(EnergyAsia, September 17, Thursday) — Canada’s Scotiabank has laid out a case for Alberta province to diversify the exports of its oil sands to China and other markets in Asia instead of relying overwhelmingly on the US. In a recent report, Patricia Mohr, the bank’s vice-president for economics, and commodity market specialist, presented two key...

(EnergyAsia, September 17, Thursday) — US major Chevron Corp said its Australian subsidiaries have signed three long-term sales and purchase agreements (SPAs) for its share of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the giant Gorgon project. The company said the agreements are for a total supply of nearly three million tonnes per year (mt/y) of LNG...

(EnergyAsia, September 17, Thursday) — With A$300 billion in confirmed 20-year sales to China, India and Japan, Chevron Corp, Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell have announced their decisions to jointly invest A$43 billion to develop the first phase of Australia’s giant offshore Gorgon gas field. (US$1=A$1.2). Chevron Australia Pty Ltd, a unit of the...

(EnergyAsia, September 17, Thursday) — Cairns, Australia-based InterOil Corp said it and its joint venture partners, Petromin PNG Holdings Ltd and Pacific LNG Operations Ltd, have submitted a project agreement to the government of Papua New Guinea for the construction of a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Port Moresby. The NYSE-listed company said...

(EnergyAsia, September 16, Wednesday) — Australian upstream company Oil Search Limited said it recently signed an agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to conduct seismic tests in Block K42 in Iraq. The 511-sq km onshore block lies in the south-eastern fairway of the Zagros Fold Belt of Kurdistan, adjacent to the Pulkhana discovery and...

(EnergyAsia, September 16, Wednesday) — Coal-fired power plants appear to be contaminating the US’ freshwater fish supply with unsafe levels of mercury. A comprehensive study by the US Geological Survey found that all of hundreds of fish samples taken from 291 freshwater streams had been contaminated with mercury. More than a quarter was found to...

(EnergyAsia, September 16, Wednesday) — Technics Oil and Gas Limited, a Singapore-listed service integrator of compression systems and process modules for the offshore oil and gas sector, said it has secured a repeat contract worth an estimated S$40 million from Vietnam’s Vietsovpetro (VSP) to provide topside equipments for wellhead satellite platforms in an offshore oil...

(EnergyAsia, September 16, Wednesday) — PT Oiltanking Merak, a unit of Germany’s oil storage specialist Oiltanking, said it has received and discharged the first vessel calling at its newly-built fuel terminal in Merak in Indonesia’s Banten province. The successful discharge of the MT Torm Mathilda on September 1, with the help of local and central...

(EnergyAsia, September 16, Wednesday) — Japan’s Toyota and other makers of fuel-efficient hybrid cars are looking to secure supplies of rare earth metals needed for the production of the motors and batteries. Toyota, which makes the popular Prius hybrid automobile, is among several Japanese firms showing strong interest in a Canadian rare earth site at...

(EnergyAsia, September 16, Wednesday) — Swiber Holdings Limited, a Singapore-listed company in the offshore industry, said it has teamed up with Alam Maritim Resources Berhad (AMRB), a Malaysian-listed established offshore marine transportation services provider, to tap offshore construction opportunities in the offshore market in Malaysia. The two companies recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU)...

(EnergyAsia, September 16, Wednesday) — At a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other senior government and business leaders, Cairn India said it has started oil production from Mangala field in Rajasthan state. Mangala is the largest of 25 discoveries made by Cairn in the Barmer Basin in Block RJ-ON-90/1. The first flow...

(EnergyAsia, September 16, Wednesday) — Dutch oil and chemical logistics specialist Vopak said it has raised S$210 million in senior unsecured notes issued privately in Asia through 11 institutional investors. (US$1=S$1.43). The company said this is its first private placement notes issued in Asia for global funding purposes, following on several successful project financing programmes...

(EnergyAsia, September 15, Tuesday) — Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX) said it, Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) and FTSE Group (FTSE) have launched the new FTSE ST Maritime Index. The new index, launched on September 1, reflects the strength of the maritime component of companies in the energy, offshore and shipping industries listed on SGX, and underlines...

(EnergyAsia, September 15, Tuesday) — PetroChina International Investment Company Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of PetroChina Company Limited, has agreed to pay C$1.9 billion for a 60% stake in the MacKay River and Dover oil sands projects of Canada’s Athabasca Oil Sands Corp (AOSC). The acquisition represents China’s largest investment in Canada. The agreements also provide...

(EnergyAsia, September 15, Tuesday) — China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) said it will participate in the public bidding of Kosmos Energy’s oil field in Ghana. General manager Fu Chengyu revealed that his company is interested to take up the 30% stake in the Jubilee field that Dallas, Texas-based Kosmos plans to sell to raise...

(EnergyAsia, September 15, Tuesday) — Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd (MHI) said it will build a production verification plant in Nagasaki prefecture by autumn 2010 to prepare for its full-scale entry into the lithium-ion secondary battery market. The new plant, located within the company’s Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works, will have a production capacity of...

(EnergyAsia, September 15, Tuesday) — Air Products said its joint venture in India, INOX Air Products Ltd, has signed two new contracts to supply SunSource(TM) Solutions gases and materials to leading Indian photovoltaic (PV) manufacturers. INOX Air Products has signed a long-term gas supply contract to provide bulk and specialty gases to HHV Solar Technologies...

(EnergyAsia, September 15, Tuesday) — China’s Trina Solar said it has obtained a five-year syndicated loan facility worth US$304 million to support its East Campus capacity expansion project. The loan bears a floating interest rate consisting of a premium over LIBOR and the basic rate of the People’s Bank of China for the US dollar...

(EnergyAsia, September 15, Tuesday) — China Sunergy said it has initiated legal action with respect to bank guarantees related to its June 2008 supply agreement with REC, under which the Norwegian company would start delivery from Jan 1, 2009. REC had announced that it had decided to terminate a long-term take-or-pay contract with China Sunergy...

(EnergyAsia, September 15, Tuesday) — China’s LDK Solar said it has successfully completed the first production run and initiated production ramp-up of operations of its first 5,000 metric ton (MT) train at its polysilicon plant in Xinyu city.  The start-up operation at the 15,000-per-year plant capacity was witnessed by Su Rong, secretary of the Jiangxi...

(EnergyAsia, September 14, Monday) — China’s LDK Solar said it has signed an agreement to develop up to 300MW of PV projects with Suqian city in China’s Jiangsu province. The projects will consist of buildings, plants and integration systems to be implemented by 2015. The terms, including financing, design and specific location of each of...

(EnergyAsia, September 14, Monday) — Despite the slowdown in growth rate, China’s wind power industry continues to offer promising investment opportunities, said consultant Frost & Sullivan. The country’s installed capacity has risen at an above world average rate, from 402MW in 2001 to 12,150MW last year. By 2020, Frost & Sullivan estimates China’s installed capacity...

(EnergyAsia, September 14, Monday) — China has emerged as a major economic and political force in Africa, rivalling the involvement of Western nations in the continent. Trade between Africa and China has provided critical revenue to poor African nations and at the same time helped the Asian country meet its massive energy demands. China, which...

(EnergyAsia, September 14, Monday) — Japanese auto giant Nissan has introduced its first zero-emission vehicle, a sporty hatchback called Leaf, and promised that it will be sold at about the same price as a regular gasoline-engine car.   The Leaf, which has a range of 160 kilometres on a single battery charge, will be sold...