(EnergyAsia, November 25 2011, Friday) — Two years after the launch of a major pipeline linking the two countries, Turkmenistan will soon meet more than half of China’s natural gas demand. On Wednesday, November 23, China signed a new agreement to raise its annual gas purchase volume from the Central Asian producer from 40 billion...
(EnergyAsia, November 25 2011, Friday) — Brazil has banned Chevron Corp from further offshore drilling despite the US oil major accepting full responsibility for an oil spill and pledging to counter the damage. State regulator Agencia Nacional do Petroleo (ANP) demanded that Chevron, which operates the US$3.6 billion Frade offshore field, improve its safety practices, while (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 25 2011, Friday) — US engineering firm Black & Veatch said it has hired Kaushik Mukherjee as its India regional general manager for sales to work with local clients on energy infrastructure. Based in Black & Veatch’s Mumbai office, Mr Mukherjee has 18 years of extensive planning and engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 24 2011, Thursday) — CNOOC Limited, China’s largest offshore oil and gas producer, has appointed Li Fanrong as its new CEO with immediate effect, succeeding Yang Hua. Mr Li has served in a variety of operating, engineering and management positions in the Chinese offshore oil and gas industry for over 27 years, including (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 24 2011, Thursday) — Australia Pacific LNG Pty Limited said it has signed an agreement for the annual supply of one million tonnes of liquefied natural gas to Japan’s Kansai Electric Power Company for 20 years. The Australian firm will supply the LNG from its planned export terminal on Curtis Island in Queensland (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 24 2011, Thursday) — Singapore’s move to consider importing electricity from its Southeast Asian neighbours appears to be borne more out of weakness and desperation rather than planned strategy. Dependent on Indonesia and Malaysia for natural gas supplies to generate 80% of its electricity, Singapore has been working hard to diversify its energy...
(EnergyAsia, November 24 2011, Thursday) — The following is an edited version of an interview by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with Ana Lucia Coronel, its Mission Chief for Kazakhstan, and Narayanan Raman, an economist in the fund’s Strategy, Policy, and Review Department. With nearly 40 billion barrels in reserves and 2% of global production,...
(EnergyAsia, November 24 2011, Thursday) — As spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices surged from US$7 to US$18-19 per million British thermal unit (BTU) over the course of 2011, Singapore bolstered its position as Asia’s leading energy trading centre. With oil already in the bag, it has been quietly building up its leadership in coal...
(EnergyAsia, November 23 2011, Wednesday) — With at least 15 projects being planned, Australia’s natural gas production is expected to triple to over 6,000 petajoules or 5,700 billion cubic feet (bcf) over the next decade, said energy economics group EnergyQuest. Of the 15 projects, eight projects will be under construction by the end of 2011,...
(EnergyAsia, November 23 2011, Wednesday) — Indian Oil Corp, the country’s largest refiner, said it is targeting to boost its annual refining capacity by 87% to 123 million tonnes or 2.46 million b/d by March 2021. Indian Oil and its subsidiary Chennai Petroleum Corp, which now control 10 refineries with a total capacity of 65...
(EnergyAsia, November 23 2011, Wednesday) — The Indian government said it has paid out 150 billion rupees to three state-owned oil refiners for losses incurred for selling fuel below cost in the second quarter of the current financial year. According to the Oil Ministry’s secretary, G.C. Chaturvedi, half of that was paid out to Indian...
(EnergyAsia, November 23 2011, Wednesday) — Qatargas said it has delivered its first Q-Max liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo to China. The cargo was delivered by the Bu Samra carrier to PetroChina’s recently commissioned LNG receiving terminal at Rudong in Jiangsu province as part of a long-term supply contract between the two countries signed in (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 23 2011, Wednesday) — Kazakhstan’s hydrocarbon-fired economy is staging a strong recovery on account of high oil prices and rising agricultural output, but its banking system is a “cause for concern” amid “a rapidly deteriorating external environment”, said the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This was the pronouncement of an IMF mission led by (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 22 2011, Tuesday) — China’s third West-to-East gas pipeline network will deliver up to 30 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas from Central Asia to as far away as southeastern Fujian province when it starts operating two years from now. By 2013, the three networks that make up China’s West-to-East pipelines measuring...
(EnergyAsia, November 22 2011, Tuesday) — The following are extracts from a new book, “Turkmenistan: Strategies of Power, Dilemmas of Development” (M.E. Sharpe, 2012) by Sebastien Peyrouse. The vast hydrocarbon riches that Turkmenistan enjoys are second in Central Asia only to Kazakhstan. But while there are many potential customers, Turkmenistan has not managed to...
(EnergyAsia, November 22 2011, Tuesday) — US major Chevron has accepted “full responsibility” for an ongoing oil spill off the Brazilian coast caused by its drilling operations 370 km off the northeastern coast of Rio de Janeiro. As a result of under-estimating the pressure in an underwater reservoir, Chevron said an appraisal well sprung a (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 22 2011, Tuesday) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have agreed to increase cooperation on projects to build capacity and promote public private partnerships across the Caucasus and Central Asia. Last week, ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda and EBRD President Thomas Mirow signed (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 22 2011, Tuesday) — Honeywell said it has secured the role of main electrical and instrumentation building contractor from the Hoang Long Joint Operating Company (HLJOC) for its H-04 wellhead platform in Vietnam’s Te Giac Trang (TGT) offshore field. The award follows Honeywell’s successful completion of work on the field’s first phase earlier (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 21 2011, Monday) — Ministers from 10 countries spanning the Caucuses, and Central, East and South Asia will gather in Baku in Azerbaijan this week to mark a decade of achievement. According to the Asian Development Bank, this will include US$17 billion of investments in energy, trade and transportation under the Central Asia (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 21 2011, Monday) — Having tied up sales to China the last two years, Turkmenistan is hoping to export as much as 30 billion cubic metres of natural gas a year to Europe through a new pipeline that would bypass Russia. The Turkmen plan, which involves tapping into the country’s second largest gas...
(EnergyAsia, November 21 2011, Monday) — Russian energy giant Gazprom and its subsidiaries are on course to claim a world record US$51 billion in oil and gas capital expenditures this year, according to local media reports. The amount includes Gazprom’s programme to invest US$41.4 billion, and nearly US$10 billion in total by its various subsidiaries...
(EnergyAsia, November 21 2011, Monday) — Thanks to the restructuring of its oil exports including improved taxation, Russia has achieved a “sustainable role” as a global oil power, according to US-based consultant ESAI Energy. In a new multi-client study entitled “Russia Comes of Age: Restructured Exports Strengthen Russia’s Hand in Oil Markets,” ESAI said changes...
(EnergyAsia, November 21 2011, Monday) — The US Clean Air Council (CAC) has asked the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) to intervene as a result of the failure of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s (PA DEP) to properly regulate fracking and gas processing pollution that contributes to climate change. Clean Air Council, a non-profit environmental...
(EnergyAsia, November 18 2011, Friday) — The supply of natural gas from shale and unconventional sources, on which the world is relying to meet its future energy demand, now faces new concerns that the controversial fracturing method of production may have caused localised earthquakes in the UK and the US. Cuadrilla Resources, a British company...
(EnergyAsia, November 18 2011, Friday) — Singapore has moved forward with its plans for using smart grids and renewable energy sources to develop a robust and efficient future electricity system. The Agency for Science, Technology and Research’s (A*STAR) has launched the nation’s S$38-million Experimental Power Grid Centre (EPGC) to support the development of future smart (more…)