MOMBASA, Kenya (AFX) – Australian firm Woodside Petroleum expects to invest around US$5 million in an oil exploration project off Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast, Peter Grant, an exploration expert for the company said. He said the exploration could “carry massive prospects.” The company expects to invest the US$5 million in the initial 12-month first phase...

JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) – Oil and gas mining PT Medco Energi Internasional said it has signed an agreement with South Sumatera provincial administration for the transfer of 5% participating interest in Rimau Block to the latter. Rimau block is 100 pct controlled by Medco through its units Exspan Airlimau Inc and Expan Airsenda Inc. The operator...

SHANGHAI (AFX-ASIA) – China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), China’s largest offshore oil producer, has managed to sign up a group of customers for its Fujian liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal and may build a 2,000 km gas pipeline to link China’s northern and southern coastal areas, a CNOOC official said. “We have entered into...

News of Midas-touch investor Warren Buffet buying into PetroChina set off a rally in May, with the shares up by some 40% since then and the company continuing to outperform its international peers. PetroChina’s New York Stock Exchange listed American Depository Receipts (ADR) hit a record high of more than US$35 in recent trades. It...

JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) – State Enterprises Minister Laksamana Sukardi said the government has appointed Credit Suisse First Boston and ABN Amro financial advisers for the planned initial public offering of PT Perusahaan Gas Negara. PGN is a government-owned gas utility involved in the transmission, distribution, wholesaling and retailing of gas. He told reporters at his office...

Exxon Mobil Corp’s LNG output from its Indonesian operations will be reduced significantly following a fire at a gas field in Aceh province last week. Government officials believe output will drop by at least 40%, equivalent to one export cargo, with repairs expected to be completed within two weeks. The ExxonMobil-operated fields supply gas to...

Four foreign firms are said to be interested in buying a stake in the Philippines’ $4.5 billion Malampaya natural gas project, according to local press reports....

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – Hong Kong and China Gas Co Ltd (3.HK) has sealed two piped-gas supply agreements with Shandong worth a total of 500.00 million yuan to capitalise on the mainland’s energy deregulation, the South China Morning Post reported, citing company managing director Alfred Chan Wing-kin. The daily said the company signed the agreements...

MUSCAT (AFX) – Oman’s top oil company Petroleum Development Oman PDO) will invest around US$2 billion to expand its gas production operation over the next five years, managing director John Malcolm said. PDO produces almost 90% of Oman’s total crude output. It is 60% owned by the government, while Royal Dutch/Shell has 34%, Total 4%...

LONDON (AFX) – Cairn Energy PLC is aiming to conclude the acquisition of Royal Dutch Shell Group’s upstream assets in Bangladesh before the end of the year, finance director Kevin Hart said. He told reporters in a conference call that the group is to finalise the agreement with Shell this month following the letter of...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – The power outage suffered in northern Peninsular Malaysia last Monday was due to technical factors and not negligence, Malay daily Utusan Malaysia quoted Tenaga Nasional Bhd chairman Awang Adek Hussin as saying. He said early investigations revealed that the problems were technical in nature as the company was doing maintenance work...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – At least four Asian companies have expressed interest in purchasing shares in the soon-to-be-privatised PNOC-Malampaya Production Corp, company officials said. PNOC-Malampaya, a unit of state-run Philippine National Oil Co, owns a 10% stake in the US$4.5 billion Malampaya natural gas-to-power project. PNOC officials, who attended the first leg of the firm’s international...

KHARTOUM (AFX) – Chinese National Petroleum Company (CNPC) has signed deals with the Sudanese government to build an oil pipeline and upgrade a refinery, state radio and the Al-Anbaa daily reported. The contracts are to build a 730-kilometer oil pipeline from the Fula oilfields in Western Kordofan State, central Sudan, to the main oil refinery...

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – Hong Kong and China Gas Co Ltd (3.HK) ((HKGas) said its operating profit in the first half to June due to the spread of SARS, which led to a fall in gas sales to the commercial and industrial sectors. The company today reported a first half net profit of HK$1.805 billion,...

Oman, Kuwait, Iran are reported to be interested in building oil stockpiles and storage terminals in Indonesia, said an official of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin). Muhrim Hakim, who oversees Kadin’s Middle East deparetment, told the local media that officials from the three countries had told him they were interested to develop...

Independent oil storage operator Royal Vopak of the Netherlands has invested another S$21 million to expand its oil storage capacity by 102,000 cubic metres on Singapore’s Pulau Sebarok oil terminal. (US$1=S$1.75). The new capacity includes three 20,000 cubic metre storage tanks, two 12,000 cubic metre storage tanks and one 18,000 cubic metre storage tank. “As...

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – PetroChina Company Ltd (857.HK) said negotiations with foreign partners on a planned US$5.2 billion natural gas pipeline are under way, the South China Morning Post said. The confirmation came after reports that the project was bogged down indefinitely by bureaucracy and disagreement. The report said PetroChina confirmed that construction of the...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China’s US$18 billion west-to-east gas pipeline project has become bogged down indefinitely by bureaucracy and disagreements, Royal Dutch/Shell chairman Sir Philip Watts was quoted by the Financial Times as saying. Agreements over contract terms for the 3,900 kilometer pipeline being built by China’s leading oil company PetroChina and a consortium of foreign...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – YTL Power International Bhd has drifted lower after reporting in-line results for the year to June 2003, with sentiment further undermined by concerns of flat earnings growth, dealers said. “Some investors are cutting their position in the share because the results were within expectations and there were no surprises,” a local...

The Thai government aims to save 3.1 trillion baht in energy costs over the next 15 years through aggressive promotion of energy consumption, an overhaul of national mass transit management and further industrial restructuring, said the Bangkok Post. Energy Minister Prommin Lertsuridej presented the strategy at a workshop last week that was chaired by Prime...

LONDON (AFX) – Shares of BHP Billiton PLC have moved higher after a favourable tax rate and lower interest payments led full year earnings from the miner to beat expectations, dealers said. BHP showed annual pre-exceptional net profit after tax for continuing operations of US$1.92 billion or 30.9 cents per share, against US$1.866 billion of...

SYDNEY (AFX-ASIA) Ð Shares of Oil Search Ltd have moved higher as investors digested its first half to June results, which came in significantly stronger than forecast, dealers said. They noted several houses have upgraded earnings forecasts for the group on the back of the strong first half result. The company said Friday its first...

SHANGHAI (AFX-ASIA) – France-based Air Liquide and Praxair of the US, the world’s two largest industrial gas companies, have set up a joint venture with pledged investments of over 100 mln usd to provide gas for petrochemical companies located in the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park, the Shanghai Daily reported. The newspaper quoted He Minda, chairman...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – PetroChina Co Ltd (HK 0857; NYSE PTR), China’s largest oil and gas producer, said it has started construction of a 1,347.3-kilometer natural gas pipeline to supply markets in the central provinces of Hubei and Hunan. “The project will cost about five billion yuan,” a company official, who declined to be named, said....

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China’s State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) has suspended the employee shareholding plan among the country’s electricity generators and distributors, in order to prevent the loss of state assets. The SASAC noted in an urgent circular issued earlier this month that some power plants sold shares to their employees without first...