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Energy Cooperation

ExxonMobil Supports New Singapore Energy Center Partnership with US$10 Million Commitment

2 November 2018

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Singapore

INGAPORE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–ExxonMobil said today that it will contribute US$10 million over five years (S$14 million) to become the first industry founding partner in a new Singapore Energy Center partnership led by the Nanyang Technological University and National University of Singapore and designed to advance next-generation technologies.

ExxonMobil signed a memorandum of understanding with the universities in November 2017 to become a founding member of the center, representing the company’s first such research and development partnership outside the United States. As part of the five-year commitment, faculty and students at the two universities will collaborate with ExxonMobil researchers and scientists, as well as other industry contributors. Research and development projects will be based on university and member input.

Both universities are extending invitations to other leading companies to join the center, fostering interdisciplinary research collaborations between academia and industry.

“The Singapore Energy Center will serve as a focal point for close collaboration between universities and industry in exploring solutions for addressing the dual challenge of meeting society’s growing energy needs while addressing the risks of climate change,” Vijay Swarup, vice president of research and development at ExxonMobil Engineering and Research Company, said at a signing ceremony held during Singapore International Energy Week. “With projected energy demand growth across Asia-Pacific, it’s critical that the public and private sectors work together to advance scalable, next-generation energy technologies while reducing the environmental impact of energy production.”

ExxonMobil will support the center’s wide range of early-stage research projects. Potential projects include applying advances in bioscience and additive manufacturing to discover and develop novel materials and process designs that could lead to new low-emission approaches toward fuel and chemical production; exploring technologies to capture and convert existing carbon dioxide emissions from industrial applications to useful products; using advanced life-cycle assessment and energy systems modeling to explore approaches that could reduce the energy and industrial sectors’ environmental footprint; and investigating technologies that could reduce water and energy consumption during manufacturing, as well as plastic waste.

“ExxonMobil’s participation in the Singapore Energy Center further enhances our technological capabilities in the country, and complements our already strong manufacturing and commercial presence,” said Gan Seow Kee, chairman and managing director of ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte Ltd. “Our participation in the company’s first energy center outside of the United States builds on our long and thriving relationship with these two leading universities in Asia.”

ExxonMobil’s support for the Singapore Energy Center expands the company’s collaborative efforts with other academic and research institutions that are focused on developing an array of new energy technologies, improving energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The company currently works with about 80 universities in the United States, Europe and Asia to explore next-generation energy technologies, and is a founding member of the Stanford Strategic Energy Alliance, MIT Energy Initiative, Princeton E-ffiliates Partnership and University of Texas at Austin Energy Institute.

About ExxonMobil

ExxonMobil, the largest publicly traded international oil and gas company, uses technology and innovation to help meet the world’s growing energy needs. ExxonMobil holds an industry-leading inventory of resources, is one of the largest refiners and marketers of petroleum products, and its chemical company is one of the largest in the world. For more information, visit www.exxonmobil.com or follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/exxonmobil.

Cautionary Statement: Statements of future events or conditions in this release are forward-looking statements. Actual future results, including the development and impact of new technologies, could vary depending on the outcome of further research and testing; the development and competitiveness of alternative technologies; the ability to scale research discoveries and pilot projects to commercial levels on a cost-effective basis; political and regulatory developments; and other factors discussed in this release and under the heading “Factors Affecting Future Results” on the Investors page of ExxonMobil’s website at www.exxonmobil.com.

Energy Cooperation ,
Oil & Gas

Japan’s Osaka Gas looks to Southeast Asia for LNG business

2 November 2018

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ASEAN

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Japan’s Osaka Gas Co Ltd is considering expanding its Southeast Asia operations, a top executive said, tapping a region where natural gas demand is booming but domestic reserves are dwindling fast.

Osaka Gas, one of the world’s biggest gas utilities and importers of liquefied natural gas (LNG), is increasingly turning abroad as it faces faltering demand at home due to a mature market and shrinking population.

One opportunity is Vietnam, Kazuhisa Yano, Executive Chairman and Chief Asia Representative of Osaka Gas, told the Reuters Commodity Summit interview series.

Vietnam is one of Asia’s fastest-expanding energy markets due to a large population and sharp economic growth, but reserves at its existing oil and gas fields are declining fast.

“We will … study Vietnam’s gas market,” Yano said on Tuesday, talking to Reuters while attending an industry conference in Singapore.

