(EnergyAsia, May 15 2014, Thursday) — Finland’s Wartsila is focusing on building small-to-mid scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving and re-gasification terminals that can be integrated with power-generation plants. An integrated gas terminal-power plant complex is “especially suitable for feeding natural gas to local industries and, in some cases, to a single consumer such as...
(EnergyAsia, May 15 2014, Thursday) — Russia’s economic growth will slow sharply to a miserly 0.2% this year from last year’s 1.3% as rising political tensions with the West accelerate capital flight, reduce in-bound investment flows and stoke inflation, said the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Already hobbled by what the IMF has described as “pre-existing...
(EnergyAsia, May 14 2014, Wednesday) — Analysts said US should brace for self-inflicted damages if it proceeds with a plan to release crude oil from its 700-million barrel strategic petroleum reserves (SPR) to punish Russia over the Ukraine crisis. Media reports have suggested the Obama administration plans to sell anything from five million barrels of...
(EnergyAsia, May 13 2014, Tuesday) — Amid continued uncertainties over energy demand-supply outlook, Asian governments are still evolving their policies toward liquefied natural gas (LNG) while China will remain addicted to coal, said UK consulting firm Wood Mackenzie. In recent separate comments, the company said uncertainty over Asian governments’ energy policies is limiting the development...
(EnergyAsia, May 12 2014, Monday) — Australia’s export of liquefied natural gas (LNG) will more than triple from 24 million tonnes in financial year 2012 to 79 million tonnes six years later, said the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics (BREE). With several major projects due to start up over the next few years in...
(EnergyAsia, May 9 2014, Friday) — South Korea and Japan are positioning to become northern Asia’s hub to serve the region’s growing oil traffic by expanding their storage facilities and adopting trade-friendly policies and regulations, said the International Energy Agency (IEA). In its April market report, the IEA said South Korea has made it a...
(EnergyAsia, May 9 2014, Friday) — Building on a decade of rapid growth, Asia’s annual natural gas consumption will rise to 790 billion cubic metres (bcm) next year, making it the world’s second largest after the US, an analyst from Germany’s Centre for European Security Strategies has predicted. Asia’s surging appetite for natural gas has...
(EnergyAsia, May 8 2014, Thursday) — Europe’s inability to intervene in Ukraine’s crisis has been laid bare with the G7 industrial nations admitting this week that the continent will remain dependent on Russia for natural gas supplies “for years”. Meeting in Rome, the energy ministers of the seven industrialised nations could only state that they...
(EnergyAsia, May 8 2014, Thursday) — Led by China, Asia is investing heavily to modernise its power grid while deploying smart grid technology and improving the efficiency of power distribution systems across the region, according to a new report by consultant GlobalData. The region’s economies have bounced back strongly from the global recession of 2007-08,...
(EnergyAsia, May 6 2014, Tuesday) — British Columbia Premier Christy Clark’s first visit to Singapore and Malaysia this week has come with the belated realisation that perhaps these two countries, and not the coveted giant markets of China, Japan, India and South Korea, hold the key to the Canadian province’s C$1-trillion dream to develop and...
(EnergyAsia, May 5 2014, Monday) — Like OPEC, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has raised its latest forecast for 2014’s global oil demand from the previous month. In its April report, the Paris-based agency said it expects the world to consume 92.69 million b/d, slightly higher from its March forecast of 92.68 million b/d. But...
(EnergyAsia, May 5 2014, Monday) — The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has slightly raised its April forecast for this year’s global oil demand from the previous month despite lowering its expectations for world economic growth. The cartel expects the world to consume 91.15 million b/d of oil in 2014, up by 1.27% from...
(EnergyAsia, May 2 2014, Friday) — Caltex said it has raised South Australia state’s fuel storage capacity by 50% with the start-up of an 85-million-litre terminal at Pelican Point in Adelaide. There are plans to add 135 million litres of new capacity at a later date. The A$100 million terminal is designed to accommodate ships...
(EnergyAsia, May 2 2014, Friday) — China’s year-on-year oil demand growth fell by 0.6% in the first quarter, says energy media Platts, but Deutsche Bank estimates it surged by 5.2%. The contrasting view underlines the market’s difficulty with reading the current state of China’s energy sector amid conflicting signals over the government’s plans to clean...
(EnergyAsia, April 30 2014, Wednesday) — Breaking ranks with an industry notorious for start-up delays, Exxon Mobil Corp said it will begin production at its US$19 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Papua New Guinea ahead of schedule. The plant’s first train is expected to begin production in “the coming weeks” with the first cargo...
(EnergyAsia, April 30 2014, Wednesday) — Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas has taken a major step forward in building a US$35 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in western Canada with the sale of a 15% stake to China’s state-owned China Petrochemical Corp or Sinopec. The Chinese firm has also agreed to purchase a total of 4.8...
(EnergyAsia, April 29 2014, Tuesday) — Thailand’s state-owned upstream firm PTTEP said it will boost its hydrocarbon production by 17,000 of oil equivalent (boed) with the US$1 billion acquisition of Hess Corp’s stakes in four active blocks in the country. The US firm owns a 15% stake in block B12/27 comprising the Pailin, Morakot and...
(EnergyAsia, April 28 2014, Monday) — Greenpeace has identified French major Total as the buyer of the first cargo of oil produced from Russia’s offshore Prirazlomnoye field. In making the claim, Greenpeace accused Total of hypocrisy, citing a previous pledge by the company’s CEO to avoid Arctic oil drilling due to the consequences of a...
(EnergyAsia, April 28 2014, Monday) — State-owned Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company (Orpic) has begun work on US$7 billion worth of investments to develop the sultanate into a major energy hub to serve the Middle East. CEO Musab Al Mahruqi said Orpic is upgrading its Sohar oil refinery, building a 290km pipeline to...
(EnergyAsia, April 25 2014, Friday) — The US will export a “tidal wave” of refined products over the next two years, but will have trouble finding international demand for its light crude, said consultant ESAI Energy. Thanks to low feedstock prices brought on by the surge in North American crude oil output, US Gulf Coast...
(EnergyAsia, April 24 2014, Thursday) — Boosted by the expansion of rail and transport infrastructure throughout the Middle East, the region’s petrochemicals trade is set for rapid growth in the coming years, predicts the Gulf Petrochemicals & Chemicals Association (GPCA). Most of that growth will take place among the more affluent six member states of...
(EnergyAsia, April 24 2014, Thursday) — Royal Dutch Shell has secured the support of Russian President Vladimir Putin for its plans to expand oil and gas production around Sakhalin Island to meet rising demand in the Far East. Shell and its partners will likely proceed with a planned 50% expansion of the country’s only liquefied...
(EnergyAsia, April 23 2014, Wednesday) — Russia will establish an integrated system of naval bases backed by the latest telecommunications system and infrastructure to defend its interest in the Arctic, President Vladimir Putin announced days after he hailed the shipment of the first cargo of crude oil extracted from the region’s freezing waters. The bases...
(EnergyAsia, April 23 2014, Wednesday) — A Myanmar trading firm has been approved to build an oil storage depot to serve the Thilawa deepsea port located 25 km south of the country’s commercial city of Yangon. Denko Trading Company will build and operate the depot on a 9.7-hectare site for a limited lease period, according...
(EnergyAsia, April 22 2014, Tuesday) — Amid signs of slower economic growth in China and Europe, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) is keeping unchanged its April forecasts for global oil demand growth from its previous March call. The world will consume 91.61 million this year and b/d 92.97 million b/d in 2015, said the US...