(EnergyAsia, June 27 2011, Monday) — With an energy crisis looming, Asian nations must “take radical steps” to increase energy efficiency and invest in renewable energy, said Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Haruhiko Kuroda. The Asia Pacific’s strong economic growth and its increasing population are generating the world’s fastest growing demand for energy that could (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 24 2011, Friday) — The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects natural gas to overtake coal as the world’s leading fuel source by 2030 on its way to contributing 25% of the global energy mix by 2035. Speaking to a Singapore audience this week, Fatih Birol, the IEA’s chief economist, said natural gas will (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 24 2011, Friday) — The following is an edited version of the speech by Singapore’s EMA chief Chee Hong Tat in introducing Fatih Birol, chief economist of the International Energy Agency (IEA) who spoke on “A Glimpse into the Energy Future”. Dr Fatih spoke to an audience of around 350 energy professionals in (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 23 2011, Thursday) — US engineering giant Honeywell said India’s Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) has implemented Honeywell Process Solutions’ mobile stations at their newly completed US$200 million fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) refinery unit in Mumbai. The mobile stations increase productivity and reduce operating costs of standard communication infrastructure by expediting the (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 22 2011, Wednesday) — US engineering giant Honeywell said its bio-jet fuel successfully powered a tran-Atlantic flight of a plane which landed at Paris-Le Bourget Airport as part of the international airshow in Paris, France this week. Honeywell said its operated Gulfstream G450 plane became the first aircraft to fly from North America to (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 22 2011, Wednesday) — Shell said the consortium that it is leading will install the first of 15 production wells next month and undertake other infrastructure investments to develop the Majnoon oilfield in Iraq. The consortium’s other members include Petronas, Missan Oil Company and Southern Oil Company (SOC). In an interview with EnergyExchange, Hans (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 21 2011, Tuesday) — Asia-Pacific countries can cushion themselves against food and fuel price shocks and natural disasters by using natural resources and energy more efficiently, said the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). Speaking yesterday at the Global Green Growth Summit in Seoul, South Korea, Under-Secretary-General and Executive (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 21 2011, Tuesday) — Royal Dutch Shell has taken a step further in plans to become a global player in developing and producing tight gas, shale gas and coal bed methane reserves. The Anglo-Dutch major said it and China National Petroleum Company (CNPC) have signed a shareholders’ agreement to establish an equal well manufacturing (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 21 2011, Tuesday) — Arthur H. Rosenfeld of the US and Philipp Rutberg of Russia have been jointly presented with the 2011 Global Energy Prize, which rewards innovation and solutions in global energy research and its concurrent environmental challenges. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev presented the prize at an official ceremony at the St Petersburg (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 20 2011, Monday) — “Singapore is a prominent market for us in the metalising industry. It is a top-tier country in the Asia-Pacific region for the offshore and shipping industry where the bulk of our clients come from. We hope to apply more of our services to serve our clients in this part (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 17 2011, Friday) — Meeting last week in Azerbaijan, senior officials of 10 Central Asian countries have agreed on a strategic framework to develop transport networks, boost regional trade, and help secure reliable, efficient energy over the next decade. The Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program, which was established in 2001, has (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 16 2011, Thursday) — Tognum Group Brand MTU recently showcased its new generation of MTU Series 2000 and 4000 engines in Asia for use in the oil and gas industry. The Series 4000 engine on display at the Oil and Gas Asia in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia complies with US EPA Tier 4 interim, (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 15 2011, Wednesday) — ExxonMobil said it recently made “one of the largest oil discoveries” of the last decade in its first drilling in the Gulf of Mexico since the US government lifted a deepwater exploration ban last October. Steve Greenlee, president of ExxonMobil Exploration Company, said: “We estimate a recoverable resource of (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 14 2011, Tuesday) — US engineering giant Bechtel Corp said it has secured a contract worth US$12 to $14 billion from the Mongolian government to develop a master plan for a new heavy industrial complex that includes an oil refinery, a coal gasification power plant, and mineral processing plants. Bechtel said it was selected (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 14 2011, Tuesday) — Two Singapore-based oil and gas companies, Keppel Offshore & Marine, and Singapore Petroleum Company (SPC), announced senior management changes last week. Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd, which provides exploration and production services, said it has appointed Chow Yew Yuen as its managing director from June 1 2011, reporting directly to (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 13 2011, Monday) — Wartsila, the Finland-based marine industry solutions provider, said it has signed a contract with Nam Cheong Dockyard of Miri City in Malaysia to build a Wartsila Ship Design (WSD) multi-purpose platform supply vessel (MPSV) for use in the offshore oil and gas industry. The WSD 800 MPSV vessel is (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 13 2011, Monday) — Russia’s Gazprom Global LNG (GGLNG) said its Singapore affiliate, Gazprom Marketing and Trading Singapore (GM&TS), has signed separate memoranda of understanding (MOU) for the long-term supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to three Indian state-owned companies, GAIL India Limited, Gujarat State Petroleum Company (GSPC) and Petronet LNG Limited. GM&TS, (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 13 2011, Monday) — The following is an edited version of “Electric Vehicle Battle Moves Beyond Cars” by Peter Harrop, chairman of IDTechEx. By a big margin, Toyota is number one in the sales of hybrid car and most electric vehicles (EVs) where it is holds a top three position in most countries. (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 10 2011, Friday) — Herbert Smith said it and its associated Indonesian law firm, Hiswara Bunjamin & Tandjung (HBT), advised Deutsche Bank AG, Hong Kong Branch and Macquarie Capital (Singapore) Pte Limited as placing agents on the US and Indonesian law aspects of the recent US$289 million sale of a stake of approximately (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 10 2011, Friday) — China overtook the US as the world’s largest energy consumer in 2010 as world consumption surged by 5.6% over the previous year to a record high, said BP in its 60th edition of Statistical Review of World Energy. Last year’s energy demand growth was the strongest since 1973 while (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 9 2011, Thursday) — Germany’s specialty chemicals company Lanxess said it will invest 200-million-euro in a new neodymium polybutadiene rubber (Nd-PBR) plant on Singapore’s Jurong Island. The 140,000-metric-ton-per-year plant, the largest of its kind in the world, is expected to come onstream in the first half of 2015, creating about 100 jobs. Lanxess (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 8 2011, Wednesday) — Singapore Oxygen Air Liquide Pte Ltd (SOXAL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of industrial gases supplier Air Liquide, inaugurated its S$500 million infrastructure on Singapore’s Jurong Island on Monday. (US$1=S$1.25). The company’s new facilities include a 1,200-tonne-per-day air separation unit (ASU) to produce air gases, oxygen, nitrogen and argon, boosting SOXAL’s (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 7 2011, Tuesday) — Malaysia’s state oil and gas firm Petronas said it has agreed to pay a total of C$1.07 billion for a 50% stake in three shale gas assets in northeastern British Columbia province in Canada. (US$1=C$0.98). Wholly-owned subsidiary Petronas International Corporation Ltd (PICL) will acquire the stake from Canada’s Progress Energy (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 6 2011, Monday) — PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PTSC) has selected US engineering firm Black & Veatch to provide project management and design services for the coal-fired Long Phu 1 power plant. Comprising two 600MW units, the plant is scheduled for completion in 2014. It is the first of three planned power plants (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 6 2011, Monday) — Douglas-Westwood, a leading UK-based energy business advisor, said it recently opened its Singapore office to manage the group’s advisory and research business across the Asia Pacific region. It has appointed Jason Waldie, who previously worked as group head of business development with an energy advisory firm in Singapore, and (more…)