(EnergyAsia, June 3 2011, Friday) — Hong Kong-listed Kiu Hung Energy Holdings Limited said its shareholders have appointed Jin Peihuang as an independent non-executive director at the company’s annual general meeting last month. A 1964 graduate of Jiangxi Mining Institute, Mr Jin is an expert in underground mining of coal and was a professor-grade senior (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 2 2011, Thursday) — Australia’s Cougar Energy Limited said it has opened an office in Beijing to expand its underground coal gasification (UCG) projects in China and Asia. Kevin Garner, a chartered engineer with over 25 years of industry experience, has been appointed general manager for Asia, with responsibility for technical and operational (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 2 2011, Thursday) — Loyz Oil Pte Ltd, the oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) arm of Singapore’s Sim Siang Choon Limited, said it is raising S$12 million via a redeemable exchangeable preference share issue to fund its push into the upstream energy sector. (US$1=S$1.25). Under the subscription agreement with Loyz Oil and (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 1 2011, Wednesday) — PaxOcean Engineering Zhoushan Co Ltd of Singapore has signed a letter of intent to build a 415WC jack-up mobile offshore unit for Texas, US-based Levingston Corporation, with an option for an additional similar vessel for an undisclosed contract value. Levingston said the MOU will be the world’s largest lift-boat (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 1 2011, Wednesday) — The full version of this story is available in the June 2011 edition of EnergyAsia Report. The world’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) and natural gas markets continue to recover faster than expected as surging demand in Asia and Europe help mop up the supply overhang of the previous two (more…)

(EnergyAsia, May 31 2011, Tuesday) — High oil prices could threaten the world’s already fragile economic recovery, said John Westwood, chairman of energy consultant Douglas-Westwood (DW). In a hard-hitting address at the recent Breakbulk Europe conference in Belgium’s Antwerp city, Mr Westwood cited his company’s research showing that since 1973 the US had entered recession (more…)

(EnergyAsia, May 30 2011, Monday) — ExxonMobil and Total of France are stepping up their promotion and marketing of lubricants to industrial and marine users in Asia. ExxonMobil showcased its Mobil SHC synthetic industrial lubricants as offering superior quality and reliability to the upstream oil and gas sector at an industry event in Indonesia on (more…)

(EnergyAsia, May 30 2011, Monday) — Australia’s Prime Minister Julia Gillard has officially launched construction works on the massive A$16-billion Santos Gladstone liquefied natural gas plant (LNG) on Curtis Island in Queensland state. (US$1=A$0.98). Witnessing the start of a new economic boom for the region at last Friday’s ceremony were the Queensland Premier Anna Bligh (more…)

(EnergyAsia, May 30 2011, Monday) — Australia’s booming economy is opening up opportunities for Asian investors to buy into their energy and resources sector. Last week, the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) held events in Hong Kong (May 24) and Singapore (May 26) for investors to meet with the executives of some of Australia’s small and (more…)

(EnergyAsia, May 27 2011, Friday) — In announcing its decision to build the world’s first floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) terminal, Royal Dutch Shell plc will also be laying claim to developing the biggest water-borne structure in history. The 448-m-long ‘Prelude FLNG’ facility, to be anchored 200 km off the Australian coast, will be constructed (more…)

(EnergyAsia, May 27 2011, Friday) — Saudi Arabia’s petrochemical giant Saudi Basic Industries Corp (Sabic) said it and China’s Sinopec have signed a deal to build a 260,000-ton-a-year polycarbonate plant in Tianjin city for start-up in 2015. The new plant will be an extension to the three-million-ton-a-year petrochemical complex that the two companies jointly started (more…)

(EnergyAsia, May 26 2011, Thursday) — Dutch oil and chemical storage and logistics firm Royal Vopak said its most recent former chairman John Paul Broeders has died of cancer at the age of 47. In a statement, Vopak described Mr Broeders, who died on May 15, as a sportsman and businessman in heart and soul (more…)

EnergyAsia, May 25 2011, Wednesday) — Dutch oil and chemical logistics firm Royal Vopak said it and equal joint-venture partner Tianjin Bohai Chemical Industry Group will develop the 240,000-cubic metre second phase of their terminal in China’s Tianjin city to store liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). The project includes three low-temperature tanks of 80,000 cbm each (more…)

