A huge shift in coal consumption over the last 30 years saw Asia’s use rocket while past heavy user Europe has cut back, new figures released yesterday show. According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), while coal use in Europe and Russia dropped by more than a third over the last thirty years, consumption […]

Venezuela could be Russia’s next big oil focus after Rosneft signed a “tentative” agreement with the South American state-owned oil firm PDVSA. The Russian power firm said yesterday together they hope to develop exploration blocks in the Orinoco oil belt which are estimated to hold 40 billion barrels. Rosneft said it is set to pay […]

A new charity is aiming to end energy poverty by bringing sustainable electricity to the world’s poorest regions. The UN estimates that 1.3 billion people currently have no access to electricity. Energy Aid, which is backed by consultancy IBM and UK charity Practical Aid, will give cash and resources to charities running energy projects in […]

BP’s sale of its South American oil company has fallen through after the buyer pulled out citing “legal reasons”. Bridas Corporation sent a letter to BP this weekend to cancel the $7.06billion deal to buy up BP’s 60% stake in Pan American Energy, the second largest producer of hydrocarbons in Argentina. Bridas, which owns the […]

A new report predicts that the growth of smart meter roll-outs worldwide will almost double the value of the global electricity market in the next three years. According to ABS Energy Research, the value of the electricity market will rise from £4.1bn last year to £7.1bn by 2013. The company said59.9% of this unit demand […]