(EnergyAsia, September 6, Thursday) — Mecasolar, a subsidiary of the Spanish OPDE Group, specialising in 2-axis solar tracking systems, said it has started its commercial expansion in China with the support of local company ET Solar. Its first installation is at the Olympic stadium in Beijing. When completed, the installations of more than 100 systems...

(EnergyAsia, September 6, Thursday) — APA Group Ltd, Australia’s biggest natural gas pipeline investor, said its full-year operating profit rose 6.4% to A$64.5 million while revenue was up 40.5% to A$532.7 million. (US$1=A$1.2). The Sydney-based company said it raised full-year distribution to shareholders by 16.7% to A$0.28 cents per share. Growth in operating cash flow...

(EnergyAsia, September 6, Thursday) — Oil companies around the world boosted their combined oil reserves by just two percent last year after spending a total of $139.2 billion (up 85%) acquiring other companies and unproved reserves, according to a joint study by two leading consultants. In total, the 228 companies surveyed in the study increased...

(EnergyAsia, September 6, Thursday) — Japan’s Mitsui Chemicals Inc (MCI), a leading company of polyolefin elastomers, will establish a new 100,000 tonnes/year plant on Singapore’s Jurong Island. Due to start up in August 2009, the plant will double MCI’s capacity of its alpha-olefin copolymer product, TAFMER. The 19-billion-yen plant will be managed by Mitsui Elastomers...

China’s ENERGY ASIA will bring together thousands of energy professionals from around the world to the Shanghai New International Expo Centre from November 1-5. There will be a showcase of local and international electric power industry. (EnergyAsia, September 6, Thursday) — NYSE-listed Caterpillar Inc said it plans to produce state-of-the-art small and medium diesel engines...

(EnergyAsia, September 5, Wednesday) — The World Bank said its planned US$250 million fund to encourage developing countries to stop deforestation in return for access to carbon credits has attracted strong international support. Forests are not included under the existing emissions reduction framework, the Kyoto Protocol, even though deforestation, especially in the tropics, contributes about...

(EnergyAsia, September 5, Wednesday) — Reliance Industries, India’s largest private oil firm, is planning to invest in solar projects to supply power to villages in Maharashtra state. The company is planning to launch pilot projects to supply 38 villages over the next 12 months. With rising oil and gas prices, Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani said...

(EnergyAsia, September 5, Wednesday) — Biodiesel scientists and researchers from India and Canada met in the Indian city of Bhubaneswar in Orrisa state yesterday. India’s Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology and Canada’s University of Saskatchewan jointly organised a workshop to promote greater awareness for and use of biodiesel. The event focused on the types...

(EnergyAsia, September 5, Wednesday) — Singapore’s Straits Asia Resources Limited said it has lifted the force majeure order at its Sebuku coal operation in South Kalimantan, Indonesia. The company declared force majeure on July 30 after the mine was flooded and damaged by heavy rainfall. It is now operating at around half its capacity. Straits...

(EnergyAsia, September 5, Wednesday) — French major Total said it has received approval from the Vietnamese government to acquire a 35% interest in the production sharing contract for offshore exploration Block 15-1/05, alongside PetroVietnam Exploration and Production (PVEP – operator, 40%) and SK Corporation of South Korea (25%). Covering an area of 3,840 square kilometres,...

(EnergyAsia, September 5, Wednesday) — Singapore-listed oil services company Swissco International Ltd its wholly-owned subsidiary, Swissco Offshore Pte Ltd, recently secured two contracts worth a total of S$13.78 million. The company recently began positioning itself as a one-stop provider of offshore support vessels. The first contract is for the provision of a 48m offshore support...

(EnergyAsia, September 5, Wednesday) — New Zealand’s Contact Energy said a diverse electricity generation portfolio and strong retail performance contributed to the company’s annual result for the 12 months ended June 30 2007. CEO David Baldwin said despite trading conditions which differed markedly from the previous financial year, Contact had delivered a “pleasing” annual result....

