MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – The Energy Department said it is now requiring oil firms and bulk suppliers to maintain a minimum in-country inventory of oil and oil products equivalent to 15-30 days of local supply. Oil firms previously maintained a minimum 50- to 60-day inventory, which normally included imported oil and oil products which were still...

>br< Woodside Energy (USA) Inc., a subsidiary of Australia's Woodside Energy Ltd., and Pioneer Natural Resources Company of the US have agreed to a two-year joint exploration programme over the shallow-water Texas Shelf region of the Gulf of Mexico. Woodside has taken a 50% interest in 47 offshore exploration blocks operated by Pioneer, an exploration...

Norway’s engineering firm Aker Kvaerner has reported achieving a record 5 million safe manhours on its construction projects throughout China. Aker Kvaerner’s China operations have executed over ten major projects in various locations on the mainland, for major international companies such as Rohm & Haas, GE Plastics, Roche, BASF and DuPont. “Strong results within health,...

NEW DELHI (AFX) – The cabinet has cleared the sale of Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Limited (HPCL), privatisation minister Arun Shourie said. He told reporters that 35.2% of BPCL willd be sold to domestic and overseas investors through equity issues. He said 5% will be offloaded to employees with the government retaining...

Australia’s North West Shelf LNG Venture last week announced the signing of a long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) sale and purchase agreement with Japan’s Shizuoka Gas Co., Ltd. In a statement, the venture said: “Yearly volumes will vary over the term of the 24-year contract, peaking at 135,000 tonnes of LNG a year. First deliveries...

HANOI (AFX-ASIA) – PetroVietnam said it plans to raise its gas production by 70% this year to 3.7 billion cubic metres as a result of its involvement in a BP PLC-led project to exploit offshore gas fields. Vu Khanh Truong, head of adminstration at the state-owned oil and gas company, said November’s inauguration of a...

MILAN (AFX) – Edison SpA said its engineering unit Tecnimont has won a contract worth about 220 mln usd from CSPC, a joint venture between China National Offshore Oil Corp and Shell Nanhai BV, to build a polyolefin production complex. Tecnimont will build three production units to manufacture 250,000 tonnes a year of low-density polyethylene,...

The Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT) is reviewing the wharfage on transhipment of oil traffic through the Indian port of Vizag. Local news report said the review has become necessary as a result of Vaizag’s loss of traffic to the neighbouring ports of Kakinada and Kolkata. Kolkata has started handling huge crude carriers, even ultra large...

Here’s another reason not to invade Iraq: oil. As talks intensify about a US military attack on Iraq, oil prices briefly broke through the US$35/barrel barrier late last month, and could rise further in the coming weeks. Former Saudi Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani has warned of crude prices hitting US$100 a barrel if...

Qatar General Petroleum Corporation has applied again to India’s Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) for a licence to jointly set up an airline company with two Indian partners, according to local news reports. They are Great Eastern Shipping Company Ltd (Gesco) and UB Air Private Ltd of the United Breweries group. Last April, Qatar Petroleum...

WASHINGTON (AFX) – President George Bush is watching world oil markets for the possibility that the US may need to tap its emergency crude oil reserves in the event of supply disruptions, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said. “We continue to monitor that on a regular basis,” Mr Fleischer told reporters when asked if the...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc is among six to seven groups prequalified to bid for Subic Bay Freeport’s power distribution lines, executive vice president and chief operating officer Erramon Abotiz said. The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority is set to bid out the power lines to a private franchise holder by next month. “We’re...

TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) – Nippon Oil Corp and Idemitsu Kosan Co Ltd will start sharing oil tanks in Okinawa in spring 2004, as part of their business alliance, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported, without citing sources. The two will jointly use Idemitsu’s tanks, while a tank facility of Nippon Oil on the island will be closed,...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – Manila Electric B shares have been boosted by the Philippines Energy Department’s advisory that Meralco will raise power rates in February by 0.13 pesos per kilowatthour to offset higher purchased power costs, dealers said. (US$1=52 pesos). “This is probably an initial reaction to that advisory. But we are still unconvinced if this...

WASHINGTON (AFX) – The US military will probably rule Iraq for several months after a possible war, with the chief mission of protecting the country’s oil fields and preventing rival factions from tearing the country apart, The Washington Post reported. Citing an almost finished government blueprint, yet to be presented to President George Bush, the...

SYDNEY (AFX-ASIA) Ð Shares of Woodside Petroleum Ltd have been trading lower since analysts cut their earnings forecasts after the company released a lower-than-expected fourth quarter production and sales report last week. Woodside said fourth-quarter sales fell 5.5% from the year earlier to A$554.6 million, while 2002 sales were down 6.4% at A$2.2405 billion, with...

The output of Singapore’s oil, petrochemicals and chemicals industries grew by seven percent to S$31.2 billion last year. (US$1=S$1.73). Collectively known as the chemical sector, the industries reported value-added (VA) growth by 22% to S$4.9 billion, said the Economic Development Board. It said: “The petroleum industry remains a pillar of the chemicals cluster. Output Éwas...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it has approved a rupee-denominated loan of US$62 million for Tala-Delhi Transmission Ltd, India’s first public-private partnership in power transmission. The joint venture company will construct power transmission lines from Siliguri in West Bengal to Mandaula near New Delhi, the ADB said in a statement here....

Falling crude imports into the US are leading lower crude oil inventories, which in turn is leading to declining refinery throughputs, said the US Department of Energy for its latest report to January 17. The drop in crude imports is caused mostly by reduced Venezuelan imports as a result of on-going domestic political strife. Crude...

Norwegian oilfield services Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS) has announced that it has agreed to sell its Atlantis unit to China National Chemicals Import & Export Corporation (Sinochem) for up to US$105 million. The deal, once thought to be worth US$200 million, is expected to be completed by February 20. In a statement, PGS said: “The gross...

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) Ð China’s Sinopec has been trading lower over the past week on continued consolidation, although its business prospect has remained strong, as evidenced by its production data for 2002, dealers said. A dealer from a local brokerage said Sinopect was consolidating from its recent gains, but its business prospects remain positive. “It’s...

Denmark’s HEMPEL Group, a leading global independent producer of protective coatings for marine and industrial applications, will invest RM22.4 million in its new plant in Kluang town in Malaysia’s Johor state. (US$1=RM3.8). The continuing prospective growth of key industries including the oil and gas, petrochemical and steel structures exposed in a heavy industrial environment and...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – Tenaga Nasional Bhd will buy two turbines worth RM720 million to increase the capacity of its Sultan Mahmud Kenyir power plant in Terengganu by 300 megawatts, Berita Harian reported, citing chairman Awang Adek Hussin. Mr Awang said the installation of the turbines, which is expected to be completed by end-2007, will...

Esso Australia Resources Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of the US energy major, said it is selling off its interest in its oil and gas assets in waters off South Australia and Queensland states. Bidding will begin in the second quarter. Delhi Petroleum Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Esso, holds a 21% stake in...

JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) – BP Kangean expects to complete repairs to the pipeline connecting the Pagerungan gas field to the processing plant in Pagerungan, East Java by the end of this month, a BP official said. The official, Amir Hamsah, from the company’s public relations office, said repairs following the detection of a leak on Dec...