AUSTRALIA: International Coal Limited and Coal Face Resources to jointly develop Surat Basin project

(EnergyAsia, May 10 2013, Friday) — Two Australian companies, International Coal Limited (ICX) and Coal Face Resources Pty Limited, have agreed to jointly explore and develop the EPC 2286 permit, also known as the Don Juan project, in Queensland’s state Surat Basin. ICX said it will hold up to 71% of the partnership to jointly (more…)

MARKETS: Platts offer two new thermal coal price assessments for China and greater Asia

(EnergyAsia, May 9 2013, Thursday) — Platts, a leading source of benchmark price assessments for energy, petrochemical and metal products, said it has launched two new thermal coal price assessments for China to serve the domestic market and Asia. The CFR South China assessment covers the seaborne spot trade in physical open-thermal coal including the (more…)

CHINA: SinoCoking Coal starts up coking coke production plant in Henan province

(EnergyAsia, May 8 2013, Wednesday) — SinoCoking Coal and Coke Chemical Industries Inc, a Nasdaq-listed vertically-integrated coal and coke processing firm, said it started trial production at a newly leased coking coal production plant in China’s Henan province last month. Subsidiary Pingdingshan Hongli Coal & Coke Co Ltd, which owns and operates another plant located (more…)

SINGAPORE: LNG terminal starts commercial operation with receipt of BG’s first cargo

(EnergyAsia, May 8 2013, Wednesday) — More than two decades after planners began considering liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the country’s energy mix, Singapore launched commercial operations of its S$1.7 billion terminal this week with the receipt of the first cargo from exclusive importer BG Group of the UK. (US$1=S$1.25). At the terminal’s launch, Trade (more…)

SINGAPORE: SGX marks launch and first trade of South China coal swaps contract

(EnergyAsia, May 7 2013, Tuesday) — Singapore Exchange last month launched its South China coal swap contract with 25 lots representing 25,000 metric tons changing hands on the opening day. The exchange said Straits (Singapore) Pte Ltd and Tullett Prebon Energy Singapore Pte Ltd brokered the first two trades in the API 8 CFR South (more…)

SOUTH KOREA: Steel maker POSCO signs agreements to purchase coal from Russian miner Mechel

(EnergyAsia, May 7 2013, Tuesday) — Mechel OAO, a leading Russian mining and metals companies, said it has secured an agreement for the annual supply of 500,000 tons of coking coal to South Korean iron and steel maker POSCO Corporation for three years. Mechel Carbon (Singapore) Pte Ltd, a trading subsidiary of the company’s mining (more…)

SINGAPORE: PacificLight Power on course to start LNG-fuelled power plant this year

(EnergyAsia, May 7 2013, Tuesday) — Singapore’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fired power plant is on course for a full start-up in the fourth quarter, said owner PacificLight Power Pte Ltd, previously known as GMR Energy. The 800MW combined-cycle plant on Jurong Island will sell electricity at prices based on crude or high-sulphur fuel oil, (more…)

COMPANY: Des King, ex-Caltex Australia CEO, named President of Chevron Oronite

(EnergyAsia, May 6 2013, Monday) — Chevron Oronite has named Desmond (Des) King, a former CEO and managing director of Caltex Australia, as President to succeed Ron Kiskis who is retiring on August 31. The company also announced the appointments of Jirong Xiao as vice president of sales and marketing, and Barbara Smith as vice (more…)

AUSTRALIA: China’s Dadi Engineering increased stake in MetroCoal to 22.6%

(EnergyAsia, May 3 2013, Friday) — Australia-listed MetroCoal Limited said a Chinese shareholder recently raised its 19.6% shareholding in the Brisbane-based miner to 22.6%. Dadi Engineering Development (Group) Co Ltd, described as one of China’s leading coal services groups, bought 6.25 million shares from investor Mathews Capital to increase its ownership of Metrocoal shares to (more…)

MALAYSIA: Petronas confirms Japex as first customer for Canadian LNG project

(EnergyAsia, May 2 2013, Thursday) — Malaysian state energy firm Petronas said the first customer for its proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Canada’s British Columbia province has agreed to purchase 10% of its output for 20 years. Petronas and its Calgary, Alberta-based subsidiary, Progress Energy Canada Ltd, expect their jointly owned Pacific NorthWest (more…)

DUBAI: ENOC unit to start up new Jebel Ali oil terminal by end-2013, pipeline link to airport

(EnergyAsia, April 30 2013, Tuesday) — Horizon Terminals Limited (HTL), a subsidiary of Dubai’s Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC), expects to start up its new US$142-million oil storage terminal at Jebel Ali that will include a 60-km pipeline link to supply jet fuel to Dubai’s new Al Maktoum International Airport. Supplied by both ENOC’s 120,000 (more…)

IRAN: Oil export volume, revenues down sharply due to sanctions, said US EIA

(EnergyAsia, April 30 2013, Tuesday) — Iran’s crude oil export revenues plunged 27% last year as sales fell to their lowest level since 1986, the result of tighter Western trade sanctions, said the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). The agency estimated Iran took in US$69 billion in net oil export revenue last year, compared with (more…)

SINGAPORE: KPMG launches Global Energy Institute, held inaugural Global Energy Conference for the Asia Pacific

