NEW DELHI (AFX-ASIA) – India and Venezuela are developing a US$2 billion oilfield in India’s western desert state of Rajasthan, officials of the two countries’ state oil firms said. Exploration firm Oil India Limited (OIL) and Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) have signed a technical assistance agreement to develop the Baghewala field in Rajasthan, S K...

Rising product exports are helping Singapore’s oil trade register strong gains this year. For the first half, total crude and major products trade through Singapore rose 7.2% to more than 2.68 million barrels/day compared with nearly 2.5 million b/d for the whole of last year. Total trade in major products climbed 6.5% to almost 1.79...

BANGKOK (AFX-ASIA) – Thai Olefins Plc (TOC) president Adithep Bisalbutr said the company will launch an initial public offering of 197 million shares at the end of the month. “The initial price for the IPO is set at 24-30 baht per share, on average PE ratio of 9 times, and the final price will be...

JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) – President Megawati Soekarnoputri has cancelld the implementation of a 6% hike in electricity tariff in the fourth quarter of this year, Kompas reported citing Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiontoro. He told a news briefing last week that one reason behind the cancellation was to ease the public’s burden. The rupiah...

JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) – State-run oil and gas company PT Pertamina is reviewing its planned US$500 million bond issue slated for next year following the recent change of the company’s status and its top management, Bisnis Indonesia reported citing Pertamina commissioner Roes Aryawijaya. “With the change into a limited liability company and the (entry) of a...

SINGAPORE (AFX-ASIA) – Ipco International Ltd said Excellent Empire Ltd, its joint venture company with Super City Enterprises Ltd, proposes to acquire a 90% stake in Anlu Jiaxu Gas Co Ltd for US$34.25 million. Anlu Jiaxu is a China-based company with a 30-year exclusive licence to process and supply natural gas to Anlu City in...

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said its rating on Panva Gas Holdings Ltd (foreign currency rating; BB+/Stable/–) would not be affected by an alteration to tax rules that govern mainland China’s pipeline connection fees. An existing 3% business sales tax will be replaced by a 13% value added tax. Standard & Poor’s expects that Panva...

(INFRALINE) — Rivals Gail (India) and Shell-Hazira signed a memorandum of understanding last week to work together. Gail has offered Shell access to its Dahej-Uran pipeline, to bring Shell’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the Mumbai market. There is a marketing clause in the tie-up, which says that if Shell-Hazira fails to find customers for...

(INFRALINE) — The Indian government has proposed to build a Rs 27.6 billion strategic storage facility by 2007-08 to stock 45 days’ requirement of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as cover for emergencies. (US$1=Rs45). A plan to build storage facility for 530,000 tonnes of LPG, enough to meet the country’s 45-days requirement, in phases is under...

Saudi Aramco has signed a landmark gas exploration and production deal with Royal Dutch Shell and TotalFinaElf, said Ali Al-Naimi, Saudi petroleum and mineral resources minister. According to Arab News, the three companies would form a consortium in which Shell has a stake of 40% while Aramco and Total hold 30% each. Subject to approval...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China is set to overhaul the supervision of its power industry in hopes of preventing blackouts similar to those that hit the United States and Italy weeks ago, state press reported. The planned changes to China’s electricity laws will be the first in eight years and part of a major push to...

Heating fuel inventory levels are currently on track to reach normal or near-normal levels by the end of October, according to projections released early this week by the Energy Information Administration in its October “Short-Term Energy Outlook”. The EIA is a unit within the Department of Energy. Working natural gas storage, which finished the last...

With the continued growth in the former Soviet Union and other non-OPEC production during the 4th quarter and into 2004, OPEC will need exceptional global demand if it is to avoid another production cut, said US energy consultant ESAI. In the latest edition of the Pacific Basin Stockwatch, ESAI said that even its fairly optimistic...

PARIS (AFX) – Electricite de France will rejoin a controversial US$1.3 billion project to build a hydroelectric power plant in Laos after the government reevaluated its position, EDF President Francois Roussely said, confirming comments made earlier by sources. “I understand today that after reexamining a certain number of clauses our shareholder thinks the project is...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – The proposed new consortium of local companies to develop marginal oil fields in Malaysia will work as a production-sharing contract (PSC) contractor to Petronas, The Edge reported, quoting Petronas president and chief executive officer Hassan Merican. “It will have to work within the PSC environment because all concessions are held by...

TAIPEI (AFX-ASIA) – Taiwan Ratings Corp said it has assigned a “twAAA” rating to Chinese Petroleum Corp’s upcoming issue of five-year, NT$4.5 billion and seven-year NT$2 billion unsecured corporate bonds. (US$1=NT$33.7). At the same time, Taiwan Ratings affirmed its “twAAA” long-term corporate credit rating and its “twA-1” short-term credit rating on the state oil company,...

The following report was issued by Malaysia’s MayBank Securities “Tenaga and SKS have now agreed to change the financing approach of the transmission works of Tanjung Bin power plant. Tenaga will now finance the work. Therefore, both parties have agreed to terminate the and enter into a new transmission works agreement. The original agreement was...

MOSCOW (AFX) – Russia is not yet ready to make a decision on rival oil pipelines to carry Siberian crude oil via to China or Japan, a top official said last week. “We are not yet in a position to discuss concrete details either with China or Japan regarding the routes (of the pipelines), since...

PetroChina is “quite optimistic” about China’s downstream natural gas market as a result of supplies from the west-east gas pipeline, reported Xinhua news agency citing a company executive. Huang Weihe, head of PetroChina’s natural gas and pipeline branch, said that to date, it has followed up to sign draft take-or-pay contracts with 19 out of...

The Asian Development Board (ADB) has approved a US$9.4 million loan and two technical assistance grants to help bring electricity to 8,000 new consumers in mostly poor rural areas of Bhutan. The Rural Electrification and Network Expansion Project will expand the delivery of electricity from existing national hydropower stations. The ADB said that aside from...

Gas consumers in Australia’s New South Wales state could be paying lower prices if demands laid down by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) are followed through. The regulator has demanded that the transporter, Australian Pipeline Trust, reduce by 22% the cost of gas delivery through the Moomba-Sydney pipeline. The ACCC has set the...

Rising product exports are helping Singapore’s oil trade register strong gains this year. For the first half, total crude and major products trade through Singapore rose 7.2% to more than 2.68 million barrels/day compared with nearly 2.5 million b/d for the whole of last year. Total trade in major products climbed 6.5% to almost 1.79...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – Northeastern Power Grid Co Ltd, China’s first regional power grid firm, was officially set up yesterday in a bid to standardise power-supply conduits between provinces and optimize power resources, the China News Service reported, citing the company’s president. The news agency quoted Liu Chen as saying the company, now a wholly-owned subsidiary...

LONDON (AFX) – Shares of BHP Billiton PLC have risen over the past week after ABN Amro reiterated its ‘add’ recommendation and said the stock’s recent price fall is a buying opportunity, dealers said. After meeting with the mining giant, BHP remains the broker’s ‘top pick’. The quality of BHP assets, the varied product mix...

LONDON (AFX) – Hardman Resources Ltd said it has acquired from West Oil NL permits AC/R1 (100% equity) and AC/P26 (49.375% equity) in the productive Timor Sea region, offshore Western Australia for A$100,000. (US$1=A$1.45). Hardman will also hold an option over 100% equity in WA-316P to the northeast of the Talbot Field for a further...