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...
Singapore has reduced electricity tariffs from Oct 1 by an average of 4.6% or 0.75 Singapore cents/kWh, reflecting the lower cost of fuel oil. (US$1=S$1.75). The tariffs were last revised on July 3. In a statement, Singapore Power said crude oil prices had fallen to US$24.70 per barrel. The tariff adjustments are as follows:- Low...
Malaysia LNG Sdn Bhd has awarded GE Oil & Gas a contract worth US$127.6 million to provide maintenance services for gas turbines and additional equipment to state Petronas’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) complex in Bintulu, Sarawak. The contract covers a period of 88 months. According to The Star newspaper, the deal includes all GE-supplied gas...
HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – ING Financial Markets said it is maintaining it is “buy” ratings on CNOOC Ltd (883.hk) and Petrochina Co Ltd (857.hk) because it sees OPEC’s decision to cut its output quota by 4% from Nov 1, as positive for China’s oil and gas sector. In its research note, ING said that, “while...
Shares of Ivanhoe Energy have risen to their highest level in a year after the company said its Sunwing Energy unit stands to make more than $40 million a year in 2005 and $60 million in 2006 from its Dagang oil field in China. Vancouver, British Columbia-based Ivanhoe Energy said the subsidiary is “preparing to...
SHANGHAI (AFX-ASIA) – Opponents of a long-awaited oil pipeline deal between Russia and China are standing in the way of the development of bilateral ties between the two countries, the China Daily said, accusing them of failure to understand how the region’s economic landscape is changing. In an editorial titled ‘A pipeline for prosperity’, the...
MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp is assessing the viability of keeping its refinery after rival Caltex Philippines Inc decided to stop the operation of its own refinery, the BusinessWorld newspaper reported, quoting Shell general manager Roberto Kanapi. “Assessing the viability of our Tabangao refinery is an ongoing exercise. We also have to consider...
SINGAPORE (AFX-ASIA) – The S$200 million maiden bond issue launched by Senoko Power last week has been over three times subscribed, issue underwriter DBS Bank said. (US$1=S$1.73). The 10-year bonds were priced at a fixed coupon of 4.51% per annum. DBS Bank managing director for debt capital markets Stephen Finch said they were not surprised...
TAIPEI (AFX-ASIA) – Taiwan Ratings Corp, a partner of Standard & Poor’s, said it has affirmed its ‘twAAA” long-term corporate credit rating and unsecured corporate bond issue rating as well as its ‘twA-1’ short-term rating on Taiwan’s state-run Chinese Petroleum Corp (CPC). Standard & Poor’s also affirmed its ‘A+’ corporate credit rating on CPC, a...
Australian upstream Bounty Oil & Gas NL said that drilling has started at its Nyuni-1 petroleum exploration well, offshore Tanzania. The well will test a 37 sq km structural feature about 30 km off Tanzania within the Nyuni Block. No exploration drilling has taken place in the block to date. A Bounty Oil statement said:...
Akihiko Tembo is under pressure to resign as President of Japanese oil company Idemitsu Kosan Co following the botched attempt to put out a fire at its Tomakomai, Hokkaido refinery following two recent earthquakes and several aftershocks starting Sept 25. Fires at the refinery’s naphtha storage tank three days later took 44 hours to extinguish....
Qatar Petroleum and Qatar Petroleum Development-Co. (PCCI) have signed an agreement for the full field development of Al-Karkara and A-North structure oil field. Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, chairman and managing director of Qatar Petroleum, and Keiichiro Okabe, president of QPD and chairman and CEO of Japan’s Cosmo Oil Co. signed the agreement at the Qatar...
HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – Morgan Stanley recommends investors switch from cyclical stocks to utilities, as the recent share price performance of cylicals is already fully reflecting economic recovery sentiment. The investment house recommends investors sell down property stocks, particularly Cheung Kong (1.HK) whose share price has already fully factored in possible gains in earnings from...
BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – Shanghai is facing considerable power shortage this winter, after a serious shortage this summer, the Shanghai-based Liberation Daily reported. The city is expected to need combined power generating capacity of 13.25 million kW during peak hours this winter, which would put the estimated shortfall at 2.05 million kW, the newspaper said. Shanghai...
TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) Ð Japan’s main gas companies, Tokyo Gas Co Ltd and Osaka Gas, have raised their forecasts for group level net profit for the first half to September. Tokyo Gas raised its profit forecast to 22 billion yen from the initial 17 billion yen estimate, citing a boost in sales. (US$1=110 yen). The major...
KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – Crest Petroleum Bhd said it has expressed interest in taking part in the proposed oil consortium to develop marginal oil fields in Malaysia, but added that it has not received any notice or approval from the government confirming its role in the project. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad announced in the 2004...
(INFRALINE) — The board of directors of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Gail are “at liberty” to decide on when to sell their cross holdings in each other and they need not refer to the central government over this issue, said Ram Naik, the minister of petroleum and natural...
Japanese oil company Idemitsu Kosan suffered losses when fire seriously damaged its oil refinery and a naphtha storage tank in Tomakomai on Hokkaido Island following an earthquake early this week. The tank fire was extinguished some 44 hours after the blaze erupted, while the refinery raged for 34 hours. The fire broke out after strong...
Is this the most sneaky or clueless group of oil ministers the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has ever assembled? As in previous run-ups to its ministerial meetings, OPEC members, fully armed with information on the state of the oil market, briefed reporters and analysts on what to expect. Up to the 11th hour...
A.P. Moller – Maersk A/S as agent to SkandiGas and I.M. Skaugen ASA said it has agreed to establish a new gas carrier pool to commercially manage 5,000 to12,000 cubic metres semi-refrigerated gas carriers. The new pool will trade under the name of “Maersk Norgas Gas Carriers” (MNGC) and started operations on October 1. MNGC...
MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – Petron Corp said it is now in the midst of upgrading its oil refinery in Bataan province, north of Manila, at a cost of US$100 million to be able to produce environment-friendly products. “We have already ordered the equipment and supplies and that signals the start of the project. We have firmed...
BANGKOK (AFX-ASIA) – PTT PLC said revenue from its oil business could rise to 280 billion baht this year from 269 billion in 2002 due to higher prices of oil products and increased domestic consumption, Businessday reported. (US$1=40baht). “Our sale increases significantly with the launch of several new products, while oil prices also rise worldwide,”...
French engineering firm Technip has been awarded a contract worth about US$50 million for a VCM/PVC plant to be built in their existing petrochemical complex at Guangzhou in Hebei Province, China. The contract was awarded by the Cangzhou Cang Hua Chemical Industry. This contract covers the licence, basic and detailed engineering, supply of key equipment...
More than half of Australia’s carbon dioxide emissions come from power stations. Storing these harmful gases underground can drastically reduce the rate of emission build-up in our atmosphere, said Australia’s science organisation CSIRO. CSIRO believes it is possible to capture the gases emitted by these stationary sources, and strip out the carbon dioxide to pump...
The recent ”Lubricants & Base Oils Ð Outlook For The East of Suez’ conference in Dubai heard how the region will face growing demand for synthetic lubricants in coming years. The event was sponsored by Dubai’ENOC. “This prediction is set against a backdrop of lowering emissions and higher customer expectation,” said Tayyeb Al Mulla, CEO...