“There are several industry parks in Vietnam, and (there is) demand for gas for such kinds of industrial (purposes).”

Vietnam does not currently import any LNG, but is planning to start in coming years, like other Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) said this week that Southeast Asia is at the heart of future LNG demand growth, which it expects to increase by a third globally to 500 billion cubic meters (370 million tonnes) by 2023.

While Osaka Gas reviews Vietnam as a potential market, it will also look into expanding its current operations in the region.

The firm already has subsidiaries for operations such as sales and trading in Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, Yano said.

Like Vietnam, domestic gas reserves are running out in the Philippines, and LNG will soon be needed to meet demand from new power generation projects.

Yano said Osaka Gas was considering entering that market as a supplier.

In Indonesia, which is still an LNG exporter but where dwindling reserves and a lack of investment have also resulted in falling production, Osaka Gas in October announced the launch of a natural gas joint marketing business with Indonesia’s state-owned Pertamina.

Yano said Osaka Gas was also considering investment into LNG receiving terminals and power generation assets in Indonesia.

Bioenergy

Indonesia imposes mandatory use of B20 biodiesel in drive to cut fuel bill: deputy minister

2 November 2018

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Indonesia

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Indonesia has enforced mandatory use of diesel containing 20 percent locally produced biofuel amid steps to rein in its fuel bill and cushion the impact on its economy of a currency crisis and higher oil prices, a government official told Reuters.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Singapore International Energy Week conference, deputy energy minister Arcandra Tahar said Jakarta in September made use of the fuel, known as B20, mandatory in all diesel machinery in the country in a move to curb gasoil imports.

Major emerging Asian economies including Indonesia have been hit hard this year by rising crude oil prices, which despite declining this month are still up by about 15 percent since the start of 2018, while the rupiah, Indonesia’s currency, has hit a 20-year low this year.

“Is there any impact the rupiah and oil prices will have on our economy? Yes… Do we have a corrective action? Yes, we do,” said Tahar.

While industry watchers have been debating the possibility of Indonesia introducing fuel price controls, as India did this month amid similar troubles, Jakarta has yet to announce any such move.

Although Indonesia is an exporter of crude oil itself, it imports even more refined products, including gasoline and diesel. That is putting huge pressure on the government budget and Pertamina, the country’s state-owned oil company, which is being squeezed between government fuel polices, higher oil prices and the rupiah’s slide.

Tahar said he expected Indonesia’s use of B20 fuel in the farming sector to increase to 6 million kilolitres next year, from the current nearly 4 million kilolitres.

Southeast Asia’s largest economy is also trying to boost the locally sourced fuel content in the oil, gas and mining sectors by giving them a 2-4 percent cut of gross tax revenue if they use at least 30 percent of local content, he said.

“If you have gross revenue of $10 billion and using 35 percent of local content, you are going to get an incentive of 2 percent or around $200 million,” Tahar said. “That’s a huge number compared to the cost saving you may get if you import from another country.”

Last month, Jakarta’s trade ministry issued a requirement to use letters of credit from banks affiliated with Indonesian banks to help shore up the ailing rupiah. This will apply to the mining sector, Tahar said.

A Pertamina official said last week that it is looking to buy crude oil purchases in other currencies to reduce spending of foreign exchange in U.S. dollars.

Tahar said, however, that would be difficult as the main oil market in Singapore trades in U.S. dollars.

In the electricity sector, meanwhile, Indonesia is switching primary sources of power plants from diesel to crude palm oil, he said, also a move to reduce the country’s exposure to high oil prices.

In the longer term, he said Indonesia plans to encourage the use of electric vehicles as it pushes to shake off its dependency on oil imports and boost energy security.

He did not give specific examples of how the government would boost usage of electric vehicles.

But he said oil product demand growth for next year will remain steady at 3-4 percent.

Energy Efficiency

ASEAN Ministers call for stronger institutional ties with the IEA

2 November 2018

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ASEAN

Dr Fatih Birol, the IEA’s Executive Director, was in Singapore for the 36th ASEAN Ministers of Energy Meeting (AMEM), Singapore International Energy Week, and other related engagements.

Dr Birol gave the opening presentation of the AMEM, discussing the various energy challenges facing ASEAN – especially energy security, investment, grid integration and energy efficiency – and how these might be tackled regionally. Dr Birol also set out a plan as to how the IEA might work with ASEAN to assist the region meet its energy priorities.

