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) – Manila Electric Co said third quarter net profit declined sharply, coming in below forecasts as power sales remained soft, with the continued delay of government approval for the company’s rate adjustment application constraining earnings. Meralco said its third quarter net profit fell to 281.933 million pesos from 450.314 million a year earlier....

SYDNEY (AFX-ASIA) – CNOOC Ltd is in negotiations with partners of the North West Shelf joint venture to raise its stake in the North West Shelf gas reserve to 6% from the 5% originally announced, The Australian newspaper reported, quoting unnamed sources. It said the eventual equity stake position would not be finalised until late...

Seven over-the-counter US companies have formed the Energy Brokers Association. The founding members of the Washington D.C based association are Amerex Group, APB Financial LLC, GFI Group Inc., Natsource LLC, Prebon Energy Inc., Starsupply Petroleum LLC and TFS Energy LLC. In a joint statement, the group said its formation was made necessary by “the current...

US energy company Unocal believes Bangladesh has additional recoverable gas deposits of 60.9 trillion cubic feet (TCF) that can be expanded by another 12.8 TCF from field growth. The country now has about 16.1 TCF of reserves, according to the company’s chief geologist A H M Shamsuddin. Speaking to local reporters in Dhaka recently, he...

Singapore-based China Aviation Oil, a jet fuel supplier, has been given the greenlight by the Spanish government to purchase a 5% stake in storage company Compania Logistica De Hidrocarburos CLH. In a statement, CAO said: “The management of CAO is pleased to announce that on 8 November 2002, CAO has obtained the final approval from...

Australian upstream company Essential Petroleum said it has recently concluded two farm-in deals and is planning to drill two wells and shoot seismic survey in the next few months. In a statement, the company said: “The most tangible signs of the growing interest in our activities are two farm-in agreements. “The first farmin agreement is...

DUBAI (AFX) – Saudi Arabia is hoping to seal its multi-billion dollar gas initiative with foreign oil companies including ExxonMobil Corp and Royal Dutch/Shell within one month, Saudi Prince Al-Walid bin Talal bin Abdulaziz al-Saud said at the recent Dubai Strategy Forum. “We have reached the stage where we are talking to both the leaders,...

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – Zhengzhou Gas was higher against its placing price on its GEM debut, with investors generally optimistic about the oil and gas industry in China, dealers said. Zhengzhou Gas was at HK$0.35 against its placing price of HK$0.25 on trade of 59.66 million shares. “There has been a rising demand for oil...

TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) – Tokyo Gas Co plans to invest about 20 billion yen in foreign power projects over the next five years, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported, citing company sources. (US$1=120 yen). It said the company plans to decide specific investment targets next year. It has already been approached by foreign energy companies about its...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China has postponed plans to restart oil futures trading until the middle of next year in the hope that market conditions will improve, the China Daily reported, citing industry sources. The Shanghai Futures Exchange applied to the China Securities Regulatory Commission in January to resume fuel-oil futures trading, which was suspended in...

Pakistan is planning to import at least 50,000 barrels/day of gasoline from Iran, according to the Lahore-based newspaper, Daily Times. The product would be imported from Sistan-Baluchestan province in Iran to Pakistan’s Baluchistan province. The report said the gasoline would be stocked and used in installations and refineries affiliated to Pakistan’s Water and Power Development...

SHANGHAI (AFX-ASIA) – Zhejiang Southeast Electric Power Co Ltd said its net profit declined 19.1% to 452.01million yuan in the nine months to September from 558.99 million yuan a year earlier, due to a reduction in power sales and offtake prices, higher financial costs and a substantial hike in the company’s rate of corporate profit...

India’s oil ministry expects to increase the natural gas price ceiling from next January. At present, the domestic price is pegged at 75% of the international fuel oil prices. The ministry’s proposal, expected to be discussed at the next Cabinet meeting, calls for the ceiling prices to be increased from Rs 2,850 per million cubic...

JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) – BP PLC said it has secured environmental approval from the Indonesian government for the Tangguh liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, scheduled to start construction next year. As a condition of the approval, BP has agreed to further investigate how to minimise the level of carbon dioxide emissions from the plant. “The Tangguh...

A venture jointly owned by the subsidiaries of France’s engineering group Technip-Coflexip and Subsea 7 has been awarded a contract by Australia’s Woodside Energy Ltd for the subsea installation part of a natural gas trunkline system expansion project. The subsidiaries are Technip-Coflexip Oceania and Subsea 7 (Australia) Pty Ltd. The US$55 million contract is for...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China Aviation Fuel Group plans to revamp its pricing structure over the next three years, allowing it to flexibility set different prices by region and client company, Beijing Business Today reported, citing Jia Changbin, CAFG general manager. Price reform will be conducted in three stages, the report said. The first stage involves...

NEW DELHI (AFX-ASIA) – India is ideally positioned to take advantage of the burgeoning global market in carbon emissions trading in light of its vast size and its broad and comparatively inefficient industrial base, business leaders said. Under the Kyoto protocol on global warming, which is expected to come into force next year, companies based...

A total of 215 contracts was traded on the opening day of Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX)’s Middle East Crude Oil futures contract yesterday. The prompt December contract was the most active with 140 contracts traded, closing at US$22.56 while 55 contracts of April 2003, the next most active month, changed hands. To encourage the contract’s...

TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) – Nippon Oil Corp appears to have reached breakeven levels on a net basis for the six months to September, compared with a 33.4 billion yen profit recorded a year earlier, the Nihon Keizai newspaper reported. (US$1=122 yen). Nippon Oil, a major oil distributor, initially forecast a net profit of 4 billion yen....

An ExxonMobil affiliate has been awarded the contract to supply specialised lubricants for the first 14 hydro-turbine units to be installed at the Three Gorges Dam in China, the world’s largest hydroelectric project. “We are extremely proud to be working with the China Yangtze Three Gorges Project Development Corporation in solving the challenging technical issues...

Dutch logistics company Royal Vopak has announced a number of resolutions taken at last week’s Extraordinary General Meeting. J.D. Bax has been named chairman in place of D.R. de Kat who has also resigned as a board member. In addition, the company appointed J.P. de Kreij as a board member and chief financial officer from...

SHANGHAI (AFX-ASIA) – Shenzhen Chiwan Petroleum Supply Base Co Ltd posted a net profit of 47.37 million yuan during the nine months to September from 47.08 million a year earlier. (US$1=8.28 yuan). The results were compiled according to Chinese accounting standards. Excluding extraordinary items, the company’s net profit during the nine months was 47.55 million...

NEW DELHI (AFX-ASIA) – Power Minister Anant Geete said Indian banks will inject over US$500 million to restart Dabhol Power Co Ltd, the Indian unit of the collapsed US energy firm Enron. “Our first priority is to restart phase one of Dabhol Power Company’s plant as money belonging to Indian investors is blocked in this...

Canada’s Continental Energy Corp has announced the farm-out to PT Exspan Yapen of a 90% share of the Yapen Block production sharing contract (PSC) area offshore West Papua province in Indonesia. PT Exspan Yapen is a wholly owned subsidiary of Indonesia’s PT Medco Energi Internasional Tbk. After the deal, the Canadian company’s 60% owned subsidiary,...