(EnergyAsia, December 5 2012, Wednesday) — Renowned commodities investor Jim Rogers has joined Singapore Exchange-listed Geo Energy Resources as a non-executive director. This will be Mr Roger’s first board seat on a Singapore-listed company. The Singapore-based global investor, who recently turned 70, is also the chairman of Rogers Holdings and Beeland Interests Inc. Listed in (more…)

(EnergyAsia, December 4 2012, Tuesday) — Australian companies are at risk of a double hit from increased costs for carbon and renewable energy credits, said consulting firm RepuTex. The carbon cost alone could amount to as much as A$3.7 billion over the next four years under the Federal price mechanism scheme if proposed policy changes (more…)

(EnergyAsia, December 4 2012, Tuesday) — Hong Kong-listed New Times Energy Corporation Limited said it has agreed to acquire an integrated liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Zunyi City in China’s Guizhou province for a total of RMB35 million in cash and convertible bond. (US$1=RMB6.22). New Times Energy said it will pay RMB17 million in (more…)

(EnergyAsia, December 4 2012, Tuesday) — Australia’s Celsius Coal Limited said it has appointed Alexander Molyneux, the former CEO of Mongolia-focused coal miner SouthGobi Resources, as executive chairman from December 1. Celsius, which is focused on exploring and developing coking and thermal coal deposits in Kyrgyzstan, said it will benefit from the experience and the (more…)

(EnergyAsia, December 3 2012, Monday) — Beleaguered UK major BP said it has completed the sale of oil and gas fields in the US Gulf of Mexico and agreed to sell off its North Sea assets to two companies in deals worth a total of approximately US$6.65 billion. In separate statements on November 30, BP (more…)

(EnergyAsia, November 30 2012, Friday) — North America will dramatically change the global energy map as it sharply raises oil and gas production in coming decades, predicts the International Energy Agency (IEA) in its 2012 edition of the World Energy Outlook (WEO). “North America is at the forefront of a sweeping transformation in oil and (more…)

(EnergyAsia, November 29 2012, Thursday) — The following is an edited version of an article written by Susan L. Sakmar, Visiting Assistant Professor, and Andrews Kurth Energy Law Scholar, University of Houston Law Centre. It was first published by CWC News. The vast shale gas reserves that have been unlocked in the US have been (more…)

(EnergyAsia, November 29 2012, Thursday) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it is providing Bangladesh a US$700 million loan to enhance the country’s power supply system and help reduce outages and shortages that are crippling the economy. The ADB said the programme will boost the efficiency of several generating facilities to increase capacity by (more…)

(EnergyAsia, November 28 2012, Wednesday) — State-owned ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) has launched India’s biggest acquisition of overseas oil and gas assets with its agreement to buy ConocoPhillips’ 8.4% stake in a Kazakhstan oil field for US$5 billion. The proposed sale of the US firm’s stake in the giant Kashagan field is expected to meet (more…)

(EnergyAsia, November 27 2012, Tuesday) — Singapore’s Keppel Corporation Limited said its wholly-owned subsidiary, Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd, has secured S$12.2 billion worth of business since its start-up in 2002. (US$1=S$1.22). Remarkably, the company, which was created from the merger of three offshore and marine companies, Keppel FELS, Keppel Shipyard and Keppel Singmarine, secured (more…)

(EnergyAsia, November 27 2012, Tuesday) — Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) said it has agreed to build a new storage terminal with Dutch oil logistics firm Royal Vopak and to expand a chemical plant with Anglo Dutch major Shell. The companies did not disclose the value of the two separate projects to be built in (more…)

(EnergyAsia, November 26 2012, Monday) — Longwei Petroleum Investment Holding Ltd, a NYSE-listed company engaged in the storage, distribution and retail sales of oil products in China, said it has secured sales agreement for its Huajie terminal as well as completed scheduled maintenance and plant upgrades at the Gujiao terminal, both in Shanxi province. The (more…)

