(EnergyAsia, October 11 2012, Thursday) — The following is an edited portion of a larger country report on Indonesia by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released in August. “Indonesia has benefited from China’s rise mostly through commodity trade. Indonesia has not become part of the Asian manufacturing supply chains, but has emerged as the top...
(EnergyAsia, October 10 2012, Wednesday) — Germany’s Oiltanking GmbH said it has agreed to fully acquire Singapore-based Helios Terminal Corporation Private Limited and its holding company Chemoil Storage Limited subject to regulatory approvals. Commissioned in 2008, Helios’ terminal on Jurong Island has the capacity to hold 503,000 cubic metres (cbm). It is equipped with blending facilities and a finger (more…)
(EnergyAsia, October 10 2012, Wednesday) — Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd, the Singapore-based world leading oil rig builder, has announced several new appointments in its senior management following the death of its former marine managing director Nelson Yeo last month. Replacing him is Michael Chia, 59, who will oversee Keppel O&M’s marine division which includes (more…)
(EnergyAsia, October 10 2012, Wednesday) — Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), India’s largest privately owned energy company, said it has agreed to increase its crude oil import from Venezuela’s state-owned PDVSA to between 300,000 b/d and 400,000 b/d for 15 years. PDVSA currently supplies around 270,000 b/d of heavy crude oil to Reliance’s two refineries in (more…)
(EnergyAsia, October 10 2012, Wednesday) — Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, home to one of the world’s richest marine life reserves, has lost half its coral cover since the mid-1980s and will lose a further half within a decade as a result of continuous pollution and neglect, the country’s scientists have warned. A detailed joint study...
(EnergyAsia, October 9 2012, Tuesday) — Environmental Clean Technologies (ECT) Limited, an Australian firm focused on commercialising clean coal and iron-making technologies, has informed shareholders that it has been granted patent coverage for its Coldry technology in Europe. “We are in receipt of notification that our European Patent application has now been issued as a (more…)
(EnergyAsia, October 9 2012, Tuesday) — Vietnam is bracing for a round of energy-induced inflation after the government allowed state mining monopoly Vinacomin to raise coal prices for power generation by up to 40% from September 15. Power companies led by state Electricity Vietnam (EVN) have complained that they will be hit with an unexpected...
(EnergyAsia, October 9 2012, Tuesday) — Australia’s Origin Energy Limited has announced it has successfully secured A$2.4 billion of syndicated bank loan facility with terms of four and five years maturing between October 2016 and October 2017. (US$1=A$0.98). The company’s executive director for finance and strategy, Karen Moses, said: “Origin continues to receive strong support (more…)
(EnergyAsia, October 9 2012, Tuesday) — Two major oil refineries in China and India will remain shut for the next few weeks after suffering human casualties in industrial incidents late last month. China Petroleum & Chemical Corp or Sinopec said three workers were killed in an accident at its 300,000 b/d refinery in the northern...
(EnergyAsia, October 8 2012, Monday) — Boosted by huge sales increases to China and Europe, US coal exports surged 39.1% to 37.53 million short tons (mmst) in the second quarter compared with the same period last year, said the Energy Information Administration (EIA). China became the largest market for US coal in the second quarter (more…)
(EnergyAsia, October 8 2012, Monday) — Not only will CNOOC succeed in acquiring Canada’s Nexen Inc, it will also confound the doubting Thomases by growing its new subsidiary into a successful international oil and gas player from its expanded Calgary base, predicts Ernst & Young’s lead oil and gas consultant for Canada. Speaking to EnergyAsia...
(EnergyAsia, October 8 2012, Monday) — BP said it has agreed to sell off all its interests in purified terephthalic acid (PTA) production in Malaysia to India’s Reliance Global Holdings Pte Ltd for a total of US$230 million. The agreement covers the UK major’s 100% equity in BP Chemicals (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (BPCM) located in (more…)
(EnergyAsia, October 8 2012, Monday) — China’s coal miners are reducing operations as they face growing financial and environmental pressures, and worsening water shortages in the main coal belt in the northern and central regions. Inner Mongolia autonomous region, which holds the country’s largest coal reserves, has closed down nearly 900 coal mines since 2005...
