(EnergyAsia, June 11 2012, Monday) — In this inaugural OxfordPrinceton Series, EnergyAsia interviewed energy industry veteran Malcolm Johnson on the state of the global natural gas and LNG markets. After more than 30 years with Shell in the natural gas/LNG sector, Mr Johnson now provides private consulting services as well as teaches energy professionals attending (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 11 2012, Monday) — India’s Essar Energy said it expects to start production at its Aries coal mine in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan province by June 2013, having just received final approvalkfrom Jakarta to proceed with development plans. Essar Energy acquired the 5,000-hectare mining area in the province’s West Kutai region for US$118 million (more…)

                   (EnergyAsia, June 8 2012, Friday) — In this inaugural OxfordPrinceton Series, EnergyAsia interviewed energy industry veteran Malcolm Johnson on the state of the global natural gas and LNG markets. After more than 30 years with Shell in the natural gas/LNG sector, Mr Johnson now provides private consulting services as well as teaches energy professionals (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 8 2012, Friday) — Aggreko, the Scotland-based world leader in providing temporary power and temperature control services, said it has commissioned a turnkey rental power package to power the construction and initial operations of the Martabe mine in northern Sumatra in Indonesia. Hong Kong-based mining company G-Resources, which owns the mine, intends to (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 8 2012, Friday) — SouthGobi Resources Ltd, a leading Mongolian coal miner and exporter, has hailed the opening of eight new border gates exclusively for coal transportation at the Shivee Khuren-Ceke border between Mongolia and China on May 28. According to the Hong Kong-listed company, the gates will significantly increase the capacity for (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 7 2012, Thursday) — Indonesia could lose as much as US$11 billion a year if the government proceeds to impose a controversial tax on the country’s thriving thermal coal exports, said research consultant Wood Mackenzie. While Indonesia will likely remain the world’s largest seaborne thermal coal exporter through 2020, it will lose much (more…)

  (EnergyAsia, June 7 2012, Thursday) —  Australia-listed Aspire Mining Limited said a pre-feasibility study into its proposed Ovoot coking coal project in northern Mongolia has found it to be viable and worthy of a two-stage execution costing a total of A$1.275 billion with production start-up from 2016. (US$1=A$1.03). According to the study by Xstract (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 7 2012, Thursday) — Following its conclusion of a collaboration agreement with J.P. Morgan Treasury Services last month, Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP) said it is looking to expand its range and offering of trade finance services to energy companies operating in the Arab world and beyond. Starting this month, APICORP, a multilateral (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 7 2012, Thursday) — GE said its technology is supporting the new 160MW Taji power plant supplying electricity to the greater Baghdad area as part of the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity’s efforts to meet the country’s urgent energy needs. GE said it supplied four Frame 6B gas turbines for the Taji plant, located (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 6 2012, Wednesday) — Australia’s thermal coal has become uncompetitive and too costly against other producers, according to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA). In a research report, the bank found that Australia’s production cost has risen by an average nominal rate of 25% a year since 2007 on a combination of the (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 6 2012, Wednesday) — Essar Energy said it has agreed to commit 240MW of its Tori II 600MW coal-fired plant under construction in Jharkhand state in India to supply power to Noida Power Company Ltd. Essar Energy plc, a privte India-focused integrated energy company, said its subsidiary, Essar Power Jharkhand Limited (EPJL), won (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 6 2012, Wednesday) — Australia’s mining sector including coal, iron ore and liquefied natural gas (LNG) pulled in a record US$260.8 billion worth of investment commitments as of April 30 2012, up 12.5% from the last update by the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics (BREE) six months ago. (US$1=A$1.04). The money was (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 5 2012, Tuesday) — Australia’s MetroCoal Limited said the Queensland state government has declared its Tenement to Terminal Limited’s (3TL’s) Yarwun coal terminal project at Gladstone a ‘significant project.’ 3TL is 20%-owned by MetroCoal Limited. The declaration means that approvals for the project will be assessed using a more streamlined whole-of-government approach, managed (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 5 2012, Tuesday) — L & L Energy Inc, a US company with a five-year track record of profitable underground coal mining and distribution operations in China, said it has started delivering coal to Datang International Power Generation Co Ltd and a new customer, Luk Fook Co Ltd. On May 14, the Seattle-based (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 5 2012, Tuesday) — Canada’s Prophecy Coal Corp said it has secured a sales contract to supply 22,100 tonnes of thermal coal from its Ulaan Ovoo mine in Mongolia to a local direct reduced iron (DRI) manufacturing plant. According to Prophecy, the unidentified buyer has indicated that this is an initial purchase is to (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 4 2012, Monday) — Keppel FELS Limited said it has won a contract order from Maersk Drilling Holdings Singapore Pte Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Denmark’s A.P. Moller – Maersk A/S, to build a repeat Gusto MSC CJ70 ultra harsh environment jackup rig worth about US$560 million. Scheduled for delivery in 1Q (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 4 2012, Monday) — Caving in after days of angry protests and reports of fuel hoarding in major Indian cities, state-owned oil refiners said they partially rolled back a 10%-11% hike in gasoline prices on June 3. In New Delhi, gasoline now costs 71.16 rupees a litre instead of the record 73.18 rupees (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 4 2012, Monday) — The International Monetary Fund (IMF)  expects the economies of sub-Saharan Africa to grow by an average 5.5% this year, continuing from last year’s average 5% rise despite the uncertain global outlook. In its 2012 Regional Economic Outlook for the region, the IMF said new resource production in Angola, Niger, (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 4 2012, Monday) — Australia’s Pan Asia Corp has declared that its flagship thermal coal project Transcoal Minergy Coal (TCM) in Indonesia’s South Kalimantan province is technically and financially feasible. In a statement, the company said a study carried out by Indonesian mining equipment group PT Kopex Mining Contractors expects the mine to (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 1 2012, Friday) — Australian underground coal gasification company Cougar Energy which is waging a legal battle with the Queensland government is looking for a new CEO following the resignation of embattled founding chief Len Walker. The company said Dr Walker will remain as a board and executive director to share his expertise (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 1 2012, Friday) — Australia’s Queensland state has given conditional approval to the development of a A$10 billion coal mine in the untapped Galilee Basin owned by Indian infrastructure group GVK and mining tycoon Gina Rinehart. (US$1=A$1.02). GVK described the conditional approval as an important step towards the Alpha Coal Project receiving final (more…)

(EnergyAsia, June 1 2012, Friday) — Canada’s Prophecy Coal Corp said it has signed a cooperation covenant with the Energy Authority of Mongolia, targeting to start up the 600 MW Chandgana power project by 2016. The covenant provides support for the construction and operation of the plant comprising four units of 150 MW capacity each (more…)