Energy Roundup: China Ups Acquisition Ante, Q-Cells Axes 500 Jobs, Chevron's New Toy, and More

(MoneyWatch)  China's insatiable energy resource appetite -- China's hunger for energy resources has boosted its spending on oil and mining acquisitions by at least half this year, despite growing concern and opposition in the U.S. and Australia. If China National Petroleum buys Repsol YPF's Argentine unit, the country's purchase of overseas commodity assets will reach $43 billion this year. [Source: Bloomberg]

Q-Cells suffers under global solar panel glut -- Solar cell maker Q-Cells, one of the largest in world, is cutting its workforce by about one-fifth in an effort to reduce production costs by 25 percent. The German company posted a net income loss of $995 million and has suffered, along with others in the industry, from a global credit crunch and a saturation of unused solar panels in the global market. [Source: Greentech Media]

Chevron launches next-gen ultra-deep drillship --Chevron's new ultra-deepwater drillship, which can drill wells in 12,000 feet of water to a total depth of 40,000 feet, surpasses limits of previous technology, according to the San Ramon, Calif.-based oil giant. The drillship will be used in the Gulf of Mexico to access an untested corner of its Tahiti field, where it already has the deepest producing well, a company spokesman said in an e-mail. [Source: Chevron]

Oil industry rift emerges over climate bill protests -- The American Petroleum Institute's push to recruit member companies to stage up to 22 "energy citizen" rallies protesting against climate legislation threatens to create a rift within the industry. Some API members including General Electric, Siemens and BP America also belong to U.S. Climate Action Partnership, which supports many of President Obama's environmental policies. [Source: FT]

Chesapeake waste wells shake things up -- Wells drilled by Chesapeake Energy through the Barnett Shale may have caused earthquakes in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Both wells were shut down after seismologists told executives with the Oklahoma City-based company that the center of some quakes lay near the base of one of the wells. [Source: Bloomberg]

Another round of stimulus cash up for grabs -- Competition is expected to heat up as renewable energy manufacturers vie for up to $2.3 billion in federal tax credits. Applications opened up Friday for the U.S. Department of Treasury and the Department of Energy joint stimulus program, which is offering up to 30 percent manufacturing tax credit to companies manufacturing advanced clean energy and emissions-reduction technologies. [Source: Greentech Media, Law 360]