(EnergyAsia, March 27 2013, Wednesday) — China’s largest oil refiner, China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, or Sinopec Corp, has agreed to form an equal joint venture with its parent firm, Sinopec Group, to take over some of the latter’s upstream assets for a total of US$3 billion. The move is aimed at beefing up Sinopec...
(EnergyAsia, March 26 2013, Tuesday) — The following is an edited version of an analysis by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) on the hydrocarbon reserves and development in the South China Sea. Note: Reserve totals do not include Gulf of Thailand or onshore reserves. Reserve estimates are based on field ownership status. Sources: EIA,...
(EnergyAsia, March 26 2013, Tuesday) — Don’t tell the oil industry about the gloom and doom afflicting the global economic condition. Global oil consumption will still reach a new record high of 90.6 million b/d this year, notwithstanding the continuing economic turmoil in Europe and Japan, and calls for slower growth in China and the...
(EnergyAsia, March 26 2013, Tuesday) — The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said global liquid fuels consumption exceeded production in the first two months of 2013, resulting in a 1.1‐million b/d average draw in global oil stocks Despite the gloom surrounding the European and Japanese economies, the agency has kept its forecasts for record world (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 26 2013, Tuesday) — Russia has opened the door for Chinese firms to participate in the development of its coveted Arctic oil and gas reserves, further raising bilateral ties in the wake of last week’s successful meeting between the Presidents of the two countries. China, the world’s largest energy consumer, has the cash...
(EnergyAsia, March 25 2013, Monday) — Upstream equipment and services company Halliburton said it has opened a newly constructed completion technology and manufacturing centre in Singapore. Completion Tools, a product service line in the company’s Completion and Production division, enables customers to economically and efficiently complete their wells by providing the design, selection and provision (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 25 2013, Monday) — China and Russia have wrapped up a number of energy agreements, worth more than US$600 billion, to mark a successful first overseas trip for newly-installed President Xi Jinping to Moscow to meet his counterpart Vladimir Putin. In one of the world’s biggest long-term oil-supply contracts in memory, Russia’s state-owned...
(EnergyAsia, March 25 2013, Monday) — After the “dream run” of 2011 and 2012, shipping demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) could be headed for the doldrums through 2015, predicts Drewry Maritime Research. In its latest LNG Insight report, the UK-based firm said its LNG Freight Index fell four percent in February as a result (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 25 2013, Monday) — With the February 12 invasion of Malaysia’s Sabah state by a Filipino militia group, another quiet corner of the world risks being sucked into renewed age-old territorial and ethnic disputes fuelled by a growing regional race for oil and gas reserves. The Malaysian government responded by ordering its troops...
(EnergyAsia, March 22 2013, Friday) — UK’s BG Group Plc said it has secured a 20-year agreement to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to India’s Gujarat State Petroleum Corp (GSPC) from 2015. The Reading-based company said it will initially supply 1.25 million tons a year in 2015, potentially doubling the volume after two years. The (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 22 2013, Friday) — Liquefied natural gas (LNG) will become Australia’s second-largest export earner after iron ore, rising more than five times from A$12 billion in 2011 to over A$61 billion by 2017, said the Bureau for Resources and Energy Economics (BREE). (US$1=A$0.96). The start-up of several LNG projects in coming years will (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 22 2013, Friday) — Thanks to the shale-inspired rise in domestic crude production, US is on course to become a net oil producer from as early as the end of this year for the first time since 1995, said the Energy Information Administration (EIA). In its March 2013 short-term energy report, the agency...
(EnergyAsia, March 21 2013, Thursday) — Saudi Arabia was the world’s largest producer and exporter of crude and petroleum liquids last year, said the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). The kingdom produced an average of 11.6 million b/d and exporting an estimated 8.6 million b/d. The total figure covers crude oil, natural gas liquids, condensates,...
(EnergyAsia, March 21 2013, Thursday) — Russia is looking to conclude agreements this year to provide China with additional oil and gas supplies in exchange for credit and loans, said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich. Briefing reporters in Moscow, he said he expected Russia to add to the 15 million tonnes/year of oil it...
(EnergyAsia, March 21 2013, Thursday) — China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corporation Ltd (CAO), Asia’s largest physical jet fuel trader, said it has secured 18-month contracts to supply a total of 120,000 metric tons of aviation fuel to Air China planes at international airports in London, Madrid and Los Angeles starting April 1. CAO said it (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 21 2013, Thursday) — Two Indian state-owned upstream companies are expected to jointly bid for a 20% stake in Mozambique’a Offshore Area 1 oil and gas field. According to Indian news reports, ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) and Oil India Limited (OIL) are believed to be preparing to acquire the combined stake from operator...
(EnergyAsia, March 20 2013, Wednesday) — The world’s second largest oil producing country is joining the unconventional oil and gas revolution by offering companies tax breaks to develop shale and offshore reserves from next January 1. Anxious about sustaining its own production above 10 million b/d for the rest of the decade amid potential supply...
(EnergyAsia, March 20 2013, Wednesday) — Japan’s second largest upstream company has joined the bandwagon to acquire a piece of a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Canada. Japan Petroleum Exploration Co (JAPEX) said it has agreed to buy a 10% stake in a C$11-billion project led by Malaysia’s state energy firm Petronas to...
(EnergyAsia, March 20 2013, Wednesday) — China has appointed the chairman of its largest oil and gas producer to lead and transform a powerful agency overseeing the country’s non-financial assets worth some 70 trillion yuan. (US$1=6.25 yuan). Jiang Jiemin, who has been credited with leading the expansion of China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and subsidiary (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 20 2013, Wednesday) — China’s state oil and gas companies could be in line for a coveted role in helping Brazil develop its substantial deepwater oil and gas reserves. Brazil’s heavily indebted state energy firm, Petrobras, wants cash-rich China to help fund its plan to develop oil refineries to meet rising fuel demand...
(EnergyAsia, March 19 2013, Tuesday) — North America’s ethylene producers are expected to add nearly 11 million metric tons (MMT) of capacity through 2017 as a result of the growing supply of cheap feedstock provided by the new abundance of shale resources, said consultant IHS Chemical. As ethylene production in North America becomes more profitable...
(EnergyAsia, March 19 2013, Tuesday) — The upstream bandwagon calling for rising global oil and gas production is getting crowded as more optimists jump on board with forecasts that unconventional sources will play a bigger role in meeting the world’s energy demand. Research and consulting firm GlobalData has released a new report predicting a decade...
(EnergyAsia, March 19 2013, Tuesday) — More than 75% of 49 Asia Pacific countries are experiencing a serious lack of water security, with many already near crisis level, says a new study prepared jointly by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Asia-Pacific Water Forum (APWF). The study found that 37 of the developing countries in (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 19 2013, Tuesday) — Russia should focus on exporting its future liquefied natural gas (LNG) production to Asia and leave Europe to existing supplier Gazprom, said the country’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak. Briefing reporters in Moscow last week, he cited the pull of Asia’s large and fast-growing markets along with the region’s willingness...
(EnergyAsia, March 18 2013, Monday) — Japan’s dependence on oil, gas and coal to generate electricity surged 21% last year as almost all its nuclear power capacity remained offline as a result of the March 2011 earthquake-tsunami tragedy, said the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Tokyo Electric Power Company’s (TEPCO) giant Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power (more…)