(EnergyAsia, February 10 2012, Friday) — A ranking US politician wants to put the brakes on the bandwagon pushing for natural gas exports to Asia by declaring his intention to introduce legislation to keep domestically produced natural gas in the country. Representative Ed Markey, the (D-Mass.), the Ranking Member of the Natural Resources Committee and...
(EnergyAsia, February 10 2012, Friday) — Coal & Oil Group, a Dubai-based family-owned energy company, said it is opening a regional office in Singapore to better serve its growing businesses in Asia-Pacific countries including Southeast Asia, Australia and the Far East. With a turnover of over US$500 million, the company has also established East India (more…)
(EnergyAsia, February 10 2012, Friday) — LanzaTech, a New Zealand-based producer of low-carbon fuels and chemicals from waste gases, said it has raised US$55.8 million in its latest Series C round of funding from new investors led by the Malaysian Life Sciences Capital Fund. The Malaysian investors include Petronas Technology Ventures Sdn Bhd, the venture (more…)
(EnergyAsia, February 10 2012, Friday) — Reflecting the growth of the global liquefied natural gas (LNG) business, leading international law firm Wikborg Rein has recruited a specialist, Joe McGladdery, as a partner in its London, England office. Mr McGladdery joins from Qatar Gas Transport Company Limited (Nakilat) where he acted as the company’s general counsel (more…)
(EnergyAsia, February 10 2012, Friday) — Following their respective roles in an oil spill off the coast of northern China, China’s CNOOC Limited said it is establishing a foundation to protect the marine environment and ecology while US oil company ConocoPhillips has set up a RMB1-billion fund to compensate the fishing industry for loss of (more…)
(EnergyAsia, February 9 2012, Thursday) — The cost of nuclear-generated power and issues associated with this energy source will continue to challenge the sector in 2012, said US experts. Following the Fukushima disaster last March, the sector has seen an increase in earthquake-related reactor shutdowns, reactor project cost escalation, infighting at the US Nuclear Regulatory (more…)
(EnergyAsia, February 9, 2012 Thursday) — Canada’s Prophecy Coal Corp said it is aiming to complete the project financing and selection of the engineering, procurement, construction (EPC) firm for a power plant in Mongolia by the second quarter. These achievements will then pave the way for the Vancouver, British Columbia-based company to begin construction of (more…)
(EnergyAsia, February 9 2012, Thursday) — China, the world’s largest coal producer and consumer, has also claimed the title of leading importer. Last year, its coal import rose 10.8% to 182.4 million tonnes, enabling it to overtake long-time leader Japan which purchased 175.2 million tonnes. Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, which accounted for 15% of China’s...
(EnergyAsia, February 9 2012, Thursday) — Australia’s Origin Energy Limited said the first of two units at its 550MW gas-fired Mortlake Power Station is ready to generate electricity for use in Victoria state. Located near Mortlake in south-western Victoria, the plant’s two gas turbines will help to meet the growing demand for peak electricity in (more…)
(EnergyAsia, February 9 2012, Thursday) — State-owned China Power International Development Limited (CPI) and its recently formed joint venture with China Coal Energy Co Ltd are proceeding on schedule to build and operate a coal-fired power plant in northern China’s Shanxi province. CPI, which holds an 80% stake in China Power Shentou Power Generating Company,...
(EnergyAsia, February 8 2012, Wednesday) — Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, a member of US-based United Technologies Corp, said it has signed an agreement with two leading Chinese energy firms to design, construct and operate a commercial-scale advanced gasification demonstration plant in China’s central eastern Henan province. P&W Rocketdyne described the “negotiation framework” agreement as a (more…)
(EnergyAsia, February 8 2012, Wednesday) — Australian mining giant BHP Billiton said it has informed the Queensland state government that it plans to align its railway system to accommodate more lines to deliver coal from its various mines to the Port of Abbot Point. The project includes the construction of a dedicated rail line for (more…)
(EnergyAsia, February 8 2012, Wednesday) — Banpu Plc, Southeast Asia’s largest coal miner, said revenue could reach a record of as much as 120 billion baht this year, up 15-20% from last year, on rising sales volume and prices. Briefing the media, chief financial officer Somruedee Chaimongkol said the Thailand-listed company expects to sell a...
