JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) – Drilling contractor PT Apexindo Pratama Duta said net profit fell sharply to 8.954 billion rupiah in the three months to March from 22.429 billion a year earlier, due to its posting an operating loss on lower sales and increased costs of goods sold. (US$1=8,500 rupiah) It recorded an operating loss of 3.842...

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...

TEHRAN (AFX) – Iran will soon finalise a deal on developing its southwestern Bangestan oil field with one of three international oil majors, a government official told the state news agency IRNA. Iran would choose between Royal Dutch Shell Group, British Petroleum PLC and TotalFinaElf to develop the lucrative oil field, said Ali-Akbar Vahidi Al-e...

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...

LONDON (AFX) – Soco International PLC and its partners have plugged and abandoned an exploration well offshore Vietnam. Soco said the well, in block 16-1 in the Cuu Long Basin, was abandoned after a test indicated the structure would not flow. This was the fourth well drilled on block 16-1 where there has been a...

China’s CNOOC Limited, through wholly owned finance subsidiary CNOOC Finance (2003) Limited, has offered and priced two tranches of guaranteed notes: US$200 million 4.125% guaranteed notes due 2013 and US$300 million 5.50% guaranteed notes due 2033. The 2013 Notes were priced at 77 basis points over the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury (with a yield of...

Oil prices are likely to stay supported in the coming months on lasting concerns over low inventories, the spectre of terrorism and political instability in producing countries in the Middle East and Nigeria. The euphoria over the fast end to the US-led war to unseat Saddam Hussein has quickly faded as terrorism remains a threat,...

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – Citigroup Global Markets regional equity strategist Ajay Kapur said he has revised his position on China to ‘underweight’ from ‘overweight’ in his Asia-Pacific model portfolio, arguing that the cyclical bull market is at an end. At the same time, he warned that the mainland economy currently bears an uncomfortable resemblance to...

Singapore’s Energy Market Company (EMC) has named members to the independent Disputes and Compensation Resolution Panel (DCRP). Comprising five members, this group will play a vital role in resolving disputes in the second stage of the dispute resolution process for the new wholesale electricity market, ensuring that disputes between market players are dealt with swiftly,...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – K & N Kenanga Bhd said it turned to a net loss of RM4.61 million for the first quarter to March from a net profit of RM5.322 million the year earlier because of higher provisions and lower bad debt recovery. The loss came as sales halved to RM15.836 million from RM30.185...

BINTULU (AFX-ASIA) – Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Malaysia needs to become more cost efficient to become a global player in the LNG market, which is seeing stiffer competition and falling prices. “Competition has become stiffer as growth in supply increasingly outpaced demand growth …. Technology has further contributed to the changing business landscape as...

BINTULU (AFX-ASIA) – Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said it is up to national oil corporation Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) and Bintulu Port to discuss between them the berthing charges imposed on Petronas’ liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers. “It is up to them to figure out how they can do it,” he said in response to...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – Energy Secretary Vincent Perez said local oil companies should further reduce their pump prices because of declining crude costs in the international market. “Based on the trend, there should be a further reduction in pump prices. There is a decline in oil prices in the international market and the local oil players...

Keppel FELS Limited (KFELS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore’s Keppel Corporation, has successfully completed the construction of its third KFELS MOD V ‘B’ class jack-up rig five weeks ahead of contractual delivery schedule. The construction of the Atwood Beacon took 21 months, following the signing of the contract in late July 2001. The jack-up will...

SYDNEY (AFX-ASIA) – BHP Billiton chief financial officer Chris Lynch said the company expects year to June 2003 and 2004 oil production of 120-125 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe). Speaking to a briefing after the company’s third quarter results, Mr Lynch said the 2003 output is expected at the lower end of that range...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – Manila Electric Co may have to pay up to 30.5 billion pesos to comply with a Supreme Court ruling ordering it to refund excess charges collected from 1994, company president Jesus Francisco said. (US$1=52 peso). In a television interview, Francisco said Meralco will submit its refund proposal to the Energy Regulatory Commission...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – Malaysia LNG Sdn Bhd is spending some RM1 billion to extend the life of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant for another 20 years via a rejuvenation and revamp project, senior general manager for plant division Samsudin Miskon said. The rejuvenation will cost the company much less compared to the RM5-6...

Data for the week ending May 9 once again indicate how important oil imports are to the US, said the Department of Energy’s latest report. Gasoline imports (including blending components) averaged less than 800,000 barrels per day for the first time since the week ending March 7. So, even though gasoline refinery production increased, the...

The crude oil markets are focused on OPEC production and the extent to which OPEC will cut production in the months ahead. ESAI, in the latest edition of Pacific Basin Stockwatch, said it expects OPEC production will have to be cut again later in the year. ESAI said: “OPEC asserts that March/April production of the...

RIYADH (AFX) – Saudi Arabia has cleared a major obstacle for signing final agreements with Exxon Mobil Corp and Royal Dutch/Shell Group for two large gas projects, agreeing terms on associated power plants, the chief Saudi negotiator said. “The committee conducting the negotiations has completed its mission in reaching agreements on the electricity, water and...

MILAN (AFX) – ENI SpA said it expects production this year at its Woollybutt, Australia oil field to reach 35,000 barrels/day. ENI has launched production at Woollybutt, which is off the north west coast of Australia, 80 kilometres from the city of Onslow, it said. “The field, in which ENI is operator with a 65%...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – Warren Buffett’s holding company Berkshire Hathaway Inc paid about HK$1.42 billion to double its stake in PetroChina Co Ltd (HK 0857; NYSE PTR) to over 13% of the state-owned oil producer’s Hong Kong-traded stock. (US$1=HK$7.78). The purchases last month in the listed unit of China’s biggest oil producer are likely a reflection...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – Petron Corp, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp and Caltex Philippines Inc have reduced their gasoline prices by 0.30 pesos per litre and diesel and kerosene by 0.20 per litre effective early this month due to softening crude prices. The oil companies also cut the price of liquefied petroleum gas by 11 pesos per...

CNOOC Limited has failed in its bid to buy over from BG International Limited (BG), a wholly owned subsidiary of UK’s BG Group, its 8.33% stake in Kazakhstan’s North Caspian Sea project. The other owners have chosen to exercise their pre-emption rights and have acquired the interest which BG had agreed to sell to the...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – Tenaga Nasional Bhd shares have weakened after the company announced its six months to February net profit declined to RM705.9 million from RM1.321 billion a year earlier due to a forex translation loss of RM19.1 million against an Rm813.6 million gain previously, dealers said. (US$1=RM3.8). Dealers said the decline is also...