(EnergyAsia, February 19 2010, Frida) — A panel tasked to review a decades-old proposed Mackenzie Valley natural gas pipeline has concluded that the C$16.2 billion project should be developed. (US$1=C$1.05). In a 679-page report, the panel said the project would deliver valuable and lasting overall benefits, and not inflict significant impact on the environment. It...

(EnergyAsia, February 19 2010, Tuesday) — The oil and gas sector will have a “positive” 2010 on improved prospects for the global economy and rising energy demand, said consultant Ernst & Young. According to the latest report issued by its Global Oil & Gas Center, the sector will see an increase in merger-and-acquisition (M&A) activities...

(EnergyAsia, February 19 2010, Friday) — Improving prospects for Canada’s oil and gas sector could be weighed down by a labour shortage in the country’s oil field service industry. Duane Mather, president of Nabors Canada, one of the nation’s largest drilling companies, said the company was turning down jobs for which it had equipment because...

(EnergyAsia, February 19 2010, Friday) — The South Korean government has announced plans to invest $12.2 billion in 2010 – nearly double the amount for 2009 – on overseas investments in energy and mineral resources towards raising the nation’s energy self-sufficiency, according a report by Moodys. The ratings agency said state-owned Korea National Oil Company...

(EnergyAsia, February 19 2010, Friday) — A package of incentives announced by Canada’s British Columbia state government has attracted investors to pump in another C$600 million into the province’s natural gas sector, according to a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers. (US$1 = CAD1.05) Respondents, which included 11 companies representing 67% of B.C.’s natural gas production, said they...

(EnergyAsia, February 18 2010, Thursday) — The world is still facing an oversupply of crude oil with production outpacing demand and inventories continuing to rise, said Canada’s TD Bank. While the global recovery got underway during the second half of last year, TD said the recession’s impact on the oil market will linger “for some...

(EnergyAsia, February 18 2010, Thursday) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it is helping Laos roll out new power lines in underserved areas which will help improve living standards and increase opportunities to export excess power to neighbouring Thailand. ADB is providing a $20 million grant for the first module of the Greater Mekong...

(EnergyAsia, February 18 2010, Thursday) — State-owned Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) is allotting US$6.5 to pursue mergers and acquisitions in 2010 as a long-term strategy to bolster the country’s energy security. Canadian oil sands company Opti Canada and Nexen Inc are said to be possible acquisition targets of the cash-rich oil and gas company....

(EnergyAsia, February 18 2010, Thursday) — The US government has for the first time officially raised its concerns with the Chinese government over their growing competition for global oil and gas reserves, in particular Beijing’s recent rapid moves to secure long-term contracts with producers. In a hearing last month on security issues in China by...

(EnergyAsia, February 18 2010, Thursday) — Canada’s 178 billion barrels of proven reserves of oil, most of which require costly and unconventional methods of extraction and produce higher carbon emissions, will play an important role in meeting the world’s future energy needs, said the International Energy Agency (IEA). In its annual World Energy Outlook report,...

(EnergyAsia, February 18 2010, Thursday) — Upstream activities fell sharply in Canada’s oilpatch last year with the sharp plunge in oil prices. US crude oil futures plunged to around US$35 a barrel in January 2009 after reaching a record of more than US$147 a barrel in July 2008. For most of 2009, oil prices ranged...

(EnergyAsia, February 18 2010, Thursday) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it is lending US$135 million to support the construction and operation of a coal-fired integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant in China, the first such plant in a developing nation. The ADB said its board of directors has approved the loan for...

(EnergyAsia, February 17 2010, Wednesday) — Singapore-flagged ships were the third most frequently attacked as global piracy hit a six-year high last year, according to data from the London-based International Maritime Bureau’s global piracy report card. Out of 406 pirate attacks worldwide last year, the most since 2003, 32 Singapore-flagged vessels were the target, behind...

(EnergyAsia, February 17 2010, Wednesday) — The Jurong Aromatics Corporation consortium is now looking to begin construction of its stalled US$2 billion petrochemical complex on Singapore’s Jurong Island next month. UK major BP is expected to help with the project’s financing as a subordinated lender, with new shareholders expected to come on board to assist...

(EnergyAsia, February 17 2010, Wednesday) — Greenpeace has criticised last December’s Copenhagen Accord and its supporters for failing to strengthen commitments to limit global warming to under two degrees Celsius, which is a critical threshold for avoiding the worst impacts of climate change. Greenpeace said the accord’s January 31 deadline was the immediate ‘action point’...

(EnergyAsia, February 17 2010, Wednesday) — The Spanish government is donating an additional $5 million each to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-administered Water Financing Partnership Facility (WFPF) and Clean Energy Financing Partnership Facility (CEFPF). “The two facilities were created to help mobilize finance to bolster energy and water security in our region by supporting low-carbon...

(EnergyAsia, February 9, Tuesday) — FloaTEC Singapore Pte Ltd has secured a US$1 billion contract with Papa-Terra, a joint venture between Chevron and Petrobras, to build and operate a P-61 tension leg wellhead platform (TLWP) in Brazil’s Papa-Terra oilfield. FloaTEC is an equal joint venture between Singapore’s rig builder Keppel FELS Ltd and J. Ray...

(EnergyAsia, February 17 2010, Wednesday) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said that it and the UK government are financing a study to help South Asia analyse the costs and benefits of climate change adaptation actions. ADB is providing a $500,000 technical assistance grant from its concessional funds, and the UK’s Department for International Development...

(EnergyAsia, February 12 2010, Friday) — Singapore Emulsion Fuel Pte Ltd (SgEF) said it has opened Asia’s first clear nano-emulsion diesel plant in Singapore’s Tuas industrial zone. The 40,000 sq ft facility will cater to the growing demand for clean energy domestically and across the Asia-Pacific region. SgEF, which counts SPRING SEEDS Capital as an...

(EnergyAsia, February 12 2010, Friday) — Singapore’s Keppel FELS Limited said it has secured a contract from Aramco Overseas Company BV, a subsidiary of Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest producer and exporter of crude oil and natural gas liquids, to build a customised KFELS Super B Class jackup rig. The contract is subject to a...

(EnergyAsia, February 12 2010, Friday) — The International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) said an EU directive requiring vessels to use low-sulphur fuel in European ports took effect on January 1, and has not been postponed as recently rumoured. IBIA said EU Directive 2005/33/EC prescribes that from January 1, 2010, member states must take necessary steps...

(EnergyAsia, February 12 2010, Friday) — The South Korean government plans to establish a wind power complex with a power generation capacity of 40 megawatts (MW) on reclaimed land at Saemangeum. The complex will be used to monitor and record the operation of domestically-manufactured wind power generators 2 MW capacity each to ensure that they...

(EnergyAsia, February 12 2010, Friday) — Foreign companies are being blocked from entering China’s fast growing wind power market, said Thorstan Herdan of the German Engineering Federation. He said German industry representatives have complained to the Chinese government and are asking for better access and reduced barrier to entry into the world’s fastest major wind...

(EnergyAsia, February 12 2010, Friday) — American Superconductor Corporation, a NASDAQ-listed power technology company, said it has received an initial order for full wind turbine electrical control systems from China’s Shenyang Blower Works (Group) Co Ltd (SBW) worth US$70 million. The systems will be deployed in the 2 megawatt (MW) doubly fed induction wind turbines...