Cook Islands and Vanuatu cope with high fuel prices and climate change by providing assistance to help reduce wasteful consumption of commercial energy and promote energy efficiency. The Clean Energy Fund, which is administered by ADB under the Clean Energy Financing Partnership Facility (CEFPF), will provide $1.2 million in technical assistance to the project. The...
SINGAPORE: ASL Marine wins S$101 million worth of shipbuilding and fabrication contracts
ASL Shipyard Pte Ltd, has secured new shipbuilding and fabrication contracts worth a total of S$101 million. (US$1= S$ 1.48). The contracts include the building of a self-propelled cutter suction dredger and fabrication unit, outfitting and reinstatement works to a heavy transport vessel. ASL Marine said the shipbuilding contract for the dredger unit, secured from...
SAUDI ARABIA: Rawabi and Singapore’s Swiber in equal joint venture to work on offshore projects
its subsidiary, Swiber Offshore Construction Pte Ltd, has formed an equal joint venture with a leading Saudi Arabian company, Rawabi Holding Company Limited. Based in the Saudi city of Al-Khobar, the joint venture firm, Rawabi Swiber Offshore Construction Company Limited, will provide offshore construction services and bid for engineering, procurement, construction,...
COAL: Former US VP Gore slams coal power plants
coal-fired power plants unless the projects are equipped with carbon capture and sequestration. Coal-fired power plants have been identified as a major producer of carbon dioxide (CO2), a harmful greenhouse gas. Still, carbon capture and sequestration technology is new and very expensive to install. The US recently halted a demonstration project. Mr Gore, in a...
SOUTH KOREA: Samsung, LG posed to enter photovoltaic sector
the growing world market for photovoltaic solar cells next year. Analysts reckon that the two companies could deliver solar products with an annual energy generation capacity of 2.6 gigawatts (GW) by as early as 2013. The South Korean government is expanding its offering of incentives for domestic solar energy installations. Analysts say the solar energy...
TAIWAN: CPC invests in Qatar’s RasGas II
Quatar’s RasGas II liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. Under a 25-year deal, CPC will also be importing three million tonnes of LNG per year from RasGas II. Deliveries will likely begin later this year. CPC is working hard to secure supplies to meet Taiwan’s rising domestic LNG demand, which is forecast to reach 16...
AUSTRALIA: Origin Energy provides update on proposed LNG project with ConocoPhillips
a stake in a LNG project following the recent sharp depreciation of the Australian dollar against the US dollar. The Australian currency has fallen by around 40% to A$1.43 against the greenback over the last three months. On September 8, ConocoPhillips said it will invest in a coal seam gas (CSG)-to-LNG joint venture by way...
MARKETS: Platts says OPEC oil output down 340,000 b/d to 32.47million b/d in September
said Platts in its latest monthly survey. Platts attributed the lower output decline by the 13-member cartel from August largely to production drops in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Angola. Saudi Arabia accounted for the biggest single fall, 170,000 b/d. Iraqi volumes dropped by 110,000 b/d and Angolan volumes by 100,000 b/d. “We are seeing increasing...
CHINA: ADB partners Standard Chartered Bank and Johnson Controls to support energy efficient buildin
credit guarantee programme to support private sector-led energy efficiency projects in China. (US$1= 6.83 yuan). Under the pilot programme, ADB will be partnering private energy management company Johnson Controls to retrofit existing buildings to save energy, and to support the construction of new energy-efficient green buildings. NYSE-listed Johnson Controls will identify buildings with energy savings...
KAZAKHSTAN: KazMunayGas, ConocoPhillips and Mubadala sign MOU on terms for offshore block
Mubadala Development Company PJSC have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to negotiate terms to explore and develop oil and gas in the “N” Block located in offshore Kazakhstan. The parties will have until end of the year to negotiate the definitive agreements for the assignment of a 49% interest by KMG in the subsoil...
PAKISTAN: ADB provides $500 million to accelerate economic transformation
to support the country’s efforts to address the needs of poor families and the economy affected by the recent sharp rise in food and fuel prices. ADB said the loan will support changes in the energy and agriculture sectors and will help efforts to diversify, deepen and expand the country’s industrial sector, and create jobs...
SOUTH KOREA: SK Energy discovers oil in BMC-30 Block in Brazil
oil in the BMC-30 block in Brazil. The BMC-30 block is a marine mining block located at the Campos basin, off the coast of Espirito Santo. SK Energy said the oil reserve was found in the subsalt layer by the second drillship in the block. SK do Brazil, the local subsidiary of SK Energy, said...
