(EnergyAsia, May 5 2011, Thursday) — Norway’s DnB NOR Markets has issued a buy rating on RH Petrogas, a Singapore Exchange-listed upstream oil and gas company with asset exposure to China and Indonesia. Calling the company a “heavy hitter”, DnB NOR has set a price target of S$1.12 on the stock from its recent level (more…)
(EnergyAsia, May 5 2011, Thursday) — PHI Energy Corporation, a minority owned subsidiary of US-based PHI Group Inc, said it and AXN Group LLC have agreed to jointly purchase coal mine assets from Indonesia’s PT Dian Anugrah Pratama (DAP). PHI Group is engaged in merger and acquisition advisory services, real estate development, and mining and (more…)
(EnergyAsia, May 5 2011, Thursday) — Clean Coal Technologies Inc (CCTI), a New York-based clean energy technology company, said it has signed an agreement to license its technology to China’s Huamin Senior Fund Holding Group Co Ltd. As part of the agreement, Huamin will initially construct a 1.5-million-ton-per-year clean coal facility that will be gradually (more…)
(EnergyAsia, May 5 2011, Thursday) — PSL Holdings Limited, a Singapore Exchange-listed foundation-engineering specialist and supplier of construction equipment and crawler cranes, said it has ventured into the coal mining business in Indonesia. Its wholly owned subsidiary, PSL Energy Resources Pte Ltd, has bought a 11.5% stake in Sindo Resources Pte Ltd which owns PT...
(EnergyAsia, May 5 2011, Thursday) — Indonesian coal producer Adaro Energy aims to raise production by 14% this year to 48 million tons, said corporate secretary Devindra Ratzarwin. It also seeks to increase its sales value by 24%, with the average selling price expected to rise 18.5% to US$69 per ton. The company is looking...
(EnergyAsia, May 5 2011, Thursday) — India expects to attract up to 650 billion rupees in oil investments including refineries, said Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister S. Sundareshan. (US$1=44 rupees). India’s refining capacity is set to expand to 240 million tonnes per year by March 2012 from 188 million at present. Its refining capacity currently...
(EnergyAsia, May 5 2011, Thursday) — Bohai Sea could provide much-needed supply of water to support coal production in the mines in the arid Inner Mongolia region of China, according to a university professor. Huo Youguang, a professor in the Center for Environment and Modern Agriculture Engineering at Xi’an Jiaotong University in Zhanxi Province, has...
(EnergyAsia, May 4 2011, Wednesday) — Japan’s earthquake-tsunami-nuclear disaster of March 11 will have a major impact on the country’s industrial production and Asian economies, and the possibility of “large” downside risks over coming months, said the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In a special report, IMF economists suggest industrial production will be particularly hard hit...
(EnergyAsia, May 4 2011, Wednesday) — NYSE-listed Puda Coal Inc said it has received a preliminary non-binding proposal from its chairman, Ming Zhao, to acquire all its outstanding common stock shares in a private transaction at up to US$12 per share in cash. Mr Zhao, who is under investigation for alleged unauthorised transactions in the...
(EnergyAsia, May 4 2011, Wednesday) — The coal industry in Australia’s Queensland’s state remains hobbled by the inability of Dalrymple Bay, Australia’s largest export terminal for coking coal, to resume full operations as a result of damages suffered from months of floods and cyclones. Queensland, which accounts for 90% of Australia’s steel-making coal exports, is...
(EnergyAsia, May 4 2011, Wednesday) — The Chinese government is aiming to build up an emergency stockpile of five million tonnes of steam coal by end-May to guard against future supply shortages. Ironically, news of the impending move contributed to the tightening of supplies and a run-up in thermal coal prices higher to a four-month...
(EnergyAsia, May 4 2011, Wednesday) — China Shenhua Energy Co Ltd is planning to invest 10 billion yuan to build a coal processing plant near the border between China and Mongolia, according to the Wulate Middle Banner commission of development of reform. (US$1=6.5 yuan). The proposed plant, to be located in Ganqimaodu Customs Processing Park,...
