The Thai government plans to establish a strategic oil reserve in addition to the one legally required for commercial purposes. The new reserve will help Thailand deal with potential supply disruptions and global oil price fluctuations, according to a Bangkok Post report citing Metta Banturngsuk, director of Energy Policy and Planning Office (EPPO). Thai laws...

(INFRALINE) — Essar Oil Ltd is set to start crude processing at its US$2.2 billion refinery at Vadinar, Jamnagar, on the West Coast of India from mid-2005, its managing director and chief executive officer Jagdeesh M. Mehta told UNI in an interview. He said construction would start soon on the 240,000 barrels a day refinery,...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China is expected to complete revisions to the rules governing the power sector by the end of this year, the Shanghai-based International Finance News reported. The newspaper quoted Wu Guihui, a senior official with the National Development and Reform Commission, as saying that the revised law will contain some new guidelines on...

The Philippine and Singaporean governments have reached agreement on the issue of tariffs involving petrochemical products traded in the ASEAN region. According to Philippine Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel Roxas II, a compromise was reached during the recent meeting of the ASEAN Economic Ministers in Cambodia. “We have already signed a protocol agreement since we...

JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) – With state oil and gas company Pertamina now a limited liability company, new president Ariffi Nawawi said that productivity and profit will be among his top priorities. He said the other urgent priorities are is to change the corporate culture in line with Pertamina’s new status and to expand the market for...

India’s Essar Oil Ltd, which unveiled its red and white logo at its first retail service station earlier in September, said this week it plans to open another 30 to 40 outlets by the end of the year. By the end of the financial year ending March 2004, Essar will have reached 50 to 60...

TAIPEI (AFX-ASIA) – The Zhangzhou power plant established through an investment arm by YC Wang, chairman of the Formosa Plastics group, has secured Beijing’s approval to expand its capacity and its price guarantee for power procurement, the Commercial Times reported, citing a senior official with the plant. The investment arm that serves as Wang’s front...

Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies (Shell) said it has approved a budget of over US$1 billion for the development of the Salym fields in Russia’s western Siberia. The supervisory board of Salym Petroleum Development N.V. (SPD), a 50-50 joint venture with OAO Evikhon, has subsequently also approved this budget, said a Shell statement. The Salym...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – Sumatec Resources Bhd said it secured two oil-related construction contracts in Bintulu, valued at a total RM139 million. (US$1=RM3.8). A statement released by its public relations consultant, on behalf of the company, said the the first contract is awarded by the Aean Bintulu Fertiliser Sdn Bhd for the main construction package...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – Hwang-DBS Vickers Research said companies providing support services for oil exploration and production (E&P) such as Petra Perdana, Scomi Group and Crest Petroleum, may benefit from an expected spending surge from the oil and gas majors operating in Malaysia. The brokerage said its findings suggest that spending by exploration and production...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China will cut the weighted average price of natural gas delivered by the West-East pipeline to 1.27 yuan per cubic meter from 1.29 yuan, PetroChina Co Ltd (HK 0857; NYSE PTR) said in a statement. (US$1=8.27 yuan). “Enhanced construction efficiency has been achieved…and the small price change is not expected to have...

World oil futures prices rose sharply after OPEC announced an unexpected 900,000 b/d production cut at a ministerial meeting in Vienna yesterday. November futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed US$1.11 higher at $28.24/barrel in response to the news. The cut will reduce the cartel’s output ceiling to 24.5-million b/d from the current level...

India Oil Corp told an industry conference in Singapore that a forecast 39% increase in India’s refining capacity over the next nine years could put another 400,000 barrels per day of oil products into an already flooded market. IOC Chairman M.S. Ramachandran said higher production would outpace domestic demand growth, leaving more barrels for the...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – Four US-based exploration companies have shown interest in bidding for 46 petroleum exploration blocks off the coast of Sulu, Palawan and Reed Bank in the southern Philippines, Energy Secretary Vicente Perez said. The four are Amerada Hess, Occidental Petroleum Corp, Marathon Oil Corp and Hunt Oil Corp, all based in Texas. “The...

NEW DELHI (AFX-ASIA) – An Indian Supreme Court order halting the sale of two blue-chip oil firms could delay the country’s ambitious privatisation program for months, analysts and industry officials said. Last week, the court said Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL), acquired by the government in the 1970s by...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – The West-East gas pipeline project, which began construction in July 2002 and is expected to be the longest gas pipeline in China, will start trial operations in its eastern section on October 1, Xinhua news agency reported. The agency quoted vice-premier Zeng Peiyan as saying that preparations were running smoothly for the...

(INFRALINE) — India’s cooking gas prices will go up by 38 paise on a 14.2 kg cylinder and 20 paise on a five kg cylinder following the government’s proposal to increase the dealers’ commission on LPG. This decision will be effective from October 1, ’03. The rate of commission would increase from Rs 16.33 to...

(INFRALINE) — Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) is undertaking expansion and modernisation projects at its Mumbai and Visakhapatnam refineries with a capital outlay of Rs 27.87 billion. (US$1=Rs45). With a completion schedule of 30 months, the projects will enhance the Mumbai refinery crude thruput capacity to 7.9 million metric tonnes per annum (mmtpa) from 5.5...

JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) – State-run PT Pertamina Tongkang said it has priced its seven-year 90 mln usd bonds at 7-8%, while its eight-year 225 billion rupiah bonds was priced at between 12 to 12.62%. (US$1=8,500 rupiah). The bond offer period is Oct 28-30, with listing on the Surabaya Stock Exchange due on Nov 7. The underwriters...

MOSCOW (AFX) – OAO Yukos denied it is in formal talks concerning the sale of a significant minority stake in the company following reports that ChevronTexaco Corp and Exxon Mobil Corp are poised to lodge bids. “At the present time, Yukos has no written or verbal agreements to sell a substantial block of company shares,...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – OSK Research said it is maintaining its “buy” recommendation on Malakoff Bhd, with a 12-month target price of RM6.35, on the company’s solid earnings and compelling valuation. (US$1=RM3.8). In a note, OSK said Malakoff’s purchase of a 90% stake in the 2.10 megatwatt coal-fired Tanjung Bin power plant for RM835 million...

SHANGHAI (AFX-ASIA) – German petrochemical company BASF Group said that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with PetroChina Co Ltd (HK 0857; NYSE PTR) on possible offtake of natural gas pumped from the West-East pipeline. Alicia Chan, head of corporate communications Greater China at BASF, said that negotiations on the pricing of the...

Rayong Purifier Plc, the operator of a condensate residue splitter for refining oil, plans to raise B400 million by selling 15.83 million shares through an initial public offering late next month. The offer price is around 23 to 27 baht per share. (US$1=B41), said the Bangkok Post. According to BT Securities Co, its financial adviser...

TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) – Itochu Corp, Hitachi Ltd and Chinese heavy electric equipment manufacturer China Dongfang Electric Co have jointly received an order to provide a turbines and a power generator for a coal-fuelled electric power plant in China, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported, without citing sources. The order, placed by independent power producer Shanxi Lujin...

(INFRALINE) — A government-sponsored initiative to kick start the revival of the controversial Dabhol power project appears set to pay off, with an agreement to restructure the project expected to be firmed up shortly. According to senior government officials, based on talks with the Indian lenders to the project and the advice of the consultant...