(EnergyAsia, August 11 2010, Wednesday) — Australia’s Linc Energy said it has sold of one of its non-core coal tenements in the Galilee Basin in northwest Queensland to Adani Mining Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of India’s Adani Enterprises Ltd, for a total of A$3 billion. The deal comprised $A500 million in cash and a $2...

(EnergyAsia, August 11 2010, Wednesday) — Australia’s GTL Energy Ltd said it has completed and started up a proprietary ‘first-of-a-kind’, low rank coal-upgrading plant near South Heart in US state of North Dakota.   The Adelaide-based company said it designed the plant as a single module commercial scale plant to provide proof of the cost-efficient...

(EnergyAsia, August 11 2010, Wednesday) — Australia’s coal miners may have to pay out an additional A$7.4 billion over five years as a result of a new 30% mining tax on resource profits, according to an estimate from consulting firm Wood Mackenzie. (US$1=A$1.09). Already battling cost inflation and low productivity, the coal mining industry will...

(EnergyAsia, August 10 2010, Tuesday) — The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) said it has agreed to provide Indonesia a US$307 million loan to fund its ambitious climate change mitigation agenda. The loan, entitled Climate Change Programme Loan III, will provide assistance for country-wide policy and institutional reforms aimed at boosting Indonesia’s readiness in the...

(EnergyAsia, August 10 2010, Tuesday) — Japanese trading house Marubeni Corp said it and China’s Sinopec have agreed to jointly invest US$1 billion to develop oil and gas projects in Africa over the next five years.  Separately, they have agreed to build an oil refinery on the continent. Marubeni said it will also cooperate with...

(EnergyAsia, August 10 2010, Tuesday) — The combined value of upstream assets of 650 international oil companies (IOC) and 80 countries are worth just over US$2.6 trillion, said UK consultant Wood Mackenzie in a special report entitled ‘Maintaining the pursuit of upstream value’. In pursuit of further growth, Wood Mackenzie said there has been a...

(EnergyAsia, August 10 2010, Tuesday) — Thailand has signed an agreement to import 240 million cubic feet a day of natural gas from the Zawtika field in the M9 block in Myanmar from 2013.                  Under the 30-year agreement, Thai upstream company PTTEP will be producing 300 million cubic feet a day of natural gas,...

(EnergyAsia, August 10 2010, Tuesday) — Gazprom Marketing & Trading Limited (Gazprom M&T), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Russia’s statel oil and gas group Gazprom,  said it has acquired the remaining stake in UK automated meter reading (AMR) services company, TruRead Limitd, following an earlier acquisition of a 30% stake in March 2008. For the past...

(EnergyAsia, August 10 2010, Tuesday) — Russia risks falling behind in the race to supply world’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) market as a result of start-up delays to Gazprom’s crucial projects in the Arctic Ocean and Sakhalin while rivals in the Middle East, Norway, Australia and the US steam ahead with theirs. The weak outlook...

(EnergyAsia, August 10 2010, Tuesday) — Often hit by power shortages, China’s central province of Hubei said it plans to build a storage facility in its capital, Wuhan, to hold up to five million tons of coal as strategic reserves. The planned 800-million-yuan facility, to be built jointly by Wuhan and coal producer Zhong Ping...

(EnergyAsia, Aug 10 2010, Tuesday) – The amount of crude oil spilled into the waters off northeastern China following an explosion of a pipeline and storage terminal on July 16 is far greater and damaging than first reported by the Chinese authorities, said analysts. Consulting its expert, environmental group Greenpeace, said the accident off Dalian...

(EnergyAsia, August 6 2010, Friday) — The Iranian government has confirmed it has awarded the development of several upstream phases of the South Pars field to a local consortium, effectively ending the participation of Shell and Repsol for missing deadlines to make financial commitments to the project.   The contract for upstream Phases 13-14 under...

(EnergyAsia, August 6 2010, Friday) — Switzerland-based Foster Wheeler AG said its Global Engineering and Construction Group has been awarded a feasibility study and front-end engineering design (FEED) contract by Iraq’s Oil Ministry for a new 300,000 b/d grassroots refinery at Nassiriya in southern Iraq. Foster Wheeler, which declined to reveal the contract’s value, said...

(EnergyAsia, August 6 2010, Friday) — Kuwait could play an important role in helping BP stay in business as it is considering buying over some of the UK major’s assets as well as increase its shareholding in the company.  The assets include oil and gas producing fields in the Middle East and Asia. State-owned Kuwait...

(EnergyAsia, August 6 2010, Friday) — By Claude Salhani for Oilprice.com. Whoever said “it’s all about the economy, stupid,” got it only partially right. It is indeed all about the economy, or at least half of it is about the economy. The rest is about a country’s national interest.    Typically, nations act or react...

(EnergyAsia, August 6 2010, Friday) — The Vitol Group said it is in “exclusive negotiations” with Shell Oil Products Africa for the potential acquisition of the Anglo-Dutch major’s downstream businesses in 19 countries on the continent, subject to final negotiations and regulatory and final company approvals. Vitol said it will make the acquisition in partnership...

(EnergyAsia, August 5 2010, Thursday) — Singaporean marine contractor Coretech Resources Pte Ltd has contracted subsea specialist Sub-Atlantic Asia Pacific (AP) to enhance its growing remotely operated vehicle (ROV) fleet with their first general purpose inspection class. The contract will see Sub-Atlantic supply a 600m free swimming Super Mohawk system on an expedited delivery schedule...

(EnergyAsia, August 5 2010, Thursday) — Greenpeace said its lates investigation have found that Sinar Mas, Indonesia’s largest palm and pulp group, is still destroying the rainforest and failing to keep its promise to protect the country’s forests and peatland. Greenpeace called Sinar Mas “one the most notorious destroyers of Indonesia’s rainforests,” after publishing new...

(EnergyAsia, August 5 2010, Thursday) — Germany’s HMS Bergbau AG and Indonesia’s and P.T. Nusa Alam Lestari (NAL) said they have signed an exclusive marketing cooperation to export high and mid-calorific value coal from Sumatra Island. The companies agreed to extend their long-term and exclusive cooperation to include NAL’s new mine developments in Muara Bungo...

(EnergyAsia, August 5 2010, Thursday)— Looking to capitalise on rising demand from China and India, Indonesia’s third-biggest coal miner PT Indika Energy said it plans to increase its output by nearly a third through acquisitions. Indika’s main mining unit, PT Kideco Jaya Agung, is expected to produce 29 million tons of the company’s projected total...

  (EnergyAsia, August 5 2010, Thursday)— Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) are seeking to use part of the strategic crude oil storage that India is building as a buffer against supply disruptions. Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Oil Industry Development Board (OIDB), is building an underground...

(EnergyAsia, August 4 2010, Thursday) — China has dislodged the US as the world’s biggest energy user, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) and BP, in the latest sign that Asia’s red-hot economy has yet to cool. China consumed 2.25 billion oil-equivalent tons of crude, coal, natural gas, nuclear power and renewable sources last...

    (EnergyAsia, August 4 2010, Friday)— China’s state-run Zhong Ping Energy Chemical Group and the Wuhan municipal government said they are jointly investing up to 800 million yuan in a coal reserve facility in Hubei province. (US$1=6.77 yuan) The five-million-ton storage facility will help stockpile more than 50 days’ worth of coal supply for Wuhan,...