise a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel with (more…)

(EnergyAsia, March 2 2012, Friday) — Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) said it has launched two main 400/132KV substations and extended overhead lines at total cost of 900 million dirham. (US$1=3.7 dirham). Work on the two substations at Al Aweer and Meydan included extending 400KV overhead lines throughout Mushrif, Warsan, Meydan and Jebel Ali. (more…)

(EnergyAsia, March 1 2012, Thursday) — As a long-term strategy to reduce poverty, Asia should adopt a package of measures that combines people’s access to modern energy for heating, cooking and electricity with the ability to generate cash, supplement incomes and improve health and education The UN Development Programme (UNDP) recently unveiled this ‘energy plus’ (more…)

(EnergyAsia, March 1 2012, Thursday) — A consortium comprising Japanese trading house Marubeni and US engineering firm Black & Veatch has completed the fifth phase of a combined-cycle cogeneration plant in southern Thailand for the Glow Energy Public Company, Ltd. The low-emissions natural gas plant delivers a clean, reliable source of steam and electricity to Thailand’s (more…)

(EnergyAsia, March 1 2012, Thursday) — India’s Thermal Powertech Corporation India Limited (TPCIL) has secured 10 years of coal supply from Indonesia’s PT Bayan Resources Tbk for its new 1,320 power plant due to start up in Andhra Pradesh state in 2014. Singapore’s SembCorp Industries, which owns a 49% stake in TPCIL, said PT Bayan will (more…)

(EnergyAsia, March 1 2012, Thursday) — Dubai’s Supreme Council of Energy (SCE) recently reviewed the implementation of the emirate’s strategy to ensure the long-term sustainable supply of natural gas. The review of Dubai’s Integrated Gas Strategy 2030 was led by the SCE’s chairman, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, who chaired its 15th meeting at (more…)

(EnergyAsia, March 1 2012, Thursday) — The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged two Chinese executives linked to previously NYSE AMEX-listed Puda Coal with defrauding investors of hundreds of millions of dollars by stealing and selling the mining company’s assets in China. The SEC lawsuit charges Zhao Ming, the current chairman of Puda (more…)

(EnergyAsia, February 29 2012, Wednesday) — Wages and confidence are surging in the global oil and gas industry, according to the joint annual salary survey produced by consultants Hays Oil & Gas and leading jobsite Oil and Gas Job Search. The Salary Guide, based on over 14,000 respondents worldwide, reveals an industry generally brimming with (more…)

(EnergyAsia, February 29 2012, Wednesday) — ExxonMobil expects global energy demand to rise by about 30% from 2010 to 2040 as economic output more than doubles while the world population grow to nearly 9 billion people from just under seven billion over the same period. The developed economies of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and (more…)

(EnergyAsia, February 28 2012, Tuesday) — A consortium led by US major Chevron Corp plans to spend US$5 to US$6 billion in a five-year drilling programme as part of an estimated US$20 to US$25 billion project to further develop Central Asian country’s biggest producing oil field. Chervon’s 50%-owned the TengizChevroil LLP venture will drill Kazakhstan’s (more…)

(EnergyAsia, February 28 2012, Tuesday) — Thai state upstream company PTTEP has offered to acquire UK-listed Cove Energy plc for £1.196, or nearly US$1.9 billion, surpassing Royal Dutch Shell’s competing bid of US$1.6 billion submitted earlier last week. (US$1= £0.63). Shell is expected to raise its price this week for Cove Energy, which holds an (more…)

(EnergyAsia, February 28 2012, Tuesday) — Hong Kong-listed investment company Ruifeng Petroleum Chemical Holdings Limited said it has signed a letter of intent to sell off an unspecified “substantial” equity stake to Black Sea Horizon Investment Holdings Limited and Beijing Xuan Fu. The announcement came just as Beijing Black Sea and real estate company, Beijing (more…)

(EnergyAsia, February 28 2012, Tuesday) — Australia’s largest downstream company reported what could be its largest loss of A$714 million after writing down the value of its two ageing refineries that can no longer compete against larger and newer export plants in Asia and the Middle East. (US$1=A$0.94). Caltex Australia Ltd said the outlook for (more…)