(EnergyAsia, May 4 2011, Wednesday) — Bumi Resources, Asia’s biggest thermal coal exporter, expects higher-than-expected coal prices to boost its revenue for 2011. Bumi said the average selling price for coal may reach at least US$80 per tonne this year, up from its earlier budgeted price of US$77 per tonne. With that, Bumi has raised...
(EnergyAsia, May 4 2011, Wednesday) — Asia’s rapid economic growth is being fuelled by both exports and domestic demand, said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its latest Regional Economic Outlook (REO) for Asia and the Pacific. The region’s economy is expected to grow by nearly seven percent this and next year, said Anoop Singh, (more…)
(EnergyAsia, May 3 2011, Tuesday) — The US could raise its coal exports to Asia by 70% to more than 20 million tonnes this year, thanks to a weaker dollar, increased demand from Japan and a worsening supply squeeze in the region, said US coal producer Xcoal Energy & Resources. This would continue the recent...
(EnergyAsia, May 3 2011, Tuesday) — China’s coal production rose at a faster rate than sales in the first quarter compared with the same period last year, said the China Coal Industry Association. The country’s coal production rose 60.6 million tones or nearly 8.3% to 792 million tonnes during the quarter while sales rose 48.5...
(EnergyAsia, May 3 2011, Tuesday) — Contrary to the claims of industry promoters, natural gas drawn from shale isn’t cleaner than coal, said researchers at Cornell University in the US. A study by a group of researchers led by Robert Howarth published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal found that more greenhouse gases are emitted by...
(EnergyAsia, May 3 2011, Tuesday) — Khalid A. Al-Falih, president and CEO of the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco), has invited South Korea to expand economic ties and increase its investments in the energy sector in Saudi Arabia. Speaking to the Korean Chamber of Commerce last week, Mr Al-Falih said his country admired the...
(EnergyAsia, May 3 2011, Tuesday) — Two international banks have agreed to lend state Vietnam National Coal, Mineral Industries Holding Corp (Vinacomin) US$275 million to build a coal-fired power plant in northern Vietnam by end-2012. BNP Paribas and Bank of China signed the contract last month for the 440MW plant at Mao Khe in Quang...
(EnergyAsia, May 3 2011, Tuesday) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it will provide up to US$150 million in credit guarantees to help India scale up its use of solar power as a major renewable energy source. The guarantees will be available to local and foreign commercial banks that finance private sector solar power (more…)
(EnergyAsia, May 3 2011, Tuesday) — The Siemens-Samsung consortium executing the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for Island Power’s project on Singapore’s Jurong Island officially took over the site and started work on April 22. The EPC contract for the 800MW plant, signed in January 2007 when the project was owned by US-based Intergen, (more…)
(EnergyAsia, April 29 2011, Friday) — The Harren & Partner Group and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners said they have agreed to invest a total of US$500 million in Singapore-based OIG Offshore Installation Group to help finance the company’s strategic growth and acquisition of additional vessels. OIG Offshore Installation Group is an offshore engineering contract procurement (more…)
(EnergyAsia, April 29 2011, Friday) — OPEC said its reference basket price rose sharply to US$120 a barrel in late April, its highest level since 2008, capping a run of seven consecutive months of price increase. The reference price averaged nearly US$110 in March, and just over US$100 in February, showing the strength of the...
(EnergyAsia, April 29 2011, Friday) — China and Russia appear to be taking different approaches to settle a dispute over a 20-year oil supply deal hailed as one of their most important bilateral achievements when it was signed in 2009. While Russia’s state-owned oil and gas firm Rosneft and oil pipeline operator Transneft have gone...
(EnergyAsia, April 29 2011, Friday) — The contract price of thermal coal has risen to an all-time high, supported by rising demand from China and India, and Japan’s renewed interest. With nuclear power programmes facing cutbacks around the world following the crisis at Japan’s Fukushima reactors, countries will increase their demand for the three main...