TOKYO (AFX) – The oil and gas consortium run by Sakhalin Energy Investment Co Ltd, a venture between Royal Dutch/Shell Group and Mitsui and Co and Mitsubishi Corp, will announce new sales contracts with Japan next year, a senior company executive said. “Sakhalin Energy will announce further Japanese contracts in 2004,” said the company’s commercial...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – Shenzhen Energy Investment Co Ltd (SZA 000027) said it posted a net profit of 201.31 million yuan in the third quarter, against 139.44 million yuan a year earlier, largely due to increased power sales. (US$1=8.27 yuan). The listed company said its Mawan power plant sold a total of 7.34 billion KWh in...

SYDNEY (AFX-ASIA) – CNOOC Ltd has signed a 1 bln aud agreement for a substantial equity stake in the Gorgon gas development off Western Australia which will see its parent China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) take a “significant volume” of liquid natural gas. In a statement, Gorgon said CNOOC will also assist Gorgon to...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – CNOOC’s A$1 billion deal to take a substantial equity stake in the Gorgon liquefied natural gas (LNG) project off Western Australia has very little downside for the energy firm, and beneficial synergy with US energy interests in the region, analysts told AFX-Asia. (US$1=A$1.45). “The purchase price is very attractive, and there is...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China National Offshore Oil Corp’s (CNOOC) deal to buy a stake in Australia’s Gorgon liquid natural gas (LNG) project will boost CNOOC’s upstream production growth with minimal exploration and marketing risks, HSBC oil and gas analyst Gordon Kwan said in a note to clients. “This project could be a potential source of...

TEHRAN (AFX) – Oil minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh was cited by state news agency IRNA as denying speculation that Iran is considering pulling out of OPEC. “Our membership of OPEC is in our national interest, and currently we are not pursuing any plans or discussions to get out of OPEC,” he was quoted as saying....

TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) – Electricity consumption in Japan increased 4.5% in September compared to the same month a year earlier, due to increased demand for cooling caused by higher-than-normal temperature during the month, the Federation of Electric Power Companies reported. It said 79.57 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) were generated and consumed. “Business results were up at...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – Salcon Power Corp said it is seeking to extend its 15-year power purchase contract with the government beyond its expiration in 2009. This is in exchange for the buy-out of Salcon’s contract to operate two land-based gas turbine units with a combined capacity of 54 megawatts by the government, through the National...

The Philippines’ Department of Energy (DOE) is prepared to “wait” for Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp to launch the initial public offering (IPO) of its shares. “The IPO (of Shell) can wait for the meantime,” Energy Secretary Vincent S. Perez said in recently. According to the Philippines Star, newly-appointed Shell country chairman Edgar Chua said the...

SINGAPORE (AFX-ASIA) – CSE Global Ltd said it has, through wholly-owned UK subsidiary CSE-Servelec Group Ltd, entered an agreement to fully-acquire TTC s.r.o., a company providing oil and gas pipeline management systems based in Slovakia. The purchase, from sellers Robert Hulak, Stefen Szabo, Juraj Gasparvoic, Marian Dudek and Jozef Partinek, will be for a minimum...

Sri Lanka’s Board of Investment (BOI) and SriMal Gas Lanka have signed an agreement to launch a US$100 million liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) project. The company was represented by executive chairman Krishasamy Ponnusamy, managing director Najmuddin Mahidi and director Chan Shi Min. SriMal Gas Lanka is the local company of Malaysian firm Subur Lincah Sdn...

The Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) said the Pakistani government can save $1 billion on the proposed gas pipeline into Iran if Tehran lays the pipeline from its fields up to Jiwani from where Pakistan carry it along its territory. According to the Jang news service, Munawar Baseer Ahmad, SSGC’s managing director, said he has...

SYDNEY (AFX-ASIA) – BHP Billiton said total first-quarter petroleum output fell 3% year-on-year on the back of a sharp decline in crude oil and condensate output owing to natural declines at key Australian fields. In its quarterly production report, the Anglo-Australian group said total petroleum output came in at 32 million barrels of oil equivalent,...