(EnergyAsia, February 8 2012, Wednesday) — The Sri Lankan government has approved a set of tax exemptions and approval priority for the construction of a much-needed 500 MW coal-fired plant in the eastern city port of Trincomalee. In a statement, the Economic Development Ministry said the government has recognised the two-unit Sampur power plant as...
(EnergyAsia, February 8 2012, Wednesday) — Hong Kong-lised Mongolian Mining Corporation (MMC) said Mongolia’s President Elbegdorj Tsakhia visited its Ukhaa Khudag coal mine last month as part of his visit to the Tavantolgoi coalfield and Oyutolgoi gold-copper mining project in the Southern Gobi area. While touring the extended facilities at Ukhaa Khudag including the country’s...
(EnergyAsia, February 7, 2012 Tuesday) — Leading international classification society Bureau Veritas said it has approved in-principle the basic design of a 14,000 twenty-foot-equivalent (TEU) containership to be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG). South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, liner major CMA-CGM and Bureau Veritas jointly developed the design. Jean-Francois Segretain, Bureau Veritas’s (more…)
(EnergyAsia, February 7 2012, Tuesday) — China’s CNOOC Limited has unveiled a budget with a capital expenditure of US$9.3 to US$11 billion to implement its business strategy and development plan for 2012. The bulk, 68%, of that budget will be spent on development, while 17% will be invested in exploration and 14% on production. It is...
(EnergyAsia, February 7 2012, Tuesday) — Engineering giant Foster Wheeler AG said a subsidiary of its Global Power Group has been awarded a contract by Yuen Foong Yu Paper Mfg Co Ltd to design and supply a circulating fluidised-bed (CFB) steam generator for captive use at its industrial paper complex in Yangzhou in China’s Jiangsu (more…)
(EnergyAsia, February 7 2012, Tuesday) — Canada’s CBM Asia Development Corp (CBM Asia) said it has signed a Heads of Agreement with PT Tranaco Utama, a private Indonesian company that holds the first rights to undertake a production sharing contract (PSC) for a 1,500-square kilometre coalbed methane block in Kalimantan in Indonesia. CBM Asia said (more…)
(EnergyAsia, February 7, 2012 Tuesday) — Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, the UAE’s research-driven graduate-level university focused on advanced energy and sustainable technologies, said it has signed a strategic master research partnership agreement with Masdar PV GmbH, leading German-based manufacturer of photovoltaic films. The agreement was signed at the Masdar Institute stand at last (more…)
(EnergyAsia, February 6 2012, Monday) — Australia is bracing itself again for another year of serious weather damage as heavy rains and floods shut down normal life and economic activities in resource-rich areas of Queensland and New Wales states. Since last week, floods have cut off some 12,000 stranded residents in small towns, submerged road...
(EnergyAsia, February 6 2012, Monday) — A worker strike is affecting coal exports from the leading terminal of Port Kembla on Australia’s east coast, 72 km south of Sydney city. A union representing workers at the BHP Billiton-operated terminal began industrial action last Wednesday after the Port Kembla Port Corporation announced it planned to cut...
(EnergyAsia, February 6 2012, Monday) — Australia’s Altura Mining said it expects to start mining its fully-owned Tabalong coal deposit in Indonesia’s South Kalimantan sometime this year upon receiving full government approval. The company plans to start by producing 300,000 to 400,000 metric tons a year of premium grade steam coal at the open-pit mine,...
(EnergyAsia, February 6 2012, Monday) — Seattle, US-based coal miner L&L Energy Inc said it has bought a 51% controlling stake in a coal mine in Guizhou province in China for about US$16.2 million in stock. With reserves of around 19 million tons, the Weishe mine could add 124,000 tons to L&L’s production, US$19.6 million (more…)
(EnergyAsia, February 6 2012, Monday) — US-based Clean Coal Technologies Inc (CCTI) said it has signed a binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with India’s Jindal Steel and Power Limited to form a joint-venture company to market and deploy its Pristine-M(TM) technology in Southeast Asia. For its 65% stake, Jindal will pay US$6 million which includes (more…)