(EnergyAsia, October 2 2012, Tuesday) — Australia and Canada are providing an interesting case study in their contrasting responses to the influx of China’s massive investments in their oil and gas sectors. Similar in their profiles as mid-power First World countries blessed with large reserves of natural resources and relatively small populations, they both need...
(EnergyAsia, October 2 2012, Tuesday) — Indonesia will produce 340 to 350 million tonnes of coal this year instead of an earlier forecast for 360 million tonnes, said the country’s coal mining association as it acknowledged the impact of the global economic slowdown on the industry’s performance. Indonesian miners have begun reducing production in response...
(EnergyAsia, October 2 2012, Tuesday) — Crew costs are once again the main factor driving up the operating expenses of shipping companies, said international accountant and shipping consultant Moore Stephens. In its latest survey covering more than 2,700 vessels, the firm said the industry’s total annual operating costs rose by an average 2.1% last year (more…)
(EnergyAsia, October 2 2012, Tuesday) —- The world’s three leading energy agencies have issued slightly different outlooks on global oil demand for this and next year. The International Energy Agency, which represents the world’s leading oil consuming nations, holds the most bullish outlook for global demand to reach 89.8 million b/d in 2012 and 90.6...
(EnergyAsia, October 1 2012, Monday) — For the third consecutive month, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has maintained its forecasts for global oil demand to grow by 900,000 b/d to 88.74 million b/d in 2012 and by 800,000 b/d to 89.55 million b/d next year. The cartel’s outlook contrasts that of the US (more…)
(EnergyAsia, October 1 2012, Monday) — Germany’s engineering and infrastructure giant Siemens has launched a global competition, “Empower people. Award” to reward the best solutions to urban challenges in cities. The company is encouraging people across the world to provide innovative and sustainable solutions to address the pressing problems faced by developing countries. The competition, (more…)
(EnergyAsia, October 1 2012, Monday) — Canada must look beyond the US to develop new markets in Asia, in particular China, if it is to realise the potential of its oil and gas resources and play a bigger role on the global markets, said a former Cabinet Minister from the ruling Conservative government. Jim Prentice, (more…)
(EnergyAsia, October 1 2012, Monday) — Buoyed by demand in the emerging economies, global oil consumption will reach a record 90.1 million b/d next year, up by slightly over a million b/d from 2012, said the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) in its September short-term energy outlook. This latest forecast represents an upward revision from...
(EnergyAsia, September 28 2012, Friday) — Indonesia’s economy will grow at a slower rate of 6% this year from 6.5% in 2011, but inflation will rise to 5% on account of stronger domestic demand and the effects of a moderate fiscal stimulus, said the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The fund recently issued this report following (more…)
(EnergyAsia, September 28 2012, Friday) — From next January, Qatargas, the world’s leading liquefied natural gas (LNG) producer, will supply Japanese utility Kansai Electric Power Co (KEPCO) 500,000 tonnes of the fuel a year for 15 years. In separate statements, the two companies announced the conclusion of the new agreement to add to an existing (more…)
(EnergyAsia, September 28 2012, Friday) — International marine lubricant supplier TOTAL Lubmarine has launched three new barges at the port of Singapore, strengthening its global service offering to the shipping industry. The 700 dwt double-hulled barges – Marine Champion, Marine Prosper, and Marine Talent – have a cargo load capacity of 860 cubic metres for (more…)
(EnergyAsia, September 28 2012, Friday) — US President Obama faces a shale gas dilemma that threatens to damage his bid to secure a second term in the White House, according to the latest report from natural resources experts GBI Research. The US is currently endowed with a wealth of natural gas following years of overproduction,...
