(EnergyAsia, May 5, Tuesday) --- Global Pacific and Partners will be holding its ‘2nd Europe Upstream’ conference in Amsterdam, Netherlands from May 10 to 12.

The conference will focus on exploration developments, investments in oil and gas projects, energy laws and finance, contracts and acreage licensing issues.

The event will feature a special roundtable discussion on ‘world energy scenario and global oil turbulence’.

Topics discussed at the conference include Europe’s upstream role, European gas markets, Poland’s oil and gas industry, PetroCeltic’s European plays, energy infrastructure, oil and gas financing, the talent crisis, oil and gas opportunities in Russia and Iceland, European stranded gas, upstream oil and gas in The Netherlands, and building portfolio as an independent player.

The conference will also focus on Russia’s oil and gas reserves, production outlook, global strategies for Gazprom and Rosneft as well as future of corporate oil in times of Russian energy nationalism, uncertain crude prices and a reshaped world oil paradigm.

Speakers at the event include Duncan Clarke (Global Pacific & Partners), Peter R Odell (Rotterdam University), Christian Gueritte (Netherlands Oil and Gas Exploration & Production Association), Dub Crook (ExxonMobil Gas & Power), Cyryl Federowicz (Polish Oil & Gas Company), Martin Richards (Petro-Canada), Brian O’ Cathain (Petroceltic), Jan Prins (Independent Consultant), Shane de Beer (Chadbourne & Park), Michael Heslop (Preng & Associates), Diederick Bax (Shell Global Solutions), Fredrik Bockelie (Sagex Petroleum), John Martin (Hansa Hydrocarbons), Dave Taylor (Cirrus Energy Coporation), Lawrence Payne (Ithaca Energy), and Arne Visser (Smart Energy Solutions).

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(EnergyAsia, May 5, Tuesday) --- Vestas, the world’s leading wind energy company, said it has unveiled a new turbine specially designed for the Chinese market.

As the first market-specific turbine developed by Vestas, the company said the V60-850 kW represents the next generation of proven and reliable KW technology for optimised production and performance and featuring innovations suitable for Chinese wind and weather conditions. The main innovations have been made in blade design and temperature control systems.

Designed by its research and development team, Vestas said the V60-850 kW is most effective in low and medium winds, representing close to 75% of the country’s unutilised onshore wind resources.

More than 90% of the V60-850 kW components are sourced in China. The turbine will be built in Vestas’ new factory in Hohhot in the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region (IMAR).

Vestas said this new, high-tech kW turbine is the best and most scientific response to the specific challenges and opportunities of land use and wind resources in China, and was developed as a result of an ongoing dialogue with Chinese stakeholders and customers.

“The V60-850 kW turbine is a ground-breaking new product for China, and is the first time Vestas has customised a turbine for a single specific market,” said Vestas CEO Ditlev Engel.

“China, as a future global wind energy superpower, is one the most important markets for us. As a committed partner that has been engaged in China’s wind energy industry for over 20 years, the development and introduction of the V60 represents the beginning of a new stage in Vestas’ development in China that will see us play a larger role in contributing to the development of China’s overall wind energy industry by building a long-term China-based innovation capacity and establishing a bigger technology presence here.”

Vestas China President Lars Andersen emphasised that customers played a critical role in the development of the V60-850 kW.

“Our best customers told us they wanted a kilowatt turbine that could unlock the potential of low and medium wind sites and overcome obstacles, like the tough winters in Northern Chinese areas such as IMAR. In collaboration with our Chinese partners, we designed Vestas’ most advanced and productive kW turbine, and then localised it and built a factory to produce it -- close to some of China’s richest low and medium wind resources.”

The new Hohhot factory will produce the V60-850kW blades and nacelles.

Lu Ming, vice president of Vestas China and general manager of the new Hohhot factory, paid tribute to the Vestas team that went from design to prototype manufacturing in just 12 months.

“We have very talented teams working on technology and supply chain development; they continuously set new standards at Vestas for speed, teamwork and dedication. The development of the V60-850 kW was critical in establishing a China-based technology team to support on-going local innovation and adaptation of both this turbine, as well as other turbine platforms in China. The team will continue to contribute to the ongoing development of the Chinese wind energy industry and the continued localisation of Vestas China.”

(EnergyAsia, May 5, Tuesday) --- Indonesia has finalised its domestic pricing formula for bioethanol and palm-based biodiesel which will combine Argus’ biofuel benchmark prices and export-based prices issued by the trade ministry. The new price formula is effective May 1, said energy media group Argus.

The Indonesian government agreed to set a pricing formula for biodiesel and bioethanol based on international prices to help boost the use of green fuel, Evita Legowo, director general of oil and gas at the energy and mines ministry, told reporters.

Argus said the new pricing formula will be a combination of its average monthly palm oil methyl ester (PME) fob South East Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore) price and the export-based average monthly price issued by the Indonesian Department of Trade.

Argus provides daily fob price assessments for palm oil methyl ester meeting European EN14214 specifications loading from Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia. These price assessments are available in its daily Argus Biofuels report.

