(EnergyAsia, August 4 2010, Wednesday) — Bureau Veritas SA, the world’s second largest group in conformity assessment and certification services in the fields of quality, health and safety, environment, and social responsibility (QHSE), said it has launched a Green Rating Composite Index which will equip vessel charterers and regulators with a tool to compare the...

(EnergyAsia, August 4 2010, Wednesday) — Roll-Royce Group Plc, a UK-based global provider of integrated power systems for use on land, at sea and in the air, said it recently secured from state-owned PetroChina Company Ltd a contract to supply gas turbine compressor systems for a new natural gas pipeline extending from Western China to...

(EnergyAsia, August 4 2010, Wednesday)— Kuwait Petroleum International Lubricants (KPIL) has started up operations of 24 new oil storage tanks to replace old ones on the site of its Antwerp lubricant blending plant in Belgium. Operating under the Q8Oils brand, the company said the new tanks, with a total storage capacity of 36 million litres,...

(EnergyAsia, August 4 2010, Wednesday) — Iraq has hired Foster Wheeler for a four-year project to expand its oil export capacity but there are questions whether the government is capable of protecting its oil facilities with the impending withdrawal of US forces in the Arabian Gulf by end-2011. Iraq has committed to boosting production capacity...

(EnergyAsia, August 4 2010, Wednesday) — BP is likely to stay out of supplying fuel to Iranian passenger planes as it continues efforts to placate the US over the disaster caused by its oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. The company made the move just days after US President Barack Obama signed sanctions prohibiting...

(EnergyAsia, August 4 2010, Wednesday)— Chinese state oil firm CNPC is no longer involved in the US$40 billion proposal to develop Indonesia’s Natuna natural gas reserves, according to state oil and gas company Pertamina. CNPC, the parent of PetroChina, was among eight companies named by the Indonesian government in 2008 that could be interested to...

(EnergyAsia, August 4 2010, Wednesday) — St Louis, US-based Peabody Energy said it and China’s Winsway Coking Coal Holdings Ltd have agreed to set up a joint venture firm, Peabody-Winsway Resources, to operate in Mongolia. Winsway, a leading supplier in China of imported high-quality coking coal and the largest offtaker of Mongolian coking coal, purchased...

(EnergyAsia, August 3 2010, Tuesday)— Facing a worsening natural gas shortage as a result of rising domestic consumption, the Indonesian government is seeking to reduce exports to Singapore.   The Indonesian government said its representatives are expected to soon meet their Singapore counterparts to renegotiate earlier gas sales agreements between the two countries.   The...

(EnergyAsia, August 3 2010, Tuesday) — Iran said it has invited Chinese companies to participate in several oil and gas projects, including the construction of new refineries and condensate splitters worth a total of US$23 billion. The two countries have deepened economic ties and cooperation at a time when the Islamic regime is facing growing...

(EnergyAsia, August 3 2010, Tuesday) — Showing little fear of reprisals from the West, China and India are continuing, if not, stepping up trade ties with Iran, as it faces increasing isolation from the global financial system owing to its refusal to halt its nuclear programme. Chinese state refiner Sinopec recently raised the possibility of...

(EnergyAsia, August 3 2010, Tuesday) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has upgraded its economic forecast for developing Asia after first-quarter data showed broad-based growth driven by buoyant exports, strong private demand, and sustained stimulus policy effects. In a special assessment of the region, ADB said it now expects developing Asia to grow by an...

(EnergyAsia, August 3 2010, Tuesday) — Proponents of a planned first grid connected demonstration of a conventional geothermal play in Australia’s Victoria state are hoping to raise capital and proof-of-concept to launch a trial 12-megawatt power supply into the state’s grid within three years. At last month’s Paydirt 2010 Resources Victoria Conference in Melbourne, Mark...

(EnergyAsia, August 3 2010, Tuesday)— Angola expects to raise its oil production from under 1.8 million b/d now to two million b/d from 2012 when it starts producing from new deepwater fields over the next two years. The country, which rivals Nigeria as Africa’s biggest oil producer, could hit its full production capacity in 2011...

(EnergyAsia, August 3 2010, Tuesday) –China is planning to form 20 large coal mining groups as part of an industry consolidation plan to improve efficiency and productivity while reducing its accident rates.   To be implemented under the country’s 12th five-year plan for the coal industry, the programme will aim to whittle down the number...

(EnergyAsia, August 2 2010, Monday) — Vietnam has started building a new sea port in Kien Giang province with a 12-million-tonne coal terminal as its centrepiece when it starts up in 2013. The US$800 million project to develop Nam Du port by Tan Tao Group will stimulate the economy of the Mekong Delta areas. Working...

(EnergyAsia, August 2 2010, Monday) — FSL Trust Management Pte Ltd (FSLTM), the trustee-manager of First Ship Lease Trust said it has filed a writ of summons in the Supreme Court of Singapore against oil trader Daxin Petroleum Pte Ltd and affiliates in connection with the arrest of its vessels over a dispute of unpaid...

(EnergyAsia, August 2 2010, Monday) — HSBC Bank plc said it has established a strategic alliance in energy trading with Total Oil Trading SA (TOTSA), the trading arm of France’s energy major Total. HSBC said the alliance will open up new segments of the markets to both partners and will enable the bank to offer...

(EnergyAsia, August 2 2010, Monday) — China, the world’s largest energy user and polluter, is considering capping its coal production by 2015 to reduce fossil fuels consumption and carbon emissions. Coal, which accounts for the bulk of China’s carbon emissions, provides 70% of the country’s energy use.     The National Energy Administration (NEA) wants to...

(EnergyAsia, August 2 2010, Monday) — US major Chevron Corporation said its Australian subsidiaries have signed a Heads of Agreement (HOA) with Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS) for the delivery of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Chevron-operated Wheatstone natural gas project in Australia. KOGAS expects to purchase 1.5 million tons per annum (MTPA) of LNG...

(EnergyAsia, July 30 2010, Friday) — As a result of rising liquefied natural gas (LNG) demand in Asia, the world’s surplus production capacity will fall rapidly, according to leading consultants. Sanford C. Bernstein & Co expect the world’s spare LNG capacity will dip below 5% by 2013 from a 30% glut last year, while Wood...

(EnergyAsia, July 30 2010, Friday) — Switzerland-based engineering giant Foster Wheeler AG said its Global Engineering and Construction Group has won a contract from Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO) to provide project management consultancy (PMC) services for the development of the Bida Al Qemzan oilfield in the UAE. ADCO aims to raise...

(EnergyAsia, July 30 2010, Friday) — Switzerland’s Foster Wheeler AG said its Global Engineering and Construction Group has won a project management consultancy (PMC) services contract from the Iraqi government to help the country expand its crude oil production and exports. Scheduled for completion by July 2013, the project is expected to boost Iraq’s Basra...

(EnergyAsia, July 30 2010, Friday) — Four people and several others were injured died when a petrochemical plant exploded on Iran’s largest oil terminal last week, according to IRNA, the country’s official news agency. The report attributed the incident to a build-up of pressure inside the plant’s central boiler on Kharq Island in the Persian...