(EnergyAsia, March 23 2010, Tuesday) — The Yemeni government’s growing conflict with militia linked to the Al Qaeda terrorist group could result in retaliatory attacks on vital energy facilities and vessel traffic along the country’s coastline, analysts said. As the impoverished Arab nation relies heavily on revenues from energy operations of foreign companies, any disruption...
(EnergyAsia, March 23 2010, Tuesday) — Vietnam’s new oil refinery Dung Quat remains under close watch following its two recent unscheduled shut downs since its start-up early last year. The refinery, the country’s first, was shut down in January following a mechanical failure. It resumed operation a few weeks later after the valve in the...
(EnergyAsia, March 23 2010, Tuesday) — Thai state energy firm PTT said it is still considering merging three subsidiaries to cut costs and boost efficiency. PTT president and CEO Prasert Bunsumpun said that it could initially merge two of its three major subsidiaries, PTT Chemical, PTT Aromatics and Refining, and IRPC, and complete the third...
(EnergyAsia, March 23 2010, Tuesday) — Origin Energy Limited, Australia’s leading integrated energy company, said it has raise its stake in an offshore natural gas project, and separately, will proceed to develop a coal seam gas (CSM) project in Queensland state. Origin said it now owns 67% of the Otway gas project following completion of...
(EnergyAsia, March 22 2010, Monday) — Commodities broker Newedge is putting the brakes on the increasingly popular idea that US oil demand and, consequently, OECD demand peaked in 2007. Analyst Antoine Halff reminded analysts that they had before prematurely announced the death of US oil demand growth following the two oil shocks of the 1970s...
(EnergyAsia, March 22 2010, Monday) — Oil and gas companies desperate to replenish their dwindling reserves will drive investments in the deepwater exploration and production sector to US$35 billion by 2014 for a cumulative $167 billion in the 2010-2014 period, according to a new study by consultant Douglas-Westwood. “Despite global economic turmoil and oil price...
(EnergyAsia, March 22 2010, Monday) — This article was written by Darrell Delamaide for Oilprice.com. Crude oil futures kept falling back from new highs as speculative funds increased their bets that prices are headed higher. The benchmark West Texas Intermediate contract ended the week March 19, Friday, at US$80.68 a barrel, after nearing $83 earlier...
(EnergyAsia, March 22 2010, Monday) — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it has approved a $3.6 billion loan to help Iraq as it struggles with high deficits and falling government revenues due to lower than anticipated oil prices. The money will help Iraq implement its two-year economic plan to improve public financial management and...
(EnergyAsia, March 22 2010, Monday) — China is stepping up its collaboration with the US and European Union to develop and implement the use of clean coal technologies. Peabody Energy, a major coal producer in the US coal-producing state of Wyoming, recently agreed to participate in GreenGen, a near-zero emissions coal-fired power plant to be...
(EnergyAsia, March 22 2010, Monday) — Indonesian and South African coal producers expect increases in shipments to China and India for the rest of the year on the back of strong demand from the two energy-short Asian economies. PT Berau Coal, Indonesia’s fifth-largest coal producer, expects its sales to India to rise by 50% this...
(EnergyAsia, March 22 2010, Monday) — Royal Dutch Shell is selling off its downstream refining and retailing assets to bet its future on finding and producing hydrocarbons. In allocating more than US$100 billion on the upstream sector through 2014, the European major is hoping to arrest seven years of falling output, with an ambitious...
(EnergyAsia, March 19 2010, Friday) — Oman aims to produce up to 900,000 barrels per day (b/d) by the end of 2010 as its enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects begin to bear fruit, said Oil Minister Hamad bin Seif Al-Rumhy. Steam-flood operations at Mukhaina raised production in the field to 50,000 b/d in 2008 from...
