Asian Companies OVERVIEW
The energy and utilities industry is undergoing significant transformations across Asia, driven by technological advancements, policy changes, geopolitical shifts, and climate concerns. Each major country in the region has a distinct energy mix, reflecting economic priorities, energy security considerations, and environmental goals. The following is a summary of leading trends shaping the energy sector in Asia. The fact that Asia contains some of the world’s most populous nations, including China, India and Indonesia, drives activity in the region. At the same time, some Asian nations, such as Japan, lack substantial oil or gas reserves or production, leading such nations to be heavy importers while developing alternative energy resources such as nuclear generation and solar, wind or wave power. A few nations hold significant oil and gas reserves, such as the resources located offshore of Thailand.
1. Leading Energy Companies in Asia
Asia is home to some of the world's largest energy and utility companies. Notable players include:
= China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) – A state-owned giant responsible for much of China’s oil and gas production.
= PetroChina – A subsidiary of CNPC and the largest oil producer in China.
= China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) – Focused on refining and petrochemical production.
= Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) – The largest refining and marketing company in India.
= Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) – Operates the world’s largest refining complex in Jamnagar, India.
= Adani Green Energy, based in India, plans the world’s largest solar farm.
= Japan’s JERA – A leading LNG importer and power generator.
= Petronas (Malaysia) – A key global LNG player.
= Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) – The dominant power producer in South Korea.
= Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) – Manages electricity generation and distribution in Taiwan.
= Thailand’s PTT – Engaged in oil, gas, and petrochemicals.
2. Oil and Natural Gas Exploration & Production
Asia is heavily reliant on oil and gas imports due to limited domestic reserves. However, some countries, such as China, India, and Malaysia, have active exploration and production (E&P) activities, both domestically and through overseas investments.
= China is expanding its offshore exploration in the South China Sea and has large reserves of shale gas. However, shale oil and gas production may be hindered by lack of sufficient water sources for fracking.
= India is ramping up domestic exploration in the Krishna-Godavari Basin and Rajasthan to reduce reliance on imports.
= Malaysia and Indonesia continue to be key oil and gas producers, with deepwater projects attracting investment.
= Thailand and Vietnam are focusing on natural gas exploration, while they rely on natural gas for a large part of their electric power generation.
3. LNG Imports and Infrastructure Expansion
Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) has becoming a vital in Asia’s energy mix, with growing demand driven by coal-to-gas switching policies and increasing electricity demand.
= China is the largest LNG importer in the world.
= Japan remains heavily dependent on LNG for power generation, as part of its post-Fukushima nuclear reactor disaster energy strategy. (However, Japan has been restarting Fukushima reactors where possible.)
= India plans to expand its LNG import terminals to support a target of increasing natural gas usage from about 6% during 2024 to as much as 15% of its energy mix by 2030.
= South Korea and Taiwan are boosting LNG purchases to meet significant electricity production demands.
= Singapore has become a major LNG trading hub in Asia.
= The Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam are increasing LNG imports, when needed, to counter declining domestic gas production. The Philippines began receiving LNG imports at its new terminals during 2023.
4. Coal-Fired Power and Its Possible Long-Term Decline
Coal remains a significant power source in Asia, but its role creates environmental concerns and significant air pollution problems.
= China and India are still the world’s largest coal consumers. At the same time, both nations are investing heavily in solar power and nuclear power. The challenge is that the economies of these nations have been expanding quickly that they rely to a very large extent on coal-fired generation plants that are relatively inexpensive to operate and easy to construct and bring online. Air pollution problems and growing capabilities of other power sources should eventually lead to a decline in coal, but this will be a very long-term transition.
= Japan and South Korea hope to gradually phase out coal and shifting to renewables and LNG. Here again, this is a very long-term transition.
= Southeast Asian nations (Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia) are also candidates for reduction in coal power over time. As of early 2025, for example, the Philippines was generating over 55% of its electricity via coal.
5. Petroleum Refining and Petrochemicals
Asia has some of the largest refining capacities in the world, led by:
= China – This nation is expanding refining and petrochemical (including plastics) capacity, moving toward higher-value petrochemical products. China’s manufacturing sector is a major user of chemical and plastics products. Massive investments in new petrochemicals production facilities have pushed the country from a major importer of chemicals to a significant exporter.
