(EnergyAsia, October 13 2010, Wednesday) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it has sold US$232.2 million worth of clean energy bonds to support its renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in the Asia Pacific region. The bond comprises four tranches: four-year bonds denominated in Australian dollars, four-year and seven-year bonds in Brazilian real, and...

(EnergyAsia, October 12 2010, Tuesday) — Hong Kong-listed Yanzhou Coal Mining Co Ltd is aiming to boost its coal reserves with a 6.649 billion yuan bid for a 51% stake in Inner Mongolia Haosheng Coal Mining Ltd. (US$1=6.7 yuan). Yanzhou said it will gain control of 838.4 million tons of coal resources when it completes...

(EnergyAsia, October 12 2010, Tuesday) — Merger and acquisition activities in Australia’s coal industry are expected to decline after peaking last year, said analysts. With Centennial and Felix Resources recently joining the list of acquired firms, Australia has only a handful of potential targets left including Whitehaven Coal Ltd, Macarthur Coal Ltd and Aquila Resources...

(EnergyAsia, October 12 2010, Tuesday) — Noble Group, the Hong kong-based global supply chain manager of bulk commodities, said it has appointed Crispin Collier to the newly created post of senior vice president for nuclear fuels. A graduate of The University of Cape Town and The Harvard Business School, Mr Collier started his business career...

(EnergyAsia, October 12 2010, Tuesday) — Helped by increased coal profits, Mechel OAO, a leading Russian mining and steel group, said it made a net income of US$120.8 million for the first half of 2010, turning around from a US$471.4 million loss in the same period last year. Revenues surged 76.1% to US$4.33 billion over...

(EnergyAsia, October 12 2010, Tuesday) — The Babcock & Wilcox Company, a US-based engineering firm, said its Beijing-based subsidiary has signed a contract to build two 1,000 MW ultra-supercritical coal-fired boilers for a large power plant project in Zhoushan in China’s Zhejiang province. Babcock & Wilcox Beijing Company Ltd (BWBC), a joint venture between Babcock...

(EnergyAsia, October 12 2010, Tuesday) — Maybank IB is sticking with its ‘sell’ recommendation for Malaysian power company Tenaga Nasional Berhad on account of uncertain tariff outlook caused by “benign” coal prices. The research house has issued a target price of RM7.50 compared with the stock’s recent trade of around RM9 per share. (US$1=RM3.1). In...

(EnergyAsia, October 12 2010, Monday) — Australia’s MetroCoal Limited said its joint venture with China Coal Import & Export Company (CCIEC), a wholly owned subsidiary of China National Coal Group Corp (China Coal), has begun operations. MetroCoal and CCIEC’s Australian subsidiary, Sinocoal Resources Pty Ltd, held their first joint venture committee meeting in Brisbane last...

(EnergyAsia, October 11 2010, Monday) — US-based research group ODS-Petrodata has released an update on the market implications of the Deepwater Horizon rig tragedy and the resulting Macondo well leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Although the Macondo well has been capped and the damage to the ecosystem was mitigated as much as possible, ODS-Petrodata...

(EnergyAsia, October 11 2010, Monday) — Russia’s Siberian Coal Energy Company (SUEK) said it has secured a US$700 million five-year syndicated pre-export loan facility last month through a group of 12 banks as mandated lead arrangers and book runners. Russia’s largest coal producer and exporter described the banks’ support of the facility as being “very...

(EnergyAsia, October 11 2010, Monday) — Japan’s JGC Corp said it and Indonesia’s Sinarmas Group will be jointly building a demonstration plant in Karawang in Indonesia to convert low grade coal into 10,000 tons of fuel a year as a substitute for petroleum. Due to be completed next year, the plant will help meet Indonesia’s...

(EnergyAsia, October 8, Monday) — Environmentalists are launching a campaign to block the proposed A$30 billion gas hub on the Kimberley coast of Western Australia, claiming the companies behind the project have been involved in land grabbing. (US$1=A$1.03). The campaigners accuse the project’s developers, Woodside Petroleum, Chevron, Shell, BHP and BP, of forcibly acquiring land...

(EnergyAsia, October 11 2010, Monday) — Mergers and acquisitions in Australia’s coal industry are unlikely to top last year’s A$3.9 billion, the highest level in at least five years, said industry insiders. (US$1=A$1.03). Last year, Yanzhou Coal Mining Co Ltd scored the biggest deal with its A$3.5 billion takeover of Felix Resources Ltd. Up to...

(EnergyAsia, October 11 2010, Monday) — Engineering giant Foster Wheeler AG said it has been awarded a contract by an international consortium to study a range of refinery, in-situ extraction of bitumen and natural gas power generation carbon dioxide capture scenarios. Foster Wheeler, which declined to disclose the contract’s value, said the carbon dioxide capture...

(EnergyAsia, October 8 2010, Friday) — Wartsila, a Finland-based global leader in complete lifecycle power solutions for the marine and energy markets, and Ecospec Global Technology, a Singapore company providing emissions abatement technology, recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to work together on developing clean power solutions. By combining their joint expertise, Wartsila and...

(EnergyAsia, October 8 2010, Friday) — Dow Formulated Systems, a global business unit of The Dow Chemical Company (Dow), said it will be adding wind energy capacity in China and in North America for its customers. The investment will increase Dow Formulated Systems’ capacity for infusion in China, and for adhesives in North America. Pepe...

(EnergyAsia, October 8 2010, Friday) — Australian upstream company Petsec Energy Ltd said it has signed an agreement with the China National Offshore Oil Corp Ltd (CNOOC) to develop three oil fields in China’s Beibu Gulf. The agreement confirms the two parties commercial terms agreed in May for CNOOC’s 51% stake in the project, its...

(EnergyAsia, October 8 2010, Friday) — Indonesia expects to export less coal this year on reduced production from unusually heavy rainfall, and the government’s new focus on meeting the needs of domestic users. The Mines and Energy Ministry recently forecast that coal production will fall by up to 20% in 2010 as heavy rains forced...

(EnergyAsia, October 8 2010, Friday) — Singapore’s Energy Market Authority (EMA) has appointed consulting firm Accenture Pte Ltd to design and implement the nation’s first intelligent energy system (IES) pilot project as a major step towards improving energy efficiency. Covering around 4,500 customers in various residential, commercial and industrial locations including the Nanyang Technological University...

(EnergyAsia, October 8 2010, Friday) — Australia’s newly appointed Climate Change Minister is walking a tightrope with his pledge to pursue a clean energy economy while protecting the country’s powerful coal industry from being hit with a high carbon cost. Praising the domestic coal industry as vibrant and forward-looking, Greg Combet, who joins the cabinet...

(EnergyAsia, October 7 2010, Thursday) — US-listed Sino Gas International Holdings said its operating income for the first six months ended June 30, 2010 increased by 62.7% to US$1.84 million while its revenue rose to US$12.9 million compared with US$12.4 million for the corresponding period. Revenue from gas sales dropped slightly from US$8.2 million last...

(EnergyAsia, October 7 2010, Thursday) — The world’s demand for electricity and fuel is expected to continue growing rapidly over the next two decades, raising the spectre of whether the supply of fossil fuels will keep pace. Energy experts meeting in Montreal last month agreed that global demand will continue rising on account of economic...