(EnergyAsia, March 19 2010, Friday) — Saudi Arabia’s rising domestic oil consumption could eventually put a brake on supplies available for exports, analysts warned. The International Energy Agency has adjusted its forecast for Saudi domestic oil consumption upwards to 2.6 million barrels a day (b/d) in 2009 and 2.8 million b/d in 2010 after seeing...
(EnergyAsia, March 19 2010, Friday) — Saudi Arabia’s revenues plunged by more than 50% in 2009 from the previous year on lower oil prices and drastic crude oil production cuts, according to a report by the National Commercial Bank (NCB). NCB pointed out, however, that 2008 was an exceptional year because of the oil...
(EnergyAsia, March 19 2010, Friday) — Saudi Arabia is forecast to account for 40% of the Middle East’s oil supply and 21% of its demand in the coming years. In a recent study, UK-based Business Monitor International (BMI) projected that Middle Eastern oil consumption would rise to 12 million barrels per day (b/d) in...
(EnergyAsia, March 19 2010, Friday) — Singapore Refining Company (SRC) is evaluating the possibility of investing a total of at least US$350 million to build a 25,000 b/d catalytic cracker to produce ultra-low- sulphur gasoline (ULSG), and a co-generation power plant. Design work on the cracker is expected to be completed by the end of...
(EnergyAsia, March 19 2010, Friday) — The UAE is able to raise its sustainable crude oil production by 12.5% to 3.06 million b/d 2014, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The agency predicted that the Gulf nation’s crude production capacity will decline slightly to 2.71 million b/d this year from 2.72 million b/d....
(EnergyAsia, March 19 2010, Friday) — Iraq’s plan to increase crude oil production could put a ceiling on world prices this decade, according to some analysts. Foreign oil companies awarded licences to develop Iraq’s vast oil fields have bandied production targets amounting to 10 million barrels per day (b/d). An adviser to Iraq’s...
(EnergyAsia, March 18 2010, Thursday) — The industrialised world are unlikely to consume as much oil as they did in 2006 and 2007 because of increased fuel efficiency, the use of alternative energy sources and the impact of the global recession, said the International Energy Agency. The main Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)...
(EnergyAsia, March 18 2010, Thursday) — The Kazakhstan government is threatening to impose new taxes and regulations on oil and gas projects undertaken by western companies. The drastic change of rules and the loss of tax-exempt privileges could undermine the viability of projects that many oil companies had ventured into when the country was actively...
(EnergyAsia, March 18 2010, Thursday) — The Indian government has offered Iraq the use of its storage tanks to hold emergency crude oil stockpiles in exchange for guarantee of supplies. Iraq has offered to raise crude oil supply to Indian refiners through long-term contracts by as much as 60%, an official from India’s Oil Ministry...
(EnergyAsia, March 18 2010, Thursday) — Indicating the importance the Chinese government has placed on energy issues, it has established the National Energy Commission with Premier Wen Jiabao as head and vice-premier Li Keqiang as his deputy. The commission will take charge of drafting national energy development plans, reviewing energy security and coordinating with international...
(EnergyAsia, March 18 2010, Thursday) — CNOOC Limited said it is investing US$3.1 billion to acquire a 50% stake in Argentina’s second largest oil producer, Bridas Corporation, from 100%-owner Bridas Energy Holdings Ltd (BEH). Based on 2009 statistics, CNOOC said the acquisition, which is aligned with its growth strategy in Latin America, will boost its...
(EnergyAsia, March 18 2010, Thursday) — Australia’s crude oil production for 2009 was at its lowest level in four decades, according to a local energy economics advisory group. In a report, EnergyQuest found that oil production throughout the country fell 17% last year from 120.6 million barrels to 99.5 million barrels. This is the lowest...
(EnergyAsia, March 18 2010, Thursday) — Australia expects to remain as a net energy exporter as its total energy production will continue growing at a faster rate than its consumption through to 2030, according to a joint report issued by two of the country’s leading resource agencies, Geoscience Australia and Australian Bureau of Agricultural and...