(EnergyAsia, December 2 2011, Friday) — The joint developers of the Columboola Project in the Surat Basin of Australia’s Queensland state said they have more than doubled its inferred coal reserves by 757 million tonnes to 1.297 billion tonnes. In a joint statement, Australia’s MetroCoal Limited and China’s SinoCoal Resources Pty Ltd, said drilling results...
(EnergyAsia, December 2 2011, Friday) — Brazil’s state-owned Petrobras is likely to continue owning and operating an 80,000 b/d oil refinery in Japan’s Okinawa which it acquired separately from previous shareholders ExxonMobil in 2008 and Sumitomo Corp in 2010. While not excluding the possibility of selling the refinery, Petrobras may have a business case for holding...
(EnergyAsia, December 2 2011, Friday) — Canada’s Nexen Inc said it and CNOOC Limited have agreed to a joint venture giving the Chinese firm a working interest in up to six deepwater exploration wells in the Gulf of Mexico. The agreement covers the Kakuna well, which is being drilled, and the Angel Fire well, which (more…)
(EnergyAsia, December 2 2011, Friday) — New Zealand’s LanzaTech said it and Yankuang Group, one of China’s largest coal producers, will jointly produce fuels and chemicals using LanzaTech’s biological fermentation process and synthesis gas from Yankuang’s coal gasification unit. Witnessed by the US Ambassador to China, Gary Locke, as part of a US Trade Mission (more…)
(EnergyAsia, December 2 2011, Friday) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it has approved a US310 million loan for the construction of a 750MW combined cycle gas-fired power plant to supply much needed electricity to southern Vietnam. The proposed US$793.5 million plant is one of four being developed at the O Mon thermal power (more…)
(EnergyAsia, December 1 2011, Thursday) — Mechel OAO, a leading Russian mining and metals company, said it has resumed coal production at its New-Olzherassk underground mine. The company suspended operations at the mine operated by subsidiary Southern Kuzbass Coal Company, in August 2010 for repair and upgrades. By year’s end, the company expects the mine’s (more…)
(EnergyAsia, December 1 2011, Thursday) — Vietnam looks to be joining the growing Asian bandwagon to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Australia and Qatar. Traditionally an energy exporter, Vietnam is facing shortages of coal and fuel as its energy demand is growing at a faster rate than its domestic reserves. State PetroVietnam subsidiary PV...
(EnergyAsia, December 1 2011, Thursday) — Fed up with what it sees is persistent political interference, Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas is threatening to close down its 135,000 b/d oil refinery in Durban in South Africa. The company has complained that its majority-owned Engen subsidiary has been subject to “serious challenges” from local politicians and community groups...
(EnergyAsia, December 1 2011, Thursday) — Idemitsu Kosan Co, Japan’s third-largest oil company, could lose nearly a fifth of its 640,000 b/d refining capacity by March 2014 if it chooses not to comply with new government regulations to upgrade ageing plants. The company said it plans to shut down its 120,000 b/d Tokuyama refinery in...
(EnergyAsia, December 1 2011, Thursday) — Standard & Poor said it has placed the two main credit ratings of China-based Winsway Coking Coal Holdings Ltd, which recently announced plans to acquire a Canadian coal miner, on watch with negative implications. Winsway, which formed a joint venture with Japan’s Marubeni to acquire Grand Cache Coal, has...
(EnergyAsia, November 30 2011, Wednesday) — Japanese demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) could grow by more than 25% to over 100 million tonnes next year after surging by over 15% this year to a record of more than 80 million tonnes in 2011, said a senior executive from the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals...
(EnergyAsia, November 30 2011, Wednesday) — Oil, not the financial markets, is the key driver of current account fluctuations and global economic dislocations, and is leading the world down an unsustainable path of development, according to the Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Oil will likely account for 96% of the US trade deficit this year and...
(EnergyAsia, November 30 2011, Wednesday) — Air Liquide said it has secured a contract to supply China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation or Sinopec 200,000 normal cubic metre per hour (Nm3/h) of gaseous oxygen and nitrogen for use at its existing MPCC oil refinery in Maoming in China’s Guangdong province as well as an upcoming coal-to-hydrogen (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 30 2011, Wednesday) — A Japanese consortium of upstream company Inpex and engineering firm JGC has agreed to pay C$700 million for a 40% stake in a shale gas prospect in Canada’s British Columbia province. Calgary, Alberta-based Nexen Inc retains a 60% stake and will continue to operate the project to extract and (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 29 2011, Tuesday) — CNOOC Ltd, China’s leading offshore oil company, said it has completed its C$2.1 billion acquisition of Opti Canada Ltd, a financially stricken oilsands producer in Alberta province. The acquisition gives CNOOC a 35% stake in the Nexen-operated C$6.1-billion Long Lake oil sands project, which is producing below its 72,000 (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 29 2011, Tuesday) — In response to growing environmental pressures, one of Australia’s main local oil and gas companies said it is pulling out of a controversial gas pipeline project while warning that any attempts to delay or halt coal seam developments would hurt the industry and the economy. Addressing a Parliamentary inquiry,...
(EnergyAsia, November 29 2011, Tuesday) — Global oil demand is expected to rise by 900,000 b/d to 87.8 million b/d this year, and by 1.2 million b/d to 89 million b/d next year, according to the latest monthly forecast issued by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). In keeping unchanged its forecast for global...
(EnergyAsia, November 29 2011, Tuesday) — The Australian government said it will apply increased research and scientific investigations into the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, method of gas production amid growing complaints in the country and around the world that it is causing water contamination and earthquakes. Prime Minister Julia Gillard said her government will provide...
(EnergyAsia, November 29 2011, Tuesday) — Global oil demand is expected to rise by around 900,000 b/d to 89.2 million b/d this year and by 1.3 million b/d to 90.5 million b/d next year, according to the latest monthly forecast issued by the International Energy Agency (IEA). The latest forecast represents a slight decline from (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 28 2011, Monday) — Liquid Niugini Gas Ltd, a company jointly owned by InterOil Corp and Pacific LNG Operations Ltd, has signed a heads of agreement (HOA) to supply Gunvor Singapore Pte Ltd one million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) a year for 15 years from 2015. The LNG will be sourced (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 28 2011, Monday) — Oil and gas pipelines and transportation infrastructure are among projects being considered by Central Asian governments and senior representatives of development agencies who met in Baku in Azerbaijan last week to work out a new 10-year strategy for the region. An oil transportation system and a natural gas pipeline (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 28 2011, Monday) — State-owned natural gas company GAIL said its subsidiary, GAIL Global (Singapore) Pte Ltd, has started trading and procuring liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply for the Indian market. The company expects to import its first cargo in coming months with India’s domestic natural gas demand expected to rise to 189...
(EnergyAsia, November 28 2011, Monday) — India will boost its oil refining capacity by over 60% to more than 310 million tonnes over the course of the current five-year plan to March 31 2017, predicts Oil Minister S. Jaipal Reddy. The completion of new world-scale refineries in Orissa and Punjab states will substantially expand the...
(EnergyAsia, November 28 2011, Monday) — China’s apparent oil demand for October edged up by 1.4% year-over-year to 38.42 million metric tons (mt) or 9.08 million b/d, the highest in five months, according to Platts’ analysis of recently released government statistics. Last month’s demand was the strongest since May’s 9.31 million b/d, and was also...
(EnergyAsia, November 25 2011, Friday) — Two international energy companies separately have predicted that China’s demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) will rise by six times by the end of this decade. Europe’s GDF Suez SA expects China’s annual LNG consumption to surge to 44 million tonnes while Australia’s Woodside Petroleum believes demand from both...