(EnergyAsia, March 16, Monday) — Maersk Oil Qatar, a unit of the Danish group, said it has initiated arbitration against UK based supplier SLP Engineering Ltd Lowestoft.In 2006, SLP Engineering was awarded a turnkey contract for delivery of offshore accommodation platforms for the Al Shaheen field development in Qatar.After a long series of commercial, financial...

(EnergyAsia, March 16, Monday) — Chiyoda Corp, a leading Japanese engineering and construction firm, said it has been awarded an engineering, procurement, construction management (EPCm) services contract in Qatar.The contract has been concluded between RasGas Company Limited and Chiyoda Almana Engineering L.L.C (CAEL), a Chiyoda subsidiary.RasGas Company is 70% owned by Qatar Petroleum and 30%...

(EnergyAsia, March 16, Monday) — Horizon Singapore Terminals Pte Ltd has announced the completion of the third expansion phase of its S$470 million bulk liquid storage terminal on Singapore’s Jurong Island. (US$1=S$1.54).Offering a wide range of value-added services with its state-of-the-art heating and blending systems, the additional 270,000 cubic metres of clean petroleum products capacity...

(EnergyAsia, March 16, Monday) — US-based Navajo Wind Energy Corp said it has received a letter of intent to finance its ambitious 200 MW wind farm project in Xinjiang, China, which it says is worth more than US$450 million.Navajo said it recently agreed with Mingchuang Energy Manufacturing Co Ltd to set up a joint venture...

(EnergyAsia, March 13, Friday) — Finnish oil refining and marketing company Neste Oil officially launched the construction of what it claims to be the world’s largest biodiesel plant in Singapore last week. Neste Oil president and CEO Matti Lievonen said construction of the 800,000-tonne-per-year plant is proceeding on schedule and on budget despite the unpredictable...

(EnergyAsia, March 13, Friday) — Tokyo Electron (TEL), a leading global supplier of innovative semiconductor production equipment, said it has announced a strategic cooperation with Oerlikon Solar, the world’s leading supplier of thin film silicon photovoltaic (PV) production equipment. The two companies said they will significantly expand the adoption of thin film silicon PV technology...

(EnergyAsia, March 13, Friday) — Aboitiz Power Corporation (AP) said rising electricity sales enabled it to boost 2008 net income by 4%% to 4.2 billion peso. (US$1=48 peso). The company sold 1,728 gigawatt-hours of power last year compared with 1,018 GwH to reflect 2007 acquisitions. Earlier, the company had announced it would be paying a...

(EnergyAsia, March 13, Friday) — NYSE-listed Timken Company has signed a long-term agreement to supply wind turbine gearbox bearings for Nanjing High Speed Gear Manufacturing Co Ltd (NGC), a China-based manufacturer of wind power, marine, construction, and industrial gear transmission equipment. Timken said it will supply tapered and cylindrical roller bearings for use in NGC’s...

(EnergyAsia, March 13, Friday) — US-based Navajo Wind Energy Corp said it has agreed to establish an equal joint venture 35MW wind farm in China. The CSRI Xuzhou Nantung Ltd wind farm project was completed in January 2009. The project’s first phase I comprising 10 wind turbines with a unit production capacity of 850kW each...

(EnergyAsia, March 13, Friday) — The fishing industry and national fisheries authorities must do more to understand and prepare for the impacts brought on by climate change, said a new Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) report. According to the latest edition of the UN agency’s The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA), existing responsible...

(EnergyAsia, March 13, Friday) — Australia’s Origin Energy said it welcomed the release of the draft Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) legislation. The company is Australia’s largest green energy retailer with 480,000 customers signed to green energy products and 35% market share of national customers. Carl McCamish, Origin’s executive general manager for policy and sustainability,...