(EnergyAsia, February 27 2012, Monday) — BENTEK Energy, a Colorado, US energy information and analytics company, said the Brent-WTI crude oil price differential will range between minus US$10 to US$25 a barrel or an average of US$14 over the next five years. For now, the average Brent-WTI spread for April 2012 to 2016 stands at (more…)

(EnergyAsia, February 27 2012, Monday) — Canadian upstream company Talisman Energy Inc said it has sold stakes in nine of its exploration licences in Papua New Guinea’s onshore Western Province to Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) for US$280 million. Talisman said the farmout deal is effective January 1 2012, subject to approvals by government and joint (more…)

(EnergyAsia, February 24 2012, Friday) — JOil (S) Pte Ltd, a Singapore-based developer of the jatropha biofuel crop, said latest biotechnology processes could boost its oil yield from less than one ton of oil per hectare now to three tons. The company said it could achieve this by using breeding, tissue culture and genetic engineering (more…)

(EnergyAsia, February 24 2012, Friday) — The embattled Eurozone economy is facing the additional threat of record-high oil prices as Brent crude surged to a new all-time high after breaking 93.46 euro, its previous record set on July 3 2008. A combination of a weaker Euro, Iran’s threats to expand its oil embargo on Europe (more…)

(EnergyAsia, February 24 2012, Friday) — German chemicals giant BASF and China’s Sinopec have started work on expanding their joint venture petrochemical plant in Nanjing city after completing its second phase expansion at a cost of US$1.4 billion. The second phase, inaugurated last month, includes expansions of existing plants and construction of new facilities. The (more…)

(EnergyAsia, February 23 2012, Thursday) — The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) thinks there is a 1-in50 chance that benchmark crude WTI could exceed US$140 a barrel in June 2012. Based on recent futures and options data, the official energy statistics arm of the US government said the market believes there is a 1-in-15 chance (more…)

(EnergyAsia, February 22 2012, Wednesday) — The Australian government is focused on enhancing energy security, market reforms, developing the country’s vast natural gas resources, and encouraging the development of clean energy use. The goals were spelt out in the recently released draft Energy White Paper for public consultation, alongside the 2011 National Energy Security Assessment and (more…)

(EnergyAsia, February 22 2012, Wednesday) — Up to 33 million people living in poverty in Africa and Asia will gain access to low-cost solar energy by 2016, said solar power provider ToughStuff in response to a call from the Business Call to Action (BCtA). From its headquarters in Mauritius and offices in East, West and (more…)

(EnergyAsia, February 22 2012, Wednesday) — US conglomerate Koch Industries has started up a liquefied natural gas (LNG) business with an eye to meeting surging demand in Asia. Koch Supply & Trading Sárl, the company’s Geneva-headquartered energy trading division, recently hired Stephen Cornish to complement existing North American activities in Houston and optimise its global (more…)

(EnergyAsya, February 21 2012, Tuesday) — The vibrant oil and gas sector reported 1,322 oil and gas transactions last year for an increase of more than 5% compared to 1,258 in 2010, according to a survey by consultant Ernst & Young. But in value terms, the global aggregate of these transactions was down 7% to (more…)

(EnergyAsia, February 21 2012, Tuesday) — ABB, the Switzerland-based power and automation technology group, said it has signed an agreement with FG Emvelo, an independent solar power plant company, to develop high efficiency concentrating solar power (CSP) plants at Karoshoek Solar Valley in South Africa’s Northern Cape province. FG Emvelo,a joint venture between FG.de, a (more…)

(EnergyAsia, February 21 2012, Tuesday) — Brazil’s state-owned oil and gas major Petrobras has appointed Maria das Graças Silva Foster as CEO, succeeding José Sergio Gabrielli de Azevedo from February 13. Ms Silva Foster, who has been with Petrobras for 31 years, will also replace Mr Gabrielli in the company’s board of directors. A chemical (more…)