help the Pacific Islands focus on environmental management to deal with the challenges posed by climate change. In its midterm review covering the 2005-2009 period, the ADB said it highlighted key initiatives to deal with the challenges of climate change including the possibility that some islands in the Pacific may become uninhabitable. The review also covered...

Chinese operating subsidiary, Liaoning GaoKe Energy Group, has landed an agreement with Denmark’s Norwin A/S giving it the exclusive right to produce and sell Norwin’s 750 kW and 225 kW wind turbines in China. The two companies will form a joint venture company in Shenyang city that is 80% owned by GaoKe. The JV will...

largest wind turbine manufacturer, said its revenue for the October-December quarter rose 66% to Rs31.7 billion, with 54% of that derived from overseas sales. (US$1=Rs40). Profit after tax stood at 1.43 billion while earnings per share came in at Rs1.05. The company did not provide comparative figures for the same period last year. Suzlon Energy...

contract to purchase the first cargo of 6.5 million litres of ethyl tertiary butyl ether (ETBE) from Brazilian petrochemical company Compania Petroquimica do Sul (COPESUL). The product will be supplied to Japan Biofuels Supply LLP (JBSL), a cooperative business organisation of the Japanese oil companies. In line with the Japanese government programme to reduce carbon...

off large part of its Gulf of Mexico shelf oil and gas assets to subsidiaries of the Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) and Samsung Corporation. The buyers are KNOC USA Corp and Samsung Oil & Gas USA Corp. The transaction includes five producing fields located in the outer continental shelf of the Gulf of Mexico...

memorandum of understanding to acquire 100% of China’s Daqing Deta Electric Co Ltd (Deta) for $85.3 million. Hanwei Energy will pay 50 % of the acquisition price in cash and the remaining 50% in its common shares valued at $5.30 per share. The payments will be made in stages based on annual wind power equipment...

in and fully own the country’s hydroelectric power projects. Bhutan currently has a 70% limit on foreign ownership of hydroelectric projects, but it is prepared to change that to jumpstart its economy and attract much needed investments into the country. Bhutan is hoping to attract investors to help launch up to ten hydropower projects. India has...

renewable energy projects and finance projects on health, poverty and climate change issues around the world. Philanthropic arm Google.org will fund small and medium-sized business in developing countries to help alleviate poverty. It will also support projects for research focused on developing geothermal, solar thermal power, wind power and other alternative energy technology, and research...

(EnergyAsia, February 4, Monday) — World oil prices are expected to remain well supported on supply constraints and strong demand despite the threat of an economic recession in the US. Benchmark WTI crude futures have been trading around US$90 a barrel in recent months, hitting a record high of more than $100 a barrel on...

(EnergyAsia, February 4, Monday) — AEI, a company that owns and operates essential energy infrastructure businesses in emerging markets, said it has fully acquired Tongda Energy Pte Ltd, an operator of city gas companies in China, from a group of Chinese private investors. AEI also has acquired a 70% stake in a second city gas...

(EnergyAsia, February 4, Monday) — Engineering giant Foster Wheeler Ltd said a subsidiary of its Global Power Group has been awarded a contract by Harbin Power Engineering Company Ltd (HPE) for the design of two CFB steam generators for the second phase of the Cam Pha Power Plant Project in Cam Pha in Vietnam. Foster...

(EnergyAsia, February 4, Monday) — Royal Dutch Shell has fanned fears it might again reduce its oil reserve estimates after announcing last week that it would postpone the release of the data. Information on reserves, a vital indicator of the company’s long-term health, would normally be released alongside its financial results. On January 30, Shell...

  (EnergyAsia, February 4, Monday) — UK’s BG Group plc said it has agreed to establish an alliance with Queensland Gas Company Limited (QGC), a leading coal seam gas exploration and production company in Australia’s Queensland state. The two companies will jointly explore and develop onshore coal seam gas acreage as well as develop domestic...

(EnergyAsia, February 4, Monday) — Singapore’s Keppel Corp said its 2007 net profit surged 50.6% to S$1.13 billion, thanks mostly to demand for its oil rig construction services. (US$1=S$1.43). Its revenue jumped 37.2% to S$10.43 billion. Keppel’s offshore and marine division, which includes oil rig and ship building as well as ship repair and conversion,...

(EnergyAsia, February 4, Monday) — Shares of Exxon Mobil and Chevron, the two largest US oil companies, slipped last Friday despite reporting record full year profits as investors focused instead on their declining oil production. Thanks to record high crude oil prices, Exxon Mobil said its 2007 net profit rose 2.8% to $40.6 billion on...

(EnergyAsia, February 4, Monday) — The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) recently signed a loan agreement totaling up to US$3 billion with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), the national oil company of the UAE’s Abu Dhabi. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the...

(EnergyAsia, February 1, Friday) — Increasing demand for biofuels has squeezed palm oil supplies in Malaysia and sent prices skyrocketing to new record high, causing a mini cooking oil supply crisis.Palm oil prices in Malaysia hit a new high of more than RM3,400 per tonne in mid January. (US$1 = RM3.24).The price surge has led...

(EnergyAsia, February 1, Friday) — A day after reaching a new royalty deal with the Alberta government in Canada, Suncor Energy said its board of directors has given final approval to a C$20.6 billion investment that is expected to boost crude oil production at the company’s oil sands operation north of Fort McMurray by 200,000 barrels...

(EnergyAsia, February 1, Friday) — Singapore’s Keppel Corp said it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) to participate as an equity investor in a consortium to build an ecological city in China’s Tianjin city. QIA’s definitive participation is subject to further discussion.The 30 sq km eco-city site straddles...

(EnergyAsia, February 1, Friday) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and its development partners are setting up a facility that will provide seed capital for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in the Asia-Pacific region amid growing energy demands and high oil prices.ADB and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) are developing the Seed Capital Assistance...

(EnergyAsia, February 1, Friday) — CERA, the leading critic of the ‘peak oil’ theory, has come under fire for not being transparent with its analysis and data concluding that the world will not face an imminent oil production drop as the world’s main 811 producing fields are declining by ‘only’ 4.5% per year.CERA, led by...

(EnergyAsia, February 1, Friday) — China’s Suntech Power said it is participating in a solar-energy system constructed for the roof of the town hall in Genk in Belgium.The project was engineered by Netherlands-based Oskomera Solar Power Solutions (OSPS) in collaboration with Belgium-based ENECO Energie. The system consists of approximately 1,260 Suntech solar modules with a...

(EnergyAsia, February 1, Friday) — A day after reaching a new royalty deal with the Alberta government, Suncor Energy said its board of directors has given final approval to a $20.6 billion investment that is expected to boost crude oil production at the company’s oil sands operation north of Fort McMurray by 200,000 barrels per day...

(EnergyAsia, February 1, Friday) — Taiwan’s Mosel Vitelic Inc said it has signed a five-year contract to buy multi-crystalline solar wafers from China’s LDK Solar Co Ltd. The deal is worth $150 million, with delivery starting this year.Mosel, which entered the solar cell production in 2006, said the pricing is fixed for the first three...

biodiesel, said its 50,000-ton-per-year Beijing plant has started production. The plant will be raised to 100,000 tons by the fourth quarter. “We are pleased to announce the commencement of production at our Beijing plant. Construction of this plant was completed ahead of our original schedule and within our prior estimated budget. We believe this milestone...