Palm oil methyl ester is made from crude palm oil and other inputs, and is typically blended with motor diesel. Indonesia is the world’s top producer of palm oil. The country is expected to produce about 20 million tons of palm oil in 2009, up from less than 19 million tons last year.

The Indonesian government introduced a mandate last November for a blend of 1% palm-based biodiesel in transportation fuels and a blend of 2.5% and 0.25% palm-based biodiesel for industry and power plant uses respectively. This mandate will be increased to between 2.5% to 3% for transportation, 5% for industry and 1pc for power plants by 2010.

Argus has been assessing prices for a range of biofuel components since January 2007. Its European prices are being used as the benchmark indicator for FAME zero and rapeseed biodiesel swaps and physical transactions.

(EnergyAsia, April 30, Thursday) --- The Oxford Princeton Programme’s ‘Fundamentals of Technical Analysis’ workshop will be held in Singapore on June 17 and 18.

The workshop aims to provide an understanding of technical analysis and how to use it. A trading simulation will allow delegates to make trading decisions based on the indicators.

‘Fundamentals of Technical Analysis’ provides an opportunity for participants to understand the methods of key market players as well as improve their trading skills. The workshop deals with the different energy commodities and is recommended for operations staff, quantitative analysts, programmers, marketing and sales executives and traders to senior management.

Topics covered include technical analysis, trading discipline, managing risk and coordinating with fundamental analysis, trend lines, Japanese Candlesticks, support and resistance and retracement levels, characteristics of the Elliot Wave Theory and Gann, calculating and using moving averages and MACD, DMIs parabolics, stochastics, RSIs, momentum, MarketProfile and Bollinger Bands, hedging and speculating with technical analysis and mechanical trading system development.

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(EnergyAsia, April 28, Tuesday) --- SPRING Singapore said it would be stepping up efforts to help SMEs access and develop new markets amidst the current challenging economic development.

SPRING said it will work with two other important state agencies, International Enterprise (IE) Singapore and Economic Development Board (EDB), to organise more overseas mission trips to introduce large established companies to local SMEs.

Speaking to 150 participants at a recent oil and gas seminar organised by the Association of Singapore Marine Industries (ASMI), SPRING Singapore deputy chief executive Ted Tan cited the success of local companies at last year’s mission to the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston, US, They signed $10 million worth of deals ranging from oilfield equipment and components production to turnkey supply chain management services.

“The current economic crisis has intensified competition in the marketplace, especially for SMEs. Recognising this, we are stepping up efforts to help them access and develop new markets that will help them emerge faster and stronger after the crisis,” said Mr Tan.

This year’s mission, which is jointly organised by SPRING and IE Singapore with support from EDB and ASMI, has attracted more than 20 senior company executives from 17 local enterprises.

SPRING said the annual OTC event attracts more than 50,000 industry players each year  and provides a networking platform for participants. The organisers also facilitate private sessions for Singapore delegates to meet with global oil and gas heavyweights.

Among those that clinched contracts at OTC last year is Metal Machines Engineering Services Pte Ltd. The company is looking forward to the mission next month.

Metal Machines Engineering Services director Christopher Chia said: “With the world’s customers and suppliers in the offshore industry gathered for a week, OTC was an invaluable opportunity for us to improve our business connections with existing and potential business partners. The meetings with first and second tier offshore equipment suppliers, research institutes and certification bodies have opened more doors for future business collaboration.”

“The conference also provided us first-hand experience on the latest technology developments that are leading the industry into the future. Bringing this knowledge back has definitely been beneficial to our development plans.”

Singapore’s marine and offshore industry has experienced rapid growth in recent years. In 2007, the industry output grew to S$13 billion and its value-added was over S$2.7 billion.

SPRING Singapore also launched a directory for oil and gas supporting industries at the seminar.

The directory which showcases the manufacturing and service capabilities of more than 40 local enterprises, aims to raise the profile of local enterprises supporting the oil and gas sector and create more opportunities for international business collaborations.

(EnergyAsia, April 21, Tuesday) --- Oxford Princeton will hold its ‘Energy Risk Management’ course in Singapore from May 20 to 21.

The course will provide delegates with a forum on how to maximise hedging efficiencies and limit price risk exposure. Delegates will learn to build a portfolio of industry techniques for managing price risk in the current volatile energy markets.

‘Energy Risk Management’ will study four cases developed by leading risk managers, which would require delegates to apply hedging skills to complex scenarios. The programme will deal with the different energy commodities, including oil and gas.

Topics covered include the qualification and quantification of risk, identifying, measuring and controlling basis risk, hedging with exchange traded futures contracts, cross hedging with futures, exchange and traded options on futures.

Choosing between futures and options, characteristics of swaps, calculating CFDs, hedging with swaps, controlling basis risk with swaps, characteristics of OTC options, and hedging with OTC options will also be discussed.

As a course pre-requisite, delegates are required to complete Princeton Energy Programme’s ‘Fundamentals of Energy Future’s and ‘Options I - Fundamentals of Energy Options’ or possess equivalent experience.

‘Energy Risk Management’ is accompanied by an online preparatory course that would help optimise the learning experience.

For more information on the workshop, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it