EnergyAsia, October 10) — Ekarat Engineering Plc, a Thai producer and distributor of transformers, has announced plans for a factory in Amata city in Rayong province to produce solar cells.   President Chulchit Bunyaket told the Bangkok Post the company would be the only manufacturer of solar cells in Southeast Asia and that the production...

(EnergyAsia, October 10) — US engineering J. Ray McDermott said its subsidiary, J. Ray McDermott Eastern Hemisphere Ltd, has been awarded the Arthit oil and gas processing platform contract by Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP).   The platform is part of the Arthit field development project in the Gulf...

(EnergyAsia, October 10) — PPL Shipyard, a subsidiary of Singapore’s SembCorp Marine, said it has signed another rig building contract worth US$144 million with Awilco Offshore ASA for the construction of a Baker Marine Pacific Class 375 deep drilling offshore jack-up rig   The construction contract is an option that PPL Shipyard granted to Awilco...

(EnergyAsia, October 10) — On the back of expansion in business, the European Climate Exchange (ECX) has announced hiring Anthony Dols as managing director (business development) and Johannah Ladd as head of marketing.   Mr Dols was previously with Dutch bank ABN AMRO, where he was a senior banker for companies in the energy, mining,...

(EnergyAsia, October 10) — Malaysian state energy company Petronas, through subsidiaries Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd and Petronas Carigali Overseas Sdn Bhd, has signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) and a Joint Study Agreement (JSA) with Uzbekneftegaz National Holding Company (UNG), the national oil company of Uzbekistan.   Under the MOC, Petronas Carigali and UNG will...

(EnergyAsia, October 10) — Korean trader Daewoo International Corp has taken a 60% stake in a venture with two Indian companies and Korea’s Gas Corp to explore for natural gas in Myanmar. Daewoo’s partners include India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp (20%) and the Gas Authority of India (10%) and Gas Corp (10%).   The...

(EnergyAsia, October 10) — French oil and gas major Total said it has signed a second joint venture agreement with China’s Sinochem to set up a network of 300 service stations in the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai with an investment of around $100 million. Total said the 49/51 venture in Sinochem’s favour is subject...

(EnergyAsia, October 10) — BDP International, a leading privately held global logistics and transportation services company, has expanded its operations for the chemical sector in China with the addition of its seventh office in the country.   Located in Ningbo, the new facility will operate as a satellite of the company’s Shanghai operations centre, deploying...

(EnergyAsia, October 10) — Canadian oil and gas pipeline company Enbridge Inc said it has concluded “open season” for its gateway project condensate import pipeline project on September 30. The final commitment amounts and detailed terms of precedent agreements and equity participation agreements remain under discussion with individual shippers. Based on the results of the...

(EnergyAsia, October 10) — Malaysia plans to massively boost the use of biofuels in the country as part of its RM2.8 billion allocation to the agriculture sector in next year’s budget. (US$1=RM3.76). In addition, the sector has been given generous tax allowances and incentives to boost productivity, value-added activities and greater use of technology.  ...

(EnergyAsia, October 7) — The Indian state of Andhra Pradesh plans to convert most of its 15,000 state-owned vehicles to use biodiesel by February 2006, Indian news media reported.             The plans follow the conclusion of a multi-phase experiment by Andra Pradesh’s State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC).             The trials found that biodiesel produced from...

(EnergyAsia, October 7) — Rising natural gas prices and tighter supplies are set to impact China’s ability to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) volumes and realise its ambitious projects and targets for LNG use, Interfax news agency reported.             The high prices are leading to a sellers market in coming years, with tight supplies, experts...

(EnergyAsia, October 7) — Qatar Shell GTL Limited, a Royal Dutch Shell plc subsidiary, has signed a letter of intent to award a project management contract to a joint venture comprising JGC Middle East FZE, a subsidiary of Japan’s JGC Corp, and KBR, the engineering, construction and services subsidiary of Halliburton of the US. The...

(EnergyAsia, October 7) — New Zealand’s Austral Pacific Energy Ltd said it has finalised a private placement of 4 million shares to accredited investors in North America and New Zealand. Each Unit is priced at US$2.50 and consists of one common share and one-half of one share purchase warrant. Two half-warrants (one whole warrant) plus...

(EnergyAsia, October 7) — Korea should consider investing in the shares of global oil companies as a hedge against soaring oil prices, said the World Energy Council`s regional vice chairman for South Asia and Asia-Pacific. “As a country that depends on foreign oil, our government should buy shares of major global energy companies, because they...

(EnergyAsia, October 7) — Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) said it has started crude oil production at a newly developed field in the Gulf of Mexico in the US where it has been engaged in upstream activities since 1998. MC said its fully owned subsidiary will assume responsibility for developing and producing oil in the Mustang...

(EnergyAsia, October 7) — Malaysian plantation company IOI Corp Bhd said it is among 10 companies that submitted bids to participate in building palm oil-based biodiesel plants with state agency Malaysian Palm Oil Board’s (MPOB).   IOI group executive director Lee Yeow Chor said his company, a key palm oil producer, wants to develop biodiesel...

(EnergyAsia, October 7) — Indian Oil Corp (IOC) lost its bid to acquire a majority stake in Turkish Petroleum Refineries (Tupras), Infraline reported.             The stake was awarded to a Shell-led consortium which paid US$4.14 billion.             This represents yet another setback for Indian oil companies attempting to buy oil and gas assets abroad. Earlier,...

(EnergyAsia, October 7) — Fast-rising Malaysian biofuels company Carotech Bhd, plans to invest more than RM100 million to expand its biodiesel production capacity to meet rising global demand for “green” palm oil-based fuels.   The company, 51% owned by another Malaysian company, Hovid Bhd, is in talks with bankers to raise funds for the expansion,...

(EnergyAsia, October 7) — At the opening of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) annual general meeting last week, Greenpeace denounced the role of the agency in promoting nuclear power, which it said aids the spread of nuclear weapons.   Greenpeace said it wants the world’s governments to engage in a diplomatic process in the...

(EnergyAsia, October 6) — Gasoline consumption in Sri Lanka has risen sharply despite two price increases this year, said the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC). According to CPC data, average gasoline consumption per day, is now around 1,200 MT, compared to 950 MT per day in the first eight months of the year.   The country’s...

(EnergyAsia, October 6) — Japan’s steel industry is facing a 100 billion yen cost hike due to sustained high oil prices, The Japan Times reported (US$1=Yen113).   Steel makers see high oil prices driving up their costs across the board – from maritime transport to raw materials and electricity bill, Akio Mimura, chairman of the...

(EnergyAsia, October 6) — Beijing is planning to permanently close all coal mines in the southern province of Guangdong for safety and environmental reasons.   The decision follows a spate of recent mining accidents in the province that has killed thousands of miners, China Daily reported.   So far, Beijing has already shut down 112...

(EnergyAsia, October 6) — Canada will invest US$1.8 million a year over the next four years to develop coalbed methane (CBM) projects in China’s Guizhou province, Chinese news media reported.   The projects are undertaken by China United Coal-bed Methane Co Ltd (CUCBM), the country’s only coalbed methane firm.   Established in 1996, CUCBM has...

(EnergyAsia, October 6) — Australian upstream company Antares energy has reported an after-tax net profit A$1.2 million for the year to June 30 compared with a loss of A$8.3 million the previous year. (US$1=A$1.3). Its sales revenue was up 12% to A$23.1 million.   It said it drilled nine wells with an “impressive” overall success...