AUSTRALIA: Investors see key coal seam gas opportunities
Australia’s methane coal-seam gas (CSG). In one key deal, US major ConocoPhillips recently agreed to invest almost US$10 billion for a 50% stake in Origin Energy’s CSG assets in Australia’s eastern Queensland state. The firms hope to convert the gas into liquefied natural gas (LNG) which they would export to meet rising demand in Asian...
CLIMATE CHANGE: Arctic sea ice hits rock bottom, WWF says
this summer, said environmental group WWF. The summer also marked the first time that the Northwest Passage over the top of North America and the Northeast Passage over the top of Russia both became free of ice, WWF said. The group said that Arctic ice cover stood at a record low of some 1.6 million...
VIETNAM: Firm starts building LPG depot
petroleum gas (LPG) depot in Long Thanh district in the country’s southern province of Dong Nai. The 125-billion-dong project at the Go Dau A industrial Park will have a capacity of 6,000 tonnes. (US$1=16,700 dong). Sited on a 10-hectare plot, the terminal will include a port that can handle LPG vessels of up to 50,000...
ASIA: CME Group Inc expects to better serve regional energy customers with acquisition of NYMEX
(EnergyAsia, October 16, Thursday) — CME Group Inc expects to better serve its energy and commodities customers following the August completion of its acquisition of NYMEX Holdings Inc. The combined companies will provide customers around the world with access to all major benchmark asset classes, including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities (more…)
NEW ZEALAND: Firm turns algae to fuel
turns algae growing in sewage into oil products and fuel. Solray Energy Ltd said its process speeds up a conversion process that would take nature millions of years. It remains unclear if Solray’s process can be verified and how much it will be worth in the open market. Efforts by scientists in the US and...
PHILIPPINES: Basic Energy to expand cassava plantation for ethanol production
expand their cassava plantation in Zamboanga in the Philippines. The cassava will be used to feed Basic’s planned ethanol plant. The two firms have agreed to increase their cassava planting by 350 hectares to 500 hectares. Financial terms and timelines for completion of the projects were not disclosed. Basic Energy said it is looking to...
SINGAPORE: Noble Group invests in liquid bulk fuels terminal in Brazil
subsidiary Temmar has started building a liquid bulk fuels terminal on a 10 million-sq metre site in Brazil to handle clean fuels, bio-diesel and ethanol. Noble said it plans to build the 132,990-cubic meter terminal in Itaqui, close to São Luiz, the capital of Maranhão state in three phases. The terminal, to be fully operational...
TAIWAN: Neo Solar Power and Solarday sign five-year cell contract worth $210 million
has signed a five-year sales contract with Italian module manufacturer, Solarday, worth a total of $210 million. The new contract, from 2009 to 2013, is an extension of their existing $110 million three-year sales contract starting this year. “Italy is expected to become the next focal point of the solar industry, indicating a market size...
INDIA: Swiber breaks into subsea services market with maiden US$7 million project
provider to the offshore industry, is moving deeper into the lucrative subsea services market. The company said its 70%-owned Kreuz Subsea Pte Ltd has signed a letter of intent to provide subsea services for an offshore project in India with an approximate project value of US$7 million. Swiber will utilise its recently acquired state-of-the-art Saturation...
INDONESIA: Vopak acquires 95% stake in storage terminal from Mitsui
has agreed to acquire Mitsui & Co’s 95% shareholding in PT Pro-Intercontinental Terminals Indonesia (Prointal). The remaining 5% stake in Prointal is held by PT Intimitra Pratamausaha, an Indonesian engineering and contracting company. The terminal operates as a chemical import terminal, handling the import of liquid chemical products via incoming vessels and providing storage and...
JAPAN: Sharp launches Solar Academy in the US
US Sharp Solar Academy to educate and empower today’s youth on the environment. Sharp said the Solar Academy will enable it to fulfil its commitment to be an environmentally advanced company and minimise its environmental impact. “As a world leader in solar energy, an important part of Sharp’s commitment to the environment is undertaking the...
SOUTH KOREA: Samsung’s solar plant to supply electricity to 1,500 families
Jindo” solar photovoltaic power plant in Jindo county in South Korea’s South Jeolla province. The plant will provide electricity to 1,500 families in the region. S-Energy Co Ltd designed and built the system utilising its solar modules and the proprietary SunSeeker® Single-Axis Tracker System by Thompson Technology Industries (TTI). The company said the SunSeeker System...
INDIA: Maharashtra state approves large solar energy project
go-ahead for a 10MW solar energy plant near Nagpur. The Rs2 billion project, one of Asia’s largest, will be built on a 80-acre site. The project is spearheaded by ACME Tele Power Limited but will receive extensive support from the Maharashtra state government....