Access to modern energy is incomplete. With a total population of nearly 640 million, an estimated 65 million people remain without electricity and 250 million are reliant on solid biomass as a cooking fuel. Investment in upstream oil and gas has been hit by lower prices since 2014 and the region faces a dwindling position as a gas exporter, and a rising dependency on imported oil.

WNN - Asian countries continue to dominate the market for new nuclear build, according to a newly-released report from the World Nuclear Association. Of the 10 new nuclear power reactors that started up worldwide in 2016, eight were located in Asia.

The Japanese government will offer $10 billion to support firms bidding to build liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure around Asia, the Nikkei business daily said on Monday.

A fresh wave of North American crude cargoes could reach the Far East in the coming months, with an estimated 6 million barrels or more of light sweet US grades loading in November expected to find a home in Asia as regional end-users step up efforts to find cheaper feedstocks amid sustained strength in the Middle Eastern crude complex, Asian trade sources said.

World Bank - Improved global growth prospects and continued strong domestic demand underpin a positive outlook for the developing economies of East Asia and the Pacific. Stronger growth in advanced economies, a moderate recovery in commodity prices, and a recovery in global trade growth, are the favorable external factors that will support the economies of developing East Asia and Pacific to expand by 6.4 percent for 2017.

We expect global demand to increase by nearly 16 million barrels a day until 2040 – at which time it could reach around 111 million barrels a day. A remarkable 70% of this growth is forecast to come from emerging and developing economies in Asia.

IMF - When we think about Asia’s economic future, we know that this future is being built on strong foundations—on the richness and diversity of its cultures, on the incredible energy and ingenuity of the people who have changed the world by transforming their own economies. China and India have been driving the greatest poverty reduction in human history by creating the world’s largest middle classes. In a single generation, Vietnam has moved from being one of the world’s poorest nations to being a middle-income country.

The acquisition of Russia’s Eurasia Drilling Co (EDC) by U.S. oilfield services giant Schlumberger (SLB.N) has been held up by U.S. sanctions on Russia, Russian Deputy PM Arkady Dvorkovich was quoted as saying by local news services.

"I warmly welcome Schlumberger as our majority shareholder. It builds on our strategic alliance with Schlumberger since 2011 and our mutually beneficial business relationship since 2007. The combination of the technology knowhow and operational expertise of Schlumberger coupled to the financial strength of the Investment Funds, brings significant benefits to our customers and the Russian conventional land drilling market."

China’s investment is transforming its smaller Southeast Asian neighbors like never before while helping turn Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar into bigger destinations for its exports.