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) – Cairn Energy PLC said it has signed a heads of agreement with Oil & Natural Gas Corp Ltd for the farm-out of certain assets to ONGC, the farm-in of two exploration blocks from ONGC, and the formation of a strategic alliance. The proposed transaction is subject to, inter alia, finalisation of mutually...

OSLO (AFX) – There will be no reduction in Norway’s oil production as prices stand at the moment, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Oil and Energy said. “At the current price, Norway sees no reason to reduce its production,” spokeswoman Sissel Edvardsen said. The official price of the OPEC basket of crude oil was...

(INFRALINE) — Fitch Ratings has said India’s efforts to improve the regulatory framework and infrastructure of the power industry should deliver benefits, although it would take time for the sector to recover from past mismanagement, according to a special report published recently. In the report, Fitch advises investors to remain cautious about funding structural reforms...

Petron Corp., Philippines’ largest oil refiner, said it has no immediate plans to increase its 180,000 barrels/day plant capacity despite the closure of Caltex Philippines Inc.’s facility in Batangas, a company official told the Philippine Star newspaper. Petron public affairs manager Virginia Ruivivar told the newspaper the company will only review the running capacity of...

Self-service gas stations are gaining popularity with motorists across Japan following an easing of fire regulations in 1998. For oil companies, the self-service stations offer a way to cut personnel and operating costs. Still, more than half the self-service stations are operating in the red amid the intense competition. Of 51,000 gas stations in Japan,...

TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) – Prices in Japan of gasoline and naphtha, a feed stock for chemical companies, are expected to rise after serious damage from fires to its 140,000-barrel per day refinery in Tomakomai, Hokkaido, owned by Idemitsu Kosan Co Ltd, the second-largest refiner in Japan by volume. Privately owned Idemitsu shut down the refinery on...

SHANGHAI (AFX-ASIA) – China is expected to launch a two-tier pricing mechanism for electricity in a bid to foster competition among power producers, the Economic Observer reported. The report said China’s State Development and Reform Commission (SDRC) and China’s Electricity Regulatory Commission unveiled the new pricing system last month, informing the country’s power grids and...

JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) – Moody’s Investors Service has upgraded state-run gas producer PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN)’s local currency senior implied rating to ‘Ba3’ from ‘B1’, its local currency issuer rating to ‘B1’ from ‘B2’ and foreign currency senior unsecured rating to ‘B2’ from ‘B3’. This follows Moody’s decision to upgrade the Indonesian government’s domestic currency...

(INFRALINE) — ONGC Videsh, the overseas arm of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), is planning to buy stakes in oil fields in more than a dozen countries including Myanmar, Libya, Australia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Venezuela, Iran, Qatar and Bangladesh. “We are evaluating opportunities of acquiring stakes in oil and gas fields in several...

Australian upstream company Carnarvon Petroleum said it has reached agreement in principle with joint venture partner Pacific Tiger Energy on drilling the Huai Phai prospect in northern Thailand. The company said discussions are ongoing with drilling and service contractors but it is likely that the well will be spudded sometime this month. In a statement,...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China said a large oil field could yield an annual output of 1 million tons in the Hailar Basin in the northern region of Inner Mongolia, Xinhua news agency reported. It quoted Wang Fuchun, an official with the Development and Reform Commission of Inner Mongolia’s city of Bulun Buir, as saying Chinese...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – The long-awaited initial public offering (IPO) of the Yangtze Electric Power Corporation (YEPC), which was expected this fall has been delayed due to weak conditions on the domestic stock market, state press reported. The China Securities Regulatory Commission forced the company to postpone the stock issue because the market is already under...

AHMEDABAD, India (AFX) – BG Group PLC’s 100% Indian subsidiary BG India said it will invest an additional US$138 million for output enhancement in three of its oil and gas fields. The energy group recently won Indian government approval for production enhancement projects for the Panna-Mukta oil and gas fields, and the Tapti gas field,...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp (PSALM) said it is preparing the guidelines for the negotiated sale of the government’s power transmission assets to Singapore Power Corp. PSALM vice president Froilan Tampinco said the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel has instructed PSALM to come up with the procedures on...

(INFRALINE) — India’s ministry of petroleum and natural gas has proposed offloading 15 to 20% of the government equity in Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) instead of selling the company in parts. The Cabinet had earlier discussed a proposal to split IOC into separate refining and marketing companies. It was also proposed that the new marketing...

Australian upstream company BHP Billiton said it has started producing oil and gas from the Boris-North well in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The time from discovery to production was a rapid-paced 13 months, it said in a statement. Boris-North was developed in 2,400 feet of water at Green Canyon Block 282 using the subsea...

Dolphin Energy Limited (DEL) and Emirates General Petroleum Corporation (Emarat) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that appoints working teams from both parties to study the commercial viability of new joint gas ventures in the northern Emirates. Both parties will evaluate potential benefits from joint use of existing gas distribution assets, collective gas sales...

Oil and gas rich Oman has expressed interest in acquiring a stake in Indian oil marketing companies Bharat Petroleum Corportion Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum corporation Ltd (HPCL). The Indian government, however, has been stopped in its track to divest its stake following a recent Supreme Court verdict suspending tNew Delhi’s privatisation programe. The government...

Talisman Malaysia Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canadian upstream company Talisman Energy Inc., has started oil production from the PM-3 Commercial Arrangement Area (CAA) Phase 2 & 3 project offshore Malaysia/Vietnam. Phase 1 oil production started in July 1997, the company said in a statement. The PM-3 CAA project is the largest oil development undertaken...

SYDNEY (AFX-ASIA) – Methanex Corp, the world’s biggest producer and marketer of methanol, said it will not proceed with the construction of a proposed plant on the Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia due to an unacceptable escalation in costs. The plant was designed to produce 1.3 million tonnes per annum of methanol. In a statement,...

PetroChina Company Limited said the Jingbian-Shanghai section of the West-East Gas Pipeline has started gas transmission from the Changqing fields in northern Shaanxi. Ma Fucai, president of CNPC and chairman of PetroChina, said the start-up will pave the way for the commercial supply of natural gas to Shanghai on January 1. The eastern section of...

The partners of Train 2 of the Egyptian LNG (ELNG) project have concluded two sale and purchase agreements (SPAs) to sell the entire 3.6 million tonnes per year (MTPA) liquefied natural gas (LNG) output of the train to BG Gas Marketing Ltd, a subsidiary of the British Gas (BG) Group. The partners are Malaysian state...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – Ranhill Bhd and Crest Petroleum Bhd shares have risen sharply in recent weeks on reports that they and unlisted firm Jawala Corp Sdn Bhd have been short-listed to take part in the country’s second oil corporation, dealers said. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad announced earlier that the government will allow another consortium,...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – Spanish utility firm Union Fenosa SA said it is in “no hurry” to sell its 9.2% share in Manila Electric Co and is instead “working closely” with the country’s largest power distributor to improve the value of its equity before exploring opportunities to divest. Union Electric Fenosa country representative Emilio Vicens told...