ASEAN ministers released a Joint Ministerial Statement at the completion of the AMEM that calls for “stronger institutional ties with the IEA”. For the first-time, the statement also outlines specific projects to deepen collaboration between ASEAN and the IEA, designed to be delivered as part of Thailand’s 2019 ASEAN Presidency. These include projects on regional power system integration, renewables integration, energy efficiency for cooling/air conditioning, investment and digitalisation.

While in Singapore, Dr Birol also made the opening address to the annual Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW). His remarks focused on key global trends in energy markets and their implications for Southeast Asia.

On the margins of AMEM and SIEW, Dr Birol met with multiple ministers from Southeast Asia including Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and the Secretary General of ASEAN to discuss our engagement with the region and with countries bilaterally.
Source: IEA

Oil & Gas

Philippines Hopeful Xi Visit Brings South China Sea Energy Deal

2 November 2018

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Philippines

Philippine Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi is optimistic that a deal to jointly explore disputed areas of the South China Sea for oil and gas will finally move forward when President Xi Jinping visits next month.

Terms for an agreement between the Philippines and China may be finalized during Xi’s visit, Cusi said in an interview in Singapore. The government is also discussing lifting a ban on exploration in contested waters imposed by President Rodrigo Duterte’s predecessor, which thwarted a potential venture between PXP Energy Corp. and China National Offshore Oil Corp.

“We are discussing lifting the moratorium, and it is proposed that we do joint exploration with China,” Cusi said on Tuesday. “Those two are still being discussed and hopefully that will be resolved during the visit of President Xi Jinping. I would not wish to pre-empt things, but we are hopeful that we will come up with the terms of operations.”

Any deal on joint exploration would mark a major win for China, which has stepped up efforts over the past decade to block Southeast Asian nations from extracting energy resources in disputed seas. The Philippines had previously aligned with Vietnam in rejecting China’s claims to most of the South China Sea as a basis for joint exploration.

President Benigno Aquino, who left office in 2016, had halted exploration work at Reed Bank in the South China Sea after filing an arbitration case disputing Beijing’s claims to the resource-rich waters. An international court based in the Netherlands ruled in favor of Manila in July 2016, barely a month after Duterte took office.

Since his election win, the 73-year-old Philippine leader has pivoted to China. He set aside the ruling and backed the idea of joint exploration, proposing a 60-40 sharing on the proceeds. The U.S. Energy Information Administrated has estimated that 4 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves worth billions of dollars could be found in areas claimed by the Philippines.

Even as Duterte and Xi’s friendship has deepened, talks on a deal have dragged on for months. A meeting between top diplomats from the two countries on Monday failed to produce a breakthrough on the joint exploration plan.

PXP Energy Chairman Manuel Pangilinan struck a bearish tone on Monday, telling reporters he didn’t think the ban on disputed sea exploration would be lifted in time for Xi’s visit in the third week of November. Talks with CNOOC can’t be restarted until the Philippines and China clinch a bilateral agreement, he said.

“We have been talking with China to resolve that issue,” Cusi said. “That is a high priority area for us because we know that there are a lot of reserves that we can explore and exploit.”

Energy Efficiency

ASEAN inks deal with IRENA for rapid renewable energy development

2 November 2018

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Singapore

IRENA will support renewables projects with its project facilitation platforms.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) formalising a partnership aimed at scaling up renewable energy deployment in the region.

According to an announcement, IRENA will support the ASEAN’s pursuit of 23% primary energy share of renewables by 2025. IRENA said achieving the target will require an estimated annual investment of $27b for the next eight years – a tenfold increase on 2016 investment volumes.

The MOU covers energy planning, assessments and updates to the ASEAN Renewable Energy Outlook, and promoting knowledge sharing amongst regional policymakers for scaled-up renewables deployment.

IRENA will also support the advancement of various renewable energy resources across ASEAN member states through detailed assessments, enable project development through its project facilitation platforms, and training and workshops for stakeholders.

IRENA director-general Adnan Z. Amin commented, “This partnership brings political will and technical knowledge together to unlock the vast potential that exists in Southeast Asia to harness renewable energy and deliver widespread benefits to communities in all ten member states.”

According to the group, employment in Southeast Asia’s renewable energy sector currently stands at around 600,000. “A scale-up of renewables in the region has the potential to create well over two million jobs by 2030,” it said.

