Several areas in Yogyakarta city on the Indonesian island of Java have been experiencing a kerosene shortage for the past week, forcing local residents to queue for hours for kerosene across the city, according to the Jakarta Post. Due to the shortage, some kerosene suppliers raised their prices from Rp 1,100 to Rp 1,300 per...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China Petroleum and Chemical Corp (Sinopec) (SHA 600028; HK 0386; NYSE SNP) said BP has won a bid to become its partner in a 50-50 joint venture in Nanjing to produce 500,000 tons of acetic acid a year. Sinopec said BP, which already has an acetic acid joint venture with the Chinese...

Caltex Australia Limited said it achieved higher profits on a replacement cost basis in 2003 than the previous year. The full year profit after tax of A$199.7 million on a replacement cost of sales operating profit, was up 88% from A$106.1 million in 2002. (US$1=A$1.3). This result excludes the impact of international oil price movements...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – Five of China’s main power firms are planning multi-billion dollar overseas listings to finance their huge capital expenditure requirements to expand generating capacity, the Shanghai Securities News reported, citing unnamed sources. Hong Kong-listed Huadian Power International Corp Ltd (HK 1071) is planning a New York listing to raise 40 billion yuan, while...

SYDNEY (AFX-ASIA) – The Australian Gas Light Co said its first half net profit rose 7.9% year-on-year to A$205.7 million on the back of strong sales growth due to unseasonably cold weather in its key markets during the period. (US$1=A$1.3). However, the headline result was affected by one-off items, as underlying profit was up 20.7%...

JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) – The government is targeting revenue of US$11 billion over a 20-year period from a planned US$1.7 billion gas pipeline project linking East Kalimantan’s gas fields with users in Java, The Jakarta Post reported, quoting a feasibility study report. The project will raise estimated total revenue of US$31.1 billion, 36% of which, or...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – Southern Power Grid Corp’s 2003 sales rose 19.1% year-on-year to 123.7 billion yuan, and it is targeting sales of 144.4 billion yuan this year, up 17%, according to a statement issued by the company. The company plans to realise a total of 38.78 billion yuan in fixed-asset investment this year, up 28.8%...

Canadian upstream company Pacific Tiger Energy (TSX:PTE) said it achieved positive results in drilling of the WB N7 and WB N8 wells drilled in the Wichian Buri field in northern Thailand Ð the first-ever horizontal multi-lateral drilling program conducted onshore Thailand. “We are extremely pleased with the results of the drilling operation,” said Pacific Tiger...

Singapore’s Senoko Power Ltd said it achieved first synchronisation of its second repowered unit last month. This is the second of the three repowered units under Senoko’s repowering programme. The first repowered unit has been in operation since February 2002. Repowering is an initiative by Senoko to convert its Stage I thermal units, constructed in...

Thailand’s hopes of becoming an oil trading hub for the Asia Pacific region have been dampened lately by the recent outbreaks of political violence among restive Muslim groups in the south and uncertainty surrounding the reliability of its legal system in resolving commercial disputes. (See EnergyAsia Report’s January 2004 issue). In January, Prime Minister Thaksin...

US independent energy company ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), together with its partners in the North Caspian Sea Production Sharing Consortium, and Kazmunaygaz (KMG), state oil authