China Broadband Corp. (NASDAQ OTC/BB: CBBD) said it has received shareholder approval to change its name to China Energy Ventures Corp. The company will be taking appropriate corporate action to enact the name change in early January 2004. The company said it plans to pursue the exploitation of oil and gas opportunities in the world’s...

Norway’s CanArgo Energy Corporation (CanArgo) said it has bought over oil and gas interests in Kazakhstan previously owned by the UK’s Atlantic Caspian Resources plc (ACR). CanArgo acquired these interests through a newly established associated company, Tethys Petroleum Investments Limited (TPI), which has acquired ACR’s 70% interest in BN Munai LLP (BNM), a Kazakh limited...

SYDNEY (AFX-ASIA) – Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said the fire accident and closure of Santos Ltd’s Moomba gas plant in South Australia and the expected impact on Santos’ operating cash flows have not adversely impacted the credit rating on the company. In a statement, S&P said it has a short term BBB+ rating on...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – A deputy general manager of China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) apologised for Dec 23’s gas field disaster in southwest China during a visit to patients at a hospital, the China National Radio reported on its website. The official station said the CNPC official, Su Shulin, made a “deep apology” for the gas...

The initial public offering (IPO) from state upstream company ONGC is going to be a landmark for more reasons than one, said Infraline. It is going to be the largest ever pure equity mop-up by an Indian company, either in the domestic or the international market, and might well turn out to be one of...

Iran and Pakistan have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to jointly develop compressed natural gas (CNG) as a transportation fuel for use in both two countries. In a joint statement, the two countries said the agreement was signed in Tehran by the Director General of the Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan (HDIP), Hilal A...

Golar LNG Ltd recently bought 9.9 % of the shares in the Korean shipping company Korea Line on the open market. Korea Line is listed on the Seoul Stock Exchange and has a market capitalisation of around US$130 million, said a Golar LNG statement. Korea Line fully owns two modern LNG Carriers on long term...

LONDON (AFX) – Royal Dutch/Shell Group remains committed to expanding its remaining businesses in Thailand despite the sale of its oil exploration and production assets. Shell sold Thai Shell Exploration and Production Co Ltd to PTT Exploration and Production Public Co Ltd for US$205 million. Dominique Gardy, chief executive of Shell’s Exploration and Production division...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – The southern Chinese city of Guangzhou is planning to establish a futures market for petroleum, the Securities Times reported, citing the party secretary of the Guangzhou municipal government. The newspaper quoted Lin Shuseng as saying it is necessary for China to establish an oil futures market, as the country, a large oil...

(AFX-ASIA) -The Philippine government has sold US$100 million worth of National Power Corp (Napocor) bonds last week to help raise funds for its financing requirement, Finance Secretary Juanita Amatong said. A government official, who requested anonymity, said the sale was done through a private placement. The national government has US$500 million worth of Napocor bonds...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – The planned purchase by China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) (SHA 600028; HK 0386; NYSE SNP) of two oil refineries in northwest China from its state-owned parent will challenge the dominance of PetroChina Co Ltd (HK 0857; NYSE PTR) in its traditional stronghold, a senior company official told AFX-Asia. Earlier, Sinopec announced...

Brazil’s state oil and gas company Petrobras has awarded a Singapore-French engineering consortium a US$775 million contract to build a semi-submersible production platform. The consortium comprises FELS Setal SA, a subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (Keppel O&M) in Brazil, and Technip Engenharia S/A (Technip), an affiliate of Technip S.A. The recent signing ceremony...

Australian upstream company Santos Limited said it plans to move into “Stage Two” of its restoration of gas supplies from the Moomba processing plant in central Australia. The plant was damaged by fire last Thursday (January 1). In a statement, the company said it expects approximately 150 terajoules per day of gas to be delivered...

Piped-gas distributor Panva Gas Holdings Ltd (8132.HK) said it will acquire a 45% stake in Foshan Gas Company for 75.42 million yuan from Foshan Construction and Transportation Assets Management Co Ltd. Panva will also spend another 13 million yuan to take over Dayi Gas Company from the Finance Bureau of the Dayi County in Sichuan...

After introducing ‘Autogas’, the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) vehicle fuel in Gujarat a month ago, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOC), plans to open at least four Autogas outlets in the state over the next six months, according to an Infraline report. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) is operating an LPG dispensing station for about one...

Saudi Aramco has a growing role to meet the energy needs of the Asia Pacific region, said its president and CEO Abdallah S. Jum’ah at a recent energy conference in Goa, India. Seaking at the World Oil and Gas Assembly, he said Saudi Arabia supplied a quarter of the Middle Eastern oil that flows in...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – SP Power Development Co Ltd (SHA 600795), one of the main electricity suppliers in northeast China, said it is too early to assess the impact on next year’s profits of the government’s decision to allow power producers to raise retail prices to offset the rising cost of coal. Earlier, SP Power Development...

Iran is hoping to find 500 millions of recoverable oil and 84 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the year ahead, said senior Oil Ministry official Eskandar Bavarian. Speaking to the local media, he said that attaining the targets will depend on whether Iran will be able to raise the financing for upstream projects....

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) has awarded and signed three technology contracts under the ethylene expansion program for its subsidiary Sinopec Maoming Company. The contracts for the ethylene cracking heaters, ethylene recovery and high density polyethylene (HDPE) production at the 380,000 tonnes/year Maoming ethylene plant were signed in Beijing last December 19. The technology...

Australia’s upstream company Santos said limited supplies of gas have resumed flowing from its fire-struck Moomba plant into the gas pipeline grid. A gas leak and fire at the central Australian plant on Jan 1 morning halted gas flows to many businesses in South Australia state. There was no casualty or injury. The company said...

Brunei Shell Petroleum Company Snd Bhd has awarded a US$160 million offshore engineering contract to a newly formed joint venture comprising SKSWood Sdn Bhd, comprising a subsidiary of UK’s John Wood Group PLC, Syarikat Kejuruteraan Sistematik (SKS) and Petrokon Utama Sdn Bhd. The 5-year integrated services contract, with a 5-year extension option is for the...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) has applied to the National Development and Reform Commission to build a second natural gas pipeline between the northwestern province of Shaanxi and Beijing, to ease the gas supply shortage in the capital, the Beijing Morning Post reported. The newspaper quoted Liu Yong, general manager of CNPC’s...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – SP Power Development Co Ltd (SHA 600795) has increased its retail electricity price by 0.007 yuan per kilowatt-hour beginning Jan 1. (US$1=8.27 yuan). The company said that the price hike is based on a circular from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) to the offset negative impact brought on by the...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – Oil and gas stocks have clearly been the leading performers in 2003 amid the euphoria over new or potential oil finds, plans to form a second oil consortium and speculation over various massive contracts to be awarded, analysts and fund managers said. The optimism is likely to persist in the new...

SINGAPORE (AFX-ASIA) – DBS Vickers Securities is maintaining its “strong buy” rating for China Aviation Oil (CAO) as its first investment in an oil storage facility in Southern China is seen as an attractive one. DBS Vickers is also maintaining its price target of S$1.71 for the stock. (US$1=S$1.7). China Aviation Oil said yesterday it...