(EnergyAsia, November 26 2012, Monday) — Swiss oilfield service company Weatherford International has expanded and consolidated its Singapore operations with the opening of a new multi-million dollar facility in Loyang. For the first time in its 30-year history in Singapore, the company will house all its staff under one roof as part of an expansion (more…)

(EnergyAsia, November 23 2012, Friday) — European resistance to oil-linked gas prices will drive Russia to seek Asian export partners, according to a report international business intelligence firm GlobalData. It said Russia is being forced to re-evaluate its natural gas export strategy as the rest of Europe – the destination of 93% of the country’s (more…)

(EnergyAsia, November 23 2012, Friday) — The Australia Pacific Liquefied Natural Gas (APLNG) Pty Ltd consortium has begun drawing on its US$8.5 billion funding facility to develop its massive A$23 billion project in Queensland state, said operator and 37.5% shareholder Australia’s Origin Energy. (US$1=A$0.96). In a statement, Origin Energy said all conditions for the drawdown (more…)

(EnergyAsia, November 22 2012, Thursday) — The Asia Pacific region has raced ahead of the rest of the world to rapidly become the largest market for natural gas vehicles (NGVs), thanks to strong demand growth in Thailand, India and China, said US-based consulting firm Pike Research. The Boulder, Colorado firm said prospects vary widely across (more…)

(EnergyAsia, November 21 2012, Wednesday) — A subsidiary of China Petrochemical Corp, or Sinopec Group, has agreed to acquire a 20% stake in an offshore Nigerian field from French major Total SA (FP) for about US$2.5 billion, the two companies have announced. The OML 138 block contains the Usan field which is on course to (more…)

(EnergyAsia, November 21 2012, Wednesday) — Unplanned oil supply outages outside the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cartel during the first 10 months of this year were almost twice the amount experienced in the last three months of 2011, reported the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). The volume of unplanned non-OPEC oil production (more…)

(EnergyAsia, November 20 2012, Tuesday) — Law firm
Herbert Smith Freehills said it has strengthened its Greater China energy and natural resources practice with the addition of David Clinch, a senior partner from the firm’s global energy and natural resources practice. Hong Kong-based Clinch will work with partners Anna Howell and Hilary Lau, and China corporate (more…)

(EnergyAsia, November 20 2012, Tuesday) — Asia will account for about 35% of US47.4 billion in global investment in floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) systems between 2013 and 2019, said UK upstream consultant Douglas Westwood. Of this amount, Douglas Westwood predicts that over US$28 billion will be spent on liquefaction and US$19.1 billion on import (more…)

(EnergyAsia, November 20 2012, Tuesday) — Esso Highlands Limited, a subsidiary of the US major, has informed its consortium partners that it has raised the cost of their liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Papua New Guinea by more than 21% to US$19 billion. Esso Highlands, which is leading the PNG LNG consortium to build (more…)

(EnergyAsia, November 19 2012, Monday) — Houston, US-based InterOil Corporation (IOC) has achieved a major breakthrough in its difficult attempt to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Papua New Guinea (PNG) that at one point had looked to be in danger of being cancelled. After months of intense negotiations, the company was able (more…)

(EnergyAsia, November 16 2012, Friday) —Dubai expects to start up its first major solar power plant by next October, said Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) which awarded the contract for the construction of the 13MW project’s first phase. Located in the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the project kick-starts Dubai’s plan to (more…)

(EnergyAsia, November 16 2012, Friday) — Saudi Arabian Oil Co, or Aramco, has opened a new head office in Beijing as it continues to expand ties with the world’s second largest oil consumer. Aramco Asia, a wholly owned subsidiary of the world’s largest oil company according to a PIW ranking, adds to the company’s two (more…)

(EnergyAsia, November 16 2012, Friday) — German chemical company BASF SE said it will raise its oil and gas production, and exit the gas trading and storage business following an agreement to swap assets with Russia’s Gazprom OAO. As part of the agreement, BASF subsidiary Wintershall will receive an equity of 25% plus one share (more…)