IN BRIEF (Page 13)

Shale-gas auction due

China has scheduled a second shale-gas block auction for January in an effort to access an estimated 1,275 trillion cubic feet of the cleaner-burning fuel.

"We've got everything ready for the auction," Zhang Dawei, deputy director of oil and gas research at the Ministry of Land and Resources, told Bloomberg News on Thursday. The auction was delayed from the originally scheduled fourth quarter of this year. Zhang didn't give a reason for the change of plans.

The ministry plans to offer more than 10 shale-gas blocks for auction, and Chinese private as well as State-owned companies will be allowed to participate, Zhang said. Foreign companies, prohibited from bidding, can work as partners on the projects, he said.

CNEE signs Turkish accords

Global Yatirim Holding AS, a Turkish group with interests in energy, port operations and finance, has signed accords with China National Electric Engineering Co Ltd (CNEE) to build a 270 megawatt thermal power plant in Sirnak in southeast Turkey.

CNEE will operate and provide maintenance services for the plant for four years after the construction phase, Global Yatirim said in a statement to the Istanbul Stock Exchange after the market closed on Wednesday. China National will also get a 10 percent stake in Global's unit Galata Enerji Uretim Sanayi & Ticaret AS, which plans to complete the plant in 30 months from the first quarter of 2012, according to the statement.

SIG fund raises 7 billion yuan

Shanghai International Group (SIG), owned by the city's government, raised 7 billion yuan ($1.1 billion) in a dual-currency fund that invests mainly in emerging industries, the official Shanghai Securities News reported on Thursday.

The fund raised 5 billion yuan and $300 million from investors that include State-owned enterprises, listed companies, private companies and US and European institutions, the newspaper said.

The fund would mainly invest in seven strategic industries, including environmental protection, advanced machinery, biotechnology, new energy, new materials, green energy cars and next generation information technology, the report said.

China Mengniu shares plummet

Shares of China Mengniu Dairy Co, the largest milk producer on the mainland, fell to the lowest in more than two years in Hong Kong trading after hackers accessed its website amid a scandal over contaminated milk from the company.

Mengniu dropped 7.4 percent to HK$18.52 ($2.38), the lowest since Sept 4, 2009, at the close in Hong Kong. The Hang Seng Index lost 0.7 percent.

Investors are selling the stock on expectations consumers will stay away from Mengniu's products, according to Jason Yuan, an analyst at UOB Kay Hian Holdings Ltd.

Agencies

(China Daily 12/30/2011 page13)