THAILAND: Egco to partner with Hong Kong’s CLP and Mitsubishi to build solar cell farm

(EnergyAsia, February 1 2010, Tuesday) — Thailand’s Egco Group will partner with the Thai subsidiary of Hong Kong-based China Light & Power and Japan’s Mitsubishi to develop a nine-billion baht photovoltaic solar-cell farm. (US$1=33 baht). Their equally owned joint venture, Natural Energy Development Co, will develop the plant in Lop Buri in central Thailand. At...

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TAIWAN: Two-hectare solar power plant unveiled

(EnergyAsia, February 1 2010, Monday) — Taiwan has unveiled what it claims to be Asia’s largest solar power plant on a two-hectare site in southwest Kaohsiung county. The one-megawatt facility, which recently began operations, will help Taiwan reduce its carbon emissions by as much as 700 tonnes per year. The state Atomic Energy Council has...

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PHILIPPINES: Oriental Peninsula to invest 2.4 billion peso in mini hydropower plant

(EnergyAsia, February 1 2010, Monday) — Philippines-listed Oriental Peninsula Resources Group Inc said it plans to invest 2.4 billion peso to construct a mini-hydropower plant in the country’s southwest region. (US$1=46 peso). The firm recently announced it would acquire a 40% stake in affiliate Oriental Energy Power Generation Corp, which has a contract to build...

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CLIMATE CHANGE: Emissions target plans seen failing to contain temperature rise

(EnergyAsia, February 1 2010, Monday) — The best deal from efforts to forge a new global accord on climate change will not likely keep temperatures from rising below 2 degrees Celsius, according to an internal assessment by the UN following the disappointing outcome of the climate summit in Copenhagen last month. To achieve the target...

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CLIMATE CHANGE: Past decade was warmest on record, says UN agency

(EnergyAsia, February 1 2010, Monday) — The first decade of this century was probably the warmest on record, according to the UN weather agency. By late last year, the decade was on track to be the warmest since recording began in 1850, while 2009 was also set to be among the top-five warmest years. Global...

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ASIA: Palm oil planters under pressure to adopt sustainable practices

(EnergyAsia, February 1 2010, Monday) — Palm oil producers are expected to increase their focus on the Asian markets following consumer giant Unilever’s decision to stop buying from an Indonesian planter accused of destroying the rainforests. Along with other European firms, Unilever has been under growing pressure from environmental groups such as Greenpeace and Friends...

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IRAQ: Eni, Occidental Petroleum and KOGAS sign technical service contract to redevelop Zubair field

(EnergyAsia, January 29 2010, Friday) — A consortium comprising Italy’s Eni, US Occidental Petroleum Corporation and Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS) said it has jointly signed a technical service contract with Iraq’s state-owned South Oil Company (SOC) and Missan Oil Company to redevelop the Zubair field, near Basra in southern Iraq. The signing follows the initialising...

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IRAQ: ExxonMobil signs agreement to redevelop and expand West Qurna-1 field

(EnergyAsia, January 29 2010, Friday) — Exxon Mobil Corporation said its affiliate, ExxonMobil Iraq Limited, said it recently signed an agreement with the Iraq Ministry of Oil to redevelop and expand the West Qurna-1 field in southern Iraq. The agreement was signed in Baghdad by representatives of the Ministry of Oil and the West Qurna-1...

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INDONESIA: Local coal producer signs contract to supply Germany’s HMS Bergbau AG

(EnergyAsia, January 29 2010, Friday) — HMS Bergbau AG, the Germany-based international coal trading group with operating expertise in coal mining, logistics and trading, said it has signed an exclusive contract with a coal producer based in Indonesia. The long-term contract with the unnamed company secures the supply of a considerable annual trading amount of...

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MARKETS: Volcker says banks should be barred from risky financial activities

(EnergyAsia, January 29 2010, Friday) — US President Barrack Obama’s economic recovery adviser Paul Volcker has argued that risky financial activities including commodity derivative trading should be left to hedge funds while banks should be barred from them altogether. Speaking at a recent business conference in the UK, he said banks should stick to providing...

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MARKETS: CTFC proposes cap on traders’ positions on four energy contracts

(EnergyAsia, January 29 2010, Friday) — The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has proposed a cap on the positions traders can hold on the four most-traded energy futures contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE). The cap would be equivalent to a limit of 98,100 contracts across all months,...

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INDONESIA: Top coal miners to ramp up production in 2010

(EnergyAsia, January 29 2010, Friday) — Indonesia’s largest coal mining firms plan to significantly increase production next year to meet rising demand from China and India. An official from PT Bumi Resources Tbk, Indonesia’s leading coal producer, expects its coal production to reach 67.3 million tonnes in 2010, up 14.6% from the estimated 58.7 million...

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CHINA: ABB wins control system order for high-efficiency power plant

(EnergyAsia, January 29 2010, Friday) — ABB, the Swiss-based power and automation technology group, said it has recently won an order from the Guangdong Yudean Group to supply the complete process control system for units 3 and 4 of their Hui Lai thermal power plant in China’s Guangdong province. Each of these units has generating...

