(EnergyAsia, February 20, Friday) — Malaysia’s Shell Refining Company has reported an after-tax loss of RM330 million in 2008 compared to a profit of RM523 million for 2007. (US$1=RM3.66). The company attributed the loss to a sharp drop in oil prices in 2008 which resulted in a stockholding loss of RM697 million in the fourth...

(EnergyAsia, February 20, Friday) — Nasdaq-listed engineering giant Foster Wheeler AG said its UK-headquartered subsidiary, Foster Wheeler Energy Limited, has been awarded a contract by the South Oil Company for the basic engineering of new oil export facilities, to supplement the existing Al-Basra terminal in Iraq. The new offshore facilities will include new single point...

(EnergyAsia, February 20, Friday) — Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOC) said it registered a profit of Rs29.59 billion for the third quarter of the current financial year ended December 2008, up 41.5% from the same quarter the previous year. It attributed the sharp rise to financial support from the government, which offset inventory losses and...

(EnergyAsia, February 20, Friday) — China could have a 10-million-ton refined oil product stockpile by end-2011 as it expand its stockbuilding programme as part of the national economic stimulus programme. Till now, the government has focused solely on stockpiling crude oil. Taking advantage of low oil prices now, planners want the government to spend part...

(EnergyAsia, February 19, Thursday) — Thailand’s state energy firm PTT said it wants to develop the country into a regional hub for the ethanol business in Southeast Asia. This goal ties in with the Thai government’s campaign to actively promote the domestic use of alternative fuels including biofuels and ethanol. Thailand has an abundance of...

(EnergyAsia, February 19, Thursday) — Sri Lanka’s Small Hydro Development Association (SHDA) plans to build more mini-hydro plants. New mini-hydro projects are expected to add some 250-450 megawatts (MW) to the country’s electricity grid in the coming three to four years. The projects are seen as an environmentally sustainable option to generate electricity. They are...

(EnergyAsia, February 19, Thursday) — US major Chevron Corporation has announced plans to commit $20 million over five years to form a partnership with the Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP) in Doha and establish a centre of excellence in renewable power and energy efficiency. The partnership with QSTP will create The Center for Sustainable...

(EnergyAsia, February 19, Thursday) — Praj Industries, India’s leading biofuels technology company, said it has made a breakthrough in developing a cellulosic biomass-to-ethanol technology. It has inaugurated a cellulosic ethanol pilot plant at its R & D Centre called the “Praj Matrix – The Innovation Centre” near Pune city. The laboratory facility at Praj Matrix...

(EnergyAsia, February 19, Thursday) — Germany’s LANXESS said it has appointed Stefan Limbach as head of its lubricants and oil additives (LOA) business line for the the ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand markets. The specialty chemicals company said Mr Limbach, who is based in Singapore, was previously a senior manager for the LOA business line...

(EnergyAsia, February 19, Thursday) — Taiwan’s administrative deputy-minister of economic affairs, Shih Yen-shiang, has been appointed to take over as chairman of state energy firm CPC Corporation. Mr Shih, who has been involved in the country’s industrial development, is expected to reform CPC’s refining operations. He has a doctorate in chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute...

(EnergyAsia, February 19, Thursday) — A new law mandating the use of biofuel in fuel has come into effect in the Philippines this month. The law, drafted in 2006, compels oil refiners to sell fuel with a 2% coco-methyl ester (CME) mix in diesel and a 5% blend in gasoline. The law is overseen by...

(EnergyAsia, February 19, Thursday) — Engineer Karen Agustiawan has become the first woman to be named President of Indonesia’s state oil and gas company Pertamina. She last held the post of upstream director. Ms Agustiawan, 50, entered the oil and gas industry 1984 after completing her physics engineering degree at the Bandung Institute of Technology...

(EnergyAsia, February 19, Thursday) — The US House Appropriations Committee recently announced a $300 million economic stimulus provision to provide consumers with rebates for buying Energy Star products to replace old appliances. Intertek, a global leader in testing, inspection and certification services, said it has fortified its global network of energy efficiency testing labs including...

(EnergyAsia, February 18, Tuesday) — The UNEP-commissioned report, A Global Green New Deal, cited the potential for and benefits from making green investments in some key countries. South Korea The report said that the South Korean government will invest more than $36 billion in green projects equal to around 3% of GDP while creating close...

(EnergyAsia, February 18, Wednesday) — One third of the estimated $2.5 trillion budgeted for planned stimulus packages should be invested on “greening” the world economy, said the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). The investment would assist in powering the global economy out of recession, said the agency in a new report presented at the 25th Governing...

(EnergyAsia, February 18, Wednesday) — The 12 members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) pumped an average 28.97 million barrels per day (b/d) of crude oil in January, according to a Platts survey of OPEC, oil industry officials and analysts. This is a decline of 930,000 b/d from the December level of...

(EnergyAsia, February 18, Wednesday) — The UNEP-commissioned report, A Global Green New Deal, urged developing countries to reduce fuel subsidies and sell carbon credits to raise funds. It estimates that more than $300 billion is being spent on energy subsidies across developed and developing economies, the lion’s share on fossil fuels. Fuel subsidies in 20...

(EnergyAsia, February 18, Wednesday) — The following article by Steven Koptis, managing director of Douglas-Westwood New York*, has been edited for publication. “Oil industry players find themselves buffeted by contradictory trends. On the one hand, the oil supply has not expanded adequately in recent years to accommodate demand from emerging markets. On the other, the...

(EnergyAsia, February 18, Wednesday) — French engineering firm Technip said it has been awarded a lumpsum contract, worth more than €20 million, for the front-end engineering design (FEED) of a new refinery to be built in Karbala, Iraq. (US$1=0.78 euro). Iraq’s State Company Oil Project (SCOP) which awarded the contract plans to build a 140,000...

(EnergyAsia, February 18, Wednesday) — GE Energy said that two of its ecomaginationTM-certified Jenbacher coal mine methane (CMM) gas engines will contribute to China’s efforts to reduce the amount of methane-rich greenhouse gases that escape from the nation’s coal mines. The technology has been selected by the Sichuan Coal Group for its Furong project that...

(EnergyAsia, February 18, Wednesday) — Dragged down by the global economic and financial crisis, Asia’s economic growth is forecast to slow to 2.7% in 2009, but the region should see a sharp recovery once the world economy regains its footing, said the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In a recent interview with Asian reporters, managing director...