China’s Huaneng Power International, Inc. (NYSE: HNP; HKEx: 902; SSE: 600011) said that the on-grid tariff for the expansion project of Jining Power Plant Units 5 and 6, each with a capacity of 135MW, has been approved by the government. The on-grid tariff was RMB 320 per MWh (including VAT), which has been effective from...

Representatives from the countries of South Asia held a two-day technical meeting in Bangladesh last week with the aim of establishing a common power grid in the region. The technical committee discussed areas of cooperation, energy security and common sharing areas in the region. AKM Mosharraf Hossain, Bangladesh’s state Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources,...

Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it will bring cleaner, more reliable energy to poor communities in China’s Gansu province with the approval of a US$35 million loan. The Gansu Clean Energy Development Project – ADB’s first loan project in the province – will finance the construction of a 98-megawatt run-of-the-river Xiaogushan Hydropower Plant (XHP), together...

Singapore’s Energy Market Authority (EMA) said it will implement vesting contracts from January 1 to control the market power of the three largest generation companies — Senoko Power Ltd, PowerSeraya Ltd and Tuas Power Ltd — in the local electricity market. The three companies together hold about 90% of the total installed electricity capacity in...

BANGKOK (AFX-ASIA) – The Ministry of Finance (MoF) said it has transferred its shareholdings in some state enterprises to the government mutual fund. The government mutual fund, Vayupak Fund 1, has raised 70 billion baht from the public and 30 billion baht from the government during Nov 11-19. (US$1=40 baht). In a statement, the MoF...

India’s IOC may increase the capacity of its Haldia refinery in West Bengal to 7.4 million tonne from 6 million tonne, chairman M.S. Ramachandran told PTI. The proposed expansion may take place after the construction of a crude pipeline from Paradip in Orissa where IOC is building a new refinery and a single mooring to...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – Shanghai will take measures such as restricting heating in some large shopping malls and department stores to ease the expected power shortfall of 2 million kilowatts in the winter season resulting from coal supply shortages and a seasonal drought, Xinhua news agency reported. The news agency quoted Jiao Yang, a local government...

BANGKOK (AFX-ASIA) – The Ministry of Finance (MoF) said it has transferred its shareholdings in some state enterprises to the government mutual fund. The government mutual fund, Vayupak Fund 1, has raised 70 billion baht from the public and 30 billion baht from the government during Nov 11-19. (US$1=40 baht). In a statement, the MoF...

JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) – Indonesia’s upstream oil and gas expenditure has grown to US$6.9 billion so far this year as against US$3.9 billion in 2000, said Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro. “There is also an increase on upstream oil and gas expenditure from US$3.9 billion in 2000 to US$6.9 billion in 2003,” said...

LONDON (AFX) – Barclays PLC has decided not to provide a loan to the controversial Caspian oil pipeline, environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth said. The pipeline plan has been criticised for causing environmental damage and undermining human rights, as well as destabilising the conflict-prone region. Partners in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline are...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China has been experiencing a diesel supply shortage since the second half of this year, and the situation is expected to continue for some time, the Economic Information Daily reported, citing industry insiders. The southern Guangdong province reported depleting diesel supplies in May, while the north, east and southeast regions, including major...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – ING Financial Markets said the upside to China oil share price targets has narrowed on OPEC’s latest decision to maintain its production quota at 24.5 million barrels per day, adding it will be reviewing its outlook for the shares. ING said it has “buy” ratings on China’s oil & gas “H” shares....

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China’s seven major power suppliers have recently filed an urgent petition with the central government to seek help in bringing down the surging coal prices amid severe coal shortages, the official Xinhua news agency reported, citing unnamed industrial sources. “Coal prices have kept rising since last year. It is now difficult for...

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – Hong Kong’s Titan (Holdings) Ltd said its wholly-owned subsidiary Titan Oil (HK) Co Ltd has entered into a joint venture contract with a Chinese company to deliver oil from the Middle East to China. Titan said it signed a 10-year transportation contract with Zhen Rong International Petroleum Co Ltd, the Hong...

Caltex Australia has welcomed last week’s launch of a trial of E10 Unleaded gasolinel in Ayr, North Queensland by Tropic Distributors, an independently owned and operated Caltex distributor. E10 Unleaded is regular unleaded gasoline containing 10% ethanol. “Caltex warmly welcomes Tropic’s decision to make E10 Unleaded available in Ayr,” said Caltex managing director Dave Reeves...

The Rs 20 billion coal-fired power plant project in Trincomalee has been postponed as a result of a disagreement with the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and India’s Venkatesh Industries over power rates, said Sri Lanka’s Board of Investment (BOI). (US$1=97 Sri Lankan rupees). Venkatesh has completed initial survey work for which it has spent over...

Ice in the polar regions, Greenland and in glaciers around the world is melting at an alarming rate as global temperatures increase, and could have radical implications for the future global climate, according to an upcoming book edited by glaciologists Dr Jonathan Bamber and Dr Anthony Payne, of Bristol University. According to a Greenpeace release,...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – The State Power Grid Co has set its fixed-asset investment target for 2004 at 81.49 billion yuan, Xinhua news agency said. (US$1=8.27 yuan). The amount includes 55.29 billion yuan for major power infrastructure projects, 23 billion yuan for local power grid upgrades and 3.2 billion yuan in small power infrastructure projects. No...

John Paul Broeders, 39, will be nominated to the executive board of Koninklijke Vopak N.V. (Royal Vopak) at the annual general meeting to be held in May 2004. Mr Broeders is currently president of the Dutch storage and logistics company’s Asia division, At the same time, Paul Govaart, 56, will step down from the board...

MOSCOW (AFX) – The holding company of the Russian oil group AO Yukos said it intended to complete its merger with Sibneft and had no intention of giving away the post of chief executive to a representative of its smaller rival. The Menatep group said in a statement that it was sticking to the terms...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – The No.1 generator at the Three Gorges Project on the middle reaches of the Yangtze River was connected to the power grid and began commercial operations last Saturday, Xinhua news agency reported. It quoted Zhang Cheng, head of the Three Gorges Hydropower Plant, as saying that as of now the first batch...

Finland’s W’rtsil’ Corporation said it has been awarded a contract by the French shipbuilder Chantiers de l’Atlantique to supply dual-fuel main engines for a new 153,000m3 LNG carrier. In a statement, Wartsila said the carrier has been ordered by the French gas distributor Gaz de France for delivery in October 2005. It will be employed...

MOSCOW (AFX) – Russian oil production was up by 11% in January-November 2003 compared with the same period last year, while gas production rose by 4.6%, the energy ministry said. Oil production totalled 384.1 million tonnes to November this year, the ministry said, as quoted by the Interfax news agency. In November alone, oil production...

SYDNEY (AFX-ASIA) – Caltex Australia Ltd faces legal action from hundreds of franchisees who claim the company’s discount fuel alliance with Woolworths Ltd is hurting their business, the Australian Financial Review reported citing representatives of the franchisees. Woolworths customers who spend more than 30 aud at one its stores receive a voucher entitling them to...

SolArc, Inc., a leading provider of supply and trade management solutions for energy companies, has announced that Progress Fuels Corporation, a subsidiary of Progress Energy, has selected SolArc RightAngle to manage its coal supply operations. Progress Energy, headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., is a Fortune 250 diversified energy company with more than 23,000 megawatts of generation...