HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – HSBC Securities is maintaining its ‘buy’ rating on CNOOC Ltd with a six-month target price of HK$13.80 due to its attractive valuation and core strategy in developing its vast reserves in offshore China. (US$1=HK$7.87). In a note to clients, HSBC Securities analyst Gordon Kwan said the stock is trading at price-to-2002-estimated-earnings...

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – Sinopec Kantons Holdings Ltd said its sales fell 24.2% year-on-year in the six months to June to HK$2.449 billion mainly due to lower crude oil prices and a fall in the processing volume of refineries. (US$1=HK$7.87) In a statement releasing its interim results, the company said sales of crude oil amounted...

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – Xinao Gas Holdings Ltd chairman Wang Yusuo said the company posted net profit growth in the first half due to the higher number of contracted cities. The number of contracted cities has increased to 24 from 16 at the end of 2001, with total population coverage rising to over 6.5 million...

Natural Gas Corporation Holdings Limited (NGC) will divest its gas retail customers and electricity generation assets as it looks to consolidate its role in the New Zealand energy market. The decision were announced last month after a six-month review of the company’s business direction. CEO Phil James said: “Following NGC’s withdrawal from electricity retailing in...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – CBK Power Co Ltd, a joint venture between IMPSA of Argentina and Edison Mission Energy, remains committed to continue its US$486 million power project in the Philippines involving the rehabilitation and operation of the Caliraya-Botocan-Kalayaan generating facility. “Though we are really quite discouraged by several issues that have been floating in the...

ChevronTexaco’s vice chairman Glenn F. Tilton is leaving to become chairman, president and CEO of UAL Corporation, the parent company of United Airlines. “For more than three decades, Glenn Tilton provided outstanding leadership at Texaco and most recently at ChevronTexaco,” said David J. O’Reilly, chairman and CEO of ChevronTexaco. “He has played a major role...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – Sime Darby Bhd is interested in acquiring Tenaga Nasional Bhd’s 20 pct stake in Port Dickson Power (PDP), valued at about US$150 million, Sime Darby group chief executive Nik Mohamed Yaacob said. He said Sime Darby views the acquisition as an opportunity to increase its stake in Tenaga Nasional to 80%...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – The economy should be able to weather the current spike in crude oil prices provided they do not rise above 30 usd a barrel for any significant period, Economic Planning Secretary Dante Canlas said. “We’re maintaining the GDP target of 4 to 4.5% this year, even if we reach the worst case...

State Taiwan Power Co will soon invite companies to take part in a third round of bidding to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to its new Tatan thermal power plant. The company had cancelled two earlier two auctions to supply the power plant in Taoyuan County which is due to start up in 2005. Huang...

NEW DELHI (AFX-ASIA) Ð India’s new power minister Anant Geete said he wanted to restart production from collapsed US energy giant Enron Corp’s US$2.9 billion stalled power project in western India. “The Dabhol power project has been lying idle for over 18 months. We are discussing the matter with the Maharashtra state government and hope...

India’s Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) is planning to spend 320 million rupees (US$6.4 million) to build storage tanks at three locations in the South. Construction has begun on a US$2 million tank with a capacity to store 9 million litres of gasoline at Ramagundam in Andhra Pradesh state. The other two include a US$2...

State Indian Oil Corp (IOC) has received clearance from the Sri Lankan government to build a terminal for oil and oil products and retailing infrastructure. IOC chairman MS Ramachandran said he has received a letter of approval from the Sri Lankan government for the investment during a recent visit to the island state. He said...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) is considering taking a higher stake in a proposed naphtha cracker plant in the Philippines than the initially planned 20%, Bernama news agency reported, quoting the chairman of the Association of Petrochemical Manufacturers of the Philippines, Wilfredo Paras. Mr Paras said the decision will depend on a...

The activity for period chartering for contracts of 6 months and above is at about the same level as last year, when it was at a record high. However, Intertanko said the rates this year are much lower than the rates in 2001. “By just making a very crude comparison, we see that the average...

India’s crude oil production grew 7.5% to 11.011 mt during the April-July period, the first four months of the current financial year compared with 10.241 mt for the same period last year. Natural gas production stood at 2,660 million cubic metres in July, 6% higher than 2,515 million cubic metres in July 2001, said Bharat...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – The state-run Power Sector Asset and Liabilities Management Corp plans to raise US250 million from an issue of yen-denominated bonds with 18-year maturity, possibly in October, company president Edgardo del Fonso said. He said the yen bond issue may be held simultaneously with the earlier announced flotation of US$500 million worth of...

Australia’s energy company Origin Energy said it has completed its previously announced A$137 million acquisition of the electricity retail business of CitiPower from Cheung Kong Infrastructure (CKI) and Hong Kong Electric (HKE). (US$1=A$1.8). This follows the completion of the acquisition of CitiPower (initially consisting of electricity retail and distribution businesses) by Cheung Kong Infrastructure (CKI)...

Wong Heang Fine has joined SembCorp Industries’ subsidiary – SembCorp Engineers and Constructors (SembE&C) – as its president and CEO. SembCorp Industries is a Singapore-based engineering group with exposure to the oil, gas, power, petrochemical and marine industries. He was previously director of the infrastructure division at L&M Group Investments (LMGI) for two years where...

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – Harbin Power Equipment Co Ltd said net profit in the first half rose to 20.918 million yuan from 19.107 million yuan a year earlier, according to international accounting standards, with the rise largely fuelled by a strong performance at the company’s hydroelectric power operations. (US$1=8.28 yuan). The group said overall sales...

The Thai government delegation is at the Earth Summit now, and will bring good news with them that the cabinet has decided to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, the international agreement to address climate change, said Greenpeace. The government’s decision to ratify the protocol will be announced by the Thai negotiating team at the World Summit...

HANOI (AFX-ASIA) – Electricity of Vietnam Corp (EVN) and the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Corp (VNPT) have signed an infrastructure sharing agreement to cut costs, the companies said. The deal between the two state-owned monopolies, signed recently, will enable them to tap into each other’s electricity and communications networks and avoid replication, they said. VNPT...

Jet fuel portal JET-A.com has launched new features for its fuel ticketing module to collect fuel ticket data. ChevronTexaco Global Aviation will be among its first users. The company will start using these features when it integrates its product system interface and SAP system with JET-A.com’s fuel ticketing module. It will also utilise the direct...

SYDNEY (AFX-ASIA) – National Australia Bank Ltd was allegedly involved in a controversial US$400 million deal with Enron which could possibly lead to lawsuits against the bank in the future, The Age newspaper reported, citing legal evidence in two class action suits filed in the US. According to the newspaper, the NAB deal was given...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – The consortium led by Sime Darby Bhd has received a letter of intent from the government covering the main construction works for the Bakun hydroelectric dam project at a tender price of 1.788 billion ringgit, Bernama news agency reported, citing a member of the consortium. (US$1=3.8 ringgit). Edward & Sons Sdn...

Jet fuel portal operator JET-A.com said the user base for its purchase tendering module has added two of Japan’s leading oil companies, Japan Energy and Cosmo Oil Company, Ltd. Each subscription is for a one-year period starting October. The tendering module is designed to provide these oil companies with an efficient way to handle the...