New study pushes for energy efficiency - Energy Oil & Gas Asia | Oil & Gas sectors, Petroleum news, Energy newsAmerican physicist Amory Lovins has published some of the most important findings for climate change since Lord Nicholas Stern published “The Economics of Climate Change” in 2007. Current climate change discourse argues that globally, energy use has to be at least 3% more productively annually in order to stay below 2 degrees. Amory Lovins contradicts that the world’s ability to sustain such rapid savings (slightly above the 2015 peak of 2.8% per year) is far greater – and can prove even more profitable – than had been thought. In his paper, “How Big Is the Energy Efficiency Resource?”, Lovins shows that the potential for energy efficiency has been massively understated and its cost overstated, by analyzing not whole buildings, vehicles, and factories, but only their individual parts, thus missing valuable ways to help the parts work together to save more energy at lower cost. Lovins shows a pathway to staying well below 2 degrees is more achievable that any current climate scenarios assume or suggest. “In the same way that no one expected the cost of solar and wind to plummet, driving faster adoption that cuts their cost further,” said Lovins. “We have overlooked the ability of modern energy efficiency [...]
1Report: Asia solar capacity to triple; five-fold wind capacity addition expected in the next five years - Energy Oil & Gas Asia | Oil & Gas sectors, Petroleum news, Energy newsTaiwan, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand are major markets with combined solar capacity additions expected to triple in the next five years, while wind capacity additions are expected to grow five-fold in the same period according to Black & Veatch, a US-headquartered firm specialising in building critical human infrastructure in energy, water, telecommunications and government services. The company reported that three of these countries, Taiwan, Philippines and Vietnam, could become the fastest growing markets for renewable energy in the Asian region. “The opportunity for clients, including power producers, is in implementing technologically advanced, cost competitive and bankable engineering, procurement, construction (EPC) solutions. Deploying time and motion studies and drones, for example, has the potential to cut project schedule and cost,” said Mitesh Patel, the new director for Black & Veatch’s renewable energy businesses in Asia, Europe, Middle East and Africa. Patel says the company also sees the deployment of microgrids on the horizon offering utilities and large consumers of power the opportunity to proactively work together to help integrate intermittent renewable energy with fossil-fueled power. This approach will lead to the delivery of a stable and widely accessible power supply that can accelerate energy transformation and universal electrification. Off-grid solutions, like solar [...]
1Plant Expansions: Ineos to invest EUR150 mn in oxide business in Europe; Manali begins production of PU in Chennai - Energy Oil & Gas Asia | Oil & Gas sectors, Petroleum news, Energy newsIneos Oxide’s Antwerp site in Belgium was the first to be acquired by Ineos in 1998 almost 20 years ago. From this one site Ineos says it has grown to become a global leader in petrochemicals, with interests in more than 170 sites employing 20,000 people, generating sales of around US$60 billion. To commemorate the 20th anniversary, the chemical firm is investing a significant sum of EUR150 million at its Zwijndrecht site, in Antwerp, as part of a EUR200 million investment programme. The other EUR50 million will be invested at Ineos’s sites in Cologne and Lavéra. Graham Beesley CEO of Ineos Oxide said: “We are marking Ineos’s incredible global success at the place where it all began 20 years ago.” Ineos says this shows its commitment to its European business. Projects will grow Ethylene Oxide storage and distribution, debottleneck its plants and increase the production of Ethylene Oxide derivatives for the European Market. A sixth alkoxylation unit in Antwerp is due to start up at the end of 2018, along with a 2,000 tonne expansion of ethylene oxide (EO) storage capacity at the site. The company is also upgrading EO production at Lavéra, France, to support the growing EO needs [...]
