(EnergyAsia, November 10 2014, Monday) — India’s coal imports are expected to continue rising through the decade to feed the country’s growing power demand that is being helped by the protracted weakness in the fuel’s price. Amid slumping demand and oversupply around the world, thermal coal prices are holding near a five-year low with little prospects of recovery in the near-term.
(EnergyAsia, November 7 2014, Friday) — One of the world’s largest bitumen terminals with the capacity to store 74,000 tonnes of the petroleum product for paving roads officially started up in Malaysia’s Johor state this week. Puma Energy, a Singapore-based global integrated midstream and downstream energy company, said it held an opening ceremony for the...
(EnergyAsia, November 6 2014, Thursday) — Crude’s relentless drive to test new lows was briefly interrupted on the overnight New York markets by unconfirmed fears of a terror attack in Saudi Arabia and a smaller-than-expected buildup in US crude stocks. US WTI touched a low of US$76.46 a barrel while North Sea slumped to US$81.63...
(EnergyAsia, November 5 2014, Wednesday) — As part of its reform programme to solve India’s domestic energy crisis, the six-month-old government to Prime Minister Narendra Modi is planning to speed up
(EnergyAsia, November 4 2014, Tuesday) — Malaysia’s state-owned energy firm Petronas has signed an agreement with a subsidiary of Singapore’s Keppel Corp for the annual supply of one million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for 10 years. The Singapore firm said Keppel Infrastructure Holdings Pte Ltd (Keppel Infrastructure) signed the heads of agreement through...
(EnergyAsia, November 3 2014, Monday) — Singapore, the world’s largest port for supplying shipping fuels, plans to add cleaner-burning liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the list by 2020, said its transport minister. Speaking at an industry event, Lui Tuck Yew said Singapore might even offer LNG as a bunkering fuel before that as it plans...
(EnergyAsia, October 31 2014, Friday) — Having crashed nearly 30% since June, world oil prices may still have room to fall further as global supply is rising while demand growth is slowing down rapidly, suggests the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Brent is trading near a four-year low, having fallen below US$83 a barrel this week after hitting a high of over US$115 in June.
(EnergyAsia, October 31 2014, Friday) — Responding to lower expectations for global economic growth, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) has reduced its forecasts for both oil demand and supply for 2015 in its latest monthly report. However, it raised its forecast for this year’s global oil supply from its previous report in September.
(EnergyAsia, October 30 2014, Thursday) — Maintaining its outlook for the global economy, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has also retained its latest forecasts for world oil demand and supply for 2014 and 2015 unchanged from its previous report in September. In its October report, the cartel said it expects the world to...
(EnergyAsia, October 30 2014, Thursday) — Two of the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) importers in Japan said they will team up to demand better prices and terms from suppliers as the country remains far from reviving its idled nuclear power plants that used to generate 30% of its electricity.
(EnergyAsia, October 29 2014, Wednesday) — Against the odds, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted that the world’s most politically volatile region will experience faster economic growth over the next two years. The fund expects the combined economies of the Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan and Afghanistan to grow by 2.7% this year and...
(EnergyAsia, October 28 2014, Tuesday) — Malaysia’s state energy firm Petronas is pushing ahead with its proposed US$16-billion refinery-petrochemical complex in Johor state, further dimming the prospects for its troubled proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in western Canada. Last week, PRPC Utilities and Facilities Sdn Bhd, a secondary Petronas subsidiary, awarded an engineering, procurement...
(EnergyAsia, October 27 2014, Monday) — Indonesia is preparing to meet an increase in domestic natural gas consumption through new supply contracts and BP’s award of a major contract for the US$12 billion expansion of the Tangguh liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in West Papua province. In the country’s largest domestic LNG deal, energy regulator...
(EnergyAsia, October 27 2014, Monday) — With domestic crude production at their highest levels since 1986, the US raised its export of domestically produced crude oil in July to a 57-year high of 401,000 b/d, a figure that far exceeds Australia’s entire production. This together with a “modest” volume of Canadian crude that the US...
(EnergyAsia, October 24 2014, Friday) — In a bold move to solve India’s worsening decade-old domestic energy crisis, the five-month-old government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made a surprise move to free up the domestic coal sector by allowing international firms to develop and mine the country’s sizeable deposits. The Coal Mines (Special Provisions)...
(EnergyAsia, October 23 2014, Thursday) — UK hedge fund TCI has sold off its entire 1.8% stake in Coal India Limited after failing in its repeat attempts to reform one of the world’s largest coal mining firms. According to local press reports, the firm sold off its remaining 160,000 shares last week that was part...
(EnergyAsia, October 21 2014, Tuesday) — Russia’s largest energy firm, Rosneft, said it and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) have agreed to expand their strategic partnership by venturing into liquefied natural gas projects, and accelerating the joint construction of a long-delayed oil refinery in China and development of upstream projects in Russia. Rosneft CEO Igor...
(EnergyAsia, October 21 2014, Tuesday) — The Indian government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi expects to soon begin auctioning off the mining and development licences for 214 coal blocks that were among 218 cancelled by the Supreme Court last month. Speaking to the local media last week, Financial Services Secretary G.S. Sandhu said the five-month-old...
(EnergyAsia, October 20 2014, Monday) — PacificLight Power Pte Ltd (PLP) said it has secured Singapore’s largest project to earn carbon emissions credits following the registration of its S$1.2 billion power plant under the UN’s clean development mechanism to fight climate change. (US$1=S$1.27). The company owns and operates the 800MW state-of-the-art combined cycle gas turbine...
(EnergyAsia, October 17 2014, Thursday) — Oil prices rebounded sharply on the overnight markets as traders closed out their positions ahead of the expiry of crude options and futures contracts in New York and London. North Sea Brent crude skidded to a near four-year low of US$82.60 a barrel on Wednesday before surging to a...
(EnergyAsia, October 16 2014, Wednesday) —- Caltex Australia said it has completed the two-year conversion of its 58-year-old oil refinery at Kurnell in Sydney into the country’s largest fuels import terminal this week. With the loss of the 124,500-b/d refinery, Caltex, half-owned by US major Chevron, will be left with only the Lytton plant in...
(EnergyAsia, October 15 2014, Wednesday) — Nearly five months after signing a world-record US$400 billion agreement to sell natural gas to China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), Russia’s Gazprom said it is advancing on technical and banking arrangements towards implementing the deal from 2019. On Monday, the two state-owned companies announced they had signed a technical...
(EnergyAsia, October 14 2014, Tuesday) — Elected on high hopes that it would revive India’s stuttering economy, the five-month-old government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has yet to show that it has a plan to solve the country’s worsening power supply shortages that contributed to the previous government’s downfall. The sharp decline in global oil,...
(EnergyAsia, October 13 2014, Monday) — India’s state-owned International Coal Ventures Private Limited (ICVL) has completed its acquisition of European miner Rio Tinto’s coal assets in Mozambique. Rio Tinto said the US$50 million sale, announced on July 30, was completed following the fulfilment of all conditions needed for regulatory approvals. The assets, which the firm...
(EnergyAsia, October 10 2014, Friday) — Faced with the possibility of having to cancel its proposed C$9-to-C$11 billion liquefied natural gas plant in Canada, Malaysia’s state energy firm Petronas said it is “encouraged” by high-level talks with British Columbia provincial government leaders. This week, the company’s President and CEO Shamsul Azhar Abbas held several meetings...