US independent company ConocoPhillips has approved a 2004 capital budget of approximately $6.9 billion, with US$1.3 billion allocated for upstream projects in Asia. “Maintaining a 2004 cash capital budget essentially equal to 2003 is part of our disciplined approach toward improving returns on capital employed,” said Jim Mulva, president and chief executive officer. “This capital...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – Huaneng Power Group, China’s largest independent power producer, said it had won a bid to buy a 50% stake in OzGen of Australia, a wholly-owned subsidiary of US-based InterGen, for US$227 million. Local media had previously reported Huaneng was buying a 54% stake in the company for US$290 million. Huaneng said in...

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (AFX) – Experts from Russia, North Korea and South Korea are studying the possibility of creating a single electricity grid on their territories, according to the Russian delegation who just returned from the latest talks in Pyongyang. “The second three-way meeting in Pyongyang ended with the signing of a memorandum that reaffirmed the...

Australian Worldwide Exploration Limited (AWE) and ARC Energy NL have signed a Heads of Agreement (HOA) for the sale and purchase of AWE’s onshore Perth Basin assets. AWE will sell its onshore Perth Basin interests to ARC for a cash consideration of A$15.75 million. (US$1=A$1.3). The onshore Perth Basin interests comprise a 15.245% interest in...

SunGard Market Data Services, an operating group of SunGard (NYSE:SDS), said that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire New York-headquartered FAME Information Services, Inc., a leading provider of data management technology and consulting solutions to the world’s financial services, public sector and energy industries. The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, is...

Qatar Petroleum and Dolphin Energy Limited have announced the signing of the final field development plan for the Dolphin Gas Project, according to the Development and Production Sharing Agreement (DPSA) signed on December 23 2001. The plan was signed in Doha by Abdullah Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Qatar’s second Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy...

China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corporation Ltd (CAO) said it will receive the equivalent of 2.98 million Euro in dividends through its 5% investment in Compania Logistica de Hidrocarburos (CLH), the largest oil infrastructure company in Spain. (US$1=Euro 0.81). The contribution will be reflected in CAO’s 2003 financial statements. CLH announced it would pay EUR0.85 per...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China Petroleum & Chemical Group (Sinopec Group) has asked the government to take over its unprofitable non-petrochemical businesses, and agreed to give up tax rebates worth billions of of yuan per year, the Shanghai Morning Post reported, citing company sources. (US$1=8.27 yuan). Sinopec Group plans to split off its non-petrochemical related assets...

JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) – State-owned gas distributor PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN) expects revenues to reach between 3.6-3.8 trillion rupiah in 2004, up by about 15% from this year on the back of new gas transmission projects, PGN president W.M.P. Simanjuntak said. (US$1=8,500 rupiah). “Next year’s sales will rise to between 3.6-3.8 trillion rupiah or by...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – The Philippines has secured US$208.5 million worth of funding from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) for three power-related projects, the Department of Energy (DOE) said. President Gloria Arroyo, who flew to Tokyo to attend a summit of leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Japan, witnessed the...

Taiwan’s Formosa Plastics Group is planning to invest NT$124.6 billion (US$1=NT33) in developing the fourth phase of its industrial complex in Mailiao in Yunlin County. “Pending environmental approval, the complex will become the world’s largest petrochemical industrial park, with an estimated output value of NT$830 billion,” Formosa’s vice president of management, Wu Shin-jer, told the...

Canada’s InterOil Corporation said it began drilling the Moose #2 well in Papua New Guinea on December 9. The well is the second to be drilled on the Moose structure, located on Petroleum Prospect Licence 238. Moose is the first structure to be drilled of InterOil’s previously announced multi-well exploration program on 16 independent structures...

TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) – Russia has agreed to continue exploring a Japanese proposal for an oil pipeline from Siberia to the Pacific coast, a project that is vying with a bid from China for a cheaper overland pipeline. The agreement was reached in a recent meeting between visiting Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov and his Japanese...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China’s electricity consumption reached 5.49 billion kilowatt-hours on Dec 9, a record winter consumption, according to the national electricity distribution center, the China Central Television (CCTV) said. CCTV said electricity consumption rose 16.5% over the same day last year. China has been experiencing power shortages, which the State Electric Power Regulatory Commission...

India’s largest refiner Indian Oil Corp will pay $75 million for 100 retail stations and storage facilities in Sri Lanka. “We have completed the valuation of 100 stations we took over from Sri Lankan state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corp (CPC) last year, and our valuation of $75 million has been approved by the Sri Lankan government,”...

KUWAIT CITY (AFX) – Kuwait agreed today to supply Iraq with additional quantities of petrol to help the war-torn nation meet an acute fuel shortage, a top Kuwaiti energy ministry official said. “The Iraqi side asked for one million liters of petrol daily. We told them we have the capacity for the additional supplies,” undersecretary...

SYDNEY (AFX-ASIA) – Papua New Guinea-based Oil Search Ltd has moved sharply higher after its Highlands Gas Project partner Esso Highlands Ltd, a unit of Exxon Mobil Corp, announced a conditional 20 year gas supply deal with WMC Resources Ltd, dealers said. The agreement, which is subject to successful feasibility studies by WMC Resources, is...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – Chinese firms are rushing to issue corporate bonds by year-end amid growing speculation that interest rates may rise next year, analysts said. Gao Hongbin, a bond analyst at Haitong Securities, said: “Companies that have submitted bond issue applications, all want to get approved this year, as the central bank is expected to...

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has raised its long-term credit rating on Australia’s Origin Energy Ltd. to A- from BBB+. The short-term rating on Origin Energy has been affirmed at ‘A-2’, and the outlook on the ratings remains stable. The rating action follows a general improvement in the company’s business and financial profile over the...

The Truong Son Joint Operating Company has made an oil discovery in Block 46/02 offshore Vietnam, said Canada’s Talisman Energy, a joint owner of the company....

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – Local brokerage Hwang-DBS Securities Bhd said this is a good opportunity to buy Petra Perdana Bhd as its share price has fallen 27% from its RM13.90 a share year-high. (US$1=RM3.8). In its notes, the brokerage said the oil and gas company is well-positioned to secure at least RM1 billion of a...

China last week announced a new import policy to replace existing import quotas for State-traded oil products next year as part of its commitment to the World Trade Organisation, reported Xinhua news agency. But the quota lift is not likely to send shockwaves in the market as the government will impose internal controls over imported...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – Five provinces in eastern China will begin a three-stage reform program in the first quarter of 2003 to deregulate tariffs and introduce price competition in the regional power market, China’s electricity regulator said. The program will cover Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian and Anhui provinces and Shanghai municipality, the State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC)...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China’s electricity regulator has announced its largest program yet to introduce market forces into the domestic power industry, but it may come as little comfort to a country likely to be hit by blackouts during the cold winter months, analysts said. The State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC) said it will kickstart “power...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China’s Southern Power Grid Co has urged companies involved in 12 major power grid projects in the southern province of Guangdong to complete the projects by the end of June next year so there will be adequate power to meet summer demand, Xinhua news agency reported. Guangdong is expected to have maximum...