AUSTRALIA: Santos leads consortium in A$185 m exploration programme off Victoria and Tasmania

A consortium led by Australia’s largest net gas producer, Santos Limited is to undertake one of the biggest oil exploration programmes in southern Australia. The total programme, costing up to A$185 million over the next six years, will focus on four new blocks, extending from south of Portland in Victoria to the northwest corner of...

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ENVIRONMENT: IEA sees 1.4 billion people still without electricity in 30 years

PARIS (AFX) – The International Energy Agency said 1.6 billion people, or more than a quarter of the earth’s population, have no access to electricity and that 1.4 billion will still be without it in 30 years unless something radical is done. IEA director Robert Priddle said 2.4 billion people rely on primitive biomass for...

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AUSTRALIA: AGL Light FY core results in line with company expectations

SYDNEY (AFX-ASIA) – Australian Gas Light Co Ltd (AGL) managing director Greg Martin said its strong core energy businesses delivered results that were in line with company expectations. AGL posted a year to June 2002 net profit of A$192.1 million, up 66.5% from a year earlier. (US$1=A$1.8). “The core businesses of AGL performed well during...

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PHILIPPINES: PNOC-EDC shortlists 7 local/foreign banks for IPO financial advisor

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – PNOC-Energy Development Corp chairman and president Sergio Apostol said the company has shortlisted at least seven local and foreign banks, one of which will be chosen as financial advisor for the company’s planned IPO. PNOC-EDC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of state-owned Philippine National Oil Co, owns 10 geothermal steam fields across the country...

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SINGAPORE: Keppel Offshore and Marine units win S$72 million contracts

Subsidiaries of Singapore’s Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (Keppel O&M) have clinched contracts worth a total of S$72 million from repeat customers. (US$1=S$1.75). Keppel O&M is a subsidiary of engineering group Keppel Corp. In a statement, it said that three of the contracts worth a total of more than S$50 million are for the upgrades...

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MALAYSIA: Esso Malaysia Berhad reports lower second quarter earnings

Esso Malaysia Berhad (EMB), a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil, has reported a 40% drop in after-tax profit to RM3 million for the second quarter compared with RM5 million for the same quarter last year. (US$1=RM3.8). Year-to-date after tax profit was RM13 million, compared to an after tax profit of RM27 million last year. In a...

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SINGAPORE: Manufacturing output grew 17.8% in July, petrochemicals up by 33%

Singapore’s manufacturing output grew 17.8% in July from year-ago level as the country continued to climb out of its worst recession. The Economic Development Board said that for the first seven months, the country’s cumulative output grew by 6.4% over the same period last year. The chemicals cluster — comprising oil, petrochemicals and chemicals —...

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CHINA: CLP’s increasing overseas power asset investments could affect ratings – S&P

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – Standard & Poor’s said CLP Holdings Ltd’s increasing investment in higher risk overseas power generating assets could ultimately affect its ratings. However, it said the recent investment in the 600 MW Anshun II Power project in Guizhou, China will not have an immediate impact on either CLP’s rating or outlook due...

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PEOPLE: Personnel changes in the energy industry

Societe Generale has transferred oil trader Franck-Eric Fischer from its Singapore office to New York. He has been replaced by Guilem Fesquet from Paris. Jonathan O’Connor has left the energy trading team in Singapore. The International Association of Independent Tanker Owners (Intertanko) has announced personnel changes affecting its Asian representative office and Latin American panel....

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SINGAPORE: Flowserve and Chemical Process Technology Centre sign S$1.3m MOU for equipment and traini

Flowserve has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Chemical Process Technology Centre (CPTC) to provide hardware, software, courseware and capability development to CPTC’s staff. The agreement, valued at S$1.3 million, marks both parties’ commitment to invest in human capital development for the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. (US$1=S$1.75). Flowserve will provide CPTC with a...

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INDONESIA: Medco Energi to buy PDA Labuan for US$6.3 million; to close deal by end-Oct

JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) – PT Medco Energi Internasional said it will acquire 100% of the shares in Petroleum Development Associates Asia LLC (PDA Labuan) for US$6.3 million (56 billion rupiah). Medco said the purchase will give it PDA Labuan’s 60% stake in the Lematang Block, in south Sumatra. The onshore oil and gas block contains one...

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INDONESIA: Investors in failed power project criticise court decision supporting Pertamina

Investors in Karaha Bodas Company (KBC) criticised a ruling released this week by an Indonesian court, declaring it illegitimate. Caithness Energy said the decision by the Central District Court of Jakarta, which annulled an international arbitral award granted to KBC as a result of a failed joint venture with Pertamina, Indonesia’s state oil and gas...

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AUSTRALIA: Joint Venture strikes more oil in Western Australia’s Carnavon Basin

An international joint venture has discovered additional oil reserves in the Carnarvon Basin in offshore Western Australia state. In a statement, one of the partners, Australia’s Tap Oil, said the South Simpson-1 well has intersected an eight metre gross, six metre nett oil column. It said: “The oil water contact is similar to that seen...

