(EnergyAsia, February 17, Tuesday) — The recent sharp decline in crude oil and coal price has made alternative energy projects in China less attractive. The outlook for the sector has been further dampened by the global economic and financial crisis which has made it harder for companies to raise funds for solar, wind, biomass and...

(EnergyAsia, February 17, Tuesday) — China Northern Locomotive and Rolling Stock Industry has announced plans to build what it claims will be the country’s largest wind power research centre in Xi’an city in western Shaanxi province. The company said it will invest RMB 4 billion to build six projects that will manufacture wind power products...

(EnergyAsia, February 17, Tuesday) — The Tokyo Electric Power Company, Incorporated (TEPCO), Toshiba Corporation, and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), said they will collectively purchase a 19.95% stake in Uranium One Inc (U1), a major Canadian-listed producer and marketer of uranium. JBIC is the international wing of the Japan Finance Corporation. The three...

(EnergyAsia, February 17, Tuesday) — NYSE-listed Evergreen Energy Inc said its strategic partner Sumitomo Corporation and a major Indonesian mining group have agreed to advance their joint K-Fuel® coal refinery project on Indonesia’s Kalimantan island to the next round of detailed analysis. This move is needed before the partners make a decision to develop a...

(EnergyAsia, February 17, Tuesday) — The US Department of Commerce said its commercial service is leading a groundbreaking solar energy trade mission to India from March 22 to 27. The mission offers US firms a cost-effective way to meet potential business partners and government decision makers who are on the frontline of shaping India’s solar...

(EnergyAsia, February 17, Tuesday) — China’s JA Solar said it has signed a supply contract with BP Solar International Inc as part of the broader strategic cooperation agreement signed with BP Alternative Energy Holdings Limited that was announced last November. Under this new agreement, JA Solar will supply monocrystalline and multicrystalline solar cells in 2009,...

(EnergyAsia, February 17, Tuesday) — Spark Solar Australia Pty Ltd said its proposed high-tech solar cell factory has become the first national project to be awarded major project facilitation status by the government, marking it as holding “strategic significance to Australia.” The company said the proposed A$60 million plant will create 115 permanent new jobs....

(EnergyAsia, February 17, Tuesday) — Royal Dutch Shell plc said it has acquired a 30% interest in Arrow Energy’s coal seam gas (CSG) acreage in Queensland, Australia, as well as a 10% stake in the company’s wholly owned subsidiary, Arrow International. Shell said its alliance with Arrow Energy combines the complementary strengths of the two...

(EnergyAsia, February 16, Monday) — Oil trade financing opportunities and activities will slow down this year after last year’s tremendous growth from sharply rising and falling prices. Dutch bank Rabobank said oil’s run-up from around $100 to $147 per barrel in the first seven months of 2008, followed by a steady decline for the rest...

(EnergyAsia, February 16, Monday) — Vietnam’s sovereign fund, the State Capital Investment Corp (SCIC), plans to help finance PetroVietnam’s projects including refineries and gas fields, as well as overseas projects. Vietnam is working to build up a refining sector to process its domestic crude oil production. However, the country’s crude oil production has stalled in...

(EnergyAsia, February 16, Monday) — Singapore’s Keppel FELS Limited said it has successfully delivered the jackup drilling rig, Deep Driller 8, to Aban Singapore Pte Ltd on time, within budget and without incidents. The rig is the fifth unit to be delivered in a series of five KFELS Super B Class rigs for Aban since...

(EnergyAsia, February 16, Monday) — The Philippines’ Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has approved Sunwest Water and Electric Company Inc’s (SUWECO) 30-year agreement to supply electricity to the First Catanduanes Electric Cooperative Inc (FICELCO) to help ease the energy shortage problem in Catanduanes province. For the first three years, the ERC has set the base generation...

(EnergyAsia, February 16, Monday) — Kazakhstan has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to supply uranium to uranium. As part of the agreement, state firm KazAtomProm is also looking to build two nuclear power plants in India. Kazakhstan, the world’s third largest producer of uranium, is on track to take top spot as it aims...

(EnergyAsia, February 16, Monday) — J P Kenny Wood Group Sdn Bhd, the Malaysian subsidiary of UK’s Wood Group, said it has won a contract related to the development of an offshore oilfield in Malaysia. The contract was awarded by Sabah Shell Petroleum Co Ltd for subsea integration and follow-on engineering works for the Gumusut–Kakap...

(EnergyAsia, February 16, Monday) — South Korea’s Korea Advanced Materials (KMA) said it has landed a deal to supply polysilicon for solar cell production to Hyundai Heavy Industries Co (HHI). The US$600 million deal will run between 2010 and 2015, said KMA, a joint venture between HHI and KCC Corp, the country’s leading paint maker....

(EnergyAsia, February 16, Monday) — Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd (MHI) said it has received an order for two 800 megawatt (MW) supercritical-pressure steam turbines for India’s Andhra Pradesh Power Development Company Limited (APPDCL). The two turbines, slated for delivery in late 2010, are for APPDCL’s Krishnapatnam thermal power project in Andhra Pradesh state in...

(EnergyAsia, February 16, Monday) — IT giant Microsoft said it has shifted its worldwide oil and gas business to Dubai from Vienna, Austria. Speaking at the Cambridge Energy Research Associates’ CERAWeek 2009 gathering in Houston yesterday, Albrecht (Ali) Ferling, managing director for Microsoft’s Worldwide Oil and Gas Industries said the company made the move in...

(EnergyAsia, February 16, Monday) — French energy giant AREVA said its transmission and distribution division (T&D) has signed a strategic partnership with Zhuzhou CSR Times Electric Co Ltd. Under the agreement, T&D will offer its expertise in the high voltage direct current (HVDC) and flexible alternating current transmission systems (FACTS) areas, while Times Electric will...

(EnergyAsia, February 13, Friday) — Anglo Dutch major Shell has signed an agreement with Bahrain to study the possibility of importing natural gas to meet the rising demand of the Persian Gulf island state. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed earlier this month will include importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) and natural gas via a...

(EnergyAsia, February 13, Friday) — World oil demand looks set to fall further, at least in the OCED group of western countries, as the global recession is taking its toll, analysts said. Coupled that with government support for energy savings measures and alternative energy, lower oil demand may be the story for at least the...

(EnergyAsia, February 13, Friday) — The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil futures price, the world’s most important crude benchmark, seems to have lost some of its relevance as a huge build-up in inventory is causing near term weakness and market distortion. As a result, the WTI has been trading below other benchmarks, including Brent oil,...

(EnergyAsia, February 13, Friday) — Papua New Guinea’s government last week waived the Independent Public Business Corporation (IPBC) off any financial responsibility for the country’s proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. On behalf of the state, the Governor-General Paulias Matane signed a deed of waiver to release 19.4% of its equity towards the project. Signing...

(EnergyAsia, February 13, Friday) — Australian oil and gas producer Santos expects its oil and gas output to stagnate at 2008 levels. The main reasons are aging fields, poor replacement of reserves and lack of new major finds. The company has projected production at between 53 and 56 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) for...

(EnergyAsia, February 13, Friday) — Norway’s Flex LNG and Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp have continued to delay finalising their deal to construct the world’s first floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant for use in Nigeria. In a statement last December 23, Flex said: “Owing to the complicated nature of structuring the world’s first floating liquefaction project,...