KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – OSK Research said it has raised its fiscal 2003 and 2004 earnings forecast for Tenaga Nasional Bhd to take into account an improvement in its gas supply situation which affected its year to August earnings. The company announced sharply lower year to August net profit of 1.4 billion ringgit on sales...

US propane inventories fell sharply on increasingly cold weather in the upper Midwest region for the week to November 8. According to the Department of Energy, propane inventories dropped by nearly 2.7 million barrels to around 62 million barrels. It reported that the Midwest stock draw was exceptionally large — but within expectations — at...

CLP Power International Limited (CLP-PI), a wholly owned subsidiary of CLP Holdings Limited of Hong Kong, has reached agreement with Powergen UK plc to acquire all its remaining interest in power companies in three countries for a total of US$115 million. The companies are Gujarat Paguthan Energy Corporation Private Limited (GPEC), Yallourn Energy Pty Limited...

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) said it will allocate 13-14 billion yuan annually from 2003-2005 to develop its crude oil reserves in order to reach its production targets. (US$1=8.28 yuan). Speaking recently to analysts and reporters, vice president and financial controller Zhang Jiaren said Sinopec’s newly added reserves in the...

INTERTANKO has the launched its “Environmental Challenge” campaign to enhance the role of the shipping industry in environmental protection. INTERTANKO is the international association of tanker owners. The campaign was announced in Hongkong on November 6 by the association’s environmental committee chairman, Paolo d’Amico. Dr d’Amico said the campaign was aimed at “enhancing shipping’s role...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – Royal Dutch/Shell Group said it expects to award more than US$1 billion in contracts by the end of the year for its US$4.3 billion petrochemicals joint venture with China National Offshore Oil Corp. The boards of CNOOC and Shell Petrochemicals Co Ltd earlier gave the go-ahead for contruction of the complex in...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – UMW Holdings Bhd oil and gas division head Zulkifly Zakaria said his division has the potential to contribute 20-25% of group’s revenue from less than 10% currently, the New Straits Times reported. He added that UMW Holdings, through unit UMW Corp, will become a major player in the oil and gas...

The US Department of Energy is wondering if heating oil prices are headed sharply higher this winter on low inventory as temperatures start to fall in the coming weeks. With distillate fuel inventories nationally at 121.4 million barrels, which is below the normal range for this time of year, and natural gas prices consistently around...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – Standard & Poor’s said it cut its foreign currency credit rating on Manila Electric Co to BB from BB+, and the outlook to negative from stable. “The downgrade reflects growing concerns regarding the company’s weak financial position and short-term debt maturity profile. The negative outlook on the rating on Meralco suggests that...

Opening Ceremony of Offshore South East Asia (OSEA) 2002 on 29 October 2002 Your Excellencies, Distinguished guests, Ladies & gentlemen INTRODUCTION Good morning. I am delighted to be here for the opening ceremony of Offshore Southeast Asia 2002 (Offshore South East Asia Ð For upstream oil & gas industry comprising oil & gas exploration, drilling...

Norway’s largest energy production utility, Statkraft, has chosen FAME’s database technology as its core market database. New York-based FAME Information Services, Inc is a leading provider of data management and decision-support solutions for trading and risk management. Statkraft’s decision follows a lengthy and systematic evaluation of FAME’s technology to serve as their main database for...

BAKU (AFX) – ConocoPhillips said it has bought a 2.5% stake in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline currently under construction from BP PLC, the operator of the project, which after the deal now holds a 30.1% stake. Houston-based ConocoPhillips has an 8.3% stake in Kazakhstan’s massive Kashagan field and wants the option to export at...

TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) – Nippon Oil Corp said it has cut its current profit forecast for the six months to September to 19.5 billion yen from 24 billion projected previously as the company’s retail oil prices have failed to match the rising crude oil prices. (US$1=120 yen). The company said it now sees net loss at...

Brunei is preparing to become a signatory to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol. The country’s Department of Environment, Parks and Recreation will soon undertake a study to produce a national inventory of emissions of greenhouse gases by sources. The study will also look into the financial and technical...

One of China’s leading energy management service providers, Creative Energy Solutions Holdings Limited, has reported a 4.1% drop in pre-tax profits to RMB 10.219 million in the latest quarter to September 2002. Revenues rose 60% to RMB 28.759 million from the same period last year. (US$1=RMB 8.28). Chairman Shum Fong Chung said: “The continued growing...

NEW DELHI (AFX) – Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said poor countries struggling to feed their starving citizens should not be set the same targets as rich nations for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. “Developing countries do not have adequate resources to meet their basic human needs. Climate change mitigation will bring additional strain to the...

SINGAPORE (AFX-ASIA) Ð Malaysia’s state Petronas has expressed interest in an offshore natural gas exploration project off Mindoro island in the Philippines, state-run Philippine National Oil Co (PNOC) president Thelmo Cunanan said. Mr Cunanan said Petronas has sent a technical team to evaluate data already gathered on the potential field off Mindoro south of Manila....

Last month’s admission by US energy companies Dynegy and American Electric Power Co that their traders had provided inaccurate data to industry publications has revived the issue of how vulnerable these publications are to price manipulation. (This story was published in the hard copy November edition of EnergyAsia. For details, please check with Sales@EnergyAsia.com). Embattled...

Welcome Remarks delivered by Phongthep Thepkanjana Minister of Energy of Thailand at the 15th World LP Gas Forum 2002 Shangri-La Hotel, Bangkok Friday, 25 October 2002 It is indeed a great pleasure and privilege for me to address this forum and to welcome all distinguished delegates and participants to this 15th World LP Gas Forum....

JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) – BP Indonesia said the threat to production at its Pagerungan gas field has eased following information that initial data on sea currents affecting the undersea pipeline was exaggerated. “That initial information (on the currents) was over-stated by 0.5 metres per second, which has a tremendous impact on the risk profile of the...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – Mirant Corp and the Philippine government have concluded the renegotiation of their power supply contracts, which will save US$277 to 387 million in stranded contract costs for the government, the Energy Department said in a statement. Mirant currently operates seven power plants in the Philippines with a combined power generation of 2,000...

Hong Kong-listed Panva Gas Holdings Limited has reported a 688% rise in third quarter profits to HK$75.1 million from year-ago levels with revenues virtually unchanged at HK$761.26 million. (US$1=HK7.87). Gross profit was up by 192% to HK$157.4 million. Panva’s managing director Chen Wei said the company has achieved promising results in recent months as a...

US-based EnergyClear Operations Company (EOC) recently announced an agreement to provide over-the-counter (OTC) clearing services for EnergyClear Corporation. The statement came following an announcement by EnergyClear Corporation that it had launched its member-owned energy clearinghouse. EnergyClear Operations Company, LLC, is owned by The Bank of New York, and energy brokers Prebon Yamane and Amerex. H....

US energy consultant ESAI has predicted that the recent crisis with Japanese nuclear plants will continue to buoy the country’s oil demand in the coming months. It said: “Both fuel oil and crude oil use grew dramatically in September, and the amount of lost nuclear generating capacity was 2.7 times higher in October compared to...

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – PetroChina Co Ltd said it is in talks to build a 30 million tonne-per-annum Siberia-northeast China crude oil pipeline, the South China Morning Post reported. The company is negotiating with pipeline operator Transneft and oil firm Yukos to start construction next year of the pipeline linking oil fields in East Russia...