A report by IRENA also said that around half of the region’s renewable energy potential lies in power generation, especially in solar PV that could grow 2-60GW. Vast biomass endowment can also accelerate progress in end-use sectors, such as transport, buildings and industry and bring savings of up to $40b by 2025 from reduced fossil fuels expenditure.

The MOU was signed on the 36th ASEAN Ministers on Energy (AMEM) and the Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW), in the presence of regional ministers.

Energy Economy ,
Renewables

SP Group unveils green energy trading marketplace

2 November 2018

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Singapore

City Developments Limited and DBS were amongst the first of its renewable energy certificates (RECs) buyers.

Singapore’s SP Group launched a digital marketplace powered by blockchain technology to allow companies to trade RECs which is a document used to offset the use of non-renewable energy, an announcement revealed.

“Through blockchain technology, we enable companies to trade in renewable energy certificates conveniently, seamlessly and securely, helping them achieve greener business operations and meet their sustainability targets,” SP’s chief digital officer Samuel Tan said.

When companies purchase RECs, they are consuming electricity from renewable sources which are sold to them by other companies producing green energy, SP noted.

“Through SP’s REC marketplace, buyers are automatically paired with sellers around the globe according to their preferences, which will help organisations of all sizes to achieve their green targets and strengthen cross border sustainability efforts,” SP said.

The announcement also revealed that Singapore-listed City Developments Limited (CDL) and DBS Bank were amongst the first buyers of certificates, whilst solar developers such as Cleantech Solar Asia and LYS Energy Solutions have signed a collaboration with SP to place their solar assets on the marketplace for sale of RECs.

“By having our 120 solar sites in Asia on board this platform, we can now allow consumers, who are unable to generate their own renewable energy, another reliable solution to achieve their clean energy goals,” Cleantech Solar Asia’s executive chairman Raju Shukla said.

The initiative was announced during the ASEAN Energy Business Forum (AEBF) at Marina Bay Sands.

Energy Efficiency

Ling Hang plans recycling plant to convert solid waste into green energy in Cambodia

2 November 2018

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Cambodia

A highly diversified Ling Hang Investment Development Co Ltd plans to venture into waste management and currently holding high-level talks with officials to build a recycling plant in Phnom Penh.

Speaking to The Post on Monday, its Chief Executive Officer George Chao said large amount of garbage is churned out in cities like Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville – where population growth is immense.

“We are focusing on clean energy project and concentrating in Phnom Penh to build the first plant to recycle disposed waste to produce energy, and we will be creating a clean environment.”

“About 5,000 tonnes of garbage per day is enough to convert into electricity. The project is still at discussion stage and the government has offered the land.”

“Discussions with government officials and garbage collectors are still in progress. We expect to start operations by mid-2019,” Chao said.

Waste generated by businesses and households continue to grow in fast-expanding townships.

According to the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, about 10,000 tonnes of solid waste were produced daily or in total about 3.65 million tonnes last year.

Phnom Penh alone produced nearly 3,000 tonnes of garbage per day, while Sihanoukville recorded 600 tonnes and Siem Reap with about 400 tonnes daily.

Chao said the SUS Environment, a leading solid waste incinerator supplier and developer of integrated municipal solid waste management based in China has expressed interested to work with Ling Hang on the project.

But discussions are still at a preliminary stage, he added.

The group based in Preah Sihanouk Province is also collaborating with JC International Airlines and launched six direct flights to connect China and Cambodia two months ago.

“We have started six directly flights from China by joining with JC Airlines, as we should say we hired planes from JC and we will open another few routes from other major cities in next two years.”

“We still use JC Airlines B330 for the time being and there are more than 30 direct flights per week between Sihanoukville and six major cities of China,” he added.

Currently, the six cities are Shenzhen, Hanjin, Xi’an, Chengdu, Tiantian (in November) and Hefei.

“There are lot of Chinese (nationals) coming to Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville and the flights are 90 percent full,” he added.

The company is also in the process of constructing a training academy in Sihanoukville to train Cambodians for the hospitality industry.

“There is need to train staff for the services industry as there is a great demand from hotels and casinos. The academy will focus on training young workers in handling food and customer services, and will offer a one year certificate course.

“We are expecting the academy to operate at the end of 2018 and it will train about 3,000 students yearly. This will help those in rural areas to find jobs,” said Chao.

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