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...

BAKU (AFX) – The conflict in Iraq will not delay construction work on the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline, said a BP PLC spokeswoman. “These events (in Iraq) have not impacted our operations,” she said. “We are assured that at this stage there is no reason for a change in plans that may affect the project...

BEIJING (XFN) – A fuel benchmark price is expected to be set in the first half of the year by a fuel trading platform developed by Shenzhen Development Bank Co Ltd (SZ A 000001) and a technical company in Beijing, the Ministry of Commerce said. The ministry noted on its website that China is Asia’s...

Canada’s Calgary-based Tracer Petroleum said it does not require shareholder approval for its purchase of a 66.67% stake in Philippines’ Forum Exploration Inc. Corporation. In a statement, Tracer’s President and CEO Larry Youell said that further to its February 27 release, the company has been “advised by its legal counsel that it will not require...

Singapore will raise its electricity tariffs for the second quarter by 17% or about 2.52 Singapore cents per kWh as a result of higher oil prices. (US$1=S$1.75). The increase will be slightly offset by a reduction in the grid charge, said SP Services. Between April 1 and June 30, domestic users pay 17.81 cents/kwh (+2.57...

TOKYO (AFX)- Moody’s Investors Service said it lowered the outlook of Cosmo Oil Co Ltd and Showa Shell senior unsecured debt rating and issuer rating to negative from stable. The downgrade of Cosmo Oil’s Ba2 rating outlook reflects Moody’s concern that its operating performance may face continued pressures in the intermediate term despite the company’s...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – The Energy Department has approved the application of PNOC Exploration Corp for a license to construct and operate a US$100 million pipeline that will transmit natural gas from Batangas to Manila, the Manila Bulletin quoted company president Rufino Bomasang as saying. He said the 100-kilometer pipeline project is targeted for completion by...

US crude oil imports reached a record high of nearly 10.4 million barrels per day for the week ending March 28, thanks to increased shipments from Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Venezuela, said the Department of Energy (DoE). The surge has helped push US commercial crude oil stock levels back above 280 million barrels for the...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – Morgan Stanley Dean Witter is working with China Resources Holdings unit China Resources Power to list the company’s mainland power assets in Hong Kong by the end of the first half of the year, a source close to the deal told AFX-Asia. China Resources Power (CRP) has been buying power assets in...

JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) – Standard & Poor’s said it has affirmed its ‘B+’ corporate credit rating on PT Medco Energi Internasional Tbk, with a stable outlook. It said the rating on Medco reflects the company’s short proven-reserve life of 4.9 years, which explains the company’s aggressive push to acquire oil blocks in 2003 to immediately add...

Singapore’s SMOE Pte Ltd, the offshore engineering division of SembCorp Utilities (SembUtilities), in partnership with Saipem Asia, has clinched a turnkey contract for an offshore processing platform from Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP). The platform is to be used in Phase 3C development of the offshore Bongkot field. PTTEP is the...

ASHKHABAD (AFX) – Royal Dutch/Shell will reduce to a minimum its presence in Turkmenistan from April 1, an official of the oil and gas industry ministry said. “Shell feels there is a lack of prospects for oil and gas projects in Turkmenistan. Just a few people will remain at its Ashkhabad office to observe developments...

JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) – Bids for the design and construction of onshore facilities for Indonesia’s Tangguh liquefied natural gas (LNG) project total some US$1.4-1.5 billion, a source close to the bidding process said. BP Indonesia, the operator of what is considered Indonesia’s largest project in the post economic-crisis period, is expected to make a recommendation on...

TOKYO (AFX) – The government is ready to go ahead with its first ever emergency release from its domestic oil reserves during a war in Iraq, said Hidekazu Takakura, an official of the natural resource bureau of Japan’s economy, trade and industry ministry. Japan’s combined private and public sector oil reserves must legally total some...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – The Manila Electric Co, expressing disappointment over the lower-than-requested tariff increase approved by the Energy Regulatory Board, said it is “carefully studying” the ruling’s impact on consumers and the company’s viability. “We are disappointed by the outcome of the decision,” Meralco legal counsel Wigberto Tanada said, noting the company had expected a...

China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corporation Limited (CAO) said its strong performance for the year ended December 31 2002 was the result of its downstream investments in oil and gas-related infrastructure to complement its jet fuel procurement and international oil trading businesses. CAO said that two major investments last year had helped the group record pro-forma...

Companies from Singapore, South Korea, Italy, France, Switzerland and the UAE have been approved to bid for the construction of platforms, sealine and export pipelines in a major natural gas project in the UAE. Abu Dhabi, UAE-based Dolphin Energy Limited (DEL) has published a short-list of qualified bidders for the three Engineering, Procurement & Construction...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – Tenaga Nasional Bhd has no immediate plan to increase electricity tariffs as the US-led war against Iraq has not affected the cost of generating electricity, New Straits Times quoted the company’s chairman Awang Adek Hussin as saying. He said more than 70% of electricity generated by Tenaga is powered by gas...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – Energy Secretary Vicente Perez said the government has decided to relax the required minimum inventory period for refiners to 15 days from 30 days, citing softening crude prices abroad. He also announced in a briefing the required minimum inventory period for other oil companies and bulk suppliers will be reduced to seven...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – Petronas Dagangan Bhd expects to capture a larger share of the local lubricant market, estimated at some 250 million litres and valued at RM1.25 billion, with its latest premium brand of synthetic lubricant “Syntium”, the Edge said, quoting managing director and CEO Ibrahim Marsidi. Mr Ibrahim said the company currently holds...

PARIS (AFX) – The economic impact of war in Iraq depends above all on trends in oil prices, economists said. Stock market and currency developments will also affect the growth impact of the war, but the key factor is oil, they said. “It really depends on the development of oil prices. If the oil price...

TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) – Japan Energy Corp has reached an agreement to receive oil shipments from state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) directly from Kuwaiti tankers in an area of the Persian Gulf that is generally considered safe, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. The Japanese oil firm agreed to “ship to...