has come under fire from villagers who claim that they have not been adequately compensated for having been displaced.   IOC acquired 3,300 acres of land for the project some seven years ago and insists it compensated affected villagers. About 1,800 families have lost land and homes to make way for the project. The 15-million-metric-tonne-per-year...

Rs85 billion for FY2008 and Rs100 billion for FY2009, compared with just Rs45 billion for the current fiscal year ending March 2008. (US$1=Rs40).   The increased expenditures will come in addition to any major acquisitions the company might make.  IOC is working to build major refining and petrochemicals projects in Panipat, Koyali and Paradip. It...

analysts who think world oil production may not exceed 100 million b/d.   Last year, the CEOs of France’s Total and US integrated oil firm ConocoPhillip broke ranks with the industry by openly doubting that world oil production would reach that psychologically important figure. ExxonMobil and the US government believe production would reach 115 to...

it plans to invest in a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Australia if an opportunity comes up. CPC is looking to Australia for reliable long-term LNG supplies to meet Taiwan’s growing demand pegged at 7% per year. CPC’s investment would include both upstream and downstream operations in Australia, the company said. In January, the...

ratify a regional agreement among Southeast Asian governments to stamp out trans-boundary pollution and smog from land clearance. Indonesia’s Parliament last Thursday (March 13) unanimously refused to endorse a bill that would have helped ratify the agreement among the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) governments. As a signatory, Indonesia would have committed to...

services, announced that it has completely taken over Niigata Worthington in Kawasaki in Kanagawa prefecture, Japan after acquiring the remaining 50% stake it did not own. Niigata Worthington, a premier manufacturer of certain Flowserve pumps and other rotating equipment, reported sales of approximately $64 million in 2007. Flowserve recorded approximately $2 million for its 50%...

Alimaong in the Philippines to jointly develop more than 1.2 million acres of ancestral land for the cultivation of the jatropha crop to produce biodiesel. The tribe will grow the crop on its under-used lands on the island of Mindanao.   Rene Q. Lacsina, president of Abundant Biofuels Philippines Inc, said the venture is a...

runs out. Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), which is leading those efforts, said it is committed to building a sustainable economy and the protection of the environment. The company is taking a 60% stake in new ventures that focus on renewable energy. ADNOC chief executive Yousef Omair bin Yousef said: “We must take the...

production at three new natural gas fields in the Gulf of Thailand. New supplies from the Arthit, Arthit North and Block A18 fields will add 28 million cubic metres per day to production. The new gas is desperately needed to meet Thailand’s growing domestic demand, projected to increase 10% per year through 2012. High international...

a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Huaneng Group, for S$4.235 billion in cash. (US$1=S$1.38). The deal is expected to be completed by March 24. Temasek said the sale of Tuas Power, one of the three major power generation companies in Singapore, marks the completion of a competitive and rigorous bidding process which began last October when...

was promoted as a sunrise industry and a solution to combat fight global warming.   Of the three plants built on Jurong Island, two have stopped or will soon stop production, while the third is operating well below the capacity. There would have been a fourth plant, but agricultural group Wilmar relocated its project to...

(EnergyAsia, March 14, Friday) — Invensys Process Systems said it demonstrated its enhanced SimSci-Esscor PRO/II 8.1.2 software solution at the World Heavy Oils Congress from March 10 to 12 in Edmonton city in Canada’s Alberta province. New capabilities apply the precision of conventional oil simulation software to the unique and specialised processing and modeling requirements...

(EnergyAsia, March 14, Friday) — Chinese wafer manufacturer LDK Solar said it has signed an eight-year ‘take-or-pay’ contract to supply multicrystalline solar wafers to South Korea-based Hyundai Heavy Industries. LDK Solar will deliver 450 MW of multicrystalline solar wafers to the Korean firm over an eight-year period starting in late 2008 through 2015. Hyundai Heavy...

