BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China must ensure that long-established foreign-invested joint ventures can revise the conditions under which they operate in order to compete with the new wave of post-WTO foreign investment, Ernst Behrens, president and CEO of Siemens AG in China said. “We have been doing extremely well with our joint ventures, but (the big...

Canadian upstream company Pacific Tiger Energy Inc. said production from its onshore northern Thailand fields is expected to rise from 500 barrels/day to more than 700 b/d. The Calgary, Alberta company said it has completed initial production testing of the three new wells in Wichian Buri using natural flow and jet-pump production. The wells –...

Vietnam’s oil and gas officials have recommended that a regulatory framework be set up to encourage the use of autogas to cut gasoline imports and utilise the country’s abundant natural gas resources. At last month’s 3rd International Autopetrol Exhibition, representatives from the oil and gas sector said that autogas should be promoted as a result...

TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) – The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry plans to deregulate power and gas rates for large commercial facilities and hotels in the year to March 2005, the Nihon Keizai newspaper reported. It aims to extend the plan to include smaller plants and buildings between the year to March 2006 and 2008. The...

Hongkong-listed Panva Gas has signed an agreement with China’s Changchun Gas Co., Ltd to develop a piped gas market in Jilin province at a cost of RMB2 billion. (US$1=RMB8.28). In a statement, Panva Gas said it signed the agreement on December 5 for a period of 5 years to develop the project. “The agreement is...

Indian oil companies such as Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Reliance Petroleum Corporation (RPL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPC) have begun using risk management programmes and tools in their oil trading activities. IOC has been using hedging tools since the start of the year. Its first hedges were made against the purchase...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – Congress has decided to implement stricter specifications for the aromatics and benzene content of gasoline by 2003, rejecting a request from energy officials to defer its implementation to 2004, BusinessWorld reported, citing Energy Undersecretary Jose Emmanuel de Dios. He said the Energy Department will “abide with the wisdom of Congress, and go...

India’s upstream company ONGC Videsh Ltd. (OVL) is reported to be interested to invest in Kazakhstan. The company is the international subsidiary of state ONGCL. A team comprising senior officials of the ministry of Petroleum and OVL visited Kazakhstan recently to explore for opportunities. They identified Kurmangazy and Alibekmola projects. Kurmangazy is an exploration block...

Air Products Singapore Pte Ltd (APS), a wholly owned company of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has recently acquired parts of the business and assets of Messer Singapore Pte Ltd. The acquisition, effective October 22, will enable Air Products, a leading global supplier of industrial gases and chemicals, to strengthen its position in Singapore’s industrial...

BANGKOK (AFX-ASIA) – PTT Plc vice president Chaiwat Choorit said the company is planning to invest 1.7 billion baht next year in its gasoline stations, in a bid to improve sales as well as its image, Business Day reported. (US$1=43 baht). Of the 1.7 billion baht being invested, 700 million will be used for the...

TAIPEI (AFX-ASIA) – Chinese Petroleum Corp aims to post consolidated sales of over NT$500 billion in 2006, with a 9% return on equity, the Commercial Times said, citing a company report to the cabinet. (US$1=NT$33). The state-run oil company is ready to diversify from its core business to the petrochemical and high-tech arenas and make...

TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) – Mitsui and Co Ltd will spend an estimated 40 billion yen to develop and produce natural gas in fields off the coast of the Australian state of Victoria, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported, citing company sources. (US$1=123 yen). The trading house has agreed to acquire, for an undisclosed sum, a 12.5% share...

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – China International Trust & Investment (CITIC) and Canada’s Ivanhoe Energy will jointly invest 10 bln yuan to acquire an overseas oilfield, the Oriental Daily reported, citing market sources. (US$1=8.28 yuan). The acquisition is expected to be made in the first quarter via a joint venture company, which will subsequently raise US$500-600...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – Petronas Dagangan Bhd said its six months to September sales rose by 26.4% year-on-year to RM4.517 billion on the back of higher sales volume but its pretax profit fell 50.2% to RM158.1 million as a result of higher average cost of sales. (US$1=RM3.8). In the notes accompanying its results, Petronas Dagangan...

Jeroen van der Veer, president of Royal Dutch Petroleum Company and vice chairman of the Committee of Managing Directors of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies, will also become CEO of Shell Chemicals Limited from January 1, 2003. Mr van der Veer will take over from Evert Henkes, CEO of Shell Chemicals Ltd since 1997,...

Largo Vista, the retailer and wholesale of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), has completed an LPG pipeline project in Zunyi, the largest city in China’s Guizhou province, the company said in a statement. The new LPG pipeline will serve 1,000 condominiums. The pipeline will be a key stepping stone for Largo Vista to further expand its...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – Sime Darby Bhd has signed a deal to buy Fortum’s 100% stake in Laem Chabang Power Power Co Ltd in Thailand for approximately US$30 million in cash as well as taking over 52 million eur of interest-bearing net debt. The purchase of the 103 megawatt electricity and steam combined gas turbine...

RIYADH (AFX-ASIA) – Saudi Arabia projected a 2003 budget deficit of 39 billion riyals (US$10.4 billion) compared with a deficit of 8.2 billion riyals this year, news agency SPA reported following a cabinet meeting chaired by King Fahd. Revenues are seen at 170 billion riyals and expenditure at 209 billion riyals, Information Minister Fuad al-Faresi...

Three men increasingly dominate the oil markets. Last month, just as Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s President, agreed to the return of UN weapons inspector, the world’s most wanted terrorist Osama bin Laden re-surfaced to make new threats against the US. At the same time, US President George Bush stepped up his campaign to go to war...

BOMBAY (AFX-ASIA) – State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp and Reliance have been awarded more than 20 new oil and gas blocks for exploration, a government statement said. The government had recently invited bids for 23 blocks under the New Exploration Licensing Policy, of which 13 have been awarded to ONGC and nine to a...

TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) – The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has decided against requiring major electric companies to spin off their power transmission divisions into separate firms, reversing an earlier plan, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported, without citing sources. But the ministry will force the utility firms to virtually separate their power transmission operations from...

State Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is pressing the government to allow it to export liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) without any restrictions to member countries in the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC). Currently, LPG exports are subject to quantity and re-export limitations. IOC has already obtained a so-called “no-objection certificate” to export some 1000...

US energy consultant ESAI says China is set to become a major importer of naphtha in the coming years. This is due to fact that several western companies have announced major investment plans to boost ethylene capacity in the country, ESAI said in its latest issue of China Watch. BASF, BP, and ExxonMobil have all...

Upstream company China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has signed a contract with Husky Oil China Limited to explore for oil and gas in the deepwater block 40/30 in the Pearl River Mouth Basin of the South China Sea. This is the first deepwater exploration contract signed between CNOOC and a foreign company. In September,...

BANGKOK (AFX-ASIA) – PTT Plc has decided against merging chemical unit National Petrochemical (NPC) and Thai Olefins (TOC), planning instead to build up TOC as a core business, PTT vice-president Pichai Chunhavachira said. “PTT plans to invest more in TOC and wants it to become a core business for PTT in the future. Merging would...