(EnergyAsia, December 5) — New Zealand-listed upstream company Austral Pacific Energy Ltd said it has placed all five million shares at a price of NZ$1.30, raising NZ$6.5 million. (US$1=NZ$1.5) The shares were subscribed for by existing principal shareholders of the company including Wellington-based Infratil Limited and Vancouver-based Trans-Orient Petroleum Ltd.. The company had...
(EnergyAsia, December 5) — UK’s Cairn Energy PLC said it has set a price range of Rs160 Ð Rs190 per share for the flotation of its subsidiary Cairn India, implying a market capitalisation of between Rs282.45 billion and Rs335.41 billion (US$1=Rs44). The consequent implied valuation for Cairn’s current interest in Cairn India is US$5.72...
(EnergyAsia, December 5) — Austria’s Biolux Biofuels has begun building a one-million-ton per year biodiesel plant in China’s Jiangsu province. The 120 million euro multi-feed plant in Nantong region is capable of consuming about 800,000 tons of rapeseed a year to produce 300,000 tons of rapeseed oil and 500,000 tons of rapeseed meal per year....
(EnergyAsia, December 5) — Australia’s Origin Energy Limited said it has executed a sale and purchase agreement with the Queensland state government to acquire Sun Retail for A$1.202 billion. (US$1=A$1.3). The deal is expected to be completed by February 1. Origin said the acquisition will boost its group revenue by 29% or A$1.7 billion...
(EnergyAsia, December 5) — The rate of increase in the world’s carbon emissions is accelerating, said research scientist of the co-Chair of the Global Carbon Project of Australia’s CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research. Mike Raupach said 7.9 billion tonnes of carbon were emitted into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide last year. “From 2000...
(EnergyAsia, December 5) — While other countries are encouraging the production and use of solar-generated power, the Thai government has decided to stop subsidising its use, citing high cost. Viraphol Jirapraditkul, deputy director-general of the Energy Policy and Planning Office (EPPO), said it will terminate the pilot project launched two years ago to promote...
(EnergyAsia, December 5) — Canada’s Methanex and China’s XinAo Group have entered into a long-term arrangement under which Methanex will, beginning in late 2007, supply an initial quantity of approximately 300,000 tonnes per annum of methanol to XinAo. The methanol is required for a new 200,000 tonne di-methyl ether (DME) production facility that XinAo...
(EnergyAsia, December 4) — San Diego, California-based Green Star Products Inc said it has signed an agreement with De Beers Fuel Limited of South Africa to build 90 biodiesel reactors. Each reactor will produce up to 10 million gallons of biodiesel each year for a total production capacity of 900 million gallons per year when...
(EnergyAsia, December 4) — US-based XcelPlus Global Holdings Inc said it has appointed David Kreitzer as President of Sustainable Liquid Fuels. Mr Kreitzer, former president of Gopher State Ethanol, and former vice president of business development of Xethanol Corporation (XNL), brings with him a vast knowledge of the ethanol and alternative fuel industries. Mr....
(EnergyAsia, December 4) — South Australian state is pushing aggressively to promote solar power use by giving households the country’s most generous solar power rebates. The state government has announced a new rebate to encourage people to install solar panels on the roofs of their houses. They will be paid up to twice the...
(EnergyAsia, December 4) — State agency Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics (ABARE) said “significant development” in coal supply infrastructure capacity is required for the industry to fully meet its coal export potential over the period to 2025. In a recent report, Australian Coal Exports: Outlook to 2025 and the Role of Infrastructure,...
(EnergyAsia, December 4) — India’s President Abdul Kalam recently bought two totally solar powered refrigerator-cum-vaccine coolers as show of support for the technology which was invented by Indian scientists for use in Ougadougou, the capital of Africa’s Burkina Faso. The SolarChill breakthrough technology makes refrigeration available to remote parts of the world not connected...
(EnergyAsia, December 4) — Australia’s leading architects want the government to promote the use of solar-powered air-conditioners to drastically cut the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. Archicentre, the building advisory service of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects, said the federal and state governments should assist the development and commercialisation of the emerging technology, with...
(EnergyAsia, December 4) — The World Bank said its joint work with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on developing the Nam Theun 2 (NT2) hydroelectric project in Laos is showing “satisfactory progress”. The World Bank gave its assessment in its latest semi-annual report on the project following its last update in March. It describes...
(EnergyAsia, December 4) — Keppel AmFELS Inc, the US wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore’s Keppel Offshore & Marine Limited, is expected to deliver the first of its five jackup rigs on time and within budget for Scorpion Offshore Ltd. Keppel AmFELS last month launched the premium rig Offshore Courageous, marking the completion of the hull...
(EnergyAsia, December 4) — While much of the world groans under the strain of high oil prices and seeks means of reducing dependence on oil, a quiet revolution is underway in the Middle East to achieve the same objective. Despite being home to 65% of the world’s oil reserves, pressure to improve air quality and...
(EnergyAsia, December 4) — The International Finance Corporation (IFC) recently awarded its US$500,000 “Capturing Value” grant to the team of Standard & Poor’s (S&P), KLD Research & Analytics, Inc. (KLD) and CRISIL Ltd, one of India’s leading research and ratings companies, and to the partnership of Trucost and CLSA. The grant to the KLD...
(EnergyAsia, December 1) — Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd (MHI) has established a marketing and information-gathering base in Thailand to attract expanded orders overseas for its gas turbine combined-cycle (GTCC) plants and other power generation equipment. The new company, Mitsubishi Power Systems Thailand Ltd (MPS-T), will start full-scale operations on December 1, 2006. Through...
(EnergyAsia, December 1) — Praj Industries Ltd, an India-based provider of technology and equipment solutions for alcohol and fuel ethanol, said it has tied up with Biowanze SA to provide technology for a proposed bio-ethanol complex in Belgium. Praj, which is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange in Mumbai, said the contract’s first phase for...
(EnergyAsia, December 1) — Micro Technologies India Ltd said it has bagged a contract to provide fleet security and tracking solution for Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL). It will protect 1,500 HPCL vehicles serving from most of the country, except the south. Ashish Bhogate, Micro Technologies’ marketing manager, told CXOToday: “We will deploy a combination...
(EnergyAsia, December 1) — Hindustan Zinc Ltd (HZL), a member of India’s Vedanta Resources Group, has announced plans to venture into the wind energy business. The company is investing Rs4billion in wind power generation projects of up to 75 MW capacity in Gujarat and Karnataka state. (US$1=Rs45). The projects are expected to start up...
(EnergyAsia, December 1) — Australia’s leading science agency CSIRO said its energy technology research program has received funding for two projects which are part of the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate (AP6) strategy. Prime Minister John Howard has announced funding for the solar-enhanced fuels for electricity and transport project and the CO2...
(EnergyAsia, December 1) — Australia’s Origin Energy said it has successfully raised A$400 million through a placement of approximately 56.3 million shares to sophisticated and professional investors. (US$1=A$1.3). The proceeds of the placement will be used to partly fund the acquisition of Sun Retail from the Queensland state government. The placement was conducted through a...
(EnergyAsia, December 1) — The following is a commentary by consultant Frost & Sullivan on the outlook for the biodiesel industry in the Asia Pacific region. The last two years have seen biodiesel in the headlines across most of the Asia Pacific region. New investments, government licences and approvals, the establishment of new plants...
(EnergyAsia, December 1) — The following is an excerpt from MIT Press on a book, “Solar Revolution” by Travis Bradford. In Solar Revolution, fund manager and former corporate buyout specialist Travis Bradford argues–on the basis of standard business and economic forecasting models–that over the next two decades solar energy will increasingly become the best...