(EnergyAsia, April 23) — Amid growing debate over the possible consequences of large-scale bioenergy production, leading international experts met at the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation headquarters in Rome last week to review present knowledge of the issue and suggest a road map for the way ahead. Experts from various countries, as well as specialists...

(EnergyAsia, April 23) — The issue of the effect of financial players on energy prices is rapidly becoming more and more heated Ð and political. US energy consultant ESAI has released a new study that takes a professional and dispassionate view on this complex issue.   ESAI’s White Paper, Financial Energy Markets and the Bubble...

(EnergyAsia, April 23) — Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd said it has received an order for a 200 MW LNG-fired gas turbine combined-cycle (GTCC) power generation system from Alinta Energy of Australia. The GTCC plant is scheduled to go on-stream in the second quarter of 2009. The plant, to be built at the existing Tamar...

(EnergyAsia, April 23) — Royal Dutch Shell said its Malaysian subsidiary has agreed to acquire ConocoPhillips’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Conoco Jet (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, which operates the ProJet retail marketing assets in Malaysia. The deal comprises 44 ProJet-branded retail service stations and 14 vacant land sites primarily in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and the State of Johor...

(EnergyAsia, April 23) — China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec Corp) said its first quarter profit surged 103.67% year-on-year to RMB19.44 billion while revenue was up more than 23% to RMB279.64 billion. (US$1=RMB7.73). “During the first quarter of 2007, the Chinese economy continued to grow rapidly and international crude oil prices remained relatively high and...

(EnergyAsia, April 23) — State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) plans to take a stake in a 15-million tonne per year refinery project in Russia’s Tartastan region. The US$7 billion plant would process Russian crude. Tartastan has the oil resources and infrastructure in place to support a refinery project. Last year, it produced 32 million tonnes...

(EnergyAsia, April 23) — The BHP Billiton-led plan for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in California looks doomed. In the most recent blow to the project, the state’s Land Commission rejected the proposal for the construction of an LNG terminal 25km off the coast of Malibu. The commissioners were swayed by environmental and...

(EnergyAsia, April 23) — Singapore-listed Rotary Engineering Limited said it has secured two contracts totalling S$36.4 million for separate projects on Jurong Island. (US$1=S$1.5). It has started work on a S$30 million construction turnkey deal that it inked with Japanese process plant maker JGC Singapore Pte Ltd for a chemical process plant facility. Rotary’s scope...

(EnergyAsia, April 23) — Dutch oil and chemical logistics giant Royal Vopak has unveiled another two projects in Singapore, expanding total storage capacity to 2.6 million cubic metres (cbm) by 2008. The company said it will add another 320,000 cbm of capacity at its Banyan Terminal that together with earlier announced expansions will bring the...

(EnergyAsia, April 23, Monday) — Australia’s lead science agency CSIRO said its role in measuring, forecasting and adapting to climate change has been expanded with the recent announcement by Prime Minister John Howard of A$43.6 million in funding over four years for the establishment of a Climate Adaptation National Research Flagship.   The initiative, to...

(EnergyAsia, April 20) — Blacktown City said it has moved a step closer to becoming a ‘solar city’ following the signing of the project’s funding agreement with the Australian government.   Solar Cities is Canberra’s A$75 million programme designed to bring together solar technologies, energy efficiency, smart metering and better electricity pricing to create more...

(EnergyAsia, April 20) — The ‘Methane to Markets Partnership’ has marked a major milestone as Vietnam became its 20th country member.   This is a public-private partnership that reduces greenhouse gas emissions by promoting the cost-effective, near-term recovery and use of methane, while providing clean energy to markets around the world.   “Vietnam is the...

(EnergyAsia, April 20) — The Philippine Supreme Court has found itself tackling the contentious issue of relocating of the Pandacan oil depot in the city of Manila in its first hearing in this summer capital.   In a continued hearing, Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno and Associate Justices Angelina Sandoval Ð Gutierrez, Renato C. Corona,...

