(EnergyAsia, December 10 2014, Wednesday) — BG Group plc, a world leading UK-based upstream and liquefied natural gas (LNG) company, said it has agreed to sell its wholly-owned Australian subsidiary QCLNG Pipeline Pty Ltd for US$5 billion as part of its divestment of non-core assets. The buyer, APA Group, owns and operates Australia’s largest gas...
(EnergyAsia, December 9 2014, Tuesday) — The world’s first floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) plant has undocked at a Chinese shipyard, said China’s Wison Offshore & Marine and US Black & Veatch which collaborated to build the project for their client EXMAR, a Belgium-based shipping firm. The companies celebrated the undocking of the Caribbean FLNG...
EnergyAsia, December 8 2014, Monday) — US-based WGL Midstream Inc has agreed to supply natural gas to the local subsidiary of state-owned GAIL India Limited for the production of 2.5 million tonnes/year of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the export-oriented Cove Point terminal now under construction in Maryland state. WGL Holdings, a Washington DC clean...
(EnergyAsia, December 5 2014, Friday) — German oil, chemicals and gas storage company Oiltanking GmbH has named Koen Verniers to lead the company’s eastern operations while Daan Vos will have responsibility for the western half from January 1. Koen Verniers, currently acting as President of Oiltanking Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, will be managing director for...
(EnergyAsia, December 4 2014, Thursday) — With oil prices at a five-year low and falling, Malaysia’s state energy firm Petronas is under financial and domestic political pressure to delay either the final investment decision (FID) or the project start-up date, or both, of its proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Canada’s British Columbia (BC) province. Petronas had earlier set a mid-December deadline to announce its decision for the construction of a C$9-to-$11 billion LNG export terminal on Lelu Island near Prince Rupert. (US$1=C$1.13).
(EnergyAsia, December 3 2014, Wednesday) — As panic grips oil and gas producers spooked by crude prices plunging to five-year lows, traders are focused on how much lower the markets can go. US$100 is suddenly a distant memory while talk of US$150 oil has been consigned to unfounded fears associated with the Islamic State’s (ISIS) emergence back in June 2014.
(EnergyAsia, December 2 2014, Tuesday) — Indonesia’s Adaro Energy said it and China’s Shenhua have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to develop a 2x300MW coal-fired power plant in East Kalimantan. The project represents the Indonesian coal miner’s first venture into the power industry. Through their subsidiaries, the two companies will establish a joint venture...
(EnergAsia, December 1 2014, Monday) — Oil prices are hovering at a five-year low after OPEC announced the retention of its current production ceiling of 30 million b/d through to its next meeting in 2015. Following the end of the cartel’s bi-annual meeting in Vienna last week, US WTI crude futures settled at US$66.15 a...
(EnergyAsia, November 28 2014, Friday) — The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects oil prices to remain under selling pressure after slashing its latest forecast for 2015 global demand while raising the supply outlook. In its November report, the agency said it expects Brent crude oil spot prices to average US$83 per barrel in 2015,...
(EnergyAsia, November 28 2014, Friday) — After plunging by a third since peaking in June to their lowest levels in four-and-half years, crude oil prices still have room to fall, going by the conclusions of two recent studies pointing to the resilience of US unconventional oil in a bear market.
(EnergyAsia, November 27 2014, Thursday) — With liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply growth outpacing demand, Asian buyers have the upper hand for now although a blast of cold from unpredictable weather conditions could easily spike prices, said consultant Wood Mackenzie.
Riding the downtrend, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), Asian buyers are digging in with their demand for an overhaul of the LNG pricing formula as the market’s weakness could be protracted on account of weak global demand, rising supply and depressed oil prices.
(EnergyAsia, November 26 2014, Wednesday) — The weakest oil market in four years is having no impact on the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) views on the world economy and oil supply-demand balances. For the fourth consecutive month, OPEC has kept unchanged its forecasts for the world economy to grow by 3.2% this year...
(EnergyAsia, November 25 2014, Tuesday) — Singapore’s stretched infrastructure is forcing Asia’s oil traders to tweak a winning formula of over two decades to accommodate a bigger storage and pricing role for neighbouring Malaysia and Indonesia, said the International Energy Agency (IEA) and energy media Platts.
(EnergyAsia, November 24 2014, Monday) — Singapore’s Universal Terminal Pte Ltd is looking to raise at least S$1 billion through a local share offering as a business trust that would make it the largest listed oil storage firm in Asia. (US$1=S$1.3).
(EnergyAsia, November 21 2014, Friday) — Singapore Exchange (SGX) said it will begin offering petrochemical swaps and futures contracts from December 2 in response growing demand from industry players to hedge their trading positions. The exchange said it will introduce a set of five petrochemical derivatives tools in two phases, starting with the SGX Platts...
(EnergyAsia, November 21 2014, Friday) — The spirit may be willing but weak market conditions and strong opposition from environmental, business and labour groups will likely block India’s pent-up desire to heal its sickly coal industry.
(EnergyAsia, November 20 2014, Thursday) — Singapore and Malaysia should cooperate to jointly create a location and pricing service to serve the fast-growing liquefied natural gas trade (LNG) in Asia, said the CEO of Singapore’s state-owned Pavilion Energy Pte Ltd. Seah Moon Ming said Asia urgently needs transparent LNG pricing and price discovery that are...
(EnergyAsia, November 19 2014, Wednesday) — Japan’s trade ministry has given Abu Dhabi an expanded and extended lease to store crude oil for free at a terminal on one of the Asian country’s southwestern islands.
(EnergyAsia, November 18 2014, Tuesday) — India’s Adani Group said it has secured agreements from the Indian government and Australia’s Queensland state to support its proposed US$7 billion investment to develop the Carmichael coal mine and rail and port infrastructure.
(EnergyAsia, November 17 2014, Monday) — Chinese firms are slowing down their oil stockbuilding in response to expectations that their nation’s economy will grow at a slower pace while oil prices could decline further after hitting a four-year low last week.
(EnergyAsia, November 14 2014, Friday) — The oil markets continued crashing late into Thursday in the New York with North Sea Brent settling well below support at US$80 a barrel while US WTI broke through US$75. Brent settled at US$77.83, down US$2.46 from the previous day, while WTI was hovering at around US$74.42 in late...
(EnergyAsia, November 14 2014, Friday) — The state gas companies of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India have established a company that will build, own and operate a planned 1,800-km pipeline linking the four countries, said Asian Development Bank (ADB) which was appointed project adviser last November. The Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline will be equally owned...
(EnergyAsia, November 13 2014, Thursday) — Malaysian state energy firm Petronas said it will fully own Malaysian Refining Company Sdn Bhd (MRC) when it completes the buy-out of its US partner’s 47% stake for US$635 million in cash. Petronas will take full control of MRC’s 170,000 b/d refinery in Melaka state on the west coast...
(EnergyAsia, November 12 2014, Wednesday) — Having invested a total of US$73 billion in upstream assets over the last three years, Chinese state-owned firms now control around seven percent of global crude oil production of over 93 million b/d, said the International Energy Agency (IEA).
(EnergyAsia, November 11 2014, Tuesday) — Utilities representing nearly 95% of India’s 78,000MW of coal-fired power capacity have secured feedstock through supply contracts with state-owned Coal India Limited (CIL), said the Coal Ministry.