Lack of fuel has forced 32 power plants to shut down, the State Electricity Regulatory Commission said in a report. It said two of those were in Sichuan province, where last week’s magnitude 7.9 quake damaged the power supply grid.
The agency’s warning came three months after freak winter snowstorms caught power plants without adequate coal supplies in February, causing blackouts and factory shutdowns.
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Oil and gas firm Serica Energy said the Kambuna field in Indonesia has already exceeded its sales gas target of 50 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd).
The group said the Kambuna-3 production well tested at a maximum stabilised rate of 40m mmscfd.
In April, Serica said the Kambuna-2 production well had tested at a rate of 33mmscfd. The group is yet to test the final well, Kambuna-4, which will be carried out in the next few weeks.
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Sultan Mining & Energy Development Corp., a Filipino-owned company, yesterday reported a 120 percent increase in coal production volume of its Surigao mine to 22,000 metric tons in April.
“For April alone, the production volume of 22,000 MT was a 120 percent increase from the previous month. It was also greater than the first quarter’s production for 2008,” said Sultan chief finance officer Anthony Buyawe in a statement.
He said April output also exceeded the target of 20,000 MT for the month despite heavy rains and rough seas. Read more » »
Macarthur Coal Ltd., in talks with an unidentified suitor, said full-year profit may increase as much as 13 percent on rising prices for pulverized coal and the sale of its stake in a joint venture.
Net income may be between A$67 million ($64 million) and A$75 million in the 12 months ending June 30 from A$66.5 million a year ago, the Brisbane based company that supplies 35 percent of global export demand for pulverized coal said in a statement.
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Hard coal built this area of Eastern Pennsylvania into an economic powerhouse in the 1800s and early 1900s, and helped fuel the nation’s industrial revolution. Even today, it’s hard to find a native who doesn’t have roots underground.
So it was with no small dose of irony that Schuylkill County leaders recently offered a proposal that would have seemed unthinkable when coal was still king: converting the county courthouse and prison from homegrown anthracite to - gasp - natural gas heat.
The county commissioners say they’re trying to save money.
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China’s power plants are running out of coal, with less than three days’ supply in some areas, the government said Tuesday, adding to the country’s logistical headaches amid earthquake relief efforts.
Lack of fuel has forced 32 power plants to shut down, the State Electricity Regulatory Commission said in a report. It said two of those were in Sichuan province, where last week’s magnitude 7.9 quake damaged the power supply grid.
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Local prices for raw coal for power generation have remained stable in the week following the devastating earthquake that hit southwestern China’s Sichuan Province, an analyst told Interfax today.
Ex-factory prices for raw coal in Sichuan have stayed around RMB 400 ($52.14) per ton, the same level as that recorded on May 5, according to information released by domestic coal pricing portal meitanwang.com. “The earthquake will have a very limited impact on the country’s coal
market, as Sichuan is a relatively small coal exporter,” said Li Chaolin, a coal analyst with the China Coal Trade and Development Association.
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Shenhua Energy led the day’s blue-chip gains, rising 6.9 percent to 36.35 Hong Kong dollars after Goldman Sachs added the company to its conviction buy list. The investment bank said higher oil prices could strengthen demand for coal.
Hong Kong stocks rose Monday, with gains in Chinese coal producers leading the way after Goldman Sachs upgraded the sector because of surging oil prices.
The Hang Seng Index rose 123.37 points, or 0.5 percent, to 25,742.23.
The benchmark could climb above 26,000 points later this week, thanks to Wall Street’s recent strength and the resilience of China’s markets following the earthquake in Sichuan province, said Ernie Hon, a strategist at ICEA Securities.
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Kalimantan Gold Corporation Limited plans to raise a minimum of $400,000 and up to $1,000,000 from a non-brokered private placement financing from the sale of up to 10,000,000 common shares at a price of $0.10 per share. The private placement is subject to compliance with applicable securities laws and to receipt of regulatory approval.
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The U.S. Forest Service is requiring that a Canadian company post bonds before exploring or expanding a gold mine in Idaho.
Toronto-based Atlanta Gold (TSX:ATG) will be required to put up a US$1.3 million bond before drilling exploration holes for its proposed underground gold mine in the Boise River watershed.
Before the Forest Service will issue a permit, it wants Atlanta Gold to provide the bond for 18 months and another $7.3 million bond after the exploration period ends.
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