(EnergyAsia, March 13, Friday) — The production of biodiesel from algae could reduce greenhouse gas emissions, help to address future fuel shortages and create jobs in rural Australia, said Australia’s leading science agency CSIRO. The agency said its Energy Transformed unit led by Tom Beer has made a note of the organisms’ green credentials during...

(EnergyAsia, March 12, Thursday) — Singapore-based EOC Limited said it has signed a US$68 million contract to provide offshore accommodation and construction support to one of the world’s largest oil exploration and production companies operating in Brunei.The contract was awarded to EOC’s wholly-owned Emas Offshore Construction and Production Pte Ltd, which will use its heavy...

 (EnergyAsia, March 12, Thursday) — The global credit crisis could soon translate into severe food and energy supply shortages for some countries this year, analysts warn.If bank lending and credit markets do not stabilise quickly, they fear that developing countries will not be able to pay for their needs and will be hard hit soon.Suppliers...

(EnergyAsia, March 12, Thursday) — Indonesia will continue supplying liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Japan under a 10-year extension of their existing deal. Officials last month signed a preliminary agreement on the extension in Osaka, Japan that calls for the supply of a total of 25 million tonnes to six Japanese buyers from 2011 to 2020....

(EnergyAsia, March 12, Thursday) – Hydropower has the potential to supply more than 10% of the Philippines’ electricity demand, according to the government.The country has ample hydropower resources that have yet to be exploited, said the Department of Energy.With the new Renewable Energy Law in place, local and provincial governments as well as businesses are...

(EnergyAsia, March 12, Thursday) — Singapore’s Falcon Energy Group Ltd (FEG) has reported a 98.4% rise in net profit to US$36.1 million over a 15-month period to December 31 2008. The unusual 15-month period was due to its change of fiscal year from September 30 to December 31.The company’s net profit for FY2007 was US$18.2...

 (EnergyAsia, March 12, Thursday) — Solar cell manufacturer China Sunergy said it has signed a solar cell sales agreement with asola Advanced and Automotive Solar System GmbH, a German solar module manufacturing company.China Sunergy said it will supply a total volume of between 10MW and 30MW of solar cells to asola from February to December...

(EnergyAsia, March 12, Thursday) — US-based Navajo Wind Energy Corp said it has begun negotiations for a joint venture partnership with China’s Mingchuang Energy Manufacturing Co Ltd to manufacture wind turbines for the export markets. They have also signed an agreement for Mingchuan to deliver 80 wind turbines to Navajo’s Xinjiang wind farm project soon....

(EnergyAsia, March 11, Wednesday) — US production of biofuels could reach 90 billion gallons by 2030, far exceeding the government’s goal for the nation to produce 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels to be blended into gasoline by 2022. But it is unlikely to be competitive unless gasoline prices rise sharply, said researchers at the...

(EnergyAsia, March 11, Wednesday) — Sri Lanka’s Dialog Telekom plans to install 10 solar- and wind-powered base stations to operate its mobile telecommunication networks. The pilot project will include five off-grid base stations which, until now, have been primarily powered by generators running on diesel fuel. Dialog sees renewable power as part of its long-term...

(EnergyAsia, March 11, Wednesday) — Environmental organisations have criticised the Indonesian government’s plan to create more palm oil plantations out of natural peatlands. The groups, including Greenpeace Southeast Asia, charge that the plan runs counter to earlier pledges by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to cut emissions from the forestry sector in half by 2009....

(EnergyAsia, March 11, Wednesday) — The Indian government is promoting the use of solar-powered cookers throughout the country, in particular in villages and rural areas where energy supply is scarce and costly. The country’s ministry of new and renewable energy plans to deploy 25,000 solar cookers in Indian villages this year. The Village Energy Security...

(EnergyAsia, March 11, Wednesday) — Nagpur, a major city in India’s Maharashtra state, aims to become the country’s first “solar city.” Nagpur aims to derive up to 10% of its power requirements from solar and other renewable energy sources by 2012. According to long-term plans set by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE),...