(EnergyAsia, March 17 2011, Thursday) — Foster Wheeler AG said it and consortium partners, A Al-Saihati, A Fattani & O Al-Othman Consulting Engineering Co (SOFCON) and Saudi Consolidated Engineering Co-Khatib & Alami (SCEC K&A), will provide general engineering services to Saudi Aramco for a five-year period. The global engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) specialist said (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 17 2011, Thursday) — The UAE economy is expected to grow by 3.25% this year while inflation will remain “moderate” at 4% due to declining rents, said the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The agency made this assessment following an Article IV consultation mission led by Taline Koranchelian to the UAE from February 27 (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 16 2011, Wednesday) — The importance of Australia’s brown coal and world-class reserves were highlighted at last week’s Australia-Japan High Level Group on Energy and Minerals Consultations at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre in the Australia’s Victoria state. At its 4th annual session, the bilateral meeting opened opportunities for business and government (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 16 2011, Wednesday) — Asia’s steam coal prices have been rising since last Friday’s 8.9-scale earthquake and tsunami devastated a large part of northern Japan, damaging or destroying a large part of their nuclear-power and refining capacities. FOB Newcastle, Australia prices edged up to just below US$130 per tonne on Tuesday (March 15),...
(EnergyAsia, March 16 2011, Wednesday) — The share prices of US coal companies are expected to rise further on expectations that Japan will need to increase imports to make up for the loss of its refineries and nuclear power plants from last Friday’s devastating earthquake and tsunamis. Japan has lost a significant portion of its...
(EnergyAsia, March 16 2011, Wednesday) — Canada could lose valuable exports of metallurgical coal for steel production to Japan in the short term as a result of last Friday’s devastating earthquake off northern Honshu Island. More than 2,000 people are confirmed dead while more than 10,000 are reported missing after an 8.9-richter quake and tsunamis...
(EnergyAsia, March 16 2011, Wednesday) — Australia’s energy exports to Japan could suffer “serious consequences” in the wake of the devastating 8.9-richter scale earthquake and resulting tsunamis that struck off northern Honshu Island last Friday, according to a University of Queensland economist. As Japan accounts for 23% of Australia’s energy exports, Liam Wagner, a research...
(EnergyAsia, March 15 2011, Monday) — globalCOAL, a leading online coal trading platform, said it has signed up Korea Western Power Co Ltd, SK Networks Co Ltd and Klandee Resources Pte Ltd as members. State‐owned Korea Western Power (KOWEPO) is one of South Korea’s major electricity generators, while Seoul-based SK Networks is a leading energy (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 15 2011, Tuesday) — Queensland Gas Company (QGC) is being investigated by the state government for breaching Australia’s national safety code after a local farmer discovered toxic chemicals contamination to an underground water source within the Great Artesian Basin system. QGC, which is leading A$15 billion project to develop coal seam gas or...
(EnergyAsia, March 15 2011, Tuesday) — The Chinese government has pledged to further improve safety in its coal mines after revealing a slight drop in coal mining deaths last year. The State Administration of Work Safety reported that 2,433 people died in coal mine accidents last year, down from 2,631 in 2009. In 2002, a...
(EnergyAsia, March 15 2011, Tuesday) — China Coal Energy Co Ltd said its coal sales for January surged 27.7% on year to 9.09 million tonnes.In a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the world’s third-largest coal miner said its output of commercial coal increased 5.6% on year to 8.82 million tonnes in January, while its...
(EnergyAsia, March 15 2011, Tuesday) — Contrary to official predictions, coal will continue to dominate China’s energy mix despite the government’s efforts to reduce its dependence on the fossil fuel. Datong Coal Mine Group, China’s third-biggest coal producer, plans to raise its output to 200 million tonnes a year by 2015, up from 113 million...
(EnergyAsia, March 15 2011, Tuesday) — The unfolding nuclear crisis in Japan is the worst since Russia’s Chernobyl, said Washington DC-based environmental group Friends of the Earth (FOE). There have been two explosions at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility in northern Japan since an 8.9-richter scale earthquake struck off the coast last Friday, triggering tsunamis, (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 14 2011, Monday) — Singapore is Asia’s greenest metropolis thanks to its ambitious environmental targets and its efficient approach to achieving them, according to a study commissioned by Siemens AG and performed by the independent Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Singapore was the only city to be rated ‘well above average’ in the five-rating (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 14 2011, Monday) — Brushing aside profitability concerns and controversy over the use of food palm oil for making fuel, Finland’s Neste Oil Corporation officially launched its 800,000-metric-tonne renewable diesel plant in Tuas at the industrial south-western part of Singapore last week. The company said the 550-million-euro plant had started up last November (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 14 2011, Monday) — Several US nuclear experts have commented on the rapidly evolving reactor crisis in Japan following last Friday’s (March 11) deadly earthquake which struck off the northern island of Honshu. More than 1,600 people have been confirmed dead, and at least another 10,000 are reported missing after the 8.9-richter quake (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 14 2011, Monday) — Thanks to strong growth in its China operations, German industrial gas and engineering company Linde AG has reported a 22.6% rise in operating profits to 2.925 billion euro for 2010. Its revenue was up 14.8% to a record 12.868 billion euro. Its after-tax earnings increased 62.9% to 1.064 billion (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 14 2011, Monday) — Asia-based clean petroleum products trader OiLive has begun using AspectCTRM, the Web-delivered trading and risk management solution from Aspect Enterprise Solutions (AES). Focusing on the Asian markets, OiLive’s Singapore office trades in naphtha, gasoil, condensate, additives and chemicals and works closely with regional partners including refining companies. The contract (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 14 2011, Monday) — The South Korean government is considering tapping into its 87.2 million barrels in crude oil stockpile to avert a domestic supply crunch and price spikes amid the political turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa. The planned move will mirror the government’s actions during the previous supply crises...
(EnergyAsia, March 11 2011, Friday) — Even affluent, tightly controlled Qatar may be at risk of being hit by the tide of political and economic change sweeping across the Arab world. Ruled by a benign monarch and sitting on top the world’s third largest natural gas reserves, Qatar has long been perceived as a safe...
(EnergyAsia, March 11 2011, Friday) — US coal exports are expected to reach their highest level in 15 years to satisfy Asian demand following the loss of supplies from Australia’s Queensland state which had been recently hit by devastating floods for several months. Queensland is one of the world’s main coal producers. US coal exports...
(EnergyAsia, March 11 2011, Friday) — Greenpeace has commended Singapore-based Golden Agri-Resources (GAR) for pledging not to clear Indonesia’s rainforests for palm oil cultivation. The environmental watchdog has also renewed its call for the Indonesian government to support this initiative through tighter control of forest and peatland licensing. GAR, the world’s second largest palm oil...
(EnergyAsia, March 11 2011, Friday) — Germany’s Siemens AG said it will invest “hundreds of millions of US dollars” to build a manufacturing and service facility in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern province. The investment decision was announced in Saudi Arabia following a recent meeting between senior executives of Siemens and state-owned national oil company, Saudi Aramco....
(EnergyAsia, March 11 2011, Friday) — Shell Global Solutions International BV and Shanghai-based Wison Engineering Ltd have started jointly developing a low-cost ‘hybrid’ gasification demonstration plant in China. They are also collaborating on the technology’s design and marketing, and the development of other coal gas technologies. Shell said the hybrid technology, known as ‘dry-feed, bottom-water (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 11 2011, Friday) — For 2011, the petrochemical industry faces the threats of rising oil prices and global economic uncertainties, according to the Petrochemical Profitability Forecast prepared by energy solutions consultants Nexant Inc. The report said that while petrochemical profitability improved considerably last year, the outlook for the sector depends on many factors (more…)