(EnergyAsia, May 25 2011, Wednesday) — Keppel FELS Limited, a subsidiary of Singapore’s Keppel Offshore & Marine Limited, said it has secured orders to build oil rigs worth a total of US$1.345 billion from various international clients in May, boosting the value of its year-to-date contracts to more than S$6.5 billion. (US$1=S$1.25). Its biggest order (more…)

(EnergyAsia, May 25 2011, Wednesday) — Switzerland-based Foster Wheeler AG said a subsidiary in its Global Engineering and Construction Group has been awarded a contract to provide front-end engineering design (FEED) for a refinery in Thailand. The Star Petroleum Refining Company Limited (SPRC) awarded the contract for work on its residue fluidised catalytic cracking unit (RFCCU) (more…)

(EnergyAsia, May 24 2011, Tuesday) — High oil prices brought on by a combination of political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, and increased demand from post-March 11 quake Japan could threaten global economic growth, said Ernst & Young in a briefing last week. Releasing its latest quarterly global oil and gas forecast, (more…)

(EnergyAsia, May 24 2011, Tuesday) — OPEC expects world oil demand to grow by 1.4 million b/d in 2011, broadly unchanged from the previous report, following an increase of 2.1 million b/d last year. It said post-quake Japan and “economic uncertainty” in the US will offset continued demand growth in China, balancing the outlook for (more…)

(EnergyAsia, May 23 2011, Monday) — Singapore Exchange-listed engineering firm PEC Ltd has reported a 19% drop in net attributable profit to S$28.6 million on revenue of S$305.4 million for the nine months ended March 31. (US$1=S$1.25). Group revenue was 11% lower than the corresponding period for FY2010 due to the decrease in revenue from (more…)

(EnergyAsia, May 20 2011, Friday) — Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd (MHI) said it has received an order to supply two 350MW steam-turbines to be installed at two large-scale coal-fired thermal power plants in Morocco. MHI, which will also be sending technical advisers to work on the installation, did not disclose the project’s value. The (more…)

(EnergyAsia, May 20 2011, Friday) — Norwegian bank DnB NOR remains bullish on the outlook for the offshore and marine sector in Southeast Asia, with a ‘buy’ rating on eight out of 15 companies with stocks that it is tracking on the exchanges of Singapore, Malaysia and Norway. In a recent report, analysts Kay Lim, (more…)

(EnergyAsia, May 19 2001, Thursday) —- Switzerland’s Foster Wheeler AG said a subsidiary has secured a contract from Thai Oil Public Company Limited to provide basic design engineering package and engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCm) services for work on its refinery in Sriracha by the first quarter of 2013. The project’s objectives are to (more…)

(EnergyAsia, May 19 2011, Thursday) — Finland’s Wartsila said it has secured a contract from Kleven Maritime of Norway to design a new liquefied natural gas-powered platform supply vessel (PSV) for operator Rem Offshore, also of Norway. The contract includes the supply of the propulsion machinery, automation and other equipment for the vessel. Wartsila, a (more…)

(EnergyAsia, May 18 2011, Wednesday) — Australia’s Origin Energy Limited said it has acquired a 40% interest in Energía Andina SA (EASA), Chile’s leading geothermal exploration company. Origin acquired its stake from Empresa Nacional del Petróleo (ENAP) following a competitive bidding process run by ENAP. Antofagasta Minerals SA (AMSA) retains its majority 60% stake. Founded (more…)

(EnergyAsia, May 18 2011, Wednesday) — More than 8,800 visitors attended the three-day Macau International Environmental Co-operation Exhibition and Forum (2011 MIECF) last month, said its organisers, the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) and Macao Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA). They added that 31 pacts or agreements were signed on-site from March 31 to April (more…)

(EnergyAsia, May 18 2011, Wednesday) — The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has failed to make good its promise to raise production to make up for the loss of supply from war-torn Libya, according to US energy media Platts. In a survey of OPEC and oil industry officials and analysts, the McGraw-Hill subsidiary (more…)