social unrest following last Friday’s decision to raise domestic fuel prices by a up to a third. Already reeling from high inflation and runaway food prices, households, small businesses and worker groups across the country have been stepping up their campaign in recent weeks to stop the fuel price rise. In announcing the long-awaited increases,...

succeeded in stopping the Bush administration from adding another 13 million barrels to the nation’s crude oil stockpile. Critics said stockbuilding by the Department of Energy and other government agencies around the world is unnecessarily adding strength to an already out-of-control oil market. Congress passed legislation in mid-month ordering the DOE to suspend its stockbuilding...

  (EnergyAsia, May 26, Monday) — Fuel retailers and small business owners in Pakistan’s major cities have begun hoarding fuel in storage facilities in anticipation of more price increases. In Rawalpinidi, fuel retailers have increased their regular orders by up to three times the normal 8,000 to 10,000 litres every other day. The fuel is...

  (EnergyAsia, May 26, Monday) — Front-month WTI crude’s surge past $135 a barrel on May 21 has set off three major new developments that are “unequivocally bullish” for the oil markets, said analyst Antoine Halff of Newedge Group. On the fundamentals front, he said the latest US oil statistics showed crude stocks unexpectedly drew...

  (EnergyAsia, May 26, Monday) — China last week began releasing oil products from its state reserve stockpiles to areas struck by a massive 7.9-magnitude earthquake on May 12, said the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). The quake killed more than 50,000 people and inflicted damages worth more than US$10 billion. Leading oil company...

(EnergyAsia, May 23, Friday) — As world outrage grows over food price inflation and the use of crop-based fuel, US President George W. Bush is insisting his country needs corn-based ethanol to beef up its energy security. In a recent speech, he said his fuel ethanol policies are critical to helping the US overcome its...

(EnergyAsia, May 23, Friday) — A lack of skilled people is the biggest recruitment difficulty facing a number of oil and gas companies, according to a survey conducted by Aberdeen-based specialist LA Recruitment. LA Recruitment, which specialises in engineering, commercial, marine and technical positions, surveyed 100 companies at the recent Offshore Technology Conference in Houston,...

(EnergyAsia, May 23, Friday) — Clean electricity generator AFC Energy plc said it has appointed Ray Yeoh as international sales consultant. As a veteran of the chlorine industry in Asia, Mr Yeoh will be responsible for identifying opportunities for AFC Energy to supply its fuel cells to hydrogen producers. Mr Yeoh, who will report to...

(EnergyAsia, May 23, Friday) — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the outlook for the Middle East and Central Asia economies remains favourable in 2008, with commodity prices, including oil, expected to remain high. In its latest ‘Regional Economic Outlook: Middle East and Central Asia’ report, Mohsin Khan, director of the IMF’s Middle East and...

(EnergyAsia, May 23, Friday) — A non-profit organisation, Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE), has released a study describing a new threat to the American economy: the confluence of high oil prices, an increasing trade deficit, and a sinking dollar. “A Different Type of Price Spike,” said the more oil the US imports, the more dollars...

(EnergyAsia, May 23, Friday) —The World Shipping Council Shipping (WSC) has taken the unusual step of raising the red flag on record crude oil and bunker fuel prices as ocean-going vessels worldwide struggle under the weight of rising crude oil and bunker fuel prices. This week, crude oil prices surged to yet another record high...

(EnergyAsia, May 23, Friday) — Australia’s upstream company Woodside has criticised Canberra’s decision to impose an excise on condensate produced from the North West Shelf Venture operated by the company. Woodside CEO Don Voelte said the decision to introduce a condensate excise was made without any consultation with the company. He said the relief from...

(EnergyAsia, May 23, Friday) — Australia’s AGL Energy Limited (AGL) said it has agreed with Wind Prospect Pty Ltd to acquire the rights to develop and construct a fourth wind farm in the mid-north of South Australia state. The Hallett 4 wind farm development, located at North Brown Hill, is approximately 23km from the township...

(EnergyAsia, May 22, Thursday) — Malaysia’s eastern Sarawak state plans to develop 8,000 megawatt (MW) of hydro power capacity by 2030 to supply the country’s growing power demand. Under a heads of agreement between Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB) and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), SEB would supply the first 3,000 MW of electricity to TNB from...

(EnergyAsia, May 22, Thursday) —The Philippines’ central Mindanao region is facing a potential fuel supply crisis with the planned closures of major oil depots in General Santos city. Chevron, Shell and Petron are due to close oil storage facilities there by the end of the year as a consequence of rezoning the city’s Bula area...

(EnergyAsia, May 22, Thursday) — Federal International (2000) Ltd, a Singapore-listed engineering and procurement specialist for the energy and infrastructure industries, said it has signed an agreement for the construction of a US$7 million chartering vessel. The vessel to be purchased by Federal’s 60%-owned subsidiary, Federal Offshore Service Pte Ltd (FOS) is a twin-screw anchor...

(EnergyAsia, May 22, Thursday) — Swiber Holdings Limited, a Singapore-listed service services provider to the offshore oil and gas industry, said its first quarter net profit soared 184% to a record US$10.4 million amidst continued demand for offshore oil and gas services in the region. For the quarter ended March 31, it posted revenue of...

(EnergyAsia, May 22, Thursday) — Malaysian state oil and gas company Petronas said it has signed a production sharing agreement (PSA) for a group of fields and a heads of agreement (HOA) for a gas-to-liquid (GTL) project in Uzbekistan. The PSA was signed by wholly-owned subsidiary Petronas Carigali Overseas Sdn Bhd (PCOSB) with the government...

(EnergyAsia, May 22, Thursday) — Oil and gas companies have created US$204 billion through M&A deals, with a further US$34 billion of value generated through access to discovered resource opportunities, said a leading consultant. The value created in M&A transactions has been generated in 195 deals from a total nominal consideration of $264 billion, said...

(EnergyAsia, May 22, Thursday) — Australia’s Queensland state is looking at building a major A$250 million wind power project that could power a big city like Cairns. (US$1 = A$1.04). German wind power engineering firm IFE has signed a letter of intent with Wind Power Queensland under which a 120 megawatt (MW) wind energy project...

(EnergyAsia, May 22, Thursday) — The Malaysian government is considering abolishing subsidies for diesel and selling it to domestic consumers at full market prices. The diesel price at the pump would rise sharply to RM2 per litre from their current subsidised levels of around RM1.58. (US$1 = RM3.2). Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Shahrir Samad...