BP said it has concluded the placing of its entire 2.1% stake in China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), announced earlier this month. In a statement, the energy major said it has agreed to sell its stake of around 1.8 billion ‘H’ shares in Sinopec at a price of HK$3.15 a share, raising a total...
JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) – State-run electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) said it has signed a contract with Mitsubishi Corp for the construction of a 740 megawatt power plant in Cilegon, Banten. PLN director Ali Herman Ibrahim told reporters that the project will cost US$340 million, of which some US$289 million will be funded by...
TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) – Tokyo Electric Power Co Inc said it earned net profit of 135.3 billion yen in the nine months to December, or 81.8% of net profit earned in the previous fiscal year ended in March 2003. (US$1=105 yen). There were no comparative figures, as the company has started to compile the business result...
BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China Huadian Corp, one of the nation’s five largest power companies, is targeting the generation of 130 billion kWh electricity in 2004, an increase of 5.4% from that of a year ago, Xinhua news agency reported, citing company general manager He Gong. The company will invest 18.65 billion yuan this year to...
UK upstream company Cairn Energy has reported that one of its exploration wells in India’s Rajasthan state has tested positive for hydrocarbons, recently producing a cumulative flow rate of 6,000 barrels of oil per day. The company said the flows were achieved across three selected zones during an open hole drill stem test programme in...
US energy consultants ESAI said that with the return of Iraq, huge growth in non-OPEC output, and a host of member issues confronting OPEC, the crude fundamentals are generally bearish for the long-term. In its latest 5-year outlook on the global oil markets, ESAI said crude’s bearishness will, however, be countered by the products market....
Indian news reports say that Sri Lanka is unwilling to allow a further Indian participation in its oil retail markets. Since Colombo begin opening up its downstream markets a few years ago, Indian companies have been among the most interested to invest in this war-torn island country south of India. The reports quoted unnamed sources...
BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China Yangtze River Three Gorges Project evelopment Corp, owner of the Three Gorges Project, will invest 2.59 billion yuan this year on the initial stage construction of four new power generation stations on the Jinsha River, a major tributary of the Yangtze, Xinhua News Agency reported, citing company manager Li Yong’an. (US$1=8.27...
Driven by consistently high oil prices and political instability in the Middle East, Asian countries are expanding regional co-operation to enhance energy security. While Asia depends on the Middle East for most of its oil requirements, the Middle East is increasingly looking to Asia for “energy demand security,” said Ken Koyama, general manager at the...
TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) – Nippon Oil Corp, Japan’s largest oil refiner, said it earned net profit of 15.3 billion yen in the nine months to December, or just 47.5% of net profit earned in the full year to March 2003. (US$1=105 yen). There were no comparative figures, as the company has started to compile its results...
Taiwan’s Formosa Petrochemical Corp has taken over the operation rights of 17 retail stations on or along the Sun Yat-sen Freeway, a move it hopes will generate another NT$4 billion (US$120 million) annually. “In addition to providing our quality products at competitive prices, we’ll keep advancing our facilities to serve drivers on the freeway,” said...
KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) Ð Shares of Eden Enterprises (M) Bhd have been boosted on renewed talk that the company may be involved in an oil refinery venture in Gebeng, north of Kuantan port dealers said. Eden is principally involved in the power generation business. “The stock is up on renewed talk that it may be...
WASHINGTON (AFX) – Halliburton is to repay the U.S. government US$27.4 million for possible overcharges for services to the US military in Iraq and Kuwait, the Washington Post reported citing the US Defence Department. The department said the money would be reimbursed after the military was overcharged for meals by Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown &...
BOCA RATON, Fla. (AFX) – Afghanistan’s finance minister last week told his counterparts from the world’s wealthiest nations that his country will seek about $28 billion in new donations at a Berlin summit planned for the end of March. Ashraf Ghani, the Finance Minister of war- and drought-ravaged nation, told reporters at the Group of...
BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China’s State Grid Corp, one of the country’s two power transmission firms, is expected to record 840 million yuan in losses for 2003, the 21st Century Business Herald reported. (US$1=8.27 yuan). But on its website, the company said it expects to post 3.2 billion yuan in profit for 2003. Without citing sources,...
SEOUL (AFX-ASIA) – The government will cut power rates by up to 3.5% for services businesses and households, starting from March, to prevent consumer prices from rising further this year, the Commerce, Industry and Energy Ministry said. It will cut power charges by 2.8% for households, and by 3.5% for services businesses, and by 3%...
MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has provisionally approved Manila Electric Co’s (Meralco) plan to issue bonds worth up to US$600 million to secure payments on unsecured loans, the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper said, quoting ERC documents. The ERC said it found it reasonable to allow Meralco “to have the flexibility to incur...
Among the many questions raised in the wake of Royal/Dutch Shell’s revelations last month that it had overstated proved oil and gas reserves by a staggering 3.9 billion barrels or 20% is an old one resurrected concerning supply and reserves outlook. Is world oil demand growth starting to outpace supply increase? An older version born...
BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China’s largest oil group, state-owned China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) has signed an initial agreement to buy 10 million tons of oil a year from Russian oil group AO Yukos Oil (YUKO.RU), the China Daily reported, citing sources close to the deal. The agreement, which will last for six or seven years,...
BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – The plans of China’s largest oil field Daqing to slash its output by 2 million tons this year has triggered loud protests from local officials who depend on it for revenue, state media reported. Daqing, which produced 48.4 million tons of crude last year, made the decision in accordance with adjustment plans...
The stocks of Chinese majors PetroChina and China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) fell significantly last month from their late December peaks. The causes: A deadly explosion at a gas facility owned by PetroChina parent China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), resurgence of SARS and the chicken flu and BP’s decision to sell off its 2%...
Australian upstream company Origin Energy has signed an agreement with Genesis Power Limited to acquire a 50% interest in the Kupe gas field in PML 38146, offshore New Zealand. Origin said it will pay NZ$33 million in cash instalments. It has also agreed to contract its share of sales gas from the field to Genesis...
Unocal Corporation (NYSE: UCL) hasnamed James H. Painter as senior vice president, Exploration and Technology. He succeeds Christopher A. Wright, who will retire from Unocal later this year. Previously, Mr Painter was vice president for exploration at Devon Energy. Before the Ocean Energy merger with Devon, he was Ocean Energy’s senior vice president of Gulf...
BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) (SHA 600028; HK 0386; NYSE SNP) said it will issue 3.5 billion yuan in 10-year corporate bonds this year at an indicative coupon between 4.55-4.61%. (US$1=8.27 yuan). However, the issue is unlikely to cause too much excitement among investors as their attention swings to the government’s...
BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – Guangdong province is lobbying the State Council, China’s cabinet, to locate the second-phase of its planned national strategic oil reserve in the province after losing out in the first round, the China Daily reported without citing sources. The Guangdong government has put forward three sites – Huizhou, Maoming and Zhanjiang – as...