CHINA: Harbin Power may sell stakes to GE, Alstom, Mitsubishi Heavy – report

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – Harbin Power Equipment Co Ltd has begun talks on selling an equity stake to General Electric, France’s Alstom and Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to bolster the Chinese company’s access to advanced technology and management techniques, the Financial Times reported, citing government officials and company executives. Gu Huanmin, assistant governor of Heilongjiang province,...

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RUSSIA: Transneft raises Japanese pipeline cost estimate to US$13 billion

MOSCOW (AFX) – Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft has raised the estimated cost of building a 4,200 kilometre pipeline from eastern Siberia via Asia-Pacific to Japan to US$13 billion from US$10 billion previously, Interfax news agency reported, citing chairman Simon Vainshtock. He also said the participation of foreign investors in the construction of pipelines in Russia...

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CHINA: State Environmental Protection Administration plan to reduce automotive emissions in China

German chemicals giant BASF said it has agreed with the Chinese Research Academy for Environmental Sciences (CRAES) to establish a strategic alliance in the fuels sector, with the aim of jointly building an engine test laboratory in Beijing. The laboratory will employ internationally standardised test procedures. BASF said: “The test results obtained with the new...

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PHILIPPINES: Petron signs US$100 million loan deal for refinery upgrade

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – Petron Corp said it has signed a five-year US$100 million loan deal with Nordeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale, Citigroup, ING Bank and Saudi American Bank, to finance projects in connection with the oil refiner’s compliance with the Clean Air Act. The company’s projects include the construction of a hydrotreater and isomerisation plants at its...

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THAILAND: Tax breaks mulled for energy savers

The government is considering exempting energy-conscious factories from corporate income tax. The move would be an incentive for factories that follow the government’s energy-saving campaign, Energy Minister Prommin Lertsuridej told The Nation newspaper. According to the newspaper, Mr Prommin said the government might exempt energy-conscious factories from corporate income tax for a few years and...

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MALAYSIA: Oilcorp bid for RM320 million worth of offshore construction projects

Engineering and construction company Oilcorp Bhd has bid for offshore construction projects locally and overseas worth a total of RM320 million to replenish its order book, said its group managing director Sunny Ng Huat Tian. (US$1=RM3.8). About RM200 million worth of the targeted projects are in the Middle East while the remaining were local projects,...

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JAPAN: Tokyo complains about China gas project

Tokyo has complained to Beijing that the latter’s construction of a gas production facility in the East China Sea could violate Japanese exclusive economic zone. Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Shoichi Nakagawa told reporters recently that a Chinese consortium has installed drilling facility, oil/gas separation equipment, a heliport and a housing facility in the area...

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AUSTRALIA: Government announces A$24.6 million grant for bio-fuels industry

The Australian government said it has offered grants totalling A$24.6 million to five biofuels projects in four states under the first round of its Biofuels Capital Grants Programme. (US$1=A$1.45). The one-off capital grants will fund projects that were competitively judged by Invest Australia to be the best prepared for commercial operation. Of the 41 applications...

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INDONESIA: Government decides not to hike fuel prices during presidential polls

JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) – The government has decided not to increase fuel prices during the upcoming presidential elections in a bid to maintain political stability, Detik.com reported, citing vice president Hamzah Haz. He said economic ministers have come to such a decision at a meeting in Bali. He did not say when the meeting was held....

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MARKETS: ESAI says crude prices will fall through end of 2004

US energy consulting firm ESAI says crude oil prices will fall through the rest of 2004. It noted that worries over the flow of oil from Iraq or Saudi Arabia have kept a premium on oil prices. However, in the first edition of its new publication the “Global Crude Oil Outlook”, the Boston-based firm said...

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MALAYSIA: PETRA in venture with two companies to service oil field development

Malaysian integrated oilfield services provider Petra Perdana Bhd has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with two companies to provide re-development services for mature oil and gas fields in the country. The two companies are Wood Group Engineering (North Sea) Ltd, a subsidiary of UK’s John Wood Group plc and Weatherford (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd of...

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TAIWAN: CPC reports gas field find

Taiwan’s state Chinese Petroleum Corp (CPC) said it has found 400 million cubic meters of natural gas with a production value of NT$2.5 billion (US$74.47 million) in Guantien, Tainan county. CPC vice executive director Lu Ming-ta said that Guantien, the hometown of the country’s President Chen Shui-bian, was known to have natural gas deposits from...

