(EnergyAsia, March 1 2016, Tuesday) — Low oil and gas prices, asset write-offs and a weaker local currency combined to sink Malaysian state energy firm Petronas’s after-tax profits by 56.3% to RM20.8 for 2015. Revenues were down 24.7% to RM247.7 billion while cashflow crashed by a third to RM69.6 billion, dragged down mostly by a…
(EnergyAsia, February 29 2016, Monday) — Australian upstream company Santos said it wrote off a further A$3.924 billion worth of assets after reporting a record loss of A$2.9 billion last year as oil and gas prices continued their rapid descent from mid-2014. (US$1=A$1.4). The tide of red ink flowed through from 2014 when the company…
(EnergyAsia, February 22 2016, Monday) — Despite being recently freed of most sanctions to trade with the world, Iran will be hard pressed to produce more than 500,000 b/d of crude oil this year owing to a combination of “technical and political hurdles”, said Moody’s Investor Service….
(EnergyAsia, February 18 2016, Thursday) — Five of China’s leading state-owned oil firms and some of their subsidiaries have been placed on review by Moody’s Investor Service for a possible downgrade of their current Aa3 credit ratings….
(EnergyAsia, February 16 2016, Tuesday) — Concluding their largest bilateral trade deal, Qatar will soon begin an annual supply of 3.75 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Pakistan over the next 15 years. State-owned Qatar Liquefied Gas Company or Qatargas, the world’s largest LNG firm with 42-million tons of production capacity, expects to...
(EnergyAsia, February 13 2016, Saturday) — Led by Japan, Asia’s use of an established crude oil-based formula to price its liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports will likely continue into the next decade, according to one of the region’s leading energy economists….
(EnergyAsia, February 12 2016, Friday) — For all its illustrious history as Asia’s oil centre, Singapore is still missing a vital piece in its quest to become a full-fledged energy trading hub: a successful futures exchange to support price discovery and regional paper trades….
(EnergyAsia, Singapore, February 2 2016, Tuesday) – Swiss chemical logistics firm Bertschi AG will invest another S$20 million in a dangerous goods warehouse to add to its newly opened S$45 million plant on Singapore’s oil and chemicals hub on Jurong Island. (US$1=S$1.42). Hans-Jörg Bertschi, President and CEO of Bertschi Holding AG, made the announcement for...
(EnergyAsia, February 1 2016, Monday) — Japan’s ailing energy-intensive economy continues to struggle for life despite the infusion of an unexpected windfall from prolonged weak oil and gas prices since mid-2014….
(EnergyAsia, January 28 2016, Thursday) — Singapore expects to start supplying liquefied natural gas (LNG) as shipping fuel from 2017 following the first awards of licences to two operators, said the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA). The agency announced that it has selected Singapore’s Pavilion Gas Pte Ltd, and a soon-to-be-established joint venture...
(EnergyAsia, January 25 2016, Monday) — The precarious fate of Japan’s nuclear power industry will cast an uncertain shadow over the country’s energy outlook for at least the next 15 years, suggests its state planning agency. The bulk of Japan’s nuclear power plants, which used to supply nearly 30% of its electricity, remains idled after…
(EnergyAsia, January 21 2016, Thursday) — Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and China’s President Xi Jinping have officially launched a 400,000 b/d oil refinery in Yanbu city jointly owned by their countries’ state energy firms that will help deepen China’s involvement in the Middle East….
(EnergyAsia, January 20 2016, Wednesday) — China’s slowing economy has been decisively confirmed by a slew of negative industrial data for 2015. Coal production, imports, consumption were all down along with electricity, cement and steel production, according to the Australia-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). Citing official Chinese sources, the institute...
(EnergyAsia, January 17 2016, Sunday) — Japan’s JERA Co Inc has set its sights on meeting at least half its 40 million tonnes/year of liquefied natural gas (LNG) purchases through spot trades to take advantage of expected low prices over the next few years….
(EnergyAsia, January 15 2016, Friday) — India’s Petronet LNG Limited has received the first cargo from RasGas Company Ltd under their new sales and purchase agreement (SPA) signed on December 31 2015, said the Qatar state-owned company. The LNG cargo was delivered by the Al Thumama (Q-Flex) vessel to Dahej LNG Terminal in India’s Gujarat...
(EnergyAsia, January 15 2016, Friday) — Weighed down by a first decline in Asian consumption after years of strong growth, global demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) fell two percent to 245 million tonnes last year, said UK consulting firm Wood Mackenzie. A supply glut opened up as production rose by four million tonnes to...
(EnergyAsia, December 3 2015, Thursday) — The International Energy Agency (IEA) has delivered another piece of news to beat down any hopes for a near-term recovery in oil prices: global stockpile have just topped a record three billion barrels….
(EnergyAsia, December 2 2015, Wednesday) — Moody’s Investor Service said Asian downstream oil companies can expect modest growth and healthy margins in 2016 with crude prices staying low and the region’s refining capacity glut easing off….
(EnergyAsia, November 25 2015, Wednesday) — Faced with its worst economic and financial downturn in nearly a decade, Kazakhstan is looking again to China to repeat its rescue act of 2008-2009.
(EnergyAsia, November 24 2015, Tuesday) — Thanks to the adoption of fracking technology, the US boosted its oil reserves to a 42-year high of 39 billion barrels and natural gas to an all-time high of 388.8 trillion cubic feet (11 trillion cubic metres) at the end of 2014. But, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said...
(EnergyAsia, November 23 2015, Monday) — Down by over 65% since mid-2014, crude oil prices could fall another 50% to the US$20s a barrel next year, said analysts at Wall Street firms….
(EnergyAsia, November 20 2015, Friday) — Despite reports of a December start-up, the construction of possibly Asia’s most ambitious pipeline project to supply natural gas from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India remains shrouded in doubt as it faces a myriad of mounting financial, political and security problems….
(EnergyAsia, November 13 2015, Friday) — Iraq’s hydrocarbon-rich Basra province is establishing a regional company to attract foreign direct investment to build up its oil, gas and infrastructure for the long-term development of the economy. “Basra Company is the vehicle through which the provincial government will optimise utilisation of resources and position Basra as the...
(EnergyAsia, November 12 2015, Thursday) — The world is at risk of becoming complacent to energy security threats with an expected prolonged period of low oil and gas prices looming ahead, said the International Energy Agency (IEA). While consumers stand to benefit, the market is increasingly at risk from both a growing reliance on a...
(EnergyAsia, November 3 2015, Tuesday) — Jubail Chemicals Storage and Services Company (JCSSC), a company 25% owned by Royal Vopak of the Netherlands, has signed two agreements to provide liquid product storage and handling services at the King Fahd Industrial Port (KFIP) in Jubail in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province. JCSSC, 75% owned by Saudi Basic...