Energy Roundup: Sasol Gets Gas, KS Energy Sues Ocean HeavyLift, Oil Pirates, and More

Oil companies must think globally but bank locally in Indonesia — Starting next month, oil and gas companies doing business in Indonesia will have to use local banks for transactions, the Indonesian government has ordered. The move is designed to help the flagging Indonesian rupiah and could bring in around $11 billion to the country in 2009. [Source: Rigzone]

Sasol strikes pay dirt off Mozambique — South Africa’s Sasol has finished its initial exploration well off of Mozambique. Measurements indicate the presence of natural gas and the well, drilled to 5,298 feet, is being tested. Company officials are optimistic but it’s still too early to tell if the new well will be commercially viable. [Source: Energy Current]

KS Energy files suit with Ocean HeavyLift over the loss of Titan 1 vessel — Singapore’s KS Energy has filed a claim against the Norwegian company, Ocean HeavyLift, for damages incurred from the loss of the liftboat KS Titan 1 while it was being transported from the U.S. to a job in the North Sea. The suit is said to be worth some $60 million. Readers of BNET Energy will recall that we reported the loss of the Titan 1 at sea some weeks ago. [Source: Energy Current]

SunRun wins $105 million in financing — San Francisco-based startup, SunRun, which finances home solar systems, has won a tax equity commitment of around $105 million from U.S. Bancorp to buy about 2,000 residential solar systems. SunRun has an interesting business model whereby homeowners buy power from solar systems installed atop their roofs, but SunRun actually owns the panels. The model is known as a “power purchase agreement,” and allows homeowners to benefit from solar power without the steep up-front hardware investment. [Source: Earth2Tech]

Yaar! Somali pirates demand $25 million for Saudi tanker, savvy? — The Somali pirates who hijacked a Saudi oil tanker and its 319,000 tons of oil in the Indian Ocean last weekend have demanded a $25 million ransom for the return of the ship, its cargo and its crew. The pirates gave the Saudis 10 days to comply. The ransom demand comes hard on the heels of a report that an Indian naval vessel fired on and sank one of the pirates’ “motherships.” (Sadly, the assault has not yet been posted to YouTube.) The rampant piracy off of the Somali coast is, according to at least one account, funding whole new economies in that beleaguered country. [Source: Yahoo News]