LONDON (AFX) – The oil market, unlike global equity, foreign exchange, and gold markets, has yet to fully price in the risk of a war with Iraq, leaving it vulnerable to a sharp spike if conflict becomes imminent, analysts said. While oil is trading just under its highest levels in two years, this reflects tight...

SYDNEY (AFX-ASIA) Ð Australia’s Woodside Petroleum Ltd said the joint venture partners in the Geographe and Thylacine gas discoveries in the Otway Basin have agreed commercial arrangements for the development of the fields. The discoveries are located offshore from the state of Victoria. The agreement will allow pooling of Geographe and Thylacine reserves for the...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – Energy Secretary Vicente Perez said the government has managed to agree better terms under its renegotiated contracts with independent power producers (IPPs), resulting in a reduction of contract payments by US$850 million. The Department of Energy and the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp (PSALM) had renegotiated at least 16 contracts...

Almost five years into one of its most ambitious reform programmes, China has succeeded in jolting its once lumbering oil and gas companies into thinking they can be world beaters. Three of the country’s largest oil and gas companies have raced from being state-run Communist bureaucracies to blue-chip listings on the prestigious stock exchanges of...

The Indian government is expected to keep prices of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and kerosene from rising despite upward pressure brought on by the threat of a US-Iraq war. LPG and kerosene are subsidised products widely used by the poor. Instead, the government might even reduce the deposit money for LPG cylinders. Earlier, the deposit...

It was a Valentine’s Day that Colin Powell will want to forget as US advances for war-making were strongly rejected by most in the UN. On February 14, chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix delivered his much awaited report on Iraq’s weapons programme that disagreed significantly with the US Secretary of State’s position. Mr Blix...

LONDON (AFX) – Cairn Energy PLC said Rajasthan has the potential to become a core area for the company as it announced the successful testing of an exploration well. The company said well RJ-E-1 in block RJ-ON-90/1 in Rajasthan encountered four potentially hydrocarbon bearing intervals of which three were subsequently tested. In interval 1, the...

WASHINGTON (AFX) – US retail gasoline prices have spiked up sharply in the past couple of weeks and are now fast approaching record highs amid concerns that a potential US-led military conflict against Iraq could be imminent, analysts said. Pump prices of gasoline across the US usually touch seasonal lows at this time of the...

The global oil and gas industry will benefit from the establishment of a world-class energy technology research alliance signed recently in Western Australia. “The new alliance will provide additional premium quality research and development and services, aimed at developing technology-based solutions for the global energy sector,” says Greg Thill, CSIRO’s acting Chief of Petroleum Resources....

NEW DELHI (AFX) – The government said it will boost its crude oil reserve to 45 days to meet contingencies should world crises, such as a war in Iraq, disrupt its life-line petroleum imports. India currently has a crude storage capacity of 19 days. Petroleum minister Ram Naik said this recently after a closed-door meeting...

CAIRO (AFX) – HSBC Holdings PLC said it will provide a US$108 million credit facility to Iran’s National Petrochemical Company to finance the purchase of imported equipment and services for a 600,000 ton per year petrochemical plant. ENI SpA’s UK affiliate Snamprogetti Ltd will procure equipment and material and supervise construction in a joint venture...

US-based energy consultant ESAI said Korean fuel oil exports should recover in the coming months after plunging sharply in January. In the latest edition of its Pacific Basin Stockwatch. ESAI said fuel oil exports fell as a result of higher utility demand. However, ESAI said it now believes there are several factors that are now...

LONDON (AFX) – BP PLC said it retains a 37.2% share in proven reserves in Indonesia’s Tangguh gas field after selling a 12.5% stake in the LNG project to CNOOC Ltd. “Tangguh is a world class gas field in Indonesia, with proved reserves certified at 14.4 trillion cubic feet. The Tangguh reserves are located on...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho said he is opposed to transport groups’ proposals to suspend the 3% duty on imported petroleum. “I am not in favour of the proposed suspension because of its significant impact on our revenue collection,” he said. The transport sector had lobbied for the suspension of the tax...

BANGKOK (AFX-ASIA) – The government plans to use at least 1 billion baht to subsidise fuel prices to contain retail price hikes, former Energy Minister Pongthep Thepkanchana said just before his transfer in Cabinet reshuffle. “The retail price of oil has abnormally increased recently. Thus, it is necessary to seek funds to normalise oil prices...

The human and environmental impacts of the last Gulf War were tremendous. Approximately 100,000 Iraqi soldiers and 40,000 to 80,000 Iraqi civilians were killed as a direct result of the war, and those who survived the initial attack faced untold hardship. Electricity, water and sanitation systems were destroyed; food storage and distribution systems broke down....

Indonesia’s state oil company Pertamina is stuck with surplus asphalt after admitting it had over-estimated demand. M. Herjanto Safioedin, its manager for petrochemicals marketing and trading, told the local media that the company’s asphalt output for the first half is uncommitted as there was insufficient demand from lack of government infrastructure projects. He believes the...

Singapore’s Keppel Shipyard has completed and delivered the first Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel for Four Vanguard SNL, the joint venture of UK’s Vanguard and Italy’s Premuda. Keppel Shipyard is the wholly owned subsidiary of Keppel Corporation Limited (KCL). The 94,225 dwt vessel arrived at Keppel Shipyard in June 2002 for repair and...

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – UBS Warburg said it has raised the 12-month target price for Huaneng Power International Inc to HK$8.60 from HK$8.40, following the company’s acquisition of a 25% interest in Shenzhen Energy Group for 2.39 billion yuan. Meanwhile, profit estimates for 2003 and 2004 have also been raised to 4.307 billion yuan and...

SEOUL (AFX-ASIA) – Korea Gas Corp said its 2002 net profit rose to 298.3 billion won from 296.9 billion a year earlier, boosted by an increase in sales and better foreign exchange management. Operating profit rose to 633.9 billion won in 2002 from 634.5 in 2001, while sales increased to 7.27 trillion from 7.22 trillion....

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – Energy Secretary Vicente Perez said his department will work with transport groups to seek the suspension of the 3% tax on imported petroleum products. Mr Perez said the suspension of the import duties could help cut oil prices by 0.35 pesos per litre. (US$1=51 peso). “We will try to get the approval...

BANGKOK (AFX-ASIA) – Bangchak Petroleum has been trading higher against a weak broader market after the company reported posting a net profit of 538.20 million baht in 2002 against a loss of 2.98 billion a year earlier, dealers said. (US$1=42 baht). A Capital Nomura Securities dealer said Bangchak Petroleum saw active speculative interest after it...

Australia’s resources company BHP Billiton has approved a total of US$1.1 billion as its share for the development of the Atlantis oil and gas reserves in the Gulf of Mexico. This includes US$355 million the company approved in May 2002 to advance the project by funding detailed engineering and design work, purchasing of long-lead items,...

Malaysia’s state energy company Petronas has announced the expiry of the 20-year Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) for the country’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) project on 8 February 2003. In accordance with the terms of the agreement signed on March 31, 1978, Shell Gas B.V. and Mitsubishi Corporation have ceased to be partners in the...

Domestic oil prices in the US have been rising sharply in recent weeks as supplies of both crude oil and refined products have diminished while demand has stayed strong. Crude oil inventories are now at their lowest level since October 1975. According to the US Department of Energy (DoE), the average retail price for regular...