= India – Home is to Reliance’s Jamnagar refinery, one of the largest in the world.
= South Korea and Japan – Both of these highly industrialized nations are major refining hubs, with an emphasis on petrochemicals to support their massive manufacturing industries.
= Singapore – This nation is a regional refined products (including chemicals and plastics) and trading and transportation hub.
= Malaysia and Thailand – are focusing on refining operations for high-value petrochemicals that can support their manufacturing industries, such as car manufacturing in Thailand and electronics manufacturing in Malaysia.
6. Nuclear Power Expansion
While new nuclear power generation plants have been curtailed to a large extent in the U.S. and EU, Asian nations have a deep interest in nuclear and are making large investments in research, engineering and new facilities.
= China has the world’s largest nuclear power expansion plans, targeting a significant portion of its total electricity to come from nuclear by 2035. Dozens of nuclear generation plants, based on several types of advanced technologies, are in planning or construction phases. Eventually, nuclear may enable China to reduce its reliance on dirty coal-fired electric generation plants.
= India is building or planning advanced nuclear reactors, including the possible use of advanced, thorium-based reactors.
= South Korea and Japan are boosting nuclear power to ensure grid stability. Korea’s largest engineering and construction firms have become world-class leaders in the design and construction of nuclear plants. Japan owns very significant nuclear plant technologies. In addition, Japan has restarted, where possible, nuclear reactors that were involved in the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi generation facility accident, after making very serious safety upgrades.
7. Renewable Energy: Solar, Wind and Hydro
Asia is leading the global renewable energy expansion, driven by government support, a massive solar manufacturing and battery base in China, declining costs, and technological advancements.
= China is a global leader in solar and wind energy, installing a significant portion of the world’s new installed capacity annually.
= China is planning a massive new hydroelectric dam. The projected investment will build the world’s largest hydroelectric facility over the Yarlung Tsangpo River, in the Tibet autonomous region. This plan is creating high levels of protests from environmentalists and local citizens. This facility will be roughly three times the output of the current, immense Three Gorges Dam in China, which is currently the world’s largest.
= India’s Adani Green Energy (AGEL) plans construction of the world’s largest solar farm (the Khavda RE) over the mid-term, utilizing domestically manufactured solar cells. The long-term plan is to have capacity to generate enough power for 16.1 million homes (30 GW).
= Japan and South Korea may expand offshore wind projects and floating solar farms.
= Southeast Asian countries (Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia) are scaling up solar and wind projects. The nation of the Philipines is fortunate to have significant levels of highly cost-effective, clean hydropower and geothermal power.
8. Energy Storage and Grid Modernization
Storage capacity for electricity generated by solar and wind power is a major focus worldwide. Asia is investing heavily in battery storage and, to some extent, smart grid technologies. The fact that China is a world-leading battery manufacturer is vital in this regard.
= China and South Korea dominate battery manufacturing, supplying batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage systems to customers worldwide.
= Japan’s high-tech research and manufacturing industry is deeply involved in smart grid and power management systems.
= India hopes to install sophisticated grid management and storage systems along with its new solar farms, such as Khavda RE.
9. Challenges & Energy Security Concerns
= Rising energy costs due to the high cost of importing and processing LNG, global supply chain disruptions and geopolitical risks (e.g., the Russia-Ukraine war).
= Energy shortages, air pollution and temporary blackouts in many nations due to coal-fired plants, demand surges, generating plant down time.
= Significant need for electric grid investments and upgrades in order to support wind and solar generation facilities.
= Dependence on fossil fuel imports, including LNG, refined products and feedstocks.
= Environmental concerns and protests against coal, nuclear, and large hydro projects.
10. Business Opportunities in the Asian Energy Market
Several key opportunities exist for investors and energy companies:
= Renewable energy development, engineering and manufacturing– Solar, wind, and hydro projects.
= Battery storage and EVs – High growth in demand for lithium-ion batteries and newer, advanced battery technologies.
= Green hydrogen production – Japan, South Korea, and China are investing in hydrogen fuel technologies including fuel cell technologies.
= Smart grids and AI-driven energy management – Enhancing efficiency in electricity distribution and storage.
= Offshore and onshore LNG terminals – including growth in floating LNG (FLNG) infrastructure.
= Where conditions are appropriate, development of wave power, geothermal and hydropower generation plants.
