HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – The Hong Kong and China Gas Co Ltd (Towngas) (3.HK) said it expects an increase of about 3% year-on-year in gas sales volume and about 48,000 new customers in 2004. The forecast dividends per share for 2004 will not be less than for 2003, it said in a statement. It proposed...

Singapore-listed China Aviation Oil Corporation Ltd (CAO) said it has been accorded the Dow Jones Singapore Titans 30 Index status, an internationally recognised index, with effect from March 22. The Dow Jones Country Titans Indexes provide a full range of independent and transparent investment data spanning blue-chip companies in major markets in North America, Europe...

LONDON (AFX) – The International Energy Agency said surging oil demand in China and other non-OECD Asian economies has caused it to raise its assessment for 2004 global oil demand growth by 220,000 barrels per day, to 1.654 million barrels per day. It added that non-OECD Asian demand is now expected to grow by 1...

With the discount of Singapore 180 cst prices to Dubai plunging below $4/barrel since early March, the Singapore fuel oil market has turned sharply bearish due to a supply overhand. However, ESAI, in the March edition of its Pacific Basin Stockwatch, believes Singapore’s fuel oil discount could recover due, in part, to a rise in...

MOSCOW (AFX) – OAO Lukoil said it has signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation with the Iraqi oil ministry, following talks in Baghdad between Lumoil president Vagit Alekperov and Iraq’s oil minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulyum. The parties have agreed to set up a technical committee to coordinate their oil and gas activities, while Lukoil...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China Merchants Group, the parent company of China Merchants Holdings International (HK 0144), plans to list its oil shipping operations on a domestic stock exchange, chairman of the group Qin Xiao was quoted as saying by the International Financial News. He said the group’s oil shipping operations will be restructured within the...

JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) – South Jakarta District Court has ruled against BP West Java Ltd., a unit of BP Indonesia, for canceling a contract with its supplier PT Mestaco Swarna Dwipa. The court ordered BP West Java to pay US$2.3 million or 10% of material damage claimed by Mestaco from the termination of a contract to...

Hong Kong-listed Panva Gas Holdings Limited (Stock Code: 8132), has unveiled what it has described as ‘outstanding’ results for 2003. Group revenue increased by 26.7% to HK$1,458 million while gross profit was up by 46.8% to HK$384 million and net profit rose 57.5% to HK$209 million. (US$1=HK$7.82). It said the improved result was a result...

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – The Hong Kong and China Gas Co Ltd (Towngas) (3.HK) said it expects an increase of about 3% year-on-year in gas sales volume and about 48,000 new customers in 2004. The forecast dividends per share for 2004 will not be less than for 2003, it said in a statement. It proposed...

South Korea and Kazakhstan have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on jointly developing oil fields in the Caspian Sea, home to one of the world’s largest oil reserves, according to the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy. Korea’s Minister of Commerce, Industry and Energy Lee Hee-beom disclosed the agreement to Korea Herald last Saturday...

TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) – Kansai Electric Power Co Ltd plans to lower daytime power tariffs for bulk users by up to 20% starting April, in response to competition generated by deregulation of power sales, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported, without citing sources. This will be the first major pricing change by Kansai Electric since power retailing...

CNOOC Limited (NYSE “CEO”, SEHK “883”) has reported a strong performance for the 12 months ended December 31, 2003. It generated oil and gas revenues of Rmb 28.1 billion (US$1=Rmb8.27), an increase of Rmb 4.3 billion or 18.2% over 2002. Net income reached a historical high of Rmb 11.98 billion according to US accounting measurements...

DALLAS (AFX) — ChevronTexaco said it expects U.S. oil-equivalent production to follow the trend of the last five years and decline in 2004. “For 2004, the company currently anticipates lower oil-equivalent production rates in the US as a result of normal field declines, the effect of property sales and opportunity limitations,” the company said in...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – The government plans to sell off 15 state-owned power plants by June, the agency assigned the task of disposing the assets said. The power plants, with a total capacity of more than 1,400 megawatts, will be sold in several batches starting with the disposal of a 3.5MW hydroelectric facility in the southern...

JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) – The president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said the cartel will allow member states to raise output to stabilise high world prices. “We have a tolerance, they can increase their production in the framework of stabilising prices,” Purnomo Yusgiantoro, who is also Indonesia’s energy minister, told reporters. He said...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – The International Energy Agency has almost doubled its China 2004 oil demand growth estimate to 6.07 million barrels per day (b/d), or 10.5%, from 5.49 million b/d in 2003, as refiners boost output to satisfy surging demand for electricity. Last month, the Paris-based intergovernmental body forecast China’s oil demand to grow 6.2%...

CNOOC Limited (NYSE: CEO, SEHK: 883) said that its parent company, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), has signed an agreement with Zhejiang Provincial Government to jointly develop the couuntry’s third LNG terminal in Zhejiang. Lu Zushan, Zhejiang province’s governor, and Fu Chengyu, President of CNOOC signed the agreement for both parties. CNOOC said the...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – The International Energy Agency has almost doubled its China 2004 oil demand growth estimate to 6.07 million barrels per day (b/d), or 10.5%, from 5.49 million b/d in 2003, as refiners boost output to satisfy surging demand for electricity. Last month, the Paris-based intergovernmental body forecast China’s oil demand to grow 6.2%...

The Thai government plans to end the subsidy for cooking gas in the second quarter of this year when the world price of liquefied petroleum gas is expected to fall below US$250 per tonne, reported the Bangkok Post. Metta Banturngsuk, director of the Energy Policy and Planning Office, said the global price of LPG or...

SAN FRANCISCO (AFX) — Gasoline prices at the retail pumps may reach another record high this summer, the Energy Department said in its monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook Report. The government expects retail prices for regular unleaded gasoline to reach an average of $1.74 per gallon this summer. “This would be a record in nominal dollar...

In another indication that India’s oil and gas sector is being decontrolled, the country’s petroleum ministry has said that it might allow the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to auction off its crude oil on a “best price basis” from April 1. The move is being made despite stiff opposition from the country’s downstream...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – Power generation in China for the month of January rose 9.63% from a year earlier to 157.29 billion kWh, according to statistics posted on the official website of the State Power Corporation of China (SP), but the country’s power shortage still remains an issue. Thermal power generation rose 10.37% to 136.67 billion...

Australia’s Origin Energy Ltd (ASX:ORG) said it will acquire Caltex New Zealand’s 50% interest in Rockgas Ltd, the largest distributor of LPG in New Zealand. The acquisition would provide Origin with full control of Rockgas, which has an annual turnover of NZ$80 million (US$1=NZ$1.5). Under the agreement, Origin will continue to supply Caltex with LPG...

Canada’s InterOil Corporation (IOL:TSX-V) has acquired the downstream assets and operations of BP Papua New Guinea Limited for US$11.3 million. The assets include three terminals, seven depots and over 40 retail sites. The effective date of the acquisition, subject to government approvals, is March 1, 2004. InterOil said it will be assisted in assuming management...

LONDON (AFX) – OPEC will stick to its decision to cut production quotas by 1 million barrels per day from April 1, despite high prices, said Qatari Minister of Energy Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah. Earlier, cartel sources said OPEC would consider raising output if prices remained high for the two following weeks. Mr Al-Attiyah told...