(EnergyAsia, April 28 2011, Thursday) — ABB, the Switzerland-based power and automation technology group, said it has won an order worth US$18 million to upgrade and modernise control systems a 1,260 megawatt (MW) thermal power plant in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The contract was awarded by Gujarat State Electricity Company Limited (GSECL) for (more…)
(EnergyAsia, April 28 2011, Thursday) — Rolls-Royce, the UK-based global power systems company, said it recently secured a contract to supply gas compression equipment to PetroChina, the country’s largest oil and gas producer, for its West-East gas pipeline project. Rolls Royce said it will supply and install its RB211 gas turbine compressor packages at the (more…)
(EnergyAsia, April 28 2011, Thursday) — Australia Pacific LNG Pty Ltd has agreed to supply China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) 4.3 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year for 20 years from its coal seam gas (or coalbed methane) resources and proposed LNG facility on Curtis Island in Gladstone in Queensland state. (more…)
(EnergyAsia, April 28 2011, Thursday) — High inflation and soaring oil prices in emerging economies create new challenges but the global economic recovery should continue, according to the latest assessment by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In its recently released World Economic Outlook report, the IMF has maintained its global economic growth forecasts at 4.4%...
(EnergyAsia, April 28 2011, Thursday) — China Petrochemical Corp (Sinopec), Asia’s leading oil refiner, said it will stop oil-product exports indefinitely in the face of a worsening domestic supply squeeze and rising fuel prices that has triggered a major truckers’ strike in Shanghai. “We have suspended exports to regions other than Hong Kong and Macau,”...
(EnergyAsia, April 28 2011, Thursday) — Abu Dhabi’s state-owned International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) said it will proceed with plans to invest US$3 billion in a 200,000 b/d oil refinery in Fujairah. Expected to start up in 2016, the refinery will be linked by pipeline to a new deepwater terminal in Fujairah designed to handle...
(EnergyAsia, April 27 2011, Wednesday) — BP said it is investing A$20 million to expand its Largs North fuel terminal in Adelaide to enhance supply security in South Australia state. (US$1=A$0.93). The new tanks will increase the terminal’s diesel storage capacity from 75 million to 105 million litres when operational in late 2012. The UK...
(EnergyAsia, April 27 2011, Wednesday) — Shell Australia said it recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Marstel Holdings for the development of a greenfield diesel import facility at Newcastle Harbour by 2012. The new terminal will enable Shell to continue to grow its business in the Hunter Valley and through New South Wales state...
(EnergyAsia, April 27 2011, Wednesday) — The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to earn a record US$1 trillion in export revenues this year if crude prices stay above US$100 a barrel. Both US WTI and North Sea Brent have climbed above the US$100 mark since late January, with Brent...
(EnergyAsia, April 27 2011, Wednesday) — Japan’s oil refiners have raised their throughput to the four-million-b/d level they were operating at before the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disaster took down refineries in eastern and northeastern Japan, said the Petroleum Association of Japan chief. They have restarted some of the plants in the affected areas...
(EnergyAsia, April27 2011, Wednesday) — The world oil market will remain tight over the next two years with demand seen rising by 1.5 million b/d in 2011 and 1.6 million b/d 2012, said the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). As a result, the world will have to drawdown inventories and rely on “significant increases” in the...
(EnergyAsia, April 27 2011, Wednesday) — China’s oil appetite remained strong, rising 10.5% year-on-year to 38.96 million metric tons (mt), or 9.2 million b/d, in March said McGraw-Hill’s energy media specialist Platts. While March demand eased from February’s peak of 9.58 million b/d, Platts said this is still fairly robust, as the world’s second largest (more…)
(EnergyAsia, April 26 2011, Tuesday) — Regulations and widespread government support would be needed for the shipping industry in Southeast Asia to rapidly adopt liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a bunker fuel, said industry experts. They made this point in response to a collective effort by several companies led by Norway’s DNV and the Singapore...
(EnergyAsia, April 26 2011, Tuesday) — After years of debate and planning, the Philippine government has begun building a strategic oil reserve to provide for emergency fuel in the event of supply disruptions. In in a speech marking the 35th anniversary of the Philippine National Oil Co.-Exploration Corp. (PNOC-EC) last week, President Benigno Aquino III said...
(EnergyAsia, April 26 2011, Tuesday) — Crude oil production by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries declined by around 2% on-month to 29.17 million b/d in March, said energy media group Platts. There are signs that the cartel’s output could continue declining in April, with Iran seen cutting production. Saudi Arabia, the holder of the world’s biggest...
(EnergyAsia, April 26 2011, Tuesday) — The absence of Libya’s 1.6 million b/d of oil production is lending strong support to the global markets and keeping prices well above US$100 a barrel, said BP Plc group chief economist Christof Ruhl. Countries wracked by political instability and conflict often take years to return to normalcy, and in...
(EnergyAsia, April 26 2011, Tuesday) — Brent crude oil is expected to trade at a record average US$100 a barrel this year on robust economic growth in emerging markets, the declining value of the US dollar and the loss of Libya’s oil, said various analysts. Bank of America Merrill Lynch is the most bullish, giving a...
(EnergyAsia, April 26 2011, Tuesday) — State-owned oil and gas firm CNOOC plans to build a large natural gas pipeline along the southern coast of China to support the operations of existing and new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals. The proposed pipeline will connect the country’s existing LNG receiving terminals in Guangdong and Fujian, as...
(EnergyAsia, April 25 2011, Monday) — Malaysia’s state-owned oil and gas firm Petronas said it has agreed to sell off its 14.94% stake in Cairn India Limited to India’s Vedanta Group for about US$2.1 billion. Sesa Goa, a Vedanta subsidiary, is offering to buy Cairn India shares from minority shareholders for 335 rupees per share. (more…)
(EnergyAsia, April 25 2011, Monday) — Japan’s nuclear crisis is set to exceed Chernobyl’s impact on the nation’s economy and the environment, making it the worst on record. A month after the Fukushima Dai-Chi nuclear plant was damaged in the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, Japanese regulators officially, and reluctantly, raised the scale of the...
(EnergyAsia, April 25 2011, Monday) — Unable to move most of its crude in the face of a tightened Western-led trade sanction, Iran may be storing up to 38 million barrels of crude oil at sea, according to US-listed tanker firm Overseas Shipholding. The company said Iran may be storing the oil in 19 Very...
(EnergyAsia, April 25 2011, Monday) — One of Australia’s leading upstream companies, Woodside Petroleum, has warned that the country’s thriving liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector could face a drastic slowdown if it does not overcome the worsening shortage of skilled workers. CEO Don Voelte has told the government and trade groups to allow for greater...
(EnergyAsia, April 25 2011, Monday) — Australian Energy Minister Martin Ferguson said his country is well-placed to help meet any increase in demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Japan which has lost a significant portion of its nuclear power capacity following the March 11 quake and tsunami disaster. Japan is increasing the use of...
(EnergyAsia, April 25 2011, Monday) — Soaring bunker costs are starting to hurt shipping firms particularly those that trade more of their vessels on the spot freight market and on short intra-Asia trade routes. One of them, MCC Transport, Maersk’s container line subsidiary in Asia, said some shippers are struggling to continue unless customers agree...
(EnergyAsia, April 21 2011, Thursday) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is promoting the use of electric vehicles in the Philippines as a cost-effective and energy-efficient mode of transportation. Last week, Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III transferred 20 ADB-funded electric tricycles (e-trikes) to the City of Mandaluyong, marking an important first step towards a (more…)