BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China and Kazakhstan signed two energy deals last week, simultaneously increasing China’s investment in oil and gas in the central Asian country and agreeing on a new pipeline linking the two countries, the China Daily reported. The pipeline project is estimated to be worth US$3 to 3.5 billion, the newspaper said, without...

SYDNEY (AFX-ASIA) – Santos said it has taken a 20% non-operated interest in two deep water oil exploration permits in off-shore Indonesia, off the east coast of Kalimantan. In a statement, Santos said the wells are located in the deep water portion of the Kutei Bais in depths ranging from 1.65 km to 2.45 km...

Oil prices are likely to take a breather this week after chalking up sharp gains over the past few sessions. Last week’s reports of continued low stockpiles around the world and talks of OPEC curbing supplies at its next ministerial meeting on June 11 helped sustain a mini rally into the start of this week....

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China will build four hydropower stations on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River with a combined capacity twice that of the Three Gorges project, Xinhua news agency reported. The news agency quoted a senior official with China Yangtze Three Gorges Project Development Corp as saying the four stations, Wudongde, Baihexi, Xiluodu...

GE Oil and Gas, a division of GE Power Systems (GEPS), has signed a US$94 million contract for the supply of equipment to Oman LNG L.L.C, a liquefied natural gas plant in Qalhat, Oman. GE Power is a world leading supplier of power generation technology, energy services, and management systems across the power and oil...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China’s contract with Iraq to develop the al-Ahdab oil field there could proceed, as the agreement has not been terminated but merely suspended for the time being, the China Business Weekly reported, citing Shen Weiguo, an analyst with China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC). Mr Shen, an analyst at CNPC’s energy research center,...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China’s two power grid companies will invest a total of 70 billion yuan this year to build and maintain the country’s grid networks, the China Electric Power News reported. It said State Power Grid Co will invest 44.2 billion yuan in the construction and maintenance of grid networks this year, accounting for...

Amerada Hess (Thailand) Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Amerada Hess Corporation said it has found natural gas in its Phu Horm-3 appraisal well on Block E5N in northeastern Thailand. An extended well test has begun. Following test results, further appraisal drilling may be required to determine commerciality. Amerada Hess (Thailand) Limited and APICO LLC,...

China’s oil and gas company CNOOC said it is ready to begin construction of the Guangdong Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal despite interruptions posed by the new deadly new flu-like SARS disease that has killed more than 400 people in China and Hongkong. The company said the Feasibilty Study Report (FSR) of Guangdong LNG Project...

MOSCOW (AFX) – AO LUKoil said it will invest soon in Iraq, and will press ahead with developing the giant Iraqi oil field of West Qurna. “We are in consultations with the occupying power. The sanctions have been lifted, we will invest soon in Iraq,” vice-president Leonid Fedun told a press conference. In April, the...

Largo Vista Group Ltd has signed contracts with the local government in Zunyi, China to develop a second liquid petroleum gas (LPG) pipeline in that city. The California, US-based company is involved in supplying to China environmentally friendly and cost-effective energy fuels, and petrochemicals to Vietnam and China. Li Chuming, Largo Vista’s general manager for...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – Tenaga Nasional Bhd expects the 7.3% growth in electricity sales for the six months to Feb 2003 over the previous corresponding period to be maintained in the second half of the current financial year, online paper The Edge reported, citing chairman Awang Adek Hussin. “So far, we are looking at it...

TAIPEI (AFX-ASIA) – Chinese Petroleum Corp’s privatisation has been indefinitely postponed due to opposition from the company’s labour union, the Commercial Times reported, citing Chiu Chi-hsiung, deputy convener of the state oil company’s privatisation task force. Chinese Petroleum’s privatisation had earlier been scheduled for the end of the year. The management of the state oil...

SYDNEY (AFX-ASIA) – Caltex Australia Ltd is working on plans to form a fuel alliance with a grocery retailer although it remains confident it can withstand the competition threat posed by Coles Myer’s alliance with Shell Australia, the Australian Financial Review reported, citing Caltex chief executive Jeet Bindra. He said service stations would not be...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – PetroChina Co Ltd (HK 0857; NYSE PTR) has denied media reports that it will issue US$1 to 1.5 billion of foreign-currency denominated bonds to help fund the construction of a 2,400-km pipeline from Russia to the northern Chinese city of Daqing. Bi Jianguo, head of investor relations at PetroChina in Beijing, said...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – Sime Darby Bhd expects its plantations and the energy divisions to lead earnings growth in the year to June given the stabilising crude palm oil prices (CPO) as well as the start of contribution from the Thai power plant, CEO Nik Mohamed Nik Yaacob. Quoted by online paper The Edge, Nik...

A Russian-Japanese consortium was last week awarded the contract to develop Russia’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) Plant as part Sakhalin Energy’s multi-billion dollar Sakhalin II Phase 2 Project. The consortium members include Russia’s OAO Nipigaspererabothka (Nipigas) and the KhimEnergo consortium, and Japan’s Chiyoda Corporation and Toyo Engineering. The signing of the contract, which is...

Oman LNG has agreed to supply BP up to 4 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) over a six-year period from next year for the major’s marketing activities in Spain. Describing it as a flexible agreement, Oman LNG said BP will receive up to 12 cargoes of LNG (ex-ship) in Europe to underpin existing...

TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) – Tokyo Electric Power Co will be ready to restart three nuclear reactors before the end of June, averting a feared power shortage in greater Tokyo next month, the Nihon Keizai newspaper reported. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s nuclear safety agency plans to declare the No 6 reactor at Tepco’s No...

US oil imports and inventories rose significantly for the week to May 30, but stockpiles remain below normal, said the Department of Energy. At 10.5 million barrels per day for the week ending May 30, imports averaged more than 10 million b/d for three consecutive weeks. Refinery throughput came just under 16.1 million b/d, the...

BAGHDAD (AFX) – Iraq’s acting oil ministry chief Thamir Ghadhban ruled out Baghdad’s withdrawal from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), in an interview with Iraqi newspaper Al-Saa. “We currently have no reason to think of withdrawing from the organisation,” he was quoted as saying in the newspaper. The US’s chief executive officer of...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – Sinopec Shengli Oilfield Co Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Petroleum and Chemical Corp (Sinopec Group), has announced it has discovered 106.68 million tons of oil and 1.52 billion cubic meters of natural gas, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the company’s spokesperson. It quoted the spokesperson as saying seven stretches of land...

China Oilfield Services Limited has signed a new offshore drilling service agreement valued at around RMB100 million with CNOOC China Limited Ð Tianjin (CCLT). (US$1=RMB8.28). The contract involves servicing CCLT’s drilling requirements in the Bohai Bay area throughout 2003, including drilling services for exploration wells as well as for redevelopment wells and appraisal wells, which...

BANGKOK (AFX-ASIA) – Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding Plc plans to expand investment to the region, particularly in the Phillipines and Indonesia, the company’s managing director said. “The company is studying overseas expansion. Currently, some of the generation project’s partners in regional plants want to sell their shares, providing opportunities for company expansion,” Boonchoo Direksathapon said....

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – The government will maintain the current retail price of gasoline in June and will continue to provide subsidies, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said. As a result, the price of the RON 97 petrol will remain at RM1.35 per litre while the RON 92 will be at 1.31...