(EnergyAsia, December 13 2012, Thursday) — Australian national resources giant BHP Billiton Ltd said it has agreed to a US$1.63-billion cash sale of its stakes in the proposed Browse liquefied natural gas project (LNG) in Australia to PetroChina Co. According to BHP, China’s largest listed oil producer by market value will take over its 8.33% (more…)
(EnergyAsia, December 13 2012, Thursday) — Qatargas Operating Company Limited said it has signed a 20-year contract for a jointly-owned subsidiary to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Thai state-owned PTT Public Company Limited starting 2015. Qatar Liquefied Gas Company Limited 3 or QatarGas will supply two million tonnes of LNG a year starting 2015, (more…)
(EnergyAsia, December 13 2012, Thursday) — ExxonMobil thinks energy independence would be too modest a goal for North America. By 2025, the region will become a net energy exporter, radically altering the global energy landscape to create new opportunities for international trade and economic growth, predicts the US major in its latest “Outlook for Energy: (more…)
(EnergyAsia, December 13 2012, Thursday) — Seaborne coal prices will continue to recover from this year’s plunge, but will run into strong resistance next year on account of rising supplies from China and elsewhere, said Goldman Sachs. In its latest forecast, Goldman Sachs said coal prices will rise about 15% from this year to trade...
(EnergyAsia, December 12 2012, Wednesday) — Indonesia’s MedcoEnergi and Switzerland’s Puma Energy have launched their new joint venture to build a major fuel trading and distribution business in Indonesia. In a joint statement, the companies said PT Puma Medco Petroleum started up early this month with around 60 staff to deliver high quality fuel products (more…)
(EnergyAsia, December 12 2012, Wednesday) — Australia’s coal and gas exports are set to surge but will face serious constraints from labour shortages and infrastructure bottlenecks, said the International Energy Agency (IEA). In a review of the country’s energy policy, the Paris-based agency praised the government’s carbon price mechanism launched last July as a right...
(EnergyAsia, December 12 2012, Wednesday) — Rail operator Aurizon said it has secured a contract from Rio Tinto Coal Australia (RTCA) to haul coal from its Clermont mine to the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal (DBCT), both in Queensland state. Under the new 10-year contract which replaces an existing one due to expire in June 2013, (more…)
(EnergyAsia, December 12 2012, Wednesday) — India’s proven coal reserves of 118 billion tonnes are sufficient to meet over a century of the country’s domestic demand, said Minister of State for Coal Pratik Prakashbapu Patil. He provided this information in a written reply to questions raised in Parliament about the India’s declining coal self-sufficiency. He...
(EnergyAsia, December 11 2012, Tuesday) — South Korea’s K-Coal Co Ltd has signed a letter of intent (LOI) to become a 5% equity partner in a Coldry commercial demonstration plant (CDP) to be established by Australia-listed Environmental Clean Technologies (ECT) Limited. In a letter of intent (LOI) signed by the two companies, ECT said K-Coal (more…)
US electric power projections. Source: EIA (EnergyAsia, December 11 2012, Tuesday) — At least 49 GW of coal-fired power capacity in the US is at risk of being retired by 2020 if the current switch from coal to gas generation continues unabated, said the Energy Information Administration (EIA). In its recent Annual Energy Outlook 2012,...
(EnergyAsia, December 11 2012, Tuesday) — With its successful C$5.9-billion capture of Canada-based Progress Energy, Malaysian state oil firm Petronas expects to complete the development of a natural gas project culminating in the export of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from a terminal off Prince Rupert by 2018. The project, costing between C$9 and C$11 billion, (more…)
(EnergyAsia, December 11 2012, Tuesday) — South Korean conglomerate Daewoo International has secured a contract with Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) to build a US$1.3 billion coal-fired power plant in the African country. Comprising two 300MW units, the plant will be one of the largest in East Africa and will be part of the Kenyan...