1Positive vista for energy, resources and marine sectors amid oil price hikes, trade tensions-report - Energy Oil & Gas Asia | Oil & Gas sectors, Petroleum news, Energy newsCompanies in the Energy, Resources and Marine sectors (ERM) are rebounding as oil and commodity prices continue to rise and global GDP growth is projected to increase 3.4% in 2019. Travel activity is also on the up, with air prices expected to climb 2.6% globally next year, according to the recently published 2019 Energy, Resources & Marine Travel Forecast. “After a few challenging years, we saw a slow but steady recovery in 2018. We look forward to a more positive outlook for the year ahead – though with a few big caveats,” said Raphaël Pasdeloup, Senior Vice President, CWT Energy, Resources& Marine. “We expect continued growth in energy, metals and minerals commodities, as well as shipping. But geopolitical tensions, including around trade and Brexit, and a host of new and untested governments, especially in Latin America, could throw this positive trajectory off-course.” “While these factors make forecasting difficult, we project air and hotel prices to rise nearly everywhere in the sector in 2019,” said Pasdeloup. ERM industry activity and investments are closely correlated with the price of oil and commodities. Tight crude supplies, exacerbated by US sanctions against Iran, beginning November 4, are projected to contribute to higher prices. Meanwhile, [...]
1Qatar Petroleum in a three-year naphtha feedstock deal with India's Haldia - Energy Oil & Gas Asia | Oil & Gas sectors, Petroleum news, Energy newsQatar Petroleum (QP) has signed a three-year naphtha feedstock sale agreement with India’s Haldia Petrochemicals. The agreement is to supply India’s Haldia Petrochemicals in West Bengal with a total of 600,000 tonnes of Light Naphtha starting in 2018, its statement said. The long-term supply agreement is the first naptha feedstock sale for QP to an end user in India, highlighting its push for more direct sales with end users. QP President/CEO Saad Sherida al-Kaabi said, “India is a very important country and energy partner for Qatar and we are proud of our longstanding excellent partnership. Qatar Petroleum Group of Companies continue to explore new opportunities with Indian counterparts to further enhance our co-operation on all fronts, and to effectively contribute to satisfying India’s growing demand for energy. “Qatar supplies Indian end-users with LNG, crude oil, condensate, LPG and other fuels; and we are proud to be able to strengthen our energy relations with India through HPL as an energy partner for the direct supply of naphtha feedstock.” HPL is one of the largest petrochemical companies in India. It has a competitive modern naphtha based petrochemical complex located some 125 km from Kolkata, with a total capacity equivalent to 700,000 tonnes/year [...]
1Air Products to build hydrogen plant in Texas - Energy Oil & Gas Asia | Oil & Gas sectors, Petroleum news, Energy newsUS-based industrial gas company Air Products plans to build a new liquid hydrogen plant at its La Porte, Texas, industrial gas facility to meet increasing product demand from several customer markets. The liquid hydrogen plant will produce approximately 30 tonnes/day, will draw its hydrogen to be liquefied from Air Products’ existing Gulf Coast hydrogen pipeline system network, and is to be on-stream in 2021. “The investment in this new liquid hydrogen production facility in Texas will assist with meeting current customer demand, as well as capture the increased growth that we see coming from several markets. Logistically, our La Porte plant has several operational benefits which make the site selection for this new facility a good choice. We are confident with this additional capacity that we will be able to meet the projected growing liquid hydrogen needs coming from the varied industries in the US for which a reliable source of this product is vitally important to our customers’ manufacturing operations,” said Marie Ffolkes, President, Americas at Air Products. Once liquefied at La Porte, the hydrogen will be delivered in trailers to customers in industries including: electronics, chemical and petrochemical, metals, material handling, float glass, edible fats and oils, and utilities. Air Products also has liquid hydrogen production plants operating [...]
2Govt wants Gail to exit petrochemical business: Dharmendra Pradhan - Energy Oil & Gas Asia | Oil & Gas sectors, Petroleum news, Energy newsPetroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Monday that the government wants state-run Gail (India) to exit its petrochemical business. On the other hand, contrary to the earlier reports of hiving off the company’s marketing division, the Gail board is planning to have marketing and pipeline segments to be “independent and autonomous with separate balance sheets”. “The Gail board has approached the government saying that they are working on a similar proposal to have separate segments for pipeline and marketing. We want Gail to exit petrochemical business gradually and focus on its core area that is pipeline,” Pradhan said. Under the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board Act, marketing and transmission functions should not be performed by the same entity, so that there is no conflict of interest. This is so especially because companies like Gail are in a position to push their gas on priority, given that they also run pipelines as transmission entities. Following the legal requirement, Gail did not spin off its marketing business but decided to maintain a split of its business and accounts for marketing and transmission businesses. “Gail’s focus on pipeline business is required as around 30 million metric standard cubic meter per day [...]
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