Cougar Energy Limited advises that it is establishing an office in Beijing to grow its Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) projects in China and across the Asian region.

The Company's Beijing office will be headed up by Mr Kevin Garner, who has been appointed as General Manager Asia from 1 June 2011, responsible primarily for technical and operational aspects of executing the UCG projects in conjunction with Cougar Energy's technology provider, Ergo Exergy Technologies, Inc.

Mr Garner is a Chartered Engineer with over 25 years industry experience in the coal and clean energy sectors. A resident in China since 2003, he has worked for the international consulting firm Wardell Armstrong and clean energy developers SINO Gas and Energy (ASX: SEH) and Sindicatum Carbon Capital. His experience and contacts also extend to Indonesia and Mongolia. Mr Garner's past experience includes the undertaking of a number of project assignments in the UCG field, including an assessment of UCG technologies for transfer to China and a review of the Spanish trial undertaken in Europe in the late 1990's. This background is highly compatible with Cougar Energy's vision for the commercial development of UCG technology in the Asian region. Mr Garner will soon appoint further technical and administrative staff to the Beijing office.

Cougar Energy is also pleased to announce the appointment of Ms Alyssa Liao as Commercial Advisor to the Company. Ms. Liao has broad experience in China-market entry and strategy consulting, having opened and led Natexis Pramex Asia's Shanghai office. More recently, she has been a private banker with UBS and then HSBC focused on Chinese ultra-High Net Worth clients, managing relationships with Chinese entrepreneurs and executives.

Ms. Liao is fluent in English, Mandarin and French, and holds an MBA from HEC School of Management in Paris, France. She will be based in Shanghai and will work with Mr Garner to facilitate the joint venture arrangements with Cougar Energy's present and future business partners in China and the region.

Dr Len Walker, Managing Director of Cougar Energy commented: 'The establishment of this local technical and commercial presence is essential in building and maintaining strong working relationships with our partners and government authorities in China. It is vital to ensure project success and a key to all aspects of risk management. This is an important milestone in our focus to commercialise UCG in Asia.'

'China will continue to rely on coal as its major source of energy generation for several decades. Cougar Energy and its local Chinese partners are positioning themselves to meet the requirements of provincial governments for lower emissions solutions in new coal projects' said Dr Walker.

Cougar Energy is currently awaiting the registration of its first project in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Once this is received, work will commence shortly thereafter on site characterisation work and building the pilot test plant on site. The Company continues to assess potential projects in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region (with partner Limitless International Holdings Pty Ltd) and in Mongolia and Indonesia.

Tags: Cougar Energy Limited