(EnergyAsia, December 22) — The Philippines government is close to enacting a biofuels law after the Senate ratified the bill.   The legislation is aimed at building up an ethanol and biodiesel sector without disrupting the country’s sugar cane industry or causing a shortage of sugar. Sugar cane is the main feedstock for biofuels in...

(EnergyAsia, December 22) — A consortium comprising Belgium’s SUEZ Energy International, Mubadala Development and the National Trading Company has won the Barka 2 Independent Water and Power Project (IWPP) in Oman.   Awarded by Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (PWP), the contract consortium calls for the construction and operation of a 678 MW power...

(EnergyAsia, December 21) — Japan’s Sharp Corp said it will introduce two new thin-film solar photovoltaic modules with outstanding temperature characteristics intended for commercial and industrial applications.   It forecast that demand will be growing significantly in the future, and the new model NA-902WP is intended for industrial and commercial use in the Japanese market,...

(EnergyAsia, December 21) — India’s powerful privately-owned Mittal Investments is expected to team up with state-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) to build a project comprising a nine-million-tonne oil refinery and a crude oil pipeline project in Bathinda worth Rs160 billion. (US$1=Rs45).   The refinery is estimated to cost Rs130 billion while the 1,100-km crude...

(EnergyAsia, December 21) — The US is looking to expand its strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) to one billion barrels of crude oil in the next few years. Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman said the department has identified the salt domes at Richton in Mississippi as the preferred alternative to lead the expansion effort. The site...

(EnergyAsia, December 21) — Indonesia’s state oil and gas company Pertamina said it plans to expand two of its main oil refineries in Dumai and Cilacap with the assistance of Korea’s SK Corp and Japan’s Mitsui & Co. The projects are part of an ambitious US$11 billion plan announced by Pertamina President Ari Hernanto to...

(EnergyAsia, December 21) — The Pakistani government is considering imposing a new tax on oil products to raise at least Rs30 billion to help cover the cost of building up the country’s strategic petroleum reserves to over 45 days of consumption. Pakistan now keeps only 21 days of storage. (US$1=Rs60).   The Petroleum Ministry has...

(EnergyAsia, December 21) — New Zealand’s strategic oil stockpile will soon reach 90 days of consumption, said Energy Minister David Parker. Wellington was publicly criticised early this year for apparently dragging its feet in raising its stockpile which was languishing at around 60 days.             On a special visit, the IEA’s chief, Claude Mandil, said...

(EnergyAsia, December 21) — China will open up its wholesale market for crude oil and oil products to foreign investment from next year as part of its commitment to the World Trade Organisation, said the Ministry of Commerce (MOC).   Until recently, the wholesale crude oil market was controlled by the central government while the...

(EnergyAsia, December 21) — Desperate to develop a thriving downstream oil sector, Vietnam has turned to Russian oil giant LukOil as the country’s various oil refinery projects continue to run into difficulty.   Vietnam, one of Asia’s only three net crude oil exporters, does not have a refinery and depends on imports to meet its...

(EnergyAsia, December 21) — IndianOil and Sinopec have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Beijing as part of the expanding cooperation between India and China. The MOU, signed by B.M. Bansal, Indian Oil’s planning and business development director, and Chen Qi, Sinopec’s director general, aims to boost cooperation in the refining and petrochemicals sector....

(EnergyAsia, December 21) — Two Indian oil refining companies have signed an agreement to swap oil products and share infrastructure to reduce the cost of storing and moving oil. Essar Oil and Reliance Industries will swap gasoline and diesel from their refineries and oil storage facilities across the country.             Essar Oil recently started up...

(EnergyAsia, December 20) — BTU International Inc, a Nasdaq-listed supplier of advanced thermal processing equipment for the electronics manufacturing and alternative energy generation markets, has expanded and relocated its Southeast Asia headquarters to a new address in Singapore. The new facility includes a state-of-the-art demonstration and training facility, comprehensive spare parts inventory, conference rooms and...

(EnergyAsia, December 20) — Two Norwegian companies, Statoil and Hydro, have agreed to merge their oil and gas operations to create the world’s largest offshore operator with a strengthened platform for future growth. The new company, which has not been named yet, will have a combined production of 1.9 million barrels per day in 2007...

(EnergyAsia, December 20) — Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IndianOil) and Balmer Lawrie & Co Ltd have signed a non-exclusive memorandum of collaboration (MoC) agreement to jointly offer services in storage tank cleaning, oil recovery and bio-remediation of recovered sludge to the oil industry in India. IndianOil said its R&D centre will be responsible for bio-remediation...

(EnergyAsia, December 20) — Indian Oil Corporation Ltd said it plans to participate in the Samsun-Ceyhan crude oil pipeline project by acquiring 12.5% of the shares of the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline Company (TAPCO). TAPCO is equally owned by Italy’s Eni SpA and Turkey’s alik Enerji AS. Sarthak Behuria, IOC’s chairman, said: “IndianOil feels that its participation...

(EnergyAsia, December 20) — India’s diversified Tata Group is looking at opportunities in the downstream refining market. As a first step, it is mulling acquiring a 26% stake in the Nagarjuna group’s refining project in Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu state. Tata may have to pay Rs40 billion for the stake, with negotiations said to be...

(EnergyAsia, December 20) — India’s Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) and France’s Total are planning to jointly build and start up an underground liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) storage at Visakhapathnam by mid-2007. The 60,000-tonne facility, India’s first, will cost around Rs3.3 billion. (US$1=Rs45 Imports account for nearly 30% of India’s annual use of 10 million...

(EnergyAsia, December 20) — Indonesia’s state power utility firm Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) said it will start using biofuels next year to help power up most of its smaller generation plants. The move comes after the success of a pilot project using biofuels at two power plants on the resort town of Bali. The 11-MW...

(EnergyAsia, December 20) — A clean coal gasification project launched in Australia’s Queensland could produce commercial coal by 2015.             Currently, the cost of clean coal is still 50% higher than that of conventional coal. However, experts warn that clean coal technology is expected become competitive only with sustained high prices for conventional energy. Future...

(EnergyAsia, December 20) — Japanese trading house Itochu Corp said it will invest one billion yen (4% of outstanding shares after investment) in Norwegian solar energy company NorSun AS.Established last December, the Norwegian company is planning to produce monocrystalline silicon wafers for solar cells. Founder Alf Bjorseth is also a founder and former CEO of...

(EnergyAsia, December 20) — National Iranian Gas Export Company could soon be supplying three million tonnes per year of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to China from its massive South Pars natural gas field. The price for the gas under a new 25-year deal is not known. PetroChina and Sinopec, China’s two biggest oil and gas...

(EnergyAsia, December 19) — OPEC sent a message of bold market assertiveness at its December 14 meeting in Abuja, Nigeria by announcing a further output cut of 500,000 b/d and inducting fast-growing new exporter Angola into the organisation, said commodities trader Fimat. The latest cut will take effect February 1 after OPEC had agreed to...

(EnergyAsia, December 19) — GE Energy said it has signed three contracts with the Saudi Electric Company (SEC) worth more than $950 million to supply 23 F-class gas turbines and additional equipment for three power plants that will add 2,900 megawatts of capacity to the kingdom’s electricity grid.   These projects include 15 GE Frame...

(EnergyAsia, December 19) — Singapore’s Keppel FELS Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (Keppel O&M), said it will divest its entire 72% interest in the rig, West Berani, to SeaDrill Asia Limited for US$72 million. The divestment follows the completion of the semisubmersible drilling tender (SSDT), which was delivered on time...