(EnergyAsia, May 9) — Indian upstream company ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) said it has bought from Shell Brasil EP a 15% stake in Block 10 offshore Brazil. The Shell subsidiary which operates the block now holds a 50% stake while Brazilian state oil company Petrobras owns the remaining 35% stake.   The transactions await the...

(EnergyAsia, May 9) — Australia’s North West Shelf Venture said it has a signed a new liquefied natural gas supply (LNG) agreement with a long-term Japanese customer.   North West Shelf Australia LNG President Peter Cleary said the agreement with Toho Gas Co confirms growing market interest in safe, secure and reliable supplies of LNG....

(EnergyAsia, May 9) — Australian upstream company Santos has announced another dividend increase, continuing a 29-year tradition of paying either steady or higher dividend to shareholders. At the company’s annual general meeting in Adelaide last week, chairman Stephen Gerlach told shareholders they will receive a 15% rise in dividend payment to A$0.38 a share. (US$1=A$1.33)....

(EnergyAsia, May 9) — The Chinese government said it will close all small coalmines with an annual production capacity under 30,000 tonne/year by the end of 2007.   The closures are part of efforts to streamline the country’s coal mining sector and improve work safety. Many small coal mines have been found vulnerable to accidents,...

(EnergyAsia, May 9) — Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) said its FY2005 net profit rose 18% while revenue was up 17% despite the burden of having to pay for fuel subsidies for consumers.   The company earned net profit of Rs23.1 billion on revenue of Rs144.6 billion. Gross margins came to Rs39.53 billion. (US$1=Rs44)....

(EnergyAsia, May 9) — UK’s BG Group said it has signed an exploration and production sharing agreement (EPSA) with the government of Oman for a 100% interest in and operatorship of Block 60. The onshore block, which covers almost 1,500 sq km, contains the Abu Butabul gas and condensate discovery which was made in 1998....

(EnergyAsia, May 9) — Cairn Energy PLC has named Rahul Dhir as CEO of its new Indian business, which is expected to be floated on India’s on the Bombay Stock Exchange by early 2007. Rahul Dhir will join Cairn from Merrill Lynch where he is currently a managing director and co-head of Energy and Power Investment...

(EnergyAsia, May 9) — Indian Oil Corp (IOC) plans to spend Rs23.5 billion on infrastructure development this financial year. (US1=Rs44).   The thrust of the spending will be on retail expansions, but there will also be investment in the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) business.   IOC will spend some Rs4.7 billion alone on buying LPG...

(EnergyAsia, May 9) — The Baltic Exchange will provide its benchmark prices for the settlement of Forward Freight Agreements (FFAs) for dry bulk and wet tanker dirty routes to be cleared on Singapore Exchange’s OTC Clearing service.   In announcing the agreement, the Singapore Exchange (SGX) said the Baltic Exchange will also provide its forward...

(EnergyAsia, May 9) — Indian state oil company Essar Oil plans to commission its Vadinar refinery and 1,500 retail fuel stations in Gujarat state by July.   The refinery has an initial capacity of 7 million tonnes/year but this will be boosted to 10.5 million tonnes/year next year, officials said. Essar aims to capture some...

(EnergyAsia, May 8) — Any attempt at addressing the world’s energy and environmental needs would have to deal with the growing impact of China and India, or it cannot be regarded as serious.   Last month, the government of hydrocarbon-rich Abu Dhabi named its partners in the US$100 million “Masdar Initiative” to address the challenges...

(EnergyAsia, May 8) — China’s world-scale $4.2 billion Nanhai petrochemicals complex in Nanhai, in Guangdong province has successfully started operations, said engineering giant Foster Wheeler Ltd. The company’s UK subsidiary, Foster Wheeler Energy Limited, was part of a joint venture which acted as the project management contractor for the complex and performed engineering, procurement and...