(EnergyAsia, April 29 2013, Monday) — KPMG held its inaugural Global Energy Conference in Singapore last Friday to coincide with the launch of its Global Energy Institute for the Asia-Pacific region. The one-day conference brought together some 300 regional business leaders in the energy sector, along with members of government and academia to deliver insights (more…)

INDIA: Hinduja’s Gulf Oil opens new lubricants blending plants in Ras Al Khaimah and Argentina

(EnergyAsia, April 29 2013, Monday) — The Gulf Oil International Group, owned by India’s Hinduja Group, has started up two new lubricants blending plants in Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE and Argentina. Gulf RAK Oil, a joint venture of the Ras Al Khaimah government and Gulf Oil International, last month opened a lubrication manufacturing (more…)

SINGAPORE: Regulator and industry to meet again next month on guidelines for LNG imports

(EnergyAsia, April 29 2013, Monday) — Singapore’s energy regulator and natural gas companies will meet again next month to help shape guidelines on the import of additional volume of liquefied natural gas (LNG), said trade and industry minister S. Iswaran. The Energy Market Authority (EMA) initiated the first round of industry consultations last year after (more…)

INDIA: Petronet signs 20-year deal to buy LNG from United LNG, may take stake in US export terminal

(EnergyAsia, April 26 2013, Friday) — India’s main gas importer Petronet LNG has signed an initial 20-year agreement with Houston, US-based United LNG to purchase four million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG), the two companies have announced. They are now discussing commercial terms including prices linked to Louisiana state’s Henry Hub that are expected (more…)

SAUDI ARABIA: Jubail refinery output will weaken global diesel prices in 2014, says US consultant

(EnergyAsia, April 26 2013, Friday) — Global diesel prices will weaken when state-owned Saudi Aramco starts up its 400,000 b/d refinery in Jubail in Saudi Arabia next year, said US consultant ESAI Energy. The sophisticated plant will add to the supply of clean diesel in Saudi Arabia and Europe, markets currently supplied by India, said (more…)

COMPANIES: China’s Wison and US engineering firm Black & Veatch to jointly pursue offshore LNG projects

(EnergyAsia, April 25 2013, Thursday) —- Wison Offshore & Marine Ltd, a subsidiary of China’s Wison Group, said it has signed a memorandum of understanding with US engineering firm Black & Veatch to jointly pursue barge-based natural gas liquefaction facility projects on an exclusive basis. Shanghai-based Wison said it will hold responsibility for barge design (more…)

QATAR: QPI ventures into North America gas through separate deals with UK’s Centrica and ExxonMobil

(EnergyAsia, April 25 2013, Thursday) — Qatar Petroleum International and UK energy retailer Centrica plc have teamed up to buy gas fields from Canada’s Suncor Energy for US$1 billion. In separate statements, the companies said Suncor has agreed to sell the conventional portion of its natural gas business in Western Canada to a newly established (more…)

CHINA: ICBC to finance construction of large oil refinery in Western Canada

(EnergyAsia, April 24 2013, Wednesday) — The world’s largest bank said it will provide financing for the proposed construction of a large export-oriented oil refinery in the port of Kitimat on the west coast of Canada. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has agreed to provide financing for the project, estimated to cost (more…)

SINGAPORE: SembCorp Industries secured separate power deals in India and the UK

(EnergyAsia, April 23 2013, Tuesday) — Singapore-listed energy and utilities company Sembcorp Industries said its subsidiaries have recently concluded two power deals in India and the UK. The company’s jointly owned Thermal Powertech Corp India has secured a 25-year agreement to supply a total of 500MW of electricity to four power companies owned by the (more…)

MARKETS: “Significant” gas liquefaction capacity needed to meet global demand over next decade, says consultant

(EnergyAsia, April 22 2013, Monday) — The world will need 180 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas feed and “significant” liquefaction capacity over the next decade to meet a projected doubling in global liquefied natural gas (LNG) demand by 2025, said consultant Wood Mackenzie. Presenting at the LNG 17 conference in Houston, US last (more…)

INDONESIA: Introduce fiscal incentives to improve long-term potential of upstream sector, consultant suggests

(EnergyAsia, April 19 2013, Friday) — Indonesia should introduce fiscal incentives to improve the long-term potential of its mature upstream oil and gas sector, said consultant Wood Mackenzie. Speaking at the recent SEAPEX 2013 event in Singapore, Wood Mackenzie’s head of Asia upstream research said Indonesia still holds huge potential, with an estimated 45% or (more…)

MALAYSIA: Shell completes storage and pipeline expansion at Westport Terminal

(EnergyAsia, April 19 2013, Friday) — Royal Dutch Shell said it has completed the expansion of its Westport Terminal on the west coast of Malaysia with the addition of three new fuel storage tanks and 1.4km of pipelines. The new facilities are part of the third and final phase of the project which started in (more…)

MYANMAR: Energy ministry opens up 30 offshore blocks for bidding, says Herbert Smith Freehills

(EnergyAsia, April 18 2013, Thursday) — Myanmar’s Ministry of Energy is inviting international bids for production sharing contracts for 11 shallow and 19 deep-sea blocks, said law firm Herbert Smith Freehills. Interested parties have until June 14 to submit expressions of interest for the blocks, said the firm, which has an office in Yangon under (more…)