(EnergyAsia, April 20) — The New York Mercantile Exchange Inc, a subsidiary of NYMEX Holdings Inc, the world’s largest physical commodity exchange, has signed a 10-year agreement with the Ux Consulting Company LLC (UxC), the global uranium pricing index and information leader, to introduce on and off-exchange traded uranium futures products on the CME Globex(R)...

(EnergyAsia, April 20) — AIG Global Marine and Energy, a division of the property and casualty insurance subsidiaries of American International Group Inc (AIG), said it has launched a global alternative energy practice.   The practice will service the insurance, risk management and loss control needs of US-based alternative energy clients, including organisations engaged in...

(EnergyAsia, April 20) — Greenpeace International has accused the World Bank of hypocrisy and challenged the bank to stop funding projects that exacerbate climate change.  Despite acknowledgment from the World Bank’s President, Paul Wolfowitz, that climate change is a serious issue, Greenpeace said the bank continues to fund fossil fuel projects and fails to prevent...

(EnergyAsia, April 20) — GT Solar Incorporated, a leader in photovoltaic technologies and equipment, has announced an expansion of its presence in China with the establishment of GT Solar (Shanghai) Co Ltd, a wholly owned foreign enterprise (WOFE).   Its main office will be located in Shanghai on Nanjing Lu in the new Plaza 66...

(EnergyAsia, April 20) — Indonesia will remain Asia’s leading supplier through to 2020, thanks to the region’s growing energy demand, according to UK-based coal consultant McCloskey.   The company predicted that India’s coal imports are expected to increase six fold this year to 29 million tons, while Malaysia will also increase its imports to 14...

(EnergyAsia, April 20) — The nuclear revolution may not happen if the world uranium supply is unable to meet growing demand for clean energy.   According to MIT’s Center for International Studies, current uranium production meets only 65% of world demand for nuclear fuel, and massive investments would be needed in mining and processing facilities...

(EnergyAsia, April 20) — Hong Kong-listed CCID Consulting, a leading research, consulting and IT outsourcing service provider, has produced a report on the wind power industry in China.   China, which has been using wind power generation for many years, will soon experience changes in the industry as environmental awareness grows and the wind power...

(EnergyAsia, April 19) — China’s proven crude oil reserves will only meet 11 years of consumption, down from previous estimates of between 14 and 15 years if no new reserves are found, said the Ministry of Land and Resources.   The ministry said China’s total recoverable oil reserve stood at 2.04 billion tons as of...

(EnergyAsia, April 19) — Vancouver, Canada-based Hanwei Energy Services Corp said its 2006 net income before non-controlling interest grew by 129% to C$4,647,267. (US$1=C$1.14). Revenue increased by 47% to more than $23.75 million on rising demand for over 1,600 km of high-pressure FRP pipes.   Fully diluted earnings per share increased by 40% to $0.14...

(EnergyAsia, April 19) — Hong Kong-listed oil logistics provider Titan Petrochemicals Group Limited said it has agreed to sell Titan Taurus, a single-hulled 254,991 dwt Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) built in 1992, to Korea Line Corp for US$41 million. The sale of the vessel represents an unaudited gain of approximately US$7.88 million for Titan....

(EnergyAsia, April 19) — Saudi Aramco said it recently signed a contract with Russian construction contractor Stroytransgaz to construct the new Shabab-2 Pipeline capacity expansion project.   Ali A. Al-Ajmi, vice president of project management, signed on behalf of Saudi Aramco while Evegny A. Laurentiev, senior vice president of Stroytransgaz, signed on behalf of the...

(EnergyAsia, April 19) — Indian downstream company Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) said it is planning to open an oil trading office in Singapore.   The office would support Bharat’s increasing trade in refined oil products as the company is expanding its refining capacity.   India’s third-largest refiner has ambitious plans to boost its role in...