PERTH, June 12 (Reuters) – Brent futures dropped towards
$102 on Wednesday after an unexpected jump in oil inventories in
the world’s largest consumer, the United States, while producer
cartel OPEC and the U.S. government both trimmed global demand
forecasts.

A Bank of Japan decision not to follow up a $1.4-trillion
stimulus programme announced in April rekindled fears that other
central banks, including the U.S. Federal Reserve, could scale
back stimulus efforts, and also hurt investor sentiment.

PERTH, June 11 (Reuters) – Brent futures held under $104 per
barrel on Tuesday after the world’s largest consumer, the United
States, nearly doubled an estimate of its shale oil reserves,
while prospects of a slowdown in Chinese demand sapped prices.

Estimated global reserves of oil in shale rock deposits will
boost total world crude resources by 11 percent, the U.S.
government said in a report on Monday.

TOKYO/PERTH, June 10 (Reuters) – Brent crude dipped toward
$104 per barrel on Monday as weak data from top energy consumer
China muddied the outlook for oil demand, overshadowing the
optimism stemming from a pickup in U.S. hiring last month.

Oil prices had risen in early trade on the U.S. jobs data
that showed a slight improvement, indicating that while the
economy of the world’s top oil consumer was healthier, it was
also still in need of the Federal Reserve’s monetary support.

SEOUL/BRISBANE, May 29 (Reuters) – Asia’s demand for natural
gas to generate electricity is set to rise this summer as
leading buyer South Korea joins Japan in snapping up cargoes of
the fuel to plug a power shortfall after more nuclear reactors
were shut over safety concerns.

Seoul has warned of power shortages and rolling blackouts
due to the closure of two reactors and the extended shutdown of
a third to replace parts supplied using fake documents.

BRISBANE, May 29 (Reuters) – A downturn in parts of
Australia’s once-booming mining sector is having an unexpected
silver lining – freeing up labour and resources for at least
$190 billion of liquefied natural gas projects being built in
the country.

Stiff competition in the energy and mining sectors driven by
an infrastructure building spree to meet Asian demand has led to
shortages of some workers and driven up wages in recent years.

PERTH, May 24 (Reuters) – Australian coal miners are
steeling themselves for years of production cuts, job reductions
and asset sales as swelling shipments from international rivals
lower hopes of a recovery in prices for coal.

Prices have slumped around 30 percent since their peak two
years ago as coal flooded global markets, especially from the
United States where cheap gas has cut domestic demand and led to
a nearly 50 percent jump in thermal coal exports last year. Even
robust Chinese and Indian demand growth is failing to soak up
the plentiful supply.

PERTH, May 7 (Reuters) – Grappling with soaring costs tied
to constructing onshore gas plants, a growing number of energy
firms are pledging tens of billions of dollars to build the
world’s biggest floating structures to exploit offshore gas
fields.

By the end of the decade half a dozen or so floating gas
processing plants, some weighing as much as six aircraft
carriers and half-a-kilometre (0.3 miles) long, could be
deployed on the world’s oceans.

PERTH, April 12 (Reuters) – Woodside Petroleum has
shelved plans for its $40 billion Browse liquefied natural gas
project in Western Australia, saying it will consider a floating
LNG plant after deciding the onshore development did not make
economic sense.

Australian LNG projects have seen a series of huge cost
overruns as the country ramps up production on its way to
becoming the world’s largest exporter of the clean burning
energy source.

PERTH, April 4 (Reuters) – Two major iron ore infrastructure
projects in Western Australia hit by escalating costs and
volatile commodity prices in the last year could still be pushed
through, the premier of the resource-rich state Colin Barnett
said on Thursday.

Economic growth in China, the world’s top buyer of iron
ore, is expected to slow to a rate of around 7 percent a year
for the rest of the decade, but its demand for resources will
continue to fuel growth in Western Australia, Barnett said in an
interview.

PERTH (Reuters) – Exxon Mobil (XOM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and BHP Billiton (BHP.AX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) are planning to build the world’s largest floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) processing and export plant off the northwestern shore of Australia, despite growing concerns about the cost competitiveness of the country’s LNG projects.

At around half a kilometer (0.3 miles) long, the vessel would be nearly as long as five football fields laid end-to-end and would be the largest floating facility in the world.