BANGKOK (AFX-ASIA) – The finance ministry’s Economic Policy Committee said world oil prices will likely rise to US$40/barrel if a US-led war on Iraq breaks out, although the conflict would likely be short and have only a limited impact on Thailand, The Nation newspaper reported. “The committee believes the US-Iraq war will happen, but it...

US independent energy company Unocal Corporation said its preliminary proved oil and gas reserve estimates for 2002 fell to 1.77 billion barrels-of-oil-equivalent (BOE) from 2001’s 1.82 billion BOE. The year-end reserves estimates reflect additions of 140 million BOE from discoveries and extensions and a net 89 million BOE from performance-related revisions and improved recovery. These...

TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) – Japan Petroleum Exploration Co and Inpex Corp, two government-backed oil development firms, have jointly purchased stakes in concessions in two oil fields owned by Royal Dutch/Shell Group in the Persian Gulf, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported, without citing sources. The purchase price is estimated at about 25 billion yen, it said. (US$1=118...

SYDNEY (AFX-ASIA) – Australian Gas Light Co Ltd (AGL) said its New Zealand unit, NGC Holdings Ltd, has signed a conditional agreement to sell its interest in the Taranaki combined cycle power station to Contact Energy Ltd for A$500 million. (US$1=A$1.7). It has also signed a deal with Trustpower Ltd to sell its stake in...

ChevronTexaco has confirmed that it and its partners in Tengizchevroil (TCO) have reached an agreement to further develop the Tengiz field in Kazakhstan. Tengizchevroil is a joint venture partnership of ChevronTexaco (50%), ExxonMobil (25%), Kazmunaigaz (20%) and LukArco (5%) formed to develop Tengiz. The partners have agreed to immediately reactivate the expansion of TCO’s Second...

Norway’s Statoil said it has secured long-term contracts worth about NOK 1.5 billion to supply liquefied petroleum gas to Japan and China, marking a breakthrough for the group’s LPG sales to Asia. (US$1= 6.96NOK) It said that it had sold a total of 600,000 tonnes of LPG under three deals, including 400,000 tonnes for Japanese...

India’s Bharat Petroleum said its net profit jumped 224% to Rs 2.33 billion for the quarter ended December 2002, thanks to high oil prices on the international markets and increased sales volume. (US$1=47 rupees). It said that refining margins improved to $2.99 per barrel compared to $2.36 per barrel for the year-ago quarter. Net sales...

SYDNEY (AFX-ASIA) – Santos Ltd and Origin Energy Ltd have emerged as potential bidders for ExxonMobil Corp’s central Australian oil and gas assets, the Australian Financial Review reported, citing company executives. Both companies confirmed they will consider buying ExxonMobil’s 21% stake in the Santos-operated joint ventures in the Cooper-Eromanga basin of South Australia and Queensland....

JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) – Indonesia has to concentrate on revitalising domestic investment if it is to attract fresh foreign money, an effort which must be underpinned by broader structural reform to sustain any gains made in the face of increasing competition from China for such funds, analysts said. They said the current government has yet to...

SINGAPORE (AFX-ASIA) – Mayfran International Ltd said it has taken a 51% stake in PT Prime Energy Indonesia, a company that will engage in oil and gas related businesses in Indonesia. PT Petroimpex Nuansa Corporindo, a company that specializes in project development in the oil and gas industry in Indonesia, will take the remaining 49%...

JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) – PT Medco Energi Internasional said it has completed the buy back of 6.84% of shares from the market, bringing down the public shareholding to 5.24%. Medco said it spent 286.882 billion rupiah on the buyback program, or 81.97% of the allocated budget. (US$1=8,800 rupiah). The company is controlled by New Links Energy...

TotalFinaElf has made a significant gas and condensate discovery in offshore Block B in Brunei Darussalam. The French company is the operator and 37.5% shareholder of the consortium exploring for oil and gas in the block located in the South China Sea some 50 km north of the capital of Bandar Seri Begawan. A TotalFinaElf...

Malaysian institutional funds are buying up shares of two local companies with exposure to the energy markets, Petronas Gas Bhd and Malaysian International Shipping Corp Bhd (MISC). Both stocks have risen significantly in the build-up of US military action against Iraq. Since Jan 2, Petronas Gas and MISC have risen more than 10% at the...

US independent Unocal Corporation said its Unocal Donggala Limited subsidiary has reached agreement to farm in to the deepwater Donggala production-sharing contract (PSC) area offshore East Kalimantan, Indonesia. The company said: “Unocal Donggala will acquire a 19.55% working interest in the PSC. TotalFinaElf, the operator, Pertamina, and Inpex Corp. hold the balance. The farm-in is...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – Royal Dutch/Shell Group managing director Malcolm Brinded said Shell is confident of keeping its local oil supply stable regardless of events in the Middle East, although prices will remain volatile. “I’m sure that we will be able to maintain our supply in the Philippines. (But this is) a period of (price) volatility...