(EnergyAsia, September 22, Tuesday) --- Two Singapore companies, green energy R&D company Neftech Pte Ltd and container shipping operator APL, have agreed to work together to develop cleaner and more efficient fuel solutions for use in shipping fleets. They expect Neftech’s proprietary cavitation technology to deliver at least 10% in fuel cost saving for users in addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from ships.

Neftech has begun installing cavitation technology equipment on 20 ships owned and operated by APL, a wholly-owned subsidiary of global container shipping, terminals and logistics group Neptune Orient Lines Limited (NOL).

(EnergyAsia, September 9, Wednesday) --- Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX) is inviting public comments on the proposed contract specifications of its proposed fuel oil 380-centistoke futures contract to be launched on its derivatives market.

The proposed FO 380 contract will be traded in units of 100 tonnes per lot and is physically deliverable at exchange-designated installations. At present, all these installations are located in Singapore.

The key features of the contract that relate to physical delivery are:

1. Delivery facilitated by the clearing house which will match buyers and sellers after taking into account the quantity, installations for delivery, delivery dates and methods of delivery to the extent reasonably possible. The minimum size for delivery will be 2,000 tonnes.

2. Performance Deposit and Security. To ensure that buyers and sellers fulfil their delivery obligations, buyers and sellers will post a performance deposit (PD) with the clearing house. Upon delivery by the seller, the clearing house will require a security from the seller for application in the event of any disputes arising from the fuel oil delivered.

3. Performance Guarantee. The buyer’s and seller’s respective clearing members will guarantee the performance of payment and delivery obligations in accordance with the SGX clearing rules and specifications.

4. Use of Letters of Credit. Letters of credit may be used for the posting of PD and payment. The consultation paper, which explains the rationale and proposed amendments in detail, will be available on SGX website at www.sgx.com from today.

Market participants and members of the public can forward their feedback and suggestions on the above proposed amendments until September 17.

(EnergyAsia, September 2, Wednesday) --- Australia’s Arrow Energy said its profit for the year ended June 30 2009 surged by 885% to A$366 million compared with the previous year. (US$1=A$1.2).

The company said its full year earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was A$580.2 million, a 723% increase on the prior full year while underlying earnings (EBITDA) of A$59.6 million was 13% higher.

Reserves and production growth: 

Mr Davies said a continuing ramp up of the company’s Surat Basin fields over the past 12 months had offset the production fall at its Moranbah field due to the seven-week shut-in resulting from the Townsville power station maintenance and helped net gas production climb to 17.2 petajoules (PJ) for the year, up from 16.3 PJ in 2007. Electricity sales increased from 615,170 MWh to 825,794 MWh for the year.

According to Arrow, its gross 2P reserves have been upgraded by 1,845 PJ during the year. The company has a target to increase gross 2P reserves by 1,000 PJ each year. (1,000 PJ is equivalent to 165 million barrels of oil).
“Arrow has interests in more than 65,000 square km of coal seam gas tenements and less than 10% of this acreage has been appraised,” Mr Davies said. 

“A review based on coal seam data gathered from extensive coal exploration and appraisal activity shows that Arrow has an estimated gross coal seam gas resource in excess of 70,000 PJ.  Even if only half of this resource base can be economically developed then there is sufficient coal seam gas for LNG exports of over 20 million tonnes per annum.
“We are working hard on development plans to bring our vast reserves to a planned LNG export facility at Gladstone,” he said.

Arrow aims to be Asia’s number one coal seam gas player: 

“Strategic joint ventures with major industry players in China, India, Indonesia and Vietnam are providing Arrow with significant exposure to strong overseas energy markets, where gas pricing ranges from A$5 to A$15 per gigajoule (GJ) which compare favourably with domestic gas prices in eastern Australia.

“Most Asian countries that we’re targeting have the potential to be at least as large as our current Australian operation within the next seven years,” he added. 

Arrow has completed drilling in China, India and Vietnam and further work will be conducted upon the receipt of final test results. The company expects to start drilling in Indonesia later this year. 

“We have recently signed a production sharing contract (PSC) for Tanjung Enim in Indonesia and are progressing other project opportunities throughout Asia.” he said.

Outlook for the current financial year:

“2010 will be a pivotal year for Arrow with final investment decision (FID) due for the Fisherman’s Landing LNG project and more than $300m gross to be spent in the next 18 months on drilling and development in preparation for our LNG opportunities,” Mr Davies said. 

“The long-term demand for oil and hence the long-term price for oil will remain strong and we are well positioned to build on the firm base that we have created and the partnerships that we have forged. We have a world-class team, an Asia-Pacific wide alliance with Shell, substantial footholds and assets in four Asian countries and a healthy financial position. The best is yet to come.”

(EnergyAsia, August 24, Monday) --- New figures announced at a recent resource conference have highlighted the struggle facing Australian explorers to raise working capital for both new and on-going exploration and mining projects over the past two years

At the Paydirt 2009 Resources Victoria Conference in Melbourne, Patersons Securities Limited said there were 252 initial public offers (IPOs) in 2007, but that plunged to just 68 last year.

(EnergyAsia, August 19, Wednesday) --- A high-powered delegation from Abu Dhabi led by Crown Prince General Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, was in China recently to strengthen energy, economic, political and military ties between the two countries.

General Sheikh Mohamed, who is also Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, met President Hu Jintao and other senior Chinese leaders.

(EnergyAsia, July 30, Thursday) --- Malaysia’s Bumi Armada Bhd, owner and operator of the country’s largest fleet of offshore vessels, said its second floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, the Armada Perdana, has set sail to operate in offshore Nigeria. 

The company held a sail-away ceremony for the 1988-converted vessel at the Keppel Shipyard in Singapore on July 18. The FPSO has a 45,000-b/d processing capacity and a one-million-barrel storage capacity for processed oil, with topside water and gas injection capabilities.