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ASIA: ADB says region in better position to weather oil price increases

Asia is better prepared to face oil price increases compared to previous oil shocks, thanks to more flexible exchange rates, higher international reserves, and moderate inflation since the 1997 crisis, said the Asian Development Bank (ADB). In a report entitled “Higher Oil Prices: Asian Perspectives and Implications for 2004-2005”, ADB economist Cyn-Young Park said that...

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JAPAN: Mitsubishi Heavy, Matrix Service to build six LNG tanks for Cheniere Energy

TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) – Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd (MHI), Japan’s largest heavy machinery manufacturer, said it and Matrix Service Co Inc were selected by Cheniere Energy Inc of the US to build six LNG storage tanks at two LNG receiving terminals there. “The amount of order for these facilities is expected to be about 30 billion...

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CHINA: CPI under pressure, government macro control will continue – NDRC

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China’s top economic planning body warned that consumer prices, which rose at their highest rate in seven years in May, are set to climb further as the impact of costlier production materials and food work their way through the economy. Economists expect the consumer price index, which rose 4.4% in May year-on-year,...

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CHINA: Auditor blames former State Power executives for huge losses, fraud

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – Former executives at now defunct electric power giant State Power Corp hid 7.8 billion yuan in profits over a five-year period and caused more than 11 billion yuan of losses through fraud and mismanagement, the nation’s audit watchdog said. (US$1=8.27 yuan). “Wrong decisions by management caused huge losses for the firm, and...

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INDIA: ONGC reports lower net profit for FY2003 on higher subsidy payout

India’s state oil company ONGC said its net profit fell to Rs 86.64 billion for year ended March 31 2004 from Rs 105.29 billion the previous year. (US$1=Rs46). The company blamed the decline on a higher payout for fuel subsidies amounting to Rs 26.9 billion, which also caused gross sales revenue to fall from Rs...

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MALAYSIA: Oilcorp bids for RM320 million overseas, local projects

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – Oil and gas company, Oilcorp Bhd is bidding for overseas and local offshore construction projects worth RM320 million to replenish its order book, national news agency Bernama reported, quoting the company’s Group Managing Director Sunny Ng Huat Tian as saying. (US$1=RM3.8) He said that it has put in bids for RM200...

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INDONESIA: Plans to use less imported crude oil to reduce fuel subsidies

The Indonesian government is considering using more domestic crude oil in a bid to lower the cost of fuel subsidies, said Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro, who announced the establishment of a team to review the plan. “If we can lower production costs, the fuel subsidy can be reduced,” he told the...

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INDONESIA: Petronas, BP to enter fuels market

Malaysia’s state oil company Petronas and major BP could soon be awarded a temporary permit to sell fuels in Indonesia’s domestic market. Erie Soedarmo, downstream oil and gas chief at the energy ministry, told the Jakarta Post that the companies would be able to sell the entire range of fuel products. “We expect principal approvals...

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CHINA: Updates on power companies Chongqing Three Gorges, Huaneng, Harbin

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – Chongqing Three Gorges Water Conservancy and Electric Power Co Ltd (SHA 600116) expects to book an additional 700,000 yuan in profit this year due to hike in electricity price. (US$1=8.27 yuan). The electricity provider also forecast that beginning next year its profit would rise by an additional 3.6 million yuan annually, also...

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EMISSIONS: BASF supports World Bank’s climate protection fundEMISSIONS: BASF supports World Bank’s c

Germany’s BASF said it is participating in the World Bank’s Community Development Carbon Fund (CDCF), which is financing development aid projects totaling US$40 million. At a joint press conference in Frankfurt, BASF and the World Bank presented the first round of successful projects. The CDFC is a pilot project to test the mechanisms of the...

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CHINA: COSCO to more than double oil transport capacity

China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company (COSCO), the country’s biggest shipping company, said it plans to expand its crude oil fleet to nearly 4 million deadweight tons (dwt) in three years from 1.94 million dwt now. The China Daily reported that COSCO’s expansion is aimed at establishing a long-term strategic partnership with Sinopec, China’s leading producer...

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CHINA: Aim to enlist foreign firms in developing natural gas

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China will work to open its natural gas sector to foreign investors in the long term to help meet growing demand and huge development costs, an official with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said. Bai Rongchun, director of the NDRC’s energy bureau, said that China would need to spend some...

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INDIA: Oil companies to get Rs 32 billion from higher product prices

India’s downstream oil companies will earn an extra Rs 32 billion after they were allowed to raise domestic oil prices by the country’s recently installed left-leaning government. (US$1=Rs46). The companies had been pressing for domestic prices to be raised in line with higher international prices. The Congress Party-led government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh conceded...

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