Energy Roundup: China Chases Repsol's YPF, Dynegy Sells Plants, Global Warming Junket, and More

(MoneyWatch)  China's energy resources hunt continues -- Two Chinese firms have reportedly proposed paying at least $17 billion for all of Repsol YPF's stake in its Argentine unit YPF. China National Petroleum and CNOOC officials met with Repsol executives last month to discuss the offer, which, if accepted, would one of the largest overseas investments by China, according to unnamed sources. A spokesman for Repsol, Spain's largest oil producer, said it hasn't received a bid. [Source: WSJ, Bloomberg]

Dynegy raises much-needed funds with power plant sales -- Houston-based Dynegy has agreed to sell eight power plants and another one under development to private equity firm LS Power Groupin a cash-and-stock deal valued at $1.5 billion. Dynegy, which reported its second-quarter net income loss widened $345 million from $272 million, announced a four-year cost-cutting program to save up to $450 million. [Source: Dynegy, Houston Business Journal]

Echelon smart meter business expands with Duke Energy contract -- Echelon could see its initial $15.8 million smart meter order with Duke Energy expand to $150 million if the utility uses its devices in a planned expansion into Ohio and Indiana. Duke has received regulator approval to deploy more than 700,000 smart meters in Ohio over the next five years and is awaiting word on whether it can proceed with plans in Indiana. [Source: Greentech Media] Global warming trip takes lawmakers to top tourist spots-- Congress members on a taxpayer-funded trip to study climate change snorkeled at the Great Barrier Reef, flew to the South Pole and visited the Australian rain forest, a WSJ report found. Of course, this isn't the only Congressional trip in recent years. Legislators and aides reported spending about $13 million on overseas trips last year, a nearly 10-fold jump since 1995. [Source: WSJ]

Chevron hits oil in Angola -- U.S. oil major Chevron, along with its affiliate Cabinda Gulf Oil Company, made a discovery of natural gas and oil offshore Angola. The discovery was made in Block O, which produced an average of 344,000 barrels of liquids per day as of 2008. [Source: Chevron, Rigzone]

Apache's natural gas supply finds a home with Kitimat -- Houston-based Apache Corp. will supply liquefied natural gas to Asia through Kitimat LNG's proposed export terminal in Canada. The agreement provides an outlet for Apache, which has recently said it could drill as many as 3,000 wells in British Columbia with the potential to produce 10 billion cubic feet of gas each. [Source: Kitimat LNG, WSJ]