(EnergyAsia, September 27 2012, Thursday) — Norway’s DNV said it has launched a code of Recommended Practice (RP) to assess and manage risks involved in the entire life cycle of shale gas extraction. It said the code provides an independent reference document that hopefully could become the basis for a globally recognised standard for safe (more…)
(EnergyAsia, September 27 2012, Thursday) — Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) expects to start up a new 80,000-cubic metre fuel depot complex at its Hambantota Magampura harbour from next month. According to SLPA chairman Priyath Bandu Wickrema, construction of the US$76 million complex on a 60-hectare site is now near completion. Hambantota is undergoing a...
(EnergyAsia, September 27 2012, Thursday) — Malaysian state oil and gas company Petronas said it will invest RM10 billion to build a floating terminal with an annual capacity to produce 1.2 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG). (US$1=RM3.05). Known as the Train 9 project, the terminal will be located at the Petronas LNG Complex...
(EnergyAsia, September 27 2012, Thursday) — Schlumberger, the US-based supplier of technology, integrated project management and information solutions to the oil and gas industry, has opened its China Petroleum Institute in Beijing. Located in Schlumberger’s China headquarters office building in the city’s Chaoyang district, the institute provides “best-in-class” petro-technical services and will undertake joint R&D (more…)
(EnergyAsia, September 26 2012, Wednesday) — Singapore Power said it is investing S$2 billion to build two tunnels to hold and protect cross-island extra-high voltage transmission cables to ensure the supply of reliable, secure and quality power to 1.3 million consumers. (US$1=S$1.23). To be constructed between 2012 and 2018, the North-South and East-West cable tunnels (more…)
(EnergyAsia, September 26 2012, Wednesday) — China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), one of China’s biggest energy companies, and Europe’s Airbus said they are jointly developing and producing renewable aviation fuel for regular commercial use in China. Sinopec is helping the central government to establish a Chinese airworthiness certification for the new bio-aviation fuels that (more…)
(EnergyAsia, September 26 2012, Wednesday) — ExxonMobil Corp said it has reached an agreement that will significantly increase its production acreage in the prolific Bakken oil shale region in the US states of North Dakota and Montana. ExxonMobil and its subsidiary, XTO Energy, signed an exchange agreement with Denbury Onshore LLC, a subsidiary of Denbury...
(EnergyAsia, September 26 2012, Wednesday) — Longwei Petroleum Investment Holding Ltd, a specialist in storing and distributing petroleum products in China, said it expects to complete the purchase of a 100,000-metri-ton fuel storage depot in northern Shanxi province by the end of this month. Longwei said it has agreed to pay Huajie Petroleum Co Ltd (more…)
(EnergyAsia, September 25 2012, Tuesday) — Led by Japan, Asian natural gas importers have begun aggressively pushing producers to de-link the fuel from more expensively-priced oil to cheaper Henry Hub prices in the US. With US prices stuck at 10-year lows of between US$2 and US$3 per million Btu, Asia has been paying between five...
(EnergyAsia, September 25 2012, Tuesday) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it has approved a facility to help kick-start the Indian infrastructure bond market and ultimately channel substantial amounts of domestic and international pension and insurance funds into critically needed energy, railways, roads, water, and other infrastructure and utilities. The guarantee facility, a first...
(EnergyAsia, September 25 2012, Tuesday) — China’s apparent oil demand fell 1.5% year-on-year in August to 37.87 million metric tons (mt), or 8.95 million b/d, the second monthly contraction this year, said US energy media Platts. According to an analysis of recent Chinese government data, Platts said the August decline follows a 1.9% dip in (more…)
(EnergyAsia, September 25 2012, Tuesday) — The following is an edited version of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) annual economic survey of Saudi Arabia. The outlook for the Saudi economy, which grew by 7.1% last year, remains buoyant, said the IMF. The oil sector continues to dominate the economy, but strengthened budgetary institutions have reduced...
(EnergyAsia, September 24 2012, Monday) — The following is an edited version of the keynote address delivered by Kevin Rudd, a former Prime Minister of Australia, at last Friday’s Singapore Global Dialogue. The core objective of the Asian hemisphere in the first half of the 21st century is to avoid instability, conflict or war between (more…)