(EnergyAsia, October 5 2012, Friday) — Vietnam’s electricity supply crisis could worsen after Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung accepted a controversial proposal by two ministries to reduce the export tax rate on coal from 20% to 10%. The ministries of finance, and industry and trade, appear to have won the protracted battle to reduce the...
(EnergyAsia, October 5 2012, Friday) — Mongolia has got it wanted: stop what it considers is China’s attempt to tighten a grip on its strategic coal mining sector, potentially one of the world’s largest. Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) appears to have given up on buying into Mongolia’s coal industry after ending an agreement to...
(EnergyAsia, October 5 2012, Friday) — UK’s BG Group said it has agreed to sell its majority interest in India’s Gujarat Gas Company Limited (GGCL) for 24.6 billion rupees or $470 million to GSPC Distribution Networks Limited, a subsidiary of Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation. The agreement, which is subject to regulatory approval, involves the sale (more…)
(EnergyAsia, October 5 2012, Friday) — Greenpeace said Australia’s rising coal production and exports are contributing to the destruction of the Great Barrier Reef, one of the world’s largest eco-systems, that will harm the world’s stock of fish and other marine life. Earlier this year, Greenpeace published a report on what it calls is the...
(EnergyAsia, October 4 2012, Thursday) — As a result of weaker commodity prices, Australia’s resources and energy commodity export earnings are expected to decline 2% to A$189 billion for the year to June 30 2013, according to the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics (BREE). The sector’s export earnings hit a record high of A$193 (more…)
(EnergyAsia, October 4 2012, Thursday) — UK’s BG Group said it has secured the support of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) for the long-term supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Japan as well as create opportunities for Japanese companies to participate in energy projects around the world. Under the cooperation agreement, BG (more…)
(EnergyAsia, October 4 2012, Thursday) — Three Singapore-listed companies involved in the upstream oil and gas industry have provided updates on their recent activities. Loyz Energy has agreed to sell off its non-core sanitary ware division to focus on becoming an independent upstream player in the Asia Pacific region while Interra Resources has completed drilling (more…)
(EnergyAsia, October 4 2012, Thursday) — State-owned China Petroleum Corp (Sinopec Group) has established Sinopec Great Wall Energy Chemical Co as a fully-owned coal-to-chemical subsidiary. Sinopec senior vice president Dai Houliang has been named chairman of the new Beijing-headquartered company with responsibility for developing and operating the group’s coal-to-chemical businesses. Sinopec is in the midst...
(EnergyAsia, October 3 2012, Wednesday) — Mechel OAO, a leading Russian mining and metals company, said it has started up a seasonal washing plant to process coking coal mined at the Elga deposit. Equipped with the latest technology, the 2-billion-ruble plant has the capacity to produce up to three million tonnes of coking coal concentrate (more…)
(EnergyAsia, October 3 2012, Wednesday) — Offshore and marine services provider Atlantic Navigation Holdings has listed on Singapore’s Catalist exchange under the stock code of “5UL” with a market value of just under S$165 million (US$1=S$1.23). The company was acquired by Fastube Limited for S$146 million through a shares issue, and renamed Atlantic Navigation, said (more…)
(EnergyAsia, October 3 2012, Wednesday) — Gazprom Marketing and Trading (GM&T), the fully-owned subsidiary of the Russian gas giant, has signed an agreement for the annual supply of 2.5 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to India’s GAIL for 20 years, the companies announced. The deal follows through on the Basic Framework Agreement (BFA) (more…)
(EnergyAsia, October 3 2012, Wednesday) — Canada is the world’s most attractive destination for mining investments, easily beating Australia which is increasingly burdened by fiscal, regulatory, tax and royalty uncertainties, according to an international survey conducted by law firm Baker & Mckenzie. The firm interviewed more than 300 senior industry leaders in Australia, Canada, Brazil,...