BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China’s 38 listed power generating companies posted a combined net profit of 2.794 billion yuan in the first quarter, up 25.05% year-on-year, the Shanghai Securities News reported. (US$1=8.28 yuan). The newspaper said the companies posted a combined core operating revenue of 16.398 billion yuan during the January-to-March period, up 31.3% from a...

SHANGHAI (AFX-ASIA) – A-shares of China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) (SH A 600028; HK 0386; NYSE SNP), one of China’s three major oil conglomerates, have been trading lower after the withdrawal of its parent company from a bid to take a stake in a key Kazakhstan oil project, dealers said. Sinopec’s A-shares and its...

ALGIERS (AFX) – China’s national oil and gas exploration and development company (CNODC) is to build a US$350 million oil refinery in Algeria, officials in Algiers told Agence France-Presse. The refinery, which will be able to treat 600,000 tonnes of crude oil a year, is to be built over the space of three years in...

NEW DELHI (AFX) – Royal Dutch/Shell Group has won permission from the Indian government to set up 2,000 petrol stations in the country, Oil Minister Ram Naik said, quoted by the Press Trust of India. He said the entry of one of the world’s largest oil companies is subject to the company submitting a bank...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – PNOC-Energy Development Corp earned 249.2 million pesos from third-party drilling and consultancy services in 2002, up 12% from 222.6 million pesos in 2001, company chairman and president Sergio Apostol said. (US$1=52 pesos). He said the unlisted company’s cumulative income from drilling and consultancy services since June 1996 stands at 1.1 billion pesos....

SHANGHAI (AFX-ASIA) – China’s power stocks have been rising recently on benefits from increasing demand for electricity nationwide, dealers said. In Shanghai, shares such as Sichuan Minjiang Hydropower Co Ltd (SH A 600131), Hunan Huayin Electric Power Co Ltd have risen while in Shenzhen, A-shares of Guangdong Electric Power Development Co Ltd (SZ A 000539;...

Thailand’s oil and gas demand (excluding use by its petrochemicals sector) rose 5.9% to 1,028,500 barrels per day (b/d) oil equivalent in the first quarter. Consumption of refined oil products averaged 653,700 b/d, an increase of 5.8% over the previous year. Demand for diesel oil 302,400 b/d was up 7.8%, gasoline 131,000 b/d (5.6%), fuel...

TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) – The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will partially resume underwriting of trade insurance for Iraq to help reconstruct the country, the Nihon Keizai newspaper reported. Short-term insurance policies of two years or less will be approved for reconstruction-related exports ordered by such international organisations as the United Nations and third parties...

ALMATY (AFX) – Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan signed an accord to divide up the northern and central parts of the resource-rich Caspian Sea after failing to reach agreement with their southern neigbours Iran and Turkmenistan. “We’ve drawn closer and closer to each other,” Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister Kairat Abuseitov said at a signing ceremony with...

Australia’s Oil Search Ltd has been appointed to take over the Papua New Guinea assets and upstream licences of ChevronTexaco and its joint-venture partners. Subsidiary Chevron Nuigini Ltd (CNGL) said Oil Search will take over Petroleum Development Licence 2 (Kutubu), Pipeline Licence 2, Moran Unit, Petroleum Development Licence 4 (Gobe Main), SE Gobe Unit, Pipeline...

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – CNOOC Ltd’s US$500 million debt issue was 14 times oversubscribed, according to a source close to the deal. The company earlier disclosed that CNOOC Finance (2003) Ltd had issued US$300 million in 30-year guaranteed notes and US$200 million in 10-year notes. The 5.5% 30-year notes were priced at 118 basis points...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – The International Energy Agency said in a monthly report that it has cut China’s oil demand forecast by 340,000 barrels per day (b/d) to 4.95 million b/d for the second quarter on concerns about the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic. This compares unfavourably with domestic oil consumption of 5.24 million b/d...

TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) – Japanese firms are winning orders for large-scale energy development projects in the Persian Gulf region following the end of the Iraq war, the Nihon Keizai newspaper reported. Major projects involve investments of more than 100 bln yen, it said. (US$1=115 yen). Mitsui & Co, Nippon Steel Corp and Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd...

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – PetroChina (857.HK) and China Petroleum & Chemical (Sinopec) (386.HK) have been accused by 38 private oil companies in northeast China for controlling prices and withholding supply, the South China Morning Post reported, citing a spokesman from one of the affected companies, Shenyang Pengda. “(PetroChina and Sinopec) refuse to supply us with...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – Electricity rates may drop by 0.11 to 0.25 pesos per kilowatthour in the coming months in line with the government’s five-pronged approach to reduce power costs, Energy Secretary Vincent Perez said. (US$1=52 peso). He told reporters the government is moving to implement “long-term structural reforms” in the power sector to make electricity...

China’s CNOOC Limited has signed an equity sale and purchase agreement with the existing North West Shelf partners to acquire an interest in the upstream production and reserves of Australia’s North West Shelf project. The company will acquire a 25% stake in the China LNG Joint Venture, a new joint venture to be established within...

LONDON (AFX) – BG Group PLC said the completion of the sale of its 16.67% stake in the North Caspian Sea Project will not be delayed by its partners’ decision to exercise their rights over the shares. BG in March agreed to sell the shares to China’s CNOOC Ltd for US$615 million. However, the deal...

PowerSeraya Ltd, one of Singapore’s major power generation companies, is switching from the use of conventional heavy fuel oil to Orimulsion¨ to power 750MW of generating capacity. The project is expected to be completed by end 2005. The S$200 million engineering, procurement and construction agreement was signed with Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd (IHI), Japan...

WASHINGTON (AFX) – The US will conduct transparent management of Iraq’s oil revenues if the UN votes in favor of its draft resolution, according to State Department spokesman Richard Boucher. In the Security Council draft, the US government proposes that trade and economic sanctions imposed against Saddam Hussein’s regime be lifted and oil revenues administered...

Malaysia LNG Tiga Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Petronas, has signed a sale and purchase agreement (SPA) to supply up to two million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for seven years to with Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS). At current price, the contract is valued at about US$3.2 billion. The LNG will...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – CNOOC Ltd, China’s main offshore oil producer, will proceed with its planned US$500-750 million 10-year bond issue to the international bond market despite being blocked from buying a stake in the North Caspian Sea Production Sharing Agreement, a banking source said. “CNOOC plans to sell the bonds to take advantage of the...

BANGKOK (AFX-ASIA) – Electricity Generating Plc (Egcomp) said it plans to acquire a stake in a 1,400-megawatt coal-fired BLCP power plant from existing shareholders, CLP Powergen Southeast Asia and Banpu Plc. Egcomp president Kraisi Karnasuta said the company has held talks with the two existing shareholders — each of which own a 50% stake of...

Australia’s Woodside Energy Ltd has announced plans to reduce total operating costs by A$250 million between 2003 and 2005. (US$1=A$1.53). It said: “Total net savings in operating expenditure, as compared to 2002, are estimated at A$250 million between 2003 and 2005. This result includes implementation costs of A$35 million over the three years. About A$60...

BAGHDAD (AFX-ASIA) – Iraq’s crude oil production could reach one million barrels per day (bpd) in June and this “might open a door for exports,” Thamir Ghadhban, the Iraqi official running the oil ministry, said. “We hope that during June refining capacity in Iraq will exceed half a million b/d. So concurrent with that, oil...

WASHINGTON (AFX) – The US government’s emergency crude oil reserves have expanded to 600 million barrels, the highest level since the stockpile was created in 1977, according to the Department of Energy. “It is the most ever,” a department spokesman confirmed. US President George W. Bush announced plans in November 2001 to build up the...