(EnergyAsia, May 8) — The biggest hydropower station on China’s major Yellow River is expected to start up in 2008, with full completion two years later.   Construction of the 4,200 MW Laxiwa Hydroelectric Station in Guide county in northwestern Qinghai province started mid-last month. The station will generate an average of 10.223 billion kwh,...

(EnergyAsia, May 8) — GT Solar Technologies, a division of New Hampshire, US-based GT Equipment Technologies, said it has completed the first phase of a turnkey solar manufacturing line for LDK Solar in China, which has just started production of solar wafers in what will eventually be a one gigawatt manufacturing line.   GT Solar...

(EnergyAsia, May 8) — China is planning to build two new oil refineries in the southern provinces of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Guangdong, and another in the eastern port city of Ningbo. The projects are awaiting the final approval of the National Development and Reforming Commission (NDRC).   PetroChina Co, the Hong Kong-listed subsidiary...

(EnergyAsia, May 8) — New York-based YaSheng Group said it is using high technology to develop ethanol, alternative fuels and chemicals on a farm in Gansu province in China. The farm will supply food and by-products from organic waste for use as biomass in large scale to produce alternative fuels. The production system will serve...

(EnergyAsia, May 8) — State electricity supplier China Resources Power (CRP) plans to invest HK$8 billion to boost renewable energy-based power generation. (US$1=HK$7.75).   CRP’s focus will initially be on hydro-power as it expects to earn a much higher rate of return than for wind power.   CRP expects renewable energy to account for 5...

(EnergyAsia, May 8) — Singapore-listed upstream company PEARL Energy Limited said its first quarter net profit rose sharply to US$8 million from just US$21,000 a year ago. Thanks to higher oil prices and increased production the company’s gross revenue grew 268% to US$70 million from US$19 million while net revenue was up 338% to US$57...

(EnergyAsia, May 8) — Andra Pradesh state expects to be home to a 300 tonne/day oleo-biodiesel facility by the end of the year, the first such project in India.   Naturol BioEnergy is building the Rs1.4 billion facility near Kakinada town where it will be provided a regular supply of oil-bearing jatropha and kanuga crops...

(EnergyAsia, May 8) — Agricultural giant Archer Daniels Midland Co, which is playing an playing a bigger role in the biofuels industry, has named a former Chevron executive as its new CEO, president and director.   Patricia A. Woertz, who retired earlier this year as executive vice president at Chevron, has succeeded G. Allen Andreas,...

(EnergyAsia, May 5) — The global community needs to be working towards meeting the energy needs that are essential for economic growth and fighting poverty, while at the same time leaving a smaller environmental footprint, according to the Clean Energy and Development: Towards an Investment Framework, a new report launched on the occasion of the...

(EnergyAsia, May 5) — Vietnam and Laos will soon begin joint construction of a hydroelectric power plant in Sekong Province’s Dakcheung District in Laos. The two governments expect the 250 MW Sekaman Plant 3 to deliver power valued at US$40 million a year when it begins operation in 2009. The Viet-Laos Investment and Electricity Development...

(EnergyAsia, May 5) — Populist left-wing regimes have returned to South America with a vengeance. Anti-US governments are in power in Cuba, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina, and are likely to be followed soon by Peru while socialists remain strong in oil-endowed Brazil, Mexico and Ecuador. But no one is more determined — and possibly better...

(EnergyAsia, May 5) — Western Australian engineering firm AGC said it has landed a A$11 million contract to fabricate a mobile biofuels plant for Natural Fuel Australia’s A$45million biodiesel facility in Darwin. (US$1=A$1.3). The contract will see AGC fabricate, install piping and assemble all the equipment and specialised components for the biodiesel plant, using the...

(EnergyAsia, May 5) — President Hu Jintao was in a hurry last month to either buy up the world’s fast depleting oil resources or to spend his country’s vast hoard of US dollars before their rapid devaluation. April was clearly a busy month for the world’s number 1 oil buyer and holder of foreign exchange...