(EnergyAsia, September 5, Wednesday) — Environmental group Greenpeace is urging Southeast Asian nations to avoid adopting nuclear energy. Greenpeace said the region should focus on developing renewable energy sources, and energy conservation and efficiency to deal with the threats of climate change and energy supply shortages. Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam have said they were looking...

(EnergyAsia, September 5, Wednesday) — NYSE-listed Murphy Oil Corp said it has started producing oil production from the Kikeh field in deep waters off Malaysia’s Sabah state. Kikeh is located 110 kilometers offshore in 4,400 feet of water and is the first deepwater oil production in Malaysia. Kikeh is developed as a stand-alone facility with...

(EnergyAsia, September 5, Wednesday) — The inaugural Asia Carbon Forum will be held at the VIP Room, Level 4, Raffles City Convention Centre in Singapore on September 12. The focus of the forum is to generate debate on the potential structure, opportunities and benefits of a cap-and-trade carbon emissions market in Asia. With the first...

(EnergyAsia, September 4, Tuesday) — Singapore-listed Ezra Holdings Limited, a leading integrated offshore support and marine services provider in Southeast Asia’s offshore oil and gas industry, said it has received “in-principle approval” to list its production and construction arm EOC Limited on the main board of Norway’s Oslo BØrs. Ezra’s 88%-owned EOC is now trading...

(EnergyAsia, September 4, Tuesday) — LDK Solar, a China-based manufacturer of multi-crystalline solar wafers, said it has signed a two-year contract to supply  multi-crystalline solar wafers to Taiwan’s Neo Solar Power Corp (NSP). NYSE-listed LDK Solar will deliver multicrystalline solar wafers to NSP valued at approximately US$495 million through the end of 2009. “We are...

(EnergyAsia, September 4, Tuesday) — The Shanghai office of Germany’s Voith Siemens Hydro Power Generation has won a contract for the delivery of electro-mechanical equipment for the Jinping II hydro power station on the Yalong River in the China’s Sichuan province. The order is worth 120 million euro, making it the largest-ever deal for Voith...

(EnergyAsia, September 4, Tuesday) — Norway’s REC said it has landed a 10 million euro contract to build and own a 2.5 MW solar power system in Daegu City in South Korea. (US$1=0.73 euro). Installed on top a water treatment facility, the power plant will contain around 11,000 REC solar modules and produce some 3...

(EnergyAsia, September 4, Tuesday) — Two experts have questioned Singapore’s plan to become a hub for trade in spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes. Singapore is investing at least S$500 million to build an import terminal in the hope that it will become the regional hub for the LNG trade. Jung Yonghun, Vice President at...

(EnergyAsia, September 4, Tuesday) — Australia-listed Mission Biofuels Limited said it has completed the construction of its 100,000 tonne/year biodiesel in Kuantan port on the east coast of peninsular Malaysia. The plant is expected to be fully commissioned by mid-September, with first shipment before the end of the month. The company said there were “unexpected...

(EnergyAsia, September 4, Tuesday) — Energy issues are dominating this year’s global forums and international summits. All signs now point to an extended and increasingly intense long-term struggle among nations for scarce energy resources. Behind the diplomatic niceties and the work of multilateral organisations and groupings, governments are positioning to outmanoeuvre one another to secure...

(EnergyAsia, September 4, Tuesday) — French engineering firm Technip said it has been awarded a US$60 million front-end engineering design (FEED) contract by Qatar Petroleum for work on the Al Shaheen refinery to be built in Messaieed, Qatar. Technip said its operations and engineering centers in Paris, France and Abu Dhabi, the UAE will execute...

(EnergyAsia, September 4, Tuesday) — France’s AREVA’s said its transmission and distribution (T&D) division has signed a turnkey contract to build a high-voltage substation in Saudi Arabia for an independent water and power project (IWPP) led by the Shuqaiq Water and Electricity Co. The 67-million euro contract was awarded by the project engineering procurement contractor,...

(EnergyAsia, September 4, Tuesday) — Oil prices are likely to test new highs this year despite the threat of a US economic recession brought on by the collapse of its real estate market. WTI crude futures closed at a record US$78.21 a barrel on July 31, and touched a new high of $78.77 the following...