China's capital city of Beijing will adopt Euro V-equivalent vehicle emission standards around 2012, the state-controlled China Economic Herald reported. Euro V standards require a maximum sulfur content of 10 parts per million (10 ppm) for gasoline and diesel fuel, 80% lower than Euro IV standards. Currently, only China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. is able to produce oil products with ultra-low sulfur content, the report said. (Sunday, February 21, 2010)

Honda Motor Co. Ltd. is closer to developing a new hybrid system for larger cars, according to the company’s head of automobile research, Tomohiko Kawanabe. He told Reuters that the research stage of the project is complete and production readiness could be three years away. Honda's current petrol-electric hybrids, the Insight and the upcoming CR-Z sports coupe (the first manual transmission hybrid), use a series hybrid system where the starter/electric motor combination assists the petrol engine, unlike Toyota’s parallel hybrid Prius. Honda's system is consequently simpler and cheaper, but trails Toyota in fuel efficiency. (Sunday, February 21, 2010)

Air New Zealand plans to convert its domestic ground handling equipment to use either electricity or biodiesel, but says it may take longer than first thought to reach its goal of replacing 10% of the jet fuel it uses for its aircraft with biofuel. The airline took part in a biofuel test flight at the end of 2008 and spent much of last year focusing on how to introduce the greener energy option to its operations. Chief Executive Rob Fyfe said the algae developments looked promising in the longer term, with a potential rollout in five to 10 years. He said Air New Zealand expected to use biofuel initially on its domestic network, where a 70-80% market share justified installing the necessary infrastructure. (Friday, February 19, 2010)

Exports to China and Myanmar are expected to lift PTT's sales of lubricant products by 50% this year, says Rachadech Khemthong, PTT vice president, the Bangkok Post reports. For 2010, the Thai company aims for export sales to grow by 40% to 10 million liters, from 7.1 million liters last year. Rachadech said the company hopes to boost sales to China to 6 million liters this year, from only 646,000 liters last year. Once lubricant sale volume rises in China to more than 1.5 million liters, PTT will join a local partner, Guangdong-based Topship Chemical, in building a lube blending plant in China. The investment cost is about 100 million baht (US$3.02 million), excluding land acquisition, and the factory will have an annual output of 30 million liters. (Friday, February 19, 2010)

The Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) has created an association with 46 entrepreneurs that will privatize all of the Myanmar Petroleum Products Enterprises' (MPPE) stations countrywide, said the organization’s General Secretary Maung Maung Lay. The association will operate under the UMFCCI's guidance, he said. Details on how the stations will be sold, managed or leased are still being worked out. Maung said the plan to privatize filling stations would finally rid the country of the black market for fuel and would allow people to buy as much fuel as they require. (Thursday, February 18, 2010)

Nippon Oil Corp. plans to start churning out biogasoline next fiscal year at three more refineries, all in western Japan, according to The Nikkei. Biogasoline production is currently limited to the Negishi facility in Yokohama. At refineries in Oita, Osaka and Okayama prefectures, Nippon Oil will install equipment for mixing sugarcane and other plant-derived materials with regular gasoline. With biogasoline as the only type of gasoline to be produced by four of the Nippon Oil group's seven domestic refineries, the environmentally friendly fuel will account for more than half of its gasoline output. (Thursday, February 18, 2010)

The South Korean government is looking at implementing a range of tax reductions ahead of the market launch of electric vehicles (EVs) in late 2010 or early next year. With this move, the government is hoping that South Korea can achieve a strong position in the global EV market, targeting an overall share of 10% in this segment by the end of 2015. Following a meeting of the presidential "green" growth committee under President Lee Myung-bak, the South Korean government and the Ministry of Strategy and Finance are considering offering a range of measures designed to stimulate local demand for electric vehicles, as well as support for research and development. As part of its plan, the government could temporarily reduce consumption, registration and acquisition taxes on newly purchased EVs by up to 3 million won (US$2,612.15). (Thursday, February 18, 2010)

GS Caltex Co., South Korea's second-largest oil refiner, is gearing up to market lubricants in the overseas market. In a bid to advance into the Indian market, GS Caltex announced its decision to invest three billion won (US$2.61 million) in capital to establish GS Caltex India in Mumbai on February 17. In line with the creation of its Indian affiliate, GS Caltex has been constantly expanding its export volume of finished goods to China and Russia. Moreover, GS Caltex plans to raise export volume from the current 20% to 50% by 2015. The company seeks to expand sales volume from 350 billion won (US$304.75 million) to one trillion won (US$870.72 million). (Thursday, February 18, 2010)

Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K. said it will close its refinery in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, due to slow demand for petroleum products, such as gasoline. The closure will cut the major Japanese oil wholesaler's refining capacity by 25%, or 120,000 barrels a day. Showa Shell made the decision because demand is seen to remain sluggish partly due to the growing popularity of fuel-efficient automobiles. The Kawasaki refinery will terminate its operations by September 2011. Showa Shell booked an extraordinary loss of ¥21.1 billion (US$231.97 million) related to the closure. Consolidated net loss in the year will increase to ¥57.6 billion (US$633.45 million) in 2009, from ¥16.22 billion (US$178.33 million) in 2008. (Tuesday, February 16, 2010)

Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. (HMSI), the wholly owned two-wheeler subsidiary of the Japanese carmaker Honda Motor Co., said it will set up its second manufacturing facility in India, targeting more than two million motorcycles by 2012. HMSI is likely to take a decision on its location in February, according to HMSI Senior Vice-President (Purchase) Y. Hashimoto. The company is not only looking at Haryana, where it has its present assembly lines, but also at west and south India, for the new location. Honda said it is planning to reach 12.5 lakh sales this fiscal year and to cross the 15 lakh mark in 2010-11 (Tuesday, February 16, 2010)

Thailand’s Energy Ministry is preparing to announce the replacement of B2 (2% biodiesel blend) with B3 (3% biodiesel blend), at the end of March. Energy Minister Wannarat Channukul said the replacement will be made at the beginning of April 2010 at the latest. A survey of raw materials for biodiesel production showed that the quantity of oil palm is sufficient for a whole year’s supply. At present, domestic demand for diesel oil is around 53 million liters per day, divided into 23 million liters of B5 and 30 million liters of B2. Demand for B100 is approximately 1.8 million liters per day. (Tuesday, February 16, 2010)

A ceremony was held recently at the Lanka IOC (LIOC) head office to officially announce the marketing of bitumen by the company. LIOC Managing Director Suresh Kumar said that Lanka IOC is making phased investments to provide world-class quality petroleum products and services at the most competitive prices to Sri Lankan customers. He said that Lanka IOC has already entered into the bunker fuels market and has achieved more than 40%of the market share within a short period. (Monday, February 15, 2010)