(EnergyAsia, March 14, Friday) — Japanese trading house ITOCHU Corporation and Nasdaq-listed Ascent Solar Technologies Inc have agreed to begin work on developing a number of projects. After a recent round of meetings in Tokyo, the two companies said they will work on the following areas: • Procurement of machinery for Ascent Solar’s planned 100...

  (EnergyAsia, March 14, Friday) —The extreme winter cold sweeping China has frozen a large part of the Liujiaxia reservoir, threatening the vital Liujiaxia hydropower station in the country’s northwestern region. The wintry conditions are said to be the worst in 60 years. Local officials are worried that when the ice begins melting, the gush...

(EnergyAsia, March 14, Friday) — The world carbon market was worth US$60 billion last year, up 80% from 2006, said consultants Point Carbon in its annual report which it claims is the largest survey ever conducted into the sector. The total traded volume increased by 64% from 1.6 billion tons in 2006 to 2.7 billion...

(EnergyAsia, March 14, Friday) — The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) said it has acquired its first carbon credits or Certified Emission Reductions (CERs), generated from the clean development mechanism (CDM) projects supported by the Prototype Carbon Fund (PCF). The PCF, managed by the World Bank, is the world’s first carbon fund. JBIC participated...

(EnergyAsia, March 14, Friday) — Australia’s largest off-grid solar power station is set to be built at remote Coober Pedy in the northern part of South Australia state. Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett and the state’s Premier, Mike Rann, jointly announced the A$7.1 million project at the recent 3rd International Solar Cities Congress in Adelaide....

(EnergyAsia, March 13, Thursday) — Germany’s Q-Cells became the world’s largest producer of solar cells last year after a 46% rise in production enabled it to overtake the previous year’s leaders, Japan’s Sharp Corp and China’s Suntech Power. According to PHOTON International magazine, Q-Cells’ 2007 production was 370 megawatts (MW), slightly ahead of Sharp and...

(EnergyAsia, March 13, Thursday) — Increased revenues from oil exports could provide an excellent opportunity to boost public investment in agriculture in the Near East, a region faced by food insecurity, land degradation, water scarcity, animal diseases and high food import bills, said Food and Agricultural Organization Director-General Jacques Diouf. “Investment in agriculture, from both...

(EnergyAsia, March 13, Thursday) — Trina Solar has signed an agreement with the Lianyungang Municipality in China’s Jiangsu province to develop a 10,000-metric ton multi-phased polysilicon production plant by end-2012. The local government will provide the land and electric power supply for the US$1 billion project. “We are extremely pleased by the strong support under...

(EnergyAsia, March 12, Thursday) — The CEO of Asian plantation giant Wilmar International has warned that biodiesel may be in for a “lousy year” as rising palm oil feedstock prices are squeezing margins. But Kuok Khoon Hong remains bullish about palm oil prices, which recently rose to a record RM4,000 per tonne in Malaysia. Wilmar,...

(EnergyAsia, March 13, Thursday) — Tokyo Electron (TEL) has announced it is venturing into the photovoltaic cell production business after “extensive exploratory research” in the photovoltaic field. The company said it has agreed to establish a 51/49 joint venture with Sharp Corporation, a leading Japanese company in PV cell technology to commercialise plasma CVD systems...

(EnergyAsia, March13, Thursday) — ET Solar, a Nanjing, China-based integrated manufacturer of photovoltaic products including ingot, wafer, module, and state-of-the-art dual-axis tracking systems, said it has signed a framework collaborative agreement with Spain’s Meca Solar, one of the largest global state-of-the-art manufacturers of solar tracker systems. Meca Solar will provide technical and technological support and...

(EnergyAsia, March 13, Thursday) – Concluding last week’s major three-day Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC 2008), more than 2,800 officials from 119 countries have promised to promote renewable energy use and sustainable development, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The meeting launched the Washington International Action Program (WIAP), which will see governments, local authorities, private...