Swiftly-rising prices pushed deliveries of petroleum products one million barrels/day (b/d) lower than a week earlier, with the deepest losses 575,000 b/d (down 2%) for conventional gasoline, 365,000 b/d (-5%) for diesel and 225,000 b/d (-4%) for heating oil, 400,000 b/d. In a commentary last week, the French bank SG said the resulting steep increases...

SYDNEY (AFX-ASIA) – Origin Energy Ltd continues to expect to achieve its long-term earnings per share growth target of 10-15% in the current fiscal year, company chairman Kevin McCann said. “The performance in the first quarter has been encouraging,” he said in a copy of his AGM speech lodged with the stock exchange. “On this...

MADRID (AFX) – The reconstruction of Iraq cannot wait until the country has a sovereign government run by Iraqis, UN secretary general Kofi Annan said. “We all look forward to the earliest possible establishment of a sovereign Iraqi government, but the start of the reconstruction cannot be delayed until that day,” he said at last...

WASHINGTON (AFX) — As the United States is seeking billions of dollars from the international community to pay for the reconstruction of Iraq, Treasury Secretary John Snow called on American businesses to set up shop in the war-ravaged nation to aid the rebuilding. He acknowledged that Iraq is not secure, but said that those who...

Expo Gas Lanka Ltd has signed an agreement with Sri Lanka’s state Board of Investment (BOI) to distribute liquefied petroleum gas (gas) in the country. The company is a new joint venture owned by Malaysia’s Global Gas Alliance and Expo Lanka Commodities. Expo Gas Lanka will supply high quality gas in new quality steel cylinders...

China’s CNOOC Limited (NYSE: CEO; SEHK: 883) and the joint venture partners in Australia’s Gorgon gas project have signed an agreement which is expected to lead to what has been described as “one of the biggest liquefied natural gas deals (LNG) in history.” The agreement calls for the parties to ensure “a significant volume of...

US major ChevronTexaco Corp. said it has sold off subsidiary Texaco North Buzachi Inc. which holds a 65% interest in the North Buzachi oil and gas field located in northwest Kazakhstan, to the China National Petroleum Company International Limited (CNPC International Ltd.). Terms of the sale were not released. In a statement, Peter Robertson, ChevronTexaco’s...

LONDON (AFX) – Anglo-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch/Shell Group is unlikely to embark on a major acquisition to boost its gas business. At the same time, it also gave a bearish outlook on production, with the full-year figure seen falling by 1%. In a conference call, Judy Boynton, the group’s finance director, played down persistent...

HANOI (AFX-ASIA)- Laos has received formal notification from the French government that state-owned Electricite de France (EDF) has reversed its decision to withdraw from a controversial hydro-electric power project, officials said. Lao Minister for Industry and Handicrafts, Onneua Phommachanh was handed letters from French President Jacques Chirac and the utility’s international arm EDFI last week...

Singapore Petroleum Company (SPC) said it has swung back into the black in the third quarter with a S$12.1 million profit, thanks to improved refining margins and strong oil demand from the region. It reported a loss of S$2.2 million for the same quarter last year. (US$1=S$1.75). SPC, 49%-owned by Singapore’s conglomerate, Keppel Corp, said...

China’s CNOOC Limited (NYSE: CEO, SEHK: 883) said that Moody’s Investors Service (Moody’s) has upgraded its rating of the Company and the foreign currency long-term debt rating of subsidiary, CNOOC Finance (2002) Ltd, to A2 from Baa1. Moody’s also upgraded the issuer rating of the company’s parent – China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) from...

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – Shandong International Power Development Co Ltd (1071.HK) said in the first nine months of this year it generated 21.98 million megawatt-hour of electricity, up 3.31% year-on-year, due to relatively stable demand in Shandong province. It generated a total of 21.27 million mwh in the first three quarters of last year. It...