(EnergyAsia, December 10 2012, Monday) — Against the tide of Canadian public opinion, the government has approved the separate purchases of two Calgary, Alberta-based upstream companies by China’s CNOOC Ltd and Malaysia’s Petronas for a total of more than C$20 billion. (US$1=C$0.99). After months of agonising debate, Prime Minister Stephen Harper surprised the market with (more…)
(EnergyAsia, December 10 2012, Monday) — US coal consumption for power generation will break its four-year losing streak to rise by six percent in 2013, said the Energy Information Administration (EIA). For 2012, it will fall to 825 million short tons (mmst), thus staying below one billion short tons for a fourth consecutive year as...
(EnergyAsia, December 10 2012, Monday) — Russian state oil giant OAO Rosneft and US major Exxon Mobil Corp have signed an agreement to launch a pilot programme to assess tight oil reserves in Western Siberia with plans to begin drilling in 2013, the companies said in a joint statement. Upon completion of the programme, they (more…)
(EnergyAsia, December 10 2012, Monday) — Essar Power Ltd, a subsidiary of LSE-listed Essar Energy plc, said it has commissioned the second of the two-unit coal-fired power plant in Vadinar in India’s Gujarat state. With the start-up, the 510MW Vadinar P2 plant is now in full operation to provide power and process steam to Essar...
(EnergyAsia, December 7 2012, Friday) — China views Central Asia and Russia as best suited to meet its growing energy demand and to cooperate on joint projects. This view has crystallised over the course of the year as China is encountering a mix of growing resistance and difficult operating conditions in trying to expand its...
(EnergyAsia, December 7 2012, Friday) — China may have the world’s largest shale gas and one of its largest coal reserves, but it may not yet be able to develop them into sufficiently vast amount of usable energy sources to meet its fast-rising demand. Recent analyses by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and HSBC have...
(EnergyAsia, December 7 2012, Friday) — Coal will remain the leading fuel for power generation in the US through 2040, but its share will continue to decline with the growing popularity of natural gas, nuclear and renewable energy sources, said the Energy Information Administration (EIA). In its latest Annual Energy Outlook report, the EIA predicts (more…)
(EnergyAsia, December 7 2012, Friday) — The Chinese government has set its sight on doubling the country’s 2010 GDP of 39.8 trillion yuan to 80 trillion yuan by 2020. (US$1=6.22 yuan). The newly installed government of President Xi Jinping has accepted the goal announced in his predecessor’s final official speech at last month’s 18th National...
(EnergyAsia, December 6 2012, Thursday) —- Qatargas Operating Company Ltd said it will deliver the first cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Singapore’s new terminal due to open in the first quarter of next year. The cargo, to be delivered on either a Q-Flex or a Q-Max LNG vessel, will be used to commission (more…)
(EnergyAsia, December 6 2012, Thursday) — Adani Group, an India-based global infrastructure company, said it has mapped out Australia’s largest mining exploration programme in Queensland state’s Carmichael mine which it claims holds up to 10 billion tonnes of coal reserves. As part of the programme, the company said it has deployed a record number of (more…)
(EnergyAsia, December 6 2012, Thursday) — This was a week of contrasting fortunes for Singapore’s two world-leading oil rig builders. On Monday, Sembcorp Marine suffered one of its worst industrial accidents in recent years while Keppel Corp announced it had signed a US$1.2 billion contract to build two rigs. Sembcorp Marine, a subsidiary of Sembcorp (more…)
(EnergyAsia, December 6 2012, Thursday) — Traditional shipyards in Singapore are benefitting from the continuing boom in the offshore oil and gas business, with work orders flowing in for building floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels and converting old tankers into floating storage and offloading (FSO), said research firm GBI Research. In a new...
(EnergyAsia, December 5 2012, Wednesday) — A record of more than 26,700 people attended OSEA2012 in Singapore last week to make it Asia’s largest oil and gas business event. According to organiser Singapore Exhibition Services (SES), the participants from 75 countries and regions attended the event from November 27 to 30. As the premier sourcing (more…)