The Australian government has issued a statement on the entry into force of the Timor Sea Treaty signed between Australia and East Timor. The statement was signed jointly by three ministers, Alexander Downer (Foreign Affairs), Ian MacFarlane (Industry and Resources), Peter Costello (Treasurer) and the Attorney-General Daryl Williams. “We are pleased to announce the entry...
HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – China Oilfield Services Ltd (2883.HK) president and COO Yuan GuangYu said the company is spending 745 million yuan to acquire 7 standby vessels and one or two 10-year old second-hand drilling vessels. (US$1=8.28 yuan). The company expects to incur capital expenditure of 506 million yuan in its drilling services this year,...
SYDNEY (AFX-ASIA) – Origin Energy Ltd offers the best defensive position within the oil sector as the war in Iraq continues to unfold, SmithBarney Citigroup said. “While it can be argued that Woodside Petroleum…has been oversold and represents excellent long-term value, unfortunately in the absence of an acquisition or exploration success in the shallow Gulf...
HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – China Petroleum and Chemical Corp (Sinopec) (386.HK) expects to incur 37.6 billion yuan in capital expenditure in 2003, compared to 41.6 billion in 2002, chief financial officer Zheng Jiaren said. (US$1=8.28 yuan). He said the capex will be used to increase new oil and gas replacement resources, improve marketing networks, construct...
UNITED NATIONS (AFX) – The US should not count on oil receipts to finance the near term reconstruction of Iraq, the head of the UN development agency Mark Malloch-Brown said. Oil companies need long-term contracts before they will invest, the UN Development Programme administrator told journalists. “Geneva conventions allow (the) occupying power only day-to-day management,”...
SEOUL (AFX-ASIA) – The government has suspended the planned sale of Korea South-East Power Co, a power generation unit of Korea Electric Power Corp, after four potential investors withdrew bids due to unfavourable business conditions and external uncertainties, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy said. “The government and KEPCO have decided to suspend the...
Broker Starsupply has hired Chris Laico, Steve Fabrizi and Ricky Fasano for its newly formed fuel oil division in New York. In a statement, the company said the team will be responsible for all cracked fuel oil brokerage activity, both physical and derivative transactions. “The new US based group will complement StarSupply’s affiliated fuel oil...
Australia’s North West Shelf has extended a conditional gas sale and purchase agreement with Methanex Australia Pty Ltd to May 30. John Richards, NWS Gas’s general manager, said the agreement’s extension reflected its commitment to supporting Methanex’s proposed methanol plant on the Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia. “North West Shelf Gas has to date provided...
BEIJING (XFN) – Standard & Poor’s Equity Research said it is downgrading its recommendation for the stock of PetroChina Co Ltd (HK 0857; NYSE PTR) to “hold” from “accumulate”, as upside for S&P’s fair value-based price target of HK$1.76 is only a modest 6.5% following the oil company’s recent share price strength and the discounting...
WASHINGTON (AFX) – The arrest of US banker James Giffen, on charges that he channelled bribes related to major oil contracts to Kazakhstan government officials, might have implications for Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev, according to a source close to the case. Mr Giffen, 62 and a US citizen, was arrested last month by US agents...
Amid warnings of political instability and growing anti-American sentiments in Southeast Asia, at least one US company sees opportunity and is betting that its own fortunes will ride with the region’s growing oil and gas demand. US independent oil and gas company Unocal has just announced an aggressive strategy to pursue opportunities in Asia Ð...
HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – China Oilfield Services Ltd (2883.HK) said its 2002 net profit rose to 354.4 million yuan due to improvements in its core business segments. (US$1=8.28 yuan). Chairman and CEO Fu Chengyu said the strong operating performance was attributable to strong results in each of the company’s main business segments, especially to a...
SYDNEY (AFX-ASIA) – The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said it will take no further action against major oil companies in Australia following an investigation into alleged breaches of the Trade Practices Act. The companies involved are the Australian operations of Royal Dutch/Shell and ExxonMobil as well as Caltex Australia, which is 50% owned by...
BEIJING (XFN) – China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) (SH A 600028; HK 0386; NYSE SNP) expects to start production this year at a oilfield in Nigeria with annual capacity of 200,000 tons, or about 4,100 barrels per day, the China Daily reported, citing a company official. The newspaper said production is due to start...
In a matter of days, the oil markets have turned bearish again as the US march into Baghdad has proved surprisingly easy at the same time that Nigeria has resumed part of the 817,000 barrels/day production that was shut down just last week on outbreak of inter-ethnic clashes in the country. A week ago, the...
HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – Hong Kong & China Gas Co Ltd (3.HK) is planning to build a couple of 30 km submarine pipelines between its Tai Po gasworks site and the Guangdong regasification terminal, the South China Morning Post reported, citing the company’s chief operating officer James Kwan. He was speaking after announcing a HK$20...
MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – PNOC Corp said it is continuing its efforts to sell the 10% stake held by its unit PNOC Exploration Corp (PNOC-EC) in the Malampaya natural gas project, with the sale expected to be completed before the end of the second quarter. It said the process requires the valuation of the assets and...
HONG KONG (AFX) – Standard and Poor’s Ratings Services said it has lowered its foreign currency corporate credit rating on Manila Electric Co to ‘B-‘ from ‘B+’ reflecting growing liquidity pressures on the company and a very difficult business environment. The rating was also removed from CreditWatch, placed with negative implications in November 2002. The...
State IOC said it achieved record performance in India’s first year of deregulation of its downstream oil sector. Its said its refineries achieved a record crude oil throughput of 43.39 million metric tonnes (MMT) for the year to March 2003. Its seven fully-owned refineries registered total throughput of 35.1 MMT (compared with previous record of...
China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corporation Ltd (CAO) said it will receive from Spain’s Compania Logistica de Hidrocarburos, S.A. (CLH), in which CAO has a 5% stake, has declared a third and final dividend distribution for the financial year ended 31 December 2002,subject to shareholders’ approval. Based on its stake in CLH, CAO expects to receive...
HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – CNOOC Ltd (883.HK) executive director Zhou Shou Wei said the company will invest 8-10 billion yuan in engineering this year so that its oil production can reach another annual peak of 1.76 million BOEs in 2004-05. (US$1=8.28 yuan). Company chairman Wei Liu Cheng said he does not expect the three mainland...
BEIJING (XFN) – PetroChina Co Ltd (HK 0857; NYSE PTR), China’s largest oil and gas firm, plans to increase its ethylene production capacity by 44% in the next three years by expanding two existing plants, an industry official said. The China Daily quoted the official as saying PetroChina aims to increase its annual ethylene production...
WASHINGTON (AFX) – Hundreds of millions of dollars of previously unknown illegal Iraqi proceeds have been uncovered abroad in the last week and have been suspended, said David Aufhauser, the Treasury’s General Counsel. He would not be more specific on the amount nor where these new funds have been located, explaining that the money has...
TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) – Mizuho Corporate Bank and other Japanese banks will offer large-scale lending with government backing to businesses in energy-rich countries outside the Middle East, the Nihon Keizai newspaper reported. The move is part of a joint effort by the government and private-sector banks to make Japan less dependent on Middle East energy sources...
KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – Prices of gasoline, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) will be maintained in April, despite steep increases in world prices for crude oil, The Star quoted Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Muhyiddin Yassin as saying. He said the government made the decision despite the fact that it will have...