KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – Petronas Dagangan Bhd has moved in recent days after posting sharply higher first quarter to June results last week. “Investors are buying the stock because of its better-than-expected first quarter earnings,” an oil and gas analyst said. “There is also follow-through buying from yesterday as investors were already expecting impressive earnings...

SYDNEY (AFX-ASIA) – Australian Gas Light Co Ltd (AGL) said its year to June net profit rose 53% to A$295 million and forecast higher underlying profit andearnings per share (EPS) for fiscal 2004. “The performance of the Pulse Energy business has clearly made a positive difference to AGL’s earnings,” company chairman John Phillips said in...

US independent Unocal Corporation (NYSE: UCL) said that its Unocal Makassar, Ltd subsidiary has begun oil production from Phase 1 of the company’s deepwater West Seno project offshore East Kalimantan, Indonesia. West Seno is the first deepwater oil and gas project in Indonesia. Current production from West Seno is 14,000 barrels of oil per day...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – CNOOC Ltd (HK 0883; NYSE CEO) said its parent company, China National Offshore Oil Corp, China Petrochemical Corp (Sinopec Group), Royal Dutch/Shell Group (NYSE RD) and Unocal Corp (NYSE UCL) have finalised an agreement to explore, develop and market natural gas, oil and condensate in the East China Sea. CNOOC said on...

SYDNEY (AFX-ASIA) – Woodside Petroleum Ltd said its net profit before one-off items rose 3% to A$272.2 million in the six months to June with earnings boosted by higher sales revenue and stronger oil prices, which partly offset higher exploration expense. (US$1=A$1.5). Woodside’s net profit before one-offs for the year earlier has been revised to...

Owners of more than 10,000 oil truck tankers in Pakistan continue to strike, paralysing distribution through most of the country the past few days. Among the fleets affected were more than 2,000 tankers idled outside oil-terminals in South Punjab, affecting the supply of gasoline, high speed diesel and kerosene oil. Mir Yousaf Shahwani, chairman, All...

TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) – Nippon Mining Holdings, which oversees Japan Energy Corp and Nippon Mining and Metals, said it posted first quarter to June net profit of 2.5 billion yen, citing brisk sales of its fuel products. (US$1=118 yen). There was no comparative figure as this was the first time that the company has issued its...

VIENNA (AFX) – OPEC Secretary General Alvaro Silva Calderon said he has asked experts to devise a system for determining members’ future quotas, but said any redistribution “would undoubtedly carry certain risks and challenges.” He was speaking at the start of a meeting of the experts. “The OPEC secretary general said that given the importance...

TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) – Japan should go ahead with a multi-billion dollar deal to develop a massive oil field in Iran even though the US opposes it, Defence Agency Director-General Shigeru Ishiba said. “I do not think we should give it up because America says so,” he said in a talk show on the private Asahi...

TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) – TonenGeneral Sekiyu KK, a unit of Exxon Mobil, said it swung to a net profit of 14.6 billion yen in the first half to June from a 1.3 billion yen loss a year earlier due to higher sales of its fuel products and the positive impact of cost-cutting efforts. (US$1=118 yen). In...

SYDNEY (AFX-ASIA) – Origin Energy Ltd said net profit jumped 25.9% to A$162 million in the year to June driven by contributions from its acquisition of the CitiPower energy retailing business and good returns from electricity purchase contracts. In a statement, the energy developer and retailer said initial contributions from oil production in the Perth...

SYDNEY (AFX-ASIA) – Retailer Woolworths Ltd and Caltex Australia Ltd said they plan to establish a 50/50 discount fuel joint venture, which is expected to be earnings positive for both companies from the outset. In a joint statement, the companies said the joint venture company will lease all the Woolworths/Safeway-branded fuel outlets and add approximately...

SHANGHAI (AFX-ASIA) – China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) (SH A 600028; HK 0386; NYSE SNP) and Royal Dutch/Shell Group (NYSE RD) have secured approval from the State Council, China’s cabinet, for a feasibility study of their US$200 million gas station joint venture, moving one step closer to receiving a final license, an official with...

TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) – Showa Shell Sekiyu KK, a Japanese unit of Royal Dutch/Shell Group, said it posted first half to June net profit of 9.30 billion yen, down 0.5% year-on-year, due to a surge in product costs as a result of changes to the accounting treatment of its inventories last year. (US$1=118 yen). In the...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) Ð Malaysian state oil and gas company Petronas is not awarding oil and gas contracts worth RM2-3 billion to one company, a Petronas official told AFX-Asia in response to a newspaper report of such a plan. (US$1=RM3.8) “We are not aware that of such a contract being awarded,” the official said, declining...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – A shipment of 700,000 barrels of light sweet crude from Sakhalin Energy Investment Co Ltd, the first shipment from a Russian supplier, is set to arrive in the Philippines this month, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said. The shipment will reportedly be delivered to the refineries of Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp...

JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) – A grenade exploded last week at a gas field at ExxonMobil’s Indonesian unit in the restive province of Aceh, a company spokesperson said. No one was injured and the blast did not damaged any of ExxonMobil’s gas facilities, said Julia Tumengkol. “Production activities continues,” she told AFX-ASIA. “We will meet BP Migas...

Thailand can save an estimated 2.3 trillion baht in energy costs between now and 2017 under a new conservation programme launched by the government, said the Bangkok Post. Energy Minister Prommin Lertsuridej was quoted as saying that Thai energy consumption was growing by 1.3 to 1.4 times the country’s economic growth rate. This rate is...

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – Xinao Gas Holding Ltd (2688.HK) said it is lifting the total amount of funds to be raised via a syndicated loan facility to US$45 million, up from the original plan of raising US$35 million, due to the oversubscription of the syndication. Total interest in the syndication, which was coordinated by ABN...

Caltex Lubricants Lanka Limited (CLL), a ChevronTexaco subsidiary, has reported a 20% growth in operating profits to RS464.8 million for the first half of the financial year to June 2003. (US$1=Rs98). In a statement announcing interim results, the company said provisional unaudited figures showed sales rose 4% to Rs. 2 billion while operating profit was...

Indian oil marketing company Bharat Petroleum said it has earmarked a budget of Rs 10 to 15 billion for its venture into the exploration and production (E&P) business. The company “will look into a mix of exposure of exploration, development and production with a budget of Rs 10 to 15 billion over the next five...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – First Gas Power Corp, a unit of First Philippine Holdings Corp, said it is preparing for a month-long international road show to seek possible partners and financing of US$70-100 million for its gas pipeline project. “We are coming up with a team that will go to Europe, Asia and America to seek...

SYDNEY (AFX-ASIA) – ChevronTexaco Corp’s A$11 billion Gorgon gas field project is expected to secure approval from the Western Australian (WA) government next month, the Australian Financial Review reported without specifying sources. (US$1=A$1.5). The WA government approval is expected at a cabinet meeting on September 1 despite concerns about the environmental impact of the proposed...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – Manila Electric Co’s refund to customers and upcoming debt maturities may cause a cash flow problem for the company beginning this year up to 2005, ING Financial Markets said. Meralco, currently implementing a 30.50 billion pesos refund to consumers as ordered by the Supreme Court, also needs to repay 76% of its...

The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) plans to invest in upstream energy businesses in Russia and Venezuela, particularly coal mining and orimulsion production, a new power generation fuel with similar properties to coal and bunker oil, according to the Bangkok Post. The multi-billion-baht investment plan, approved by the Egat board, will be included in...