Thailand's long-delayed mega project to cut a 102-km shipping canal through the Isthmus of Kra in the south to serve as an alternative shipping route to the Malacca Straits has been revived. The canal is estimated to cost 810 billion baht ($17.95 billion).

US Bechtel International and Turkey's Botas have begun detailed engineering work for the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. This final stage of engineering work, estimated to cost about $150 million, will be carried out in all three countries simultaneously. Bechtel will carry out the work in Azerbaijan and Georgia and Botas - in Turkey.

The Libyan government is reported to have decided to withdraw its $3.5 billion lawsuit against the insolvent Dong Ah Construction Industries and Korea Express, in a dispute arising from the two companies' joint execution of the manmade river projects in the north African country. The lawsuit was filed at a court in Tripoli last year.

Work stalls on Indian power project US firm CMS Energy Corp's LNG-based power project at Ennore in southern India is now completely stalled for want of a credit support mechanism from the Indian government, according to Rodney Boulanger, CMS Generation Company's president.