(EnergyAsia, February 13, Friday) — Anglo Dutch major Shell has signed an agreement with Bahrain to study the possibility of importing natural gas to meet the rising demand of the Persian Gulf island state. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed earlier this month will include importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) and natural gas via a...

(EnergyAsia, February 13, Friday) — World oil demand looks set to fall further, at least in the OCED group of western countries, as the global recession is taking its toll, analysts said. Coupled that with government support for energy savings measures and alternative energy, lower oil demand may be the story for at least the...

(EnergyAsia, February 13, Friday) — The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil futures price, the world’s most important crude benchmark, seems to have lost some of its relevance as a huge build-up in inventory is causing near term weakness and market distortion. As a result, the WTI has been trading below other benchmarks, including Brent oil,...

(EnergyAsia, February 13, Friday) — Papua New Guinea’s government last week waived the Independent Public Business Corporation (IPBC) off any financial responsibility for the country’s proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. On behalf of the state, the Governor-General Paulias Matane signed a deed of waiver to release 19.4% of its equity towards the project. Signing...

(EnergyAsia, February 13, Friday) — Australian oil and gas producer Santos expects its oil and gas output to stagnate at 2008 levels. The main reasons are aging fields, poor replacement of reserves and lack of new major finds. The company has projected production at between 53 and 56 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) for...

(EnergyAsia, February 13, Friday) — Norway’s Flex LNG and Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp have continued to delay finalising their deal to construct the world’s first floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant for use in Nigeria. In a statement last December 23, Flex said: “Owing to the complicated nature of structuring the world’s first floating liquefaction project,...

(EnergyAsia, February 13, Friday) — The government of Indonesia’s South Sumatra province is planning to build a new railway system to improve the delivery of coal from its mines to the ports. Governor Alex Noerdin said the 11-trillion rupiah investment would create 270 km of new railroads to move 50 million tonnes of coal per...

(EnergyAsia, February 13, Friday) — The share of coal in China’s energy mix is forecast to drop from its current level of two-thirds to 40% by 2050, according to a recent report released by the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE). The report indicates that China’s total energy consumption will have reached 5 billion tons of...

(EnergyAsia, February 13, Friday) — An alliance of Japanese companies has established a research body to develop the next- generation of non-edible cellulose-based biofuels. It has set goals of producing 250 billion litres of bioethanol per year by March 2014, and at a cost of 40 yen per litre by 2015. (US$1=90 yen). By using...

(EnergyAsia, February 13, Friday) — Australia-listed Carnegie Corporation Limited said it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Australian Department of Defence to investigate the feasibility of building a wave energy facility at Garden Island off the coast of Western Australia state. Carnegie said it believes there is sufficient wave energy potential offshore...

is being stalked as a potential takeover target. According to industry sources, Singapore-listed commodities trader and supplier Noble Group and Indonesian coal mining company PT Indika Energy Tbk are among those eyeing its assets that include two thermal coal mines in Indonesia’s Kalimantan province. Straits Asia Resources has issued a statement acknowledging “press reports concerning...

energy-efficiency project in the Philippines that will give away 13 million energy-saving lights to homeowners and businesses as part of a government push to cut the nation’s power bills. The project includes savings of about $100 million every year in fuel costs and a deferral of an investment of $450 million in power generation and...

solar-powered system to supply 1.3 million litres a day of hot water to 25,000 residents in Abu Dhabi’s modern residential city. As the largest solar energy-based hot water system in the Persian Gulf, it is expected to yield US$3 million in savings per year compared with conventional electrical water heating. Amman-based MEI, a provider of...

widespread destruction of tropical rainforests in Indonesia and Malaysia, said local environmental and business groups. Deforestation is estimated to account for some 20% of the world’s carbon emissions. Plantation owners in Indonesia, Malaysia and elsewhere continue to destroy rainforest to create space for their palm oil crops, an important feedstock for biodiesel production. Indonesia already...

cheaper is to be developed in a joint research effort announced recently by The Australian National University (ANU) and Spark Solar Australia. As one of two new projects worth a combined A$1.85 million, the spray-on project will focus on a new way to treat the surface of a solar cell, the core component inside a...

COFCO said they have signed a new agreement with Chinese state oil company Sinopec to develop bioethanol from agricultural waste. The three partners plan to cover the entire value chain of bioethanol production and distribution. They will work to develop a commercial-scale process for producing second-generation bioethanol from one type of plant crop waste: corn...

reach more than 120,800 MW (120.8 GW), said the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC). Wind energy is now an important player in the world’s energy markets. The global wind market for turbine installations in 2008 was worth about 36.5 billion euro or US$47.5 billion, said the council. The leading markets in terms of new installed...

than 2.6 billion kilowatt hours of “green electricity” since it started up its first biomass power plant in December 2006. A joint venture between Dragon Power Co Ltd and the State Grid, NBE said its 15 biomass power plants used more than three million tons of straw to produce the power, replacing the use of...

has begun receiving electricity with the completion of the first phase installation of the country‘s first wind turbine. Turkey’s Zorlu Enerji Group, which is developing the project, said it will boost the power plant’s capacity to 50 MW in the second phase, and eventually to 300 MW. CEO Murat Sungur Bursa said that 30% of...

of Malaysian plantation firm Kuala Lumpur Kepong (KLK). MayBank said that KLK, which has proposed to fully acquire biodiesel company Zoop for RM1.2 million in cash, “lacks short term catalyst” beyond its final dividend payout per share of RM0.55. The bank has set a target price of RM7.40 per share, way below KLK’s current price...

(EnergyAsia, February 11, Wednesday) — The Malaysian government will help US solar cell maker SunPower in funding a solar-panel project in the country. The San Jose, California-based company said the government will provide a loan of over US$280 million to help it build the 1,000 megawatt (MW) per year plant. One megawatt is enough capacity...

(EnergyAsia, February 11, Wednesday) — Rolls-Royce, the UK-based global power systems company, said it is moving the global headquarters for its marine business to Singapore from London. The move recognises the increasing importance to Rolls-Royce of Asia-Pacific markets, where a significant proportion of global commercial shipping activity takes places. It also underscores the significance of...

(EnergyAsia, February 11, Wednesday) — Cavico Corp, a leading infrastructure development company in Vietnam, said it doesn’t expect the global economic crisis to have any negative impact on the government’s planned infrastructure spending for 2009. The company believes that infrastructure growth continues to remain top priority for Vietnam. Martin Rama, the World Bank’s acting country...

(EnergyAsia, February 11) — The Philippine government is planning to attract US$500 million worth of investments for at least six new wind power projects this year. The projects will add up to provide at least 200 megawatts (MW) of wind power capacity throughout the country. The Department of Energy (DOE) said it is evaluating project proposals...

(EnergyAsia, February 11, Wednesday) — The global economic and financial crisis has hit the prospects of the wind industry in the US and around the world. The credit crisis is stalling new projects and wind power manufacturers have begun cutting staff. The industry is reeling after undergoing rapid growth and strong job generation in recent...