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UAE: Canada’s Alberta province, Abu Dhabi signed MOU covering energy and the environment

(EnergyAsia, January 28 2010, Thursday) — The Premier of Canada’s leading oil-producing province, Alberta, has signed a memorandum of understanding covering economic and environmental cooperation with the government of Abu Dhabi, a member of the UAE. The MOU was signed by Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach and Nasser Ahmed Alsowaidi, chairman of Abu Dhabi Department of...

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JAPAN: Nippon Oil and Chevron agree to jointly develop Australia’s Gorgon natural g

(EnergyAsia, January 28 2010, Thursday) — US major Chevron Corp said its Australian subsidiaries and Japan’s Nippon Oil Corp have signed a heads of agreement (HOA) for the delivery of 300,000 metric tons per year (t/y) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for 15 years from the Chevron-operated Gorgon project in Western Australia state. Chevron, the...

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VIETNAM: Government orders export of coal unwanted by domestic consumers

(EnergyAsia, January 28 2010, Thursday) — The Vietnamese government has ordered the export of low-grade coal that is not wanted by domestic consumers. The Prime Minister has also asked state-owned coal producer Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group to establish an annual coal development plan and to import coal based on domestic demand. Vietnam’s...

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RUSSIA: Kozmino port exports firs cargo of Siberian oil to Asian markets

(EnergyAsia, January 28  2010, Thursday) — Russia’s new Pacific terminal at Kozmino port near the city of Nakhodka has launched the country’s first export of Siberian crude oil to Asia. A tanker, owned by state-run oil firm Rosneft, delivered 100,000 tonnes of East Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) crude oil, marking an important step towards the diversification...

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PHILIPPINES: PNOC-RC in talks with investors to build 11 mini hydropower plants

(EnergyAsia, January 28 2010, Thursday) — PNOC Renewables Corp (PNOC-RC), a subsidiary of state-owned Philippine National Oil Co, has begun talks with foreign and local investors to jointly develop 11 mini hydroelectric power plants in the country. PNOC-RC will focus on building hydropower projects in the southern central Visayas region, which is experiencing a critical...

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MYANMAR: Rakhine state to build three hydropower plants

(EnergyAsia, January 28 2010, Thursday) — Myanmar’s Ministry of Electric Power said it has approved the construction of another three hydropower plants in the western Rakhine state to meet energy demand in the region. Costing US$800 million, the projects at Saidin, Thahtay Chaung and Laymyomyit will have a combined capacity of 687 megawatts. Myanmar currently...

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CHINA: Refining throughput reached record high in November

(EnergyAsia, January 28 2010, Thursday) — China’s crude refining throughput reached a record of more than 33.3 million metric tonnes (mt) in November on stronger demand and better margins following a rise in retail oil product prices. The November figure blew past the 27.6 million mt recorded in the same month in 2008, continuing an...

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CHINA: Schat-Harding upgrades Shanghai service station to state-of-the-art facility

(EnergyAsia, January 27 2010, Wednesday) — Schat-Harding, the world’s leading supplier of lifeboat evacuation systems for the cruise, offshore and shipping industries, has boosted its China servicing network by upgrading its Shanghai service station into a state-of-the-art lifeboat servicing facility. Located in Shanghai’s Pudong district, Umoe Schat-Harding LSA Service (Shanghai) Co Ltd began operating as...

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MARKETS: Crude down $10 after hitting 15-month high in early January

(EnergyAsia, January 27 2010, Wednesday) — Crude oil futures fell US$10 per barrel to $74 less than two weeks after surging to 15-month highs in early January on very cold winter weather in much of the northern hemisphere and escalating geopolitical tensions in key oil producing countries. As warmer weather returned, renewed worries about the...

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MARKETS: ExxonMobil says “all viable energy sources” needed to meet future global demand

(EnergyAsia, January 27 2010, Wedneday) — Meeting the world’s growing energy needs while reducing the impact on the environment will require the development of all viable sources of energy and new technology development, said Emil Jacobs, Vice President of Research and Development at ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company. At the recent 2010 World Future Energy...

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MARKETS: BASF and KWS to jointly develop high-yielding sugar beet for food and biofuels production

(EnergyAsia, January 27 2010, Wednesday) — Two German companies, KWS and BASF, said they will collaborate to develop high-yielding sugar beet to boost sugar and energy production. Limburgerhof-based BASF and Einbeck-based KSW SAAT AG said they have signed on for long-term plant biotechnology collaboration to develop higher yielding and sturdier sugar beet varieties. The new...

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NEW ZEALAND: US money manager predicts oil boom ahead

(EnergyAsia, January 27 2010, Wednesday) — A US money manager has predicted that New Zealand is set for an oil bonanza greater than Britain’s North Sea oil boom. William Buechler, lead portfolio manager of the Kiwi Pacific Fund, said the country’s oil sector has been operating under the radar screen of most international investors despite...

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