COLOMBO (AFX-ASIA) – India is keen on exploring oil in Sri Lanka, while a state-owned Indian firm is set to invest US$100 million in the island’s petroleum sector, India’s oil minister said. Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Ram Naik said India was keen on taking at least two blocks within Sri Lanka’s territorial waters once...

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...

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...

Turkmenistan President Saparmurat Turkmenbashi has been briefed on the progress of projects’ undertaken by Dragon Oil Plc, the independent oil and gas exploration and production company, which which majority owned by Emirates National Oil Company Ltd (ENOC). The brief was provided by Hussain Sultan, chairman and chief executive of Dragon. Mr Sultan told the President...

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – CNOOC Co Ltd (883.HK) chief financial officer Mark Qiu said an oil pipeline deal between China National Petroleum Corp and AO Yukos will not have a material impact on its business. He said sales of CNOOC’s products are not confined to China’s domestic market. Mr Qiu said the pipeline deal will...

DALLAS (AFX) – Exxon Mobil Corp shareholders voted down a slew of social and environmental resolutions as the world’s largest publicly traded oil company countered activists’ protests, the Wall Street Journal reported. Succumbing to defeat at the annual meeting were shareholder resolutions that challenged Exxon Mobil on issues such as global warming and corporate accountability...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – Tenaga Nasional Bhd is confident of meeting its projected 6 to 7% electricity demand growth this year, despite the adverse impact of SARS outbreak on the economy, chairman Awang Adek Hussin said. Bernama news agency quoted Awang as saying that the projected growth can be achieved as long as the domestic...

Indonesia’s state oil and gas company risks the closure of its Balongan refinery for allegedly owing backdated taxes to the local administration in Indramayu, West Java. The administration said it had sent Pertamina had ignored several warning letters to pay up. The company has until June 20 to pay up or faces unspecified action. The...

The UAE’s oil income will rise by six percent to around $17.6 billion this year on a combination of high oil prices and an increase in production, said the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The EIU, a member of the London-based Economist Group, said the UAE economy will grow by 4.2% this year and by 2.8%...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – Heilongjiang Electric Power Co Ltd (SH A 600726; SH B 900937) said it has received approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission to issue 800 million yuan in five-year convertible corporate bonds with a coupon of 1.5%. (US$1=8.28 yuan). The company said in a statement that China Securities Co Ltd will be...

VIENNA (AFX) – OPEC said it expects there will be a reduction in crude supplies. But the organisation added, in its May report on its internet site, that current strong production and the resumption of Iraqi oil exports will be sufficient to allow stocks to be built up by consumer countries, and that it will...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – The government has increased electricity prices slightly from June to compensate for this month’s rise in thermal coal prices, the China Daily reported, citing industrial sources. Average coal prices will rise by 0.10 yuan per kWh from the current 0.28 yuan, increasing the China’s annual electricity bill by 1 billion yuan, the...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – Malaysian Airline System Bhd said it signed an agreement with Petronas Dagangan Bhd for the supply of jet fuel starting April 1. The agreement calls for Petronas to supply jet fuel to the carrier at 10 airports in the country for RM644.1 million a year. (US$1=RM3.8). The contract is for one...

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) are interested to participate in the construction of the proposed US$2.5 billion natural gas pipeline linking Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Both companies have submitted their expressions of interest (EoI) to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which is lead developing the project. The ADB is...

Canada’s Ivanhoe Energy said it has ended discussions with Qatar Petroleum (QP) to develop a block in Qatar’s North Field to produce natural gas liquids and gas to liquids (GTL) products. “We are very disappointed that negotiations have not been successful, particularly with the amount of time and money invested in bringing the project this...

SYDNEY (AFX-ASIA) – Retailer Coles Myer Ltd said it has entered a commercial alliance with Shell Australia what will see it operate Shell’s core retail property network of 584 service stations across Australia. In a statement, Coles Myer said the alliance will see it establish a new gas station and convenience store division which is...

SYDNEY (AFX-ASIA) – Oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum Ltd said it has plugged and abandoned the Roaton number 1 well in the Gulf of Mexico as well as the Gnarlyknots 1A well offshore Southern Australia.. In a statement, Woodside said the Roaton well is in the Gulf of Mexico’s Brazos Area Block 490 with...

LONDON (AFX) – Cairn Energy PLC is aiming to sell in part or in full its deep water exploration project in the Krishna-Godavari basin in offshore eastern India before the end of the year, said Mike Watts, the company’s director for exploration. He said ABN Amro is advising the company on how to proceed with...

Singapore’s Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M) has delivered a posted submersible drilling barge to Indonesian drilling contractor PT Apexindo Pratama Duta Tbk. Yani Rig 104, a newbuild order, was delivered to PT Apexindo within 7.5 months. It is the third of three posted submersible drilling barges to be delivered to the client. Yani Rig...

NEW YORK (AFX) – AG Edwards & Son said it has downgraded ChevronTexaco Corp to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’ on valuation grounds. The broker said the oil giant’s share price has risen 12% since May 1, outperforming the S&P 500, ExxonMobil, which is up 3%, as well as BP, up 9%. “While the company successfully delivered...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China Resources Enterprise Ltd (HK 0291; ADR CHNRY) said its first-quarter net profit was HK$298.5 million, compared with HK$295 million a year earlier, supported by the strong performance of its textiles and petroleum businesses. (US$1=HK$7.78). But its expanding retail operations made a loss of HK$15.8 million, compared with a profit of HK$23.2...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said it has allowed state-run National Power Corp (Napocor) to collect from this month around 3.2 billion pesos worth of fuel and purchased power cost adjustment charges (FPCA) that it failed to recover from January 2001 to September 2002. (US$1=51 pesos). FPCA, which represents costs incurred in...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – Petronas Gas Bhd shares have been trading lower after after posting in-line results for the full year to March, with its expensive valuations also weighing on investor sentiment, dealers said. “Some investors are liquidating the stock as they feel its valuations are pricey at current levels and that the company’s outlook...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China’s decision to levy a 13% value-added tax on gas connection fees, replacing a 3% business tax on turnover, is expected to trim profit margins at listed mainland gas companies by 10-20%, analysts said. Wah Sang Gas Holdings (HK 8035), Xinao Gas Holdings Ltd (HK 2688) and Zhengzhou Gas Co Ltd (HK...

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) Hong Kong (135.HK) chairman Wang Mingcai said the company is seeking opportunities to purchase interests in oil fields in Russia, South America and the Mideast. Speaking after the annual meeting, he gave no specific information on the fields that might be of interest or how far...