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Pakistan’s Oil & Gas to Boost Supply as Deficit Hurts Growth

; Gas Development Co., Pakistan ’s biggest energy explorer, will boost gas output from existing fields by a third in the next 12 to 18 months as energy shortages hamper growth and shut factories. “We are working on six projects and expect to increase gas supplies by about 350 million cubic feet a day,” Chief Executive Officer Muhammad Riaz Khan said in an interview yesterday. “The major portion of gas would come in this financial year” which ends June 30, he said. New supply is needed to ease gas shortages that widened to about 2 billion cubic feet a day during peak hours this winter causing social unrest and shutting factories in the nation of over 196 million people. Pakistan’s production of natural gas has plateaued since 2008, the country’s central bank said in a report yesterday. Gas from existing reservoirs of Kunnar Pasakhi Deep, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Pakistan’s Oil & Gas to Boost Supply as Deficit Hurts Growth

; Gas Development Co., Pakistan ’s biggest energy explorer, will boost gas output from existing fields by a third in the next 12 to 18 months as energy shortages hamper growth and shut factories. “We are working on six projects and expect to increase gas supplies by about 350 million cubic feet a day,” Chief Executive Officer Muhammad Riaz Khan said in an interview yesterday. “The major portion of gas would come in this financial year” which ends June 30, he said. New supply is needed to ease gas shortages that widened to about 2 billion cubic feet a day during peak hours this winter causing social unrest and shutting factories in the nation of over 196 million people. Pakistan’s production of natural gas has plateaued since 2008, the country’s central bank said in a report yesterday. Gas from existing reservoirs of Kunnar Pasakhi Deep, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Nigeria Overstates Crude Production in 2014 Budget – Report

Global rating agency, Standard & Poor’s, S&P, yesterday, raised concerns that Nigeria’s crude oil production forecast of 2.39 million barrels a day in the 2014 budget, was over-estimated. This, according to the rating agency, was due to increased tension in the Niger Delta region and the forthcoming 2015 general elections. Ravi Bhatia, an analyst at S&P, said: "It’s a concern if they have a big rise in pre-election expenditure and there’s a big revision on the oil price or there is a production shortfall due to Niger Delta tensions. High global oil prices are helping to sustain the picture as it stands now." Bhatia described as optimistic, the 2.39 million barrels a day projection put forward by the Presidency to the National Assembly According to him, a $10 to $15 fall in the global oil price might change the fiscal equation for Nigeria, adding that " the country is […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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South Sudan Finds Friend in Old Enemy Sudan as Revolt Rages

As the conflict between South Sudan ’s government and rebels worsens, President Salva Kiir has found succor from an unexpected source: Sudan, the country that southerners fought against for two decades to win independence. Sudanese President Umar al-Bashir’s motivation in helping his former enemies is based on the need to maintain oil flows from the south, according to analysts including Magdi El Gizouli at the Nairobi-based Rift Valley Institute. His government is also concerned that instability along its border will hamper the battle against its own rebels, he said. “For the first time in history they are interested, even more than the South Sudanese themselves, in retaining stability in South Sudan in some form under a government that is ready to do business, and Kiir is ready to do business,” El Gizouli said Jan. 15 by phone from Freiburg, Germany . Since South […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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China's New Year travel rush starts with 3.62 bln trips expected

China kicked off its annual Lunar New Year travel rush period on Thursday, with more than 3.62 billion trips expected to be made on roads, and via trains, planes and ships in the next 40 days. The staggering figure of passengers is set to make Chunyun, which literally means Spring Festival transportation, the largest seasonal human migration on the globe. Chinese authorities have taken contingencies to ensure a smooth beginning of the 40-day travel period around the Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on Jan. 31 this year. About 3.62 billion trips will be made across the country, including more than 258 million people who are expected to travel by rail. On Thursday, signs about the holiday travel period could be seen in bus and train stations up and down the country, with more members of staff and volunteers on hand to maintain order. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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China’s New Year travel rush starts with 3.62 bln trips expected

China kicked off its annual Lunar New Year travel rush period on Thursday, with more than 3.62 billion trips expected to be made on roads, and via trains, planes and ships in the next 40 days. The staggering figure of passengers is set to make Chunyun, which literally means Spring Festival transportation, the largest seasonal human migration on the globe. Chinese authorities have taken contingencies to ensure a smooth beginning of the 40-day travel period around the Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on Jan. 31 this year. About 3.62 billion trips will be made across the country, including more than 258 million people who are expected to travel by rail. On Thursday, signs about the holiday travel period could be seen in bus and train stations up and down the country, with more members of staff and volunteers on hand to maintain order. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Hundreds flee homes as heatwave fans Australia bushfires

Extreme heat and high winds fanned dozens of bushfires across Australia on Friday, prompting hundreds to flee their homes in some of the worst conditions seen since Black Saturday in 2009. One person died in the Grampians bushland in the southeastern state of Victoria, about 300 km (186 miles) west of Melbourne, where bushfires are burning out of control amid temperatures which have hit above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees F), destroying or damaging houses. Victoria was the hardest hit, with 70 bushfires burning out of control. Dozens of blazes are burning in South Australia, Western Australia and New South Wales. Authorities have issued seven emergency warnings to severely affected areas, prompting hundreds of residents to flee their homes. Victoria Fire Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley said conditions were "up there" as the worst since the Black Saturday fires that killed 173 people in 2009. Lapsley said […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Japan's Tepco to restart nuclear reactors?

The Japanese government has approved a business turnaround plan submitted by Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant, which includes restarting idled reactors at the utility’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant. The business plan approval is required under the terms of a $10 billion state bailout of Tepco, received after the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster that was triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami. The approval would allow the utility to receive an additional $38 billion in state funding, the Wall Street Journal reports. Tepco is facing massive costs of cleaning up the Fukushima plant and huge compensation payments to those affected by the disaster. The overall decommissioning of the facility is expected to take around 40 years. Japanese Industry Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, when handing over the approval document Wednesday, told Tepco President Naomi Hirose: “This new plan is […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Japan’s Tepco to restart nuclear reactors?

The Japanese government has approved a business turnaround plan submitted by Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant, which includes restarting idled reactors at the utility’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant. The business plan approval is required under the terms of a $10 billion state bailout of Tepco, received after the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster that was triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami. The approval would allow the utility to receive an additional $38 billion in state funding, the Wall Street Journal reports. Tepco is facing massive costs of cleaning up the Fukushima plant and huge compensation payments to those affected by the disaster. The overall decommissioning of the facility is expected to take around 40 years. Japanese Industry Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, when handing over the approval document Wednesday, told Tepco President Naomi Hirose: “This new plan is […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Japan power utilities' Dec LNG use hits monthly record high 5.27 mil mt

Japan’s 10 major power utilities consumed 5.27 million mt of LNG in December, a record high for monthly imports and up 4.2% year on year, data released Friday by the Federation of Electric Power Companies showed. The major power utilities’ previous monthly record high LNG consumption was in January 2012 at 5.21 million mt, while the previous high for the month of December was in 2012 at 5.05 million mt, an FEPC official said. The power utilities also used a total 466,078 b/d of crude and fuel oil for power generation in December, down 25.9% from a year earlier, according to Platts calculations based on FEPC data. Of the total oil consumption, the utilities used 993,123 kiloliters (201,501 b/d) of crude and 1.3 million kl (264,577 b/d) of fuel oil in December, down 30.7% and 21.8%, respectively, from a year earlier, according to FEPC […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple