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,...

By Ho Leng Woon * (The full version of this story is published in the November edition of EnergyAsia Report. Please contact Sales@EnergyAsia.com for details). Except for Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei, the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) impose high import tariffs on finished lubricants and base oils. Singapore, Malaysia and...

JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) – BP Indonesia said it is in talks with several parties interested in acquiring 100 pct of its chemical joint venture, PT Petrokimi Nusantara Interindo (Peni). It would not comment on either the book or market value of Peni, Indonesia’s first polyethylene plant which came on stream in February 1993. It has installed...

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...

JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) – BP Indonesia said it is in talks with several parties interested in acquiring 100% of its chemical joint venture, PT Petrokimi Nusantara Interindo (Peni). It would not comment on either the book or market value of Peni, Indonesia’s first polyethylene plant which came on stream in February 1993. It has installed capacity...

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....

The Special Oil Products Commercial Company is ready to assist the private sector in marketing and selling bitumen abroad, its managing director, Gholam-Reza Rabbani, told local news agency IRNA recently. About 35 private companies are exporting bitumen. Under the Third Five-Year Economic Development Plan (2000-2005), state-owned companies are barred from investing and participating in the...

A consortium led by India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Videsh Ltd has been awarded the exploration service contract for the Fars offshore oil and gas field in Iran. The contract awarded to the consortium of OVL-Indian Oil and Oil India Ltd. is part of the 13 blocks awarded by the Iranian government on...

The Malaysian government wants oil companies to improve their safety practices and record. Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs assistant director-general (petroleum unit) Mohd Nasir Noryakin said operators should target their entire range of operations from the refinery to production and marketing of their products. On May 2, a fire at Petronas gas plant in Kertih,...

By Sarah Robinson, EyeforEnergy * Almost all the various newsletters and press releases in my inbox over the past week have pointed in one direction: emissions trading is a viable tool to address climate change and it will take off regardless of the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. Which isn’t to say that KP hasn’t...

At The Association Of Power Exchanges (Apex) 2002 Conference On 7 October 2002 At Fullerton Hotel Singapore Distinguished Guests Ladies and Gentlemen Many countries are undergoing reforms in the energy sectors in the recent decade. There had been good outcomes. But there were also markets which encountered unfortunate problems. The recent Californian crisis in the...

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...

BAKU (AFX) – Lukoil is to sell its most valuable interests in Azerbaijan’s oil and gas sector, including its 10% stakes in the BP PLC-led Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli field consortium, to concentrate on other priorities, a company source said. Lukoil has already reached a deal to sell its 10% stake Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli field to Itochu Corp of Japan...

ASHKHABAD (AFX) – AP Moeller Group’s Maersk Oil has signed a production-sharing contract to search for hydrocarbons in Turkenistan’s sector of the Caspian Sea, said a Turkmenistan presidential spokesman. The company said the contract covers exploration and production work at two blocks in the sector, said the spokesman. Maersk head Kjeld Fjeldgaard said the company...

Australia’s upstream company Santos Ltd said it is on track for a solid performance in the year to December, with third quarter revenues rising 8.1% to A$405.4 million and sales volumes up 6.3% to 15.3 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe). (US$1=A$1.82). For the three months ended September 30 2002, the company said it achieved...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – Energy Secretary Vincent Perez said state-owned Philippine National Oil Co is firming up an oil supply agreement with Petroleum Brunei. “The Energy department, through PNOC, has constant discussions with officials of the state-owned oil firm of Brunei,” said Mr Perez, who is also PNOC chairman. PNOC president Thelmo Cunanan has held direct...

BANGKOK (AFX-ASIA) – Energy Minister Phongthep Thepkanjana said the cabinet approved Bangchak Petroleum Plc’s plan to secure 3 billion baht in short-term loans as agreed earlier by the State Enterprise Policy Committee. (US$1=43 baht). Mr Phongthep said Bangchak Petroleum will secure 3 billion baht from Krung Thai Bank to use as a bridge loan in...

HOUSTON (AFX) – ConocoPhillips posted a third-quarter loss of 24 cents per share against net earnings of 1.30 usd a year earlier as poor refining margins and merger-related and restructuring costs offset higher crude oil prices. Excluding US$572 million of special items, third-quarter EPS was 94 cents against US$1.33 last time, in line with Wall...

Oil major Shell has chosen Malaysia as the regional centre to operate its retail cards for the Asia Pacific, according to a Star newspaper report. Known as SuperKad, the regional centre will standardise processes and converge the company’s card operations into a single operating structure. According to Bruce Rosengarten, Shell Oil products east zone (SOPE)...

Business Optimisation in the Oil & Petrochemical Industry: Invitation to a seminar on 19 November 2002, Taj Coromandel, Chennai, India The petroleum and petrochemical sectors are looking at new ways to cut costs and increase efficiencies and profitability. Faced with rising business cost and aggressive competition, companies need to find ways to innovate and grow....

The head of Russia’s largest oil company LUKoil, Vagit Alekperov, told visiting Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh that his company is interested to undertake oil and gas projects in Iran. In a meeting in Moscow last month, Mr Alekperov welcomed a proposal by the Iranian minister to invest in the new phases of the...

In its latest market commentary, the US Department of Energy said cold weather is starting to drive up middle distillates demand for heating use. It reported that cold weather that blanketed the Upper Plains with snow and pumped colder-than-normal temperatures into the Midwest and Northeast regions over the last several weeks is expected to jump...

LONDON (AFX) – Hardman Resources Ltd managing director Ted Ellyard said the increase in gas production from its Australian offshore Woodada 19 well, which flowed at a stabilised rate of approximately 3.4 Tj/day, will have a very significant effect on Hardman’s profitability from the Woodada Field as the group is currently buying up to 3.0...

DOHA (AFX) – A dispute between Qatar and Saudi Arabia is hindering progress of a gas pipeline project led by Exxon Mobil Corp to supply Kuwait with Qatari gas via Saudi waters, Qatari oil official Nasser Jaidah said. “To be honest, there is a problem” said Nasser Jaidah, who is director of the new ventures...

Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp may conduct its initial public offering by the first quarter of next year, country chairman Eliseo Santiago said. Mr Santiago said Shell’s directors are expected to approve the planned IPO by next month. “We are really looking at next year, within the first quarter at the earliest, depending on the market...