JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) – State run gas distributor PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN) plans to sell US$100-150 million in bonds next month to partly finance its gas transmission projects that will cost around US$400 million, Kompas reported, citing company president Washington Mampe Parulian Simandjuntak. He said he expects the bonds will carry interest rates below 7.5%...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – ING has maintained its “buy” rating on Huaneng Power International Inc (SHA 600011; HK 0902; NYSE HNP) due to the company’s position as the only listed independent power producer (IPP) serving the industrialised eastern China region, which is driving electricity demand growth in the country. The investment bank said it has also...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China’s long-awaited launch of a national fuel tax to replace local road taxes has been delayed because of the volatility in international oil prices, Xie Xuren, head of the State Administration of Taxation said. Once the oil price reaches a certain level, a proper level, the tax will be introduced,” he told...

Dolphin Energy Limited has awarded three companies substantial construction and equipment contracts in Qatar for the Dolphin gas project. The awards cover engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts for both Dolphin Energy’s gas processing and compression plant at Qatar’s Ras Laffan and two offshore gas production platforms Ð as well as the supply of the...

LONDON (AFX) – Oil giant BP PLC said it has yet to decide whether to sell its 2.2% stake in China’s Sinopec Corp following the disposal of its 2% equity in PetroChina Co Ltd. “Clearly we keep all our assets under review, but we have made no decision to divest our stake in Sinopec,” a...

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – Hong Kong’s Titan (Holdings) Ltd (1192.HK) will form a US$120 million joint-venture to build the largest fuel-oil transport and storage facility in the Pearl River delta, the South China Morning Post reported, citing chairman Tsoi Tin Chun. The report said the oil services provider is hoping the joint-venture, in which it...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – ING Financial Markets said it is maintaining a ‘buy’ call on Manila Electric Company (Meralco) with ING Financial Markets said it is maintaining a ‘buy’ call on Manila Electric Company (Meralco) with 40 pesos for its B shares, as the company is seen benefiting from possible “political continuity,” given President Gloria Arroyo’s...

Japan’s JGC Corporation has been awarded a lump-sum contract by the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO) for the expansion of its refinery, including the construction of a new hydrocracking unit. JGC said it will provide design, procurement, construction management and commissioning assistance services. The contract is worth approximately US$430 million and completion is scheduled for end...

TIKRIT, Iraq (AFX) – Two foreign nationals working for a Halliburton Co contractor in Iraq were killed last week when gunmen attacked a convoy carrying military supplies near the northern town of Tikrit, the US military said. Major Josslyn Aberle, spokeswoman for the US Fourth Infantry Division in Tikrit said a US civilian and a...

LONDON (AFX) – Oil production by non-OPEC countries is expected to rise by 1.5 million barrels per day in 2004, although the number of new oil fields being discovered is on the decline, the Centre for Global Energy Studies said in a report. It said the growth would be conditional on Russian companies continuing to...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) rejected rumors that company president Ma Fucai will soon be sacked over the Chongqing gas blast, Shanghai Securities Times reported, citing CNPC spokesman Cao Zhengyan. Both Mr Ma and Ren Chuangjun, vice-president in charge of industrial safety, are likely to be sacked, the South China Morning Post...

Australian resources company BHP Billiton said it has achieved positive results from its drilling at the Zamzama East in a gas field in Pakistan’s Sindh province. Drilled to a depth of 4,051 metres, the well encountered a 36.3 metre net gas bearing Pab sandstone within a 61.3 metre gross gas column. The well flowed at...

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia (CLSA) has rated PetroChina Co Ltd (857.HK) a ‘buy’ with a 12-month target price at HK$4.75 share despite BP’s sale of a 2% stake in the oil giant last week. (US$1=HK$7.78). In a search note to investors, analyst Erwin Sanft said the disposal was part of BP’s...

Canadian upstream company Talisman Energy Inc. plans to spend a record C$2.35 billion on exploration and development in 2004 and has reconfirmed its annual production growth expectations of 5-10% per share through 2006. (US$1=C$1.3). The company estimates that production will average between 415,000-445,000 boe/d in 2004. Cash flow per share is expected to average between...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – The government has finished renegotiating all the power supply contracts of the National Power Corp (Napocor) with its independent power producers (IPPs), which resulted in nominal and present value savings of US$2.9 billion and US$1.03 billion respectively, Energy Secretary Vincent Perez said. Mr Perez made the announcement at last week’s joint news...

JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) – Coal miner PT Bumi Resources said it hopes to complete the acquisition of the remaining 20% stake in PT Arutmin Indonesia in the near future. The company is however is still uncertain about the divestment of its 51% stake in PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) due to difficulty in finding buyers, Bumi’s...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – BP PLC’s (NYSE BP) sale of its 2% stake in PetroChina Co Ltd (HK 0857; NYSE PTR) is based on its own investment evaluation and does not reflect negatively on the mainland’s leading oil company, analysts said. BP Jan 12 said it intends to sell its 2% stake in PetroChina — equivalent...

JGC Middle East, a subsidiary of Japan’s JGC engineering group, has been awarded a US$1.6 billion contract for design, procurement, construction and commissioning services of a large-scale gas processing plant in Ras Laffan in Qatar. The project is operated by Dolphin Energy Limited, a joint venture between the Abu Dhabi government (51%) France’s Total (24.5%)...

JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) – Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said that Indonesia would soon ratify the Kyoto Protocol. He announced the government’s impending decision to ratify the protocol during a written presentation before an international workshop on renewable energy sources, the report said. The ratification requires the government to submit the Kyoto Protocol...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – Huaneng Power International Inc (SHA 600011; HK 0902; HYSE HNP) said its power generation rose 27.3% last year to 90.91 billion kWh on the back of strong power demand and consumption nationwide. The figure includes the power generation of Shanxi Yushe Power Plant and Shandong Xindian Power Plant in November and December...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China’s crude oil imports increased 31.3% year-on-year to 91.12 million tons in 2003, and refined oil imports were up 38.8% at 28.24 million tons, the official International Business Daily reported, citing customs figures. The newspaper said China’s steel imports rose 51.8% year-on-year to 37.17 million tons last year, while auto imports were...

Australian resources company BHP Billiton said it has uncovered new oil reserves following the completion of drilling at the Puma-1 exploration in deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The well encountered approximately 500 feet of net oil pay in Miocene sandstones, and two subsequent sidetrack bores also encountered oil in reservoir intervals of a similar age. In...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – The Three Gorges Project is expected to generate more than 30 billion kWh of electricity in 2004, compared with that of 8.6 billion kWh a year earlier, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a source from China Three Gorges Project Corp. The news agency quoted the source as saying the project will put...

China’s CNOOC Limited (NYSE: CEO, SEHK: 883) last week announced its business strategy and development plan for 2004. It has targeted net offshore production at between 118 and 123 million BOE (barrels of oil equivalent) compared with 108 million BOE last year. Its Indonesian unit is expected to report a net entitlement volume of approximately...

KUWAIT CITY (AFX-ASIA) – Work has stopped at Kuwait’s three oil refineries due to a fire at a power plant south of the capital, the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) said. “A fire broke out in one of the generators of Shuaiba South power plant, halting operations in the refineries of Mina Abdullah, Al-Ahmadi and Shuaiba,”...