(EnergyAsia, July 5 2010, Monday) — Minerals Energy Commodities, an equal joint venture between Indian industrial minerals producer Trimex Group and the UAE state-owned RAK Minerals and Metals, is aiming to venture into coal mining in Indonesia and power generation in India.  MEC said it is in talks to swap some of its coal reserves...

(EnergyAsia, July 5 2010, Monday) —- China is making further inroads into Iraq as its government agreed to generously write-off 80% of oil-rich Iraq’s US$8.5 billion debts. The move has been noted by Baghdad as it welcomes Beijing’s move to strengthen its political and business interests in the Gulf nation.  Iraq’s Finance Minister Bayan Jabr...

(EnergyAsia, July 5 2010, Monday) — Australia’s Coldry plant in Victoria state could begin exporting large-scale coal exports to Vietnam from late 2013 following the signing of an historic licensing agreement between Environmental Clean Technologies and Vietnam’s Thang Luong Investment and Joint Stock Company (TinCom). The June 25 agreement, signed in the presence of a...

(EnergyAsia, July 2 2010, Friday) — Hydropower is the largest renewable source of power generation and currently accounts for about 20% of the world’s total electricity supply, according to a new report by research house GlobaData. The world’s hydropower installed capacity increased from 695.8GW in 2001 to 888.8GW in 2009, registering a compounded annual growth...

(EnergyAsia, July 2 2010, Friday) — SunPower Corp, a Nasdaq-listed Silicon Valley-based manufacturer of high-efficiency solar cells, solar panels and solar systems, said it has produced a full-scale solar cell with a sunlight-to-electricity conversion efficiency of 24.2% at its manufacturing plant in the Philippines. The company has claimed this as a world record, confirmed by...

(EnergyAsia, July 2 2010, Friday) — Canada’s Prophecy Resource Corp said it and Japan’s Sojitz Corp have entered into an exclusive agreement to jointly market thermal coal from Prophecy’s 208-million tonne Ulaan Ovoo coal deposit in northern Mongolia to buyers in China. The agreement also covers Japan and South Korea, provided that the coal is...

(Energy Asia, July 2 2010, Friday) — Philippine oil refiner Petron Corp is looking to secure more agreements with local ethanol producers to help meet rising demand, said company chairman and CEO Ramon Ang. Petron is expected to increase its investment in producing ethanol, a high octane, water-free alcohol from sugar cane and other crops...

(EnergyAsia, July 2 2010, Friday) — The world could lose its spare oil capacity as early as 2015 if other countries followed the US in imposing moratoriums or outright bans on deepwater drilling around the world, the International Energy Agency (IEA) and Barclay Bank analysts have warned in their latest assessment of the oil markets....

(EnergyAsia, July 2 1020, Friday) — GC China Turbine Corp, a leading Chinese manufacturer of twin blade wind turbines, said it has secured a RMB230-million order to supply wind power equipment to the 49.3MW first phase of the China Guodian Inner Mongolia Xilinguolemeng Tianhe wind farm. (US$1=RMB6.8). GC China said it will supply 50 wind...

(EnergyAsia, July 2 2010, Friday) — Canadian uranium producer, Cameco, said it has secured important supply agreements with two Chinese state-owned nuclear power companies. In the first breakthrough deal, Cameco will supply China Nuclear Energy Industry Corporation (CNEIC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), approximately 23 million pounds of uranium concentrate through...

(EnergyAsia, July 1 2010, Thursday) — Keppel Integrated Engineering Ltd (KIE), the environmental technology and engineering arm of Singapore’s Keppel Corporation Limited, has officially opened the country’s newest waste-to-energy (WTE) plant, the first to be built under the National Environment Agency (NEA)’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) initiative. The plant has the capacity to treat 800 tonnes...

(EnergyAsia, July 1 2010, Thursday) — Alistair Birnie, chief executive of Subsea UK, has called for the British government to show greater support for the sector that contributes £5 billion to the economy and supports 40,000 jobs. (US$1=£0.67) Leading a delegation of subsea businesses from across the country, he reminded the House of Commons yesterday...

(EnergyAsia, July 1 2010, Thursday) — By Darrell Delamaide for Oilprice.com. The Gulf oil spill has hit the reputation not only of BP but of the entire oil industry, including among those who favor increased use of fossil fuels as the main source of energy. Research firm Market Strategies International said its E2 Index, which...

(EnergyAsia, July 1 2010, Thursday) — By Jim Sinclair at JSMineset via Oilprice.com. The BP crisis in the Gulf of Mexico has rightfully been analysed (mostly) from the ecological perspective. People’s lives and livelihoods are in grave danger. But that focus has equally masked something very serious from a financial perspective, in my opinion, that...

(EnergyAsia, July 1 2010, Thursday) — Singapore’s founding father has given a grim warning of the country’s energy challenge, that “we die” if the country is unable to find affordable sources of energy. At a conference on water this week, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew delivered his most important message on energy as he hinted...

(EnergyAsia, July 1 2010, Thursday) — China is continuing to supply fuel to Iran and providing hard currency loan to Venezuela. Traders said state-owned Sinopec has been exporting small parcels of gasoline to Iran, which is under increasing pressure from a trade embargo imposed by the West. The move reflects China’s interest in keeping political...

(EnergyAsia, July 1 2010, Thursday) — Air Products, a NYSE-listed global hydrogen provider to oil refineries, said its joint venture company based in Sichuan, China has signed a long-term agreement to build a hydrogen production facility for PetroChina Company Limited, one of the largest oil and gas companies in the world. It is the first...

(EnergyAsia, June 30 2010, Wednesday) — Singapore’s JTC Corporation has issued a tender calling for the construction of an offshore marine centre at Tuas South to support upstream oil and gas and marine companies. The proposed centre, to be built on a 13-hectare site at the new Tuas View Extension, is expected to be completed...

(EnergyAsia, June 30 2010, Wednesday) — Iraq will probably achieve only about half its 12 million b/d oil production target over the next five to 10 years, according to consultant IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associations (CERA). In a recent study, IHS CERA projects Iraq’s oil output to reach 4.3 million b/d by 2015 and 6.5...

(EnergyAsia, June 30 2010, Wednesday) — The risks in Iraq are high for oil field services firms, but opportunities in the long-term look too good to pass up. Schlumberger and Weatherford have obtained US$500 million in contracts from BP, which is developing the Rumaila oil field in southern Iraq. Andrew Gould, Schlumberger chairman and CEO,...

(EnergyAsia, June 30 2010, Wednesday) — Indonesian state oil and gas firm PT Pertamina said it is teaming up with local and foreign firms to start building the first of three oil refineries this year. The three projects are estimated to cost a combined US$15 billion. Alexander Barus, director for upstream chemical industries at the...

(EnergyAsia, June 30 2010, Wednesday) — India’s coal import bill will rise sharply this year as it could import as much as 60 million tonnes of thermal coal at a significantly higher price. The South Asian nation is said to have signed thermal coal supply contracts at a much higher price than last year in...

(EnergyAsia, June 30 2010, Wednesday) — China and Russia are working to follow through on the 15 deals their governments recently signed covering such areas as the economy, technology, energy and infrastructure during Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping’s recent tour of its resource-rich neighbour. Of the deals worth a total of US$1.6 billion, joint energy...

(EnergyAsia, June 29 2010, Tuesday) — The Jurong Aromatics Corporation (JAC) is looking for experienced executives to manage its planned US$2 billion aromatics complex on Singapore’s Jurong Island. The company recently advertised for personnel to fill the positions of CEO, CFO and executive vice president to oversee the construction, operation and management of the complex...