MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – The Manila Electric Co (Meralco) said it asked the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to “provisionally approve” its latest petition for a tariff increase, insisting it is urgently needed due to cash flow pressures. “At present, Meralco’s financial condition, particularly its cash flow constraints, remains critical due to the combined need to operate...

Australian upstream company Santos Limited said it will proceed with the development of the offshore Mutineer-Exeter oil field at a cost of A$480 million (US$1=A$1.45). Operator Santos, with a 33.4% stake in the project, expects to begin producing up to 80,000 barrels/day from mid-2005, building up to around 100,000 b/d over the next six months....

Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil Corporation announced last week that they have signed a Heads of Agreement (HOA) to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar to the United States, for a term of 25 years. Qatar Petroleum will have a 70% equity interest in the project, and ExxonMobil 30%. The announcement of the US$12 billion...

PARIS (AFX) – The International Energy Agency (IEA) said September world oil production rose 300,000 b/d from August to 80.11 million b/d, in its most recent monthly oil report. Non-OPEC supply was up 135,000 b/d, OPEC crude by 90,000 b/d and other OPEC supply by 70,000 bpd, the Paris-based agency said. OPEC crude output averaged...

The Philippines Department of Energy (DOE) and the oil industry players are discussing the possibility of deferring the compliance of the industrial sector to the new diesel specifications under the Clean Air Act (CAA). A DOE official told the Philippines Star it is prepared to delay implementing its ruling on new sulphur contents for diesel...

The oil market just doesn’t want to go down, said SG Bank last week after the mixed bag of US statistics showing widely different views between the US government’s Department of Energy and the industry’s American Petroleum Institute that played to both bulls and bears. On the bearish side, the French bank said rising Venezuelan...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – The Manila Electric Co filed a petition with the Energy Regulatory Commission on Friday to seek approval for a tariff increase, a company source told AFX-Asia. “We’re asking for an average rate increase of 0.1358 pesos per kilowatt hour,” the source said. (US$1=55 peso). In a separate telephone interview, Meralco vice president...

The Bangladeshi government has rejected a proposal to raise the price of natural gas by an average two per cent from October 1. Officials at the Energy and Mineral Resources Division said the Prime Minister’s Office has decided to delay the proposed increase. Under a new pricing policy suggested by the World Bank, a 5.77%...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – The China Electricity Regulatory Commission expects the electricity shortage to ease gradually only after 2006, the China News Services reported. Eighteen out of 31 Chinese provinces and regions experienced power shortage during the summer season, the news agency quoted the commission as saying. The regulator said China has begun to see an...

Australia’s upstream company Santos Limited and its joint-venture partners have formally approved the development of the Mutineer-Exeter oil fields in the Carnarvon Basin, off the coast of Western Australia state. Production from the fields is expected to start in mid 2005, with initial flows of 70,000 to 80,000 barrels of oil per day (b/d), eventually...

SHANGHAI (AFX-ASIA) – BP plc (NYSE BP) said the Chinese government has aproved a feasibility study for the British oil major to operate 500 gas stations in a joint venture with PetroChina Co Ltd (HK 0857; NYSE PTR) in Guangdong province, an official with BP China said. “The State Council has approved our feasibility study...

With the deposit of the Instrument of Accession (IOA) yesterday at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) in London, Singapore will become a party to the Protocol on Preparedness, Response and Co-operation to Pollution Incidents by Hazardous and Noxious Substances, 2000 (OPRC-HNS Protocol). According to Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority, the protocol was adopted during the...

TOKYO (AFX) – Nippon Steel Corp said it has received a US$55 million order to supply offshore oil loading facilities for the Sakhalin II oil development project. Under the deal, Nippon Steel and the Russian firm Sakhalin Energy Investment Co Ltd — a joint venture between Royal Dutch/Shell Group, Mitsui & Co and Mitsubishi Corp...

China’s CNOOC Limited (NYSE: CEO, SEHK: 883) said its Weizhou 11-1-2 well in Beibu Gulf in the South China Sea has been appraised to hold commercial oil deposits. The well, located about 400 metres east of the original discovery well, Wan 1, was drilled to a total depth of 3.19 km in 39.5 meters of...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China Offshore Oil Engineering Co Ltd (SHA 600583) said its shareholders, China Offshore Oil Platform Manufacturing Co, China Offshore Oil Marine Engineering Co Ltd and China Offshore Oil Design Engineering Co, have agreed to transfer all their stakes in the listed company to China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) for free. China...

JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) – Oil and gas firm PT Medco Energi Internasional will go through with its planned acquisition of four oil and gas blocks within one month, Bisnis Indonesia reported citing company director Sugiharto. The company will use the proceeds from its US$250 million bond issue last May to finance the acquisition, Mr Sugiharto said....

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – Oil refiner Petron Corp will spend 6 billion pesos for capital expenditure in 2004, the bulk of which is intended for the upgrade of its refinery in Bataan, company vice president for corporate planning Ziyad Al-Shiha said. (US$1=55 pesos). Petron will also spend some 500-600 million pesos on expansion of its service...

China’s Huaneng Power International, Inc. said it generated 66.05 billion kWh of electricity in the first nine months of 2003, up 31.3% over the same period of last year. The company attributed the sharp rise to its added capacity and China’s growing power demand. It said part of the new increase came as a result...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – The Manila Electric Co filed a petition filed with the Energy Regulatory Commission on Friday to seek approval for a tariff increase, a company source told AFX-Asia. “We’re asking for an average rate increase of 0.1358 pesos per kilowatt hour,” the source said. (US$1=55 pesos). In a separate telephone interview, Meralco vice...

(INFRALINE) — IBP, a subsidiary of Indian Oil, will spend around Rs 4.5 billion in the current financial year on 800 new retail outlets in the country. Ashoke Data, IBP’s general manager (East), told reporters that the company, which has only a nine per cent share of the country’s retail market, will also upgrade older...

A top-level delegation from Taiwan’s Chinese Petroleum Corp. (CPC) is pursuing sales negotiations with Rasgas of Qatar, said the Taipei Times. “The two parties have begun discussions to finalise the sales and purchase agreement,” Rasgas said in a statement after CPC Chairman Kuo Ching-tsai met Qatari Finance Minister Youssef Kamal in Doha last week. The...

Malaysia’s Scomi Group Bhd and Crest Petroleum Bhd will form a joint-venture company to provide marine vessel transportation services to the oil and gas industry. In separate statements, the two companies said the joint venture company will have a paid-up capital of RM100,000. (US$1=RM3.8). The 60/40 venture with Scomi as the majority stakeholder will allow...

Japan hopes the Russian government will decide by December whether it will choose China or Japan as the primary buyer of Siberian oil, according to Assistant Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Shotaro Yachi. That is when Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov is scheduled to visit Japan, said the Japan Times. According to the report, Mr Yachi...

Qatar is planning to buy a large but unspecified number of liquid natural gas (LNG) carriers from South Korean shipyards by 2010, Qatar’s energy minister told Yonhap news agency early this week. Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, also the president of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), said Qatar will soon place an order for...

SHANGHAI (AFX-ASIA) – Shanghai Electric Power Co Ltd’s 1.353 billion yuan initial public offering will likely attract strong investor interest on expectations of high profitability, defensive earnings and its quick expansion in Shanghai, analysts said. (US$1=8.27 yuan). Shanghai Electric Power offered 240 million IPO A-shares at 5.80 yuan each on Oct 14 to fund investment...