(EnergyAsia, March 3 2010, Wednesday) — Abu Dhabi’s Masdar and Deutsche Bank recently launched the DB Masdar Clean Tech Fund, raising $265 million at its first closing. The fund brings together the sector knowledge and scope of the Masdar Initiatives with the global asset management and research capabilities of Deutsche Bank. Co-managed by Masdar Venture...

(EnergyAsia, March 2 2010, Tuesday) — The following article was written by Fawzia Sheikh of Oilprice.com. While the Iraqi government has made vertures to its Kurdish counterpart in the north to end an oil standoff, much remains in doubt without an actual law keeping the industry in check – rules which this time the Kurds...

(EnergyAsia, March 2 2010, Tuesday) — Bahrain’s First Energy Bank (FEB) said it and its partner will jointly invest US$1 billion to build a “world class” polysilicon production plant with a partner in Saudi Arabia’s Jubail city to promote the production and use of solar energy in the Middle East. The project, located on a...

(EnergyAsia, March 2 2010, Tuesday) — The Singapore government is fine-tuning its strategy to develop a “smart energy economy” to achieve energy resilience and sustainable growth amid a variety of challenges including rising global demand, volatile prices, climate change and security concerns.   In response to the vastly changed global energy landscape, the energy sub-committee...

(EnergyAsia, March 2 2010, Tuesday) — The US and Chinese governments have announced a joint initiative to promote low-carbon development for non-government cooperation projects. The National Center For Sustainable Development (NCSD), headquartered in Washington, DC initiated a groundbreaking commitment to launch the China-U.S. Low Carbon Development Cooperation Program – exemplifying its expanded new mission objective...

(EnergyAsia, March 2 2010, Tuesday) — China became a net importer of coal for the first time in 2009 on rising domestic consumption to feed its energy-hungry economy which expanded by 8.7%.   China reported 89.1 million tonnes in net coal imports in the first 11 months of last year, and net export of only...

(EnergyAsia, March 1 2010, Monday) — State-owned PetroVietnam said its revenues fell 20% last year as compared with the previous year when crude oil prices reached record highs of more than $147 per barrel. Vietnam’s economy is dependent on oil exports, which account for 16% of the country’s gross domestic product. PetroVietnam said it expects...

(EnergyAsia, March 1 2010, Monday) — Petrochina plans to establish an energy trading desk in Dubai in line with its goal to develop an international trading network. The desk will initially be manned by three crude oil traders, including a manager seconded from its Singapore office. PetroChina, Asia’s largest oil and gas producer, is keenly...

(EnergyAsia, March 1 2010, Monday) — The Thai government has estimated that a court order halting 65 oil, petrochemical and manufacturing projects in the Map Ta Phut industrial complex will cause 600 billion baht in job and revenue losses. (US$1=32 baht) In a trial in which companies have been accused of failing to comply with...

(EnergyAsia, March 1 2010, Monday) — Two South Korean oil companies said losses at their refinery operations dragged down their sales and income for 2009. SK Energy’s operating profit fell to 901.4 billion won or less than half the previous year’s profit. Its petrochemicals business registered a record operating profit of about 600 billion won,...

(EnergyAsia, March 1 2010, Monday) — The Saudi Arabian government said it has set a budget of 540 billion riyals for 2010, 14% higher than last year’s budget and the largest on record. (US$1=3.75 riyal). The Kingdom has also forecast that its fiscal deficit will rise to 70 billion riyals this year as expenditures are...

(EnergyAsia, March 1 2010, Monday) — The CEO of Saudi state oil firm Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil producer, has dismissed fears that global oil production is about to peak and then go into decline. Khalid al-Falih has insisted that oil companies have extracted only a quarter of the planet’s four trillion barrels of...

(EnergyAsia, February 26 2010, Friday) — Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited 3 or Ras Laffan 3 said it has started up train 7 at Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar. The project, a joint venture of Qatar Petroleum (70%) and ExxonMobil Ras Laffan (3) Limited (30%), represents another expansion of LNG production facilities...

(EnergyAsia, February 26 2010, Friday) — India is making a high-profile pitch for the oil producers of the Middle East to store crude and products in the country. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will lead a delegation including his petroleum minister and senior energy officials to the Middle East this week where he will offer Saudi...

(EnergyAsia, February 26 2010, Friday) — US President Barrak Obama’s economic recovery adviser Paul Volcker wants the government to prohibit banks from “risky financial activities” like derivatives trading and leave these only to hedge funds. Speaking recently in the UK, he said banks should stick to providing basic banking services, and let hedge funds undertake...

(EnergyAsia, February 26 2010, Friday) — The US’ Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has proposed putting a cap on the positions traders can hold on the four most traded energy contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE). The cap, which could equal a limit of 90,000 to 100,000 contracts across...

(EnergyAsia, February 26 2010, Friday) — Trade between China and Saudi Arabia, its leading oil supplier, could rise by 50% to US$60 billion by 2015, predicted the Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming. China has just become Saudi Arabia’s leading oil customer, importing more than one million b/d in 2009 to surpass the US which saw...

(EnergyAsia, February 26 2010, Friday) — The Arab League (AL) and China’s National Energy Administration have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to step up energy cooperation between the two organisations. The agreement was signed at last month’s China-Arab Energy Cooperation of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum in Khartoum in Sudan where Chinese and Arab officials...

(EnergyAsia, February 26 2010, Friday) — Refiner Caltex Australia said it will pay shareholders a final dividend of A$0.25 per share after it reported a 9.1% rise in its 2009 net profit to A$203 million. (US$1=A$1.15). The country’s biggest and only listed oil refiner measures its net profit on a replacement cost of sales basis,...

(EnergyAsia, February 25 2010, Thursday) — Traditional enemies Iran and Iraq are feuding over the abandoned al-Fakkah oil field along the two nations’ poorly defined borders after the brief occupation of one of the wells by Iranian troops. The troops, which occupied well no. 4 on December 17, withdrew after a few days and Iran’s...

(EnergyAsia, February 25 2010, Thursday) — The CarbonNeutral Company, a world-leading provider of carbon reductions solutions, said it has signed up six organisations to launch an innovative web based carbon management solution that is supported by the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) as part of the country’s urban solutions programme. Within the pilot programme, the...

(EnergyAsia, February 25 2010, Thursday) — The Saudi Arabian government is expressing impatience with the slow progress in its plans to use Japan’s Okinawa Islands as a hub for storing, handling and distributing crude oil to serve the fast-growing Asian market. State oil company Aramco had been eager to follow through with plans to store...

(EnergyAsia, February 25 2010, Thursday) — Qatar Petroleum and Exxon Mobil Corporation said they have started up operations at their Al Khaleej Gas-Phase 2 (AKG-2) project which has the capacity to produce 1,250 million cubic feet per day (mcfd) of gas. Operations began in December. The new facilities are designed to meet the growing demand...

(EnergyAsia, February 25 2010, Thursday) — Chinese state firms have begun building storage tanks for holding the nation’s strategic oil reserves in the municipalities of Lanzhou and Tianjin. Officials of state-run oil firm CNPC, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the National Energy Administration attended the groundbreaking ceremony of a reserve base in...