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COMPANY: ‘Friends of Earth’ names oil companies as contenders of mock award

Environmental group Friends of the Earth has named oil companies Shell, BP and ChevronTexaco among the leading contenders of its mock “2002 World Summit Greenwash Academy Awards”. The other “contenders” announced just before this week’s Earth Debate event in Johannesburg in South Africa include Monsanto, Novartis and Aventis. In a sarcastic statement, the group said:...

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INDONESIA: Pertamina welcomes Jakarta court decision in failed power project

The Central Jakarta District Court has set aside a $261 million award that Pertamina had been ordered to pay to former business partner Karaha Bodas Co. L.L.C. (KBC) in an arbitration in December of 2000. “This is important confirmation that the arbitration award was fundamentally flawed,” said Matthew D. Slater of the Washington, D.C., office...

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TAIWAN: Privatisation of Taipower, Chinese Petroleum Company to be accelerated

TAIPEI (AFX-ASIA) – A cabinet panel headed by Vice Premier Lin Hsin-i has proposed accelerating the privatisation of a number of state enterprises, the China Times reported, citing Commission of National Corp vice chairman CC Lu. Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) will be privatised by the end of 2005, two years ahead of schedule, Chinese Petroleum...

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CHINA: CLP unit to take 70% stake in 2.5 billion yuan Anshun II power project

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – CLP Holdings Ltd unit CLP Power China Ltd said it has agreed to take a 70% interest in joint venture set up to develop the 2.5 billion yuan 600 MW coal-fired Anshun II Power Project in Guizhou Province. (US$1=8.28 yuan). In a statement, CLP Power China said the joint venture, Guizhou...

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CHINA: Chiwan Petroleum Base H1 net profit, revenue down on lower drilling activity

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – Chiwan Petroleum Supply Base Co Ltd said lower offshore oil drilling activity in the east sector of the South China Sea led to a 3.4% drop in first half turnover to US$6 million and a 3.2% drop in net profit before extraordinary items to US$3.93 million. However, the company, which provides logistics...

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JAPAN: Osaka Gas, H Power sign fuel cell agreement

New Jersy-based, US H Power Corp, a leading fuel cell development company, said that it has entered into a licensing agreement with Osaka Gas Co., Ltd., a natural gas utility serving more than 6,000,000 customers in the Kansai area of Japan. H Power has the right to manufacture, integrate, use and improve upon Osaka Gas...

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AUSTRALIA: Black Rock Oil sells stake in Western Australian oil licence to Norwest Energy

LONDON (AFX) – Black Rock Oil & Gas PLC said it has signed a conditional agreement to sell its 7.5% interest in Licence WA-226P in Northern Perth Basin, Western Australia, to Norwest Energy NL. Norwest will pay via the issue of 12 million new shares at 10 Australian cents each and 3 million attached free...

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NEW ZEALAND: Natural Gas results show recovery in core operations, lower abnormals

SYDNEY (AFX-ASIA) – Natural Gas Corp Holdings Ltd, owned 66.05% by Australian Gas Light Co, said group financial results improved to a net profit of NZ$34.5 million in the year to June 2002 from a loss of NZ$301.6 million in the 2001 financial year due to improved performance of its core natural gas trading and...

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THAILAND: PTTEP, Advanced Info Service, EGAT rating outlooks revised to positive – S&P

BANGKOK (AFX-ASIA) – Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said it has revised its outlook on the long-term foreign currency ratings on three Thai corporates to positive from stable, in line with the outlook revision on Thailand’s sovereign ratings. At the same time, it said affirmed its BBB- foreign currency ratings on PTT Exploration and Production...

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MARKETS: US oil companies cut imports from Iraq by 80-90% since April Ð report

WASHINGTON (AFX) – US oil companies since April have slashed oil imports from Iraq by 80-90% because of Baghdad’s demand for kickbacks and cumbersome UN oil purchasing procedures, the Washington Post reported. The cutbacks, from one million barrels a day to between 100,000 and 200,000, equal about US$20 million a day and have cut into...

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INDIA: ONGC Videsh signs agreement for exploration blocks In Libya

India’s ONGC Videsh Ltd. (OVL), the wholly owned subsidiary of upstream Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd, has signed a farm-out agreement with Turkish Petroleum Overseas Company to acquire a 49% stake in two onshore oil and gas exploration blocks in Libya. One of the exploration blocks is located in the prolific Sirte Basin of...

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KOREA: Oil’s share of energy use to plunge below 50% this year

Oil is expected to account for less than half of Korea’s primary energy demand this year as liquefied natural gas use continues to surge ahead. According to the Korea Energy Economics Institute (KEEI), consumers are moving away from oil because of supply disruption fears, environmental concerns and the increasing viability of gas and availability from...

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