SINGAPORE (AFX-ASIA) – The fallout from the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus threatens to deflate the boom in China’s vehicle market, the fastest growing in Asia, an industry consultancy said. In Asia, vehicle sales are forecast to be flat this year, with production seen to fall more than 2% as demand for cars and...

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – Hong Kong & China Gas Co Ltd (3.HK) chairman Lee Shau-kee said the company has no plans to offer tariff concessions to its catering and hotel clients affected by the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Tariff concessions will not provide any significant support, Lee told reporters last week. He...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – Tenaga Nasional Bhd shares have fallen 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...

Asian refining margins are set to recover from their prolonged slump and may improve to sustainable levels of some $3.3/barrel by 2005 and $4.2/barrel by 2010. In an advisory, Hawaii-based energy consultants FACTS Inc said: “We have reason to believe that improvement is on the horizon, and a recovery in Asian refining margins can be...

BANGKOK (AFX-ASIA) – PTT Plc could save 1 billion baht in annual interest expenses from the current 7 billion baht with its refinancing plan, said senior executive vice president Pichai Chunhavajira. (US$1=42 baht) The company’s AGM last week approved its plan to raise approximately 50 billion baht to fund the company’s 5-year investment plan. “The...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – Malakoff Bhd said its first half sales and net profit improved year-on-year due to additional contributions from GB3 Sdn Bhd, which commenced commercial operation of its plant under the combined cycle mode in the second quarter, and an improvement from another power unit Segari Energy Ventures Sdn Bhd. Malakoff announced six...

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has assigned a ‘BB+’ foreign currency corporate credit rating to Hongkong-based Panva Gas Holdings Ltd. The outlook on the rating is stable. The rating reflects the company’s leading position in the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and piped natural gas markets in mainland China and sound financial status. These strengths are...

Kazakhoil Aktobe LLP (KOA) has signed a five-year agreement with the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), operator of the 1,500-km pipeline linking Kazakhstan directly to the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, to allow KOA to transport all crude oil production from the Alibekmola and Kozhasai fields via the CPC pipeline. Toronto-based Nelson Resources Limited said that...

SEOUL (AFX-ASIA) – KEPCO shares rose last week as investors focused more on the company’s positive earnings outlook than the first quarter to March results that came in at the low range of market expectations, dealers said. Korea Electric Power Corp announced last week that it recorded 517.5 billion won in net profit in the...

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – Huaneng Power International Inc (902.HK) was higher last week and outperforming a firm broader market after reporting a 41.87% rise in its first quarter net profit to 1.127 billion yuan, dealers said. (US$1=8.28 yuan). Under Chinese accounting standards, the company’s core revenue rose to 5.17 billion yuan from 3.853 billion, due...

State Indian Oil Corp has reported that its nine refineries achieved record throughput of 43.4 million tonnes for the last financial year to March 31 2003. The period coincided with the first year of India’s deregulation of the downstream oil sector. IOC’s seven refineries recorded crude throughput of 35.1 million tonnes, eclipsing the previous best...

Singapore’s Keppel Shipyard has won a US$2 million bonus for delivering a FPSO (Floating Production Storage Offloading) vessel 10 days ahead of its fast-track contract schedule for Single Buoy Moorings (SBM) Inc. The wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Corporation through Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M) also received a US$200,000 safety incentive. The yard achieved more...

LONDON (AFX) – Shares of BP PLC have drifted lower as analysts digested first quarter earnings from the oil giant which, when non-core items were stripped out, appeared to match market expectations, dealers said. Last week, BP reported quarterly earnings at US$3.729 million, around 5% above consensus levels and at the top of the market’s...

PARIS (AFX) – Claude Mandil, executive director of the International Energy Agency, said he is concerned about the current low levels of commercial and industrial crude inventories, as they contribute to price volatility on the oil market. Speaking at an IEA briefing following its ministerial meeting here, he said that in light of the need...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – Manila Electric Co shares have been trading higher, rebounding from previous losses, after the company said it will likely return to net profit in the first quarter to March after booking a 2 billion peso net loss in 2002, dealers said. (US$1=52 peso). Without going into details, Meralco president Jesus Francisco told...

A much-awaited recovery of Asia’s long-suffering oil refining industry this year could be delayed by the sudden rise of a new pneumonia-like disease known as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) across the world. Since the first case was reported in China last November, the deadly disease has struck deep fear by its rapid spread, hurting...

TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) – Japanese oil companies plan to reduce their wholesale prices of products such as gasoline to retailers by 1 to 1.2 yen per liter, starting with May shipments, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported, without citing sources. (US$1=120 yen). Reflecting the decline in crude oil prices now that the war in Iraq appears to...

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, Russia (AFX) – The Sakhalin Energy consortium will hand out contracts totalling nearly US$9 billion for oil infrastructure projects on Sakhalin island in Russia’s far east by the end of June, the group announced. Sakhalin Energy, controlled by Shell Petroleum, will by 2007 build two new oil rigs off the northeast coast of the...

TAIPEI (AFX-ASIA) – A consortium led by Chinese Petroleum Corp has decided to go ahead with construction of the nation’s eighth naphtha cracker, the Commercial Times reported, citing the company’s vice president Chen Pao-lang. Construction will start immediately after the plant site is finalised, he said. Chinese Petroleum and its partners, including the Koos group,...

Singapore’s Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) has announced a conditional agreement to sell its crude oil transportation company American Eagle Tankers (AET) to Malaysia International Shipping Corporation Berhad (MISC). MISC is a fully-owned subsidiary of Malaysia’s state oil and gas company Petronas. NOL chairman Cheng Wai Keung said: “This is a strategic move that will allow...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – PNOC Exploration Corp plans to borrow US$200 million in July through a loan syndication or a private placement, Philippine National Oil Co executive vice president Alfredo Parungao said. He said that PNOC has yet to secure national government approval for a guarantee cover. About US$175 million of the loan proceeds will be...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – Forum Pacific Inc (FPI) said it has approved Tracer Petroleum Corp’s purchase of a controlling interest in oil exploration subsidiary Forum Exploration Inc. FPI, in a disclosure to the stock exchange, said Tracer will purchase 125 million shares representing a controlling stake in Forum Exploration. FPI said Tracer has agreed to produce...

TAIPEI (AFX-ASIA) – Chinese Petroleum Corp has decided to stop production at its third naphtha cracker from today amid oversupply caused by the output reduction of downstream petrochemical producers due to the spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), the Commercial Times reported without naming a source. Production is scheduled to be resumed from the...

ALSTOM said it has been awarded a 65 million Euro contract (US$1=0.90 Euros) to supply a 300 MW circulating fluidised bed boiler for the site of Baima in China’s Sichuan province. The contract was signed last month in Beijing by Zhao Xizheng, president of the State Power Grid Corporation of China and Patrick Kron, ALSTOM’s...

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) (386.HK) shares have been trading higher after reporting a strong improvement in its first quarter results on the back of stronger oil product prices and demand, dealers said. Last week, the company said its first quarter net profit rose to 6.42 billion yuan from 542...