(EnergyAsia, March 4 2011, Friday) — Coal exports through the Port of Prince Rupert doubled and rose by 25% through Port Metro Vancouver last year, thanks to Pacific Gateway, a major Canadian initiative to boost trade between British Columbia (BC) province and Asia. According to the province’s Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, its container traffic...
(EnergyAsia, March 4 2011, Friday) — Puda Coal Inc, a Chinese supplier of high grade metallurgical coking coal, said that 90%-owned subsidiary, Shanxi Puda Coal Group Co Ltd, recently completed acquiring coal assets under phase II of a project to consolidate nine mines in Yuncheng City and four coking coal mines Linfen City, both in...
(EnergyAsia, March 4 2011, Friday) — The Paris-based International Energy Agency has rejected speculation that Chinese state oil companies are investing abroad to serve their government’s political ambitions overseas. Instead, Chinese state-owned firms are operating for commercial purposes and move at arm’s length from the state, the IEA said. The agency, which advises developed nations,...
(EnergyAsia, March 4 2011, Friday) — Germany’s TUV SUD has big plans to grow its testing, inspection and certification businesses in the Asia Pacific region in 2011, including its service offerings for the energy, petrochemical and marine sectors. At a lunch briefing yesterday, Chong Weng Hoe, the chief executive of Singapore-based subsidiary TUV SUD PSB (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 4 2011, Friday) — Singapore’s shipping sector is confident of weathering the negative impact of oil at US$100 a barrel brought on by political unrest spreading across the Middle East, said a panel of industry executives this week. Singapore is naturally hedged, said Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore chief executive Lam Li (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 3 2011, Thursday) — A coalition of US environmental groups said several coal-ash dumpsites in Indiana and Virginia could potentially jeopardise human life and pose a serious threat to the environment. The Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), Earthjustice, and the Hoosier Environmental Council issued this warning a few days after the US Environmental Protection (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 3 2011, Thursday) —- The World Bank has described the violent unrest and protests spreading across the Middle East and North Africa as a watershed event that will provide “a unique opportunity” for the regions to undergo a democratic transition from long-standing authoritarian rule and weak political and economic governance. Motivated by the...
(EnergyAsia, February 21 2011, Monday) — Singapore Exchange-listed EMS Energy Ltd said its subsidiary, Engineering & Marine Services Pte Ltd (EMS), has been awarded several American Petroleum Institute (API) certifications that will facilitate its expansion in the oil and gas industry. EMS Energy said EMS won API certifications Q1, 4F for substructures at PSL 1...
(EnergyAsia, March 3 2011, Thursday) — While world attention has been focused on Libya’s fledging civil war, Oman, which exports around 750,000 b/d of its much desired 860,000 b/d light crude oil output, has reported its first fatalities after violent clashes between civilians and security forces. Even an affluent fairly liberal regime isn’t sufficient to...
(EnergyAsia, March 3 2011, Thursday) — Saudi Arabia produced 8.4 million b/d of crude in 2010, exceeding its OPEC-assigned quota of 8.051 million b/d by 4.3%, according to the US government’s Energy Information Administration (EIA). Including natural gas liquids and other fuels that are not under the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ quota system, Saudi...
(EnergyAsia, March 3 2011, Thursday) — Saudi Arabia is preparing to raise crude oil sales to China for the third consecutive year. Term sales to China, soon to overtake the US as the biggest buyer of Saudi crude, are expected to rise to 970,000 b/d from around 920,000 b/d last year and just under 900,000...
(EnergyAsia, March 2 2011, Wednesday) — China’s ambition to surpass the US as the world’s largest economy later this century may be challenged by its heavy dependence for oil on politically unstable regimes in the Middle East, said a senior research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore. Writing in the Japan...
(EnergyAsia, March 2 2011, Wednesday) — Malaysia’s leading power company, Tenaga Nasional, expects to face a challenging year as rising coal prices eat into its operating margins. The recent massive floods in Australia’s main coal-mining state of Queensland have led to sharp increases in international coal prices in recent months. Without approval from the Malaysian...
(EnergyAsia, March 2 2011, Wednesday) — Reeling from over four months of record rainfall and floods, mining firms in Australia’s battered Queensland state are keeping a wary eye on the weather after successfully restarting operations early last month. Rio Tinto Group and Xstrata Plc have restarted coal production in the state’s Bowen Basin and are...
(EnergyAsia, March 2 2011, Wednesday) — Oil demand will likely hit a record high this year but any further rise in prices will likely be capped by higher production by the Organization of Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC) and release of stockpiles from the developed economies, said the International Energy Agency (IEA).Increased output by Iraq boosted (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 2 2011, Wednesday) — Last year, the World Bank launched a new programme to put a value on each country’s ecosystems in the same way that it measures its national income and product accounts, or GNP and GDP. Janet Ranganathan, an expert at the US-based World Resources Institute (WRI), provided this interview on (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 2 2011, Tuesday) — Pakistan’s Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) and China’s Global Mining Company Limited (GMC) are jointly looking to convert two of the six plants at the Bin Qasim Power Station from using fuel oil to coal. The two companies have signed a memorandum of understanding for the project as part (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 1 2011, Tuesday) — BP Oil New Zealand said it has re-opened its Lyttelton oil storage terminal after giving it a thorough safety inspection in the wake of the deadly earthquake that struck on February 22. At least 145 people are believed to have died in the city of Christchurch in South Island (more…)
(EnergyAsia, February 28 2011, Monday) — US-based Occidental Petroleum Corp (Oxy) said it will partner the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) in a US$10-billion project to jointly develop the Shah gasfield in the UAE. Occidental said ADNOC has a 60% stake while it will hold the remaining 40% interest in a 30-year contract. The (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 1 2011, Tuesday) — The Iraqi government expects to achieve its oil exports target of around 2.2 million b/d for 2011, thanks to a steady rise in shipments from the country’s northern Kurdish region. Iraqi oil exports reached 2.16 million b/d at the end of last month, their highest since the US invasion (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 1 2011, Tuesday) — Fresh from raising the country’s estimated total oil reserves to 143 billion barrels, the Iraqi government said it plans to auction off 12 oil and gas exploration sites block this year and raise the country’s energy production at the same time. The Oil Ministry said it also plans to (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 1 2011, Tuesday) — China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec) has agreed to acquire a 15% stake in Australia Pacific LNG Pty Ltd and to purchase liquefied natural gas (LNG) over a 20-year contract, expected to start in 2015. The value of the stake and the contracts were not mentioned in a statement issued by (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 1 2011, Tuesday) — The US and Saudi Arabia face direct threats from the Middle East unrest spreading to the tiny state of Bahrain, a regional financial centre and home to major US military and naval bases. Since 1948, Bahrain has been the headquarters of US naval activity in the Gulf. It is (more…)
(EnergyAsia, February 28 2011, Monday) — As anger against governments continues to sweep across the Middle East and North Africa, Saudi Arabia, the holder of the world’s main spare oil capacity, is being targeted for a ‘Day of Rage’ popular uprising on March 11. Fuelled by decades of poverty, joblessness and anger against corruption, youth...
(EnergyAsia, February 28 2011, Monday) — As unrest sweeps across the Middle East and North Africa, Saudi Arabia may be forced to revitalise waning ties with its long-time protector, the US. Since the September 11 2001 terror attacks on the US, relations between the two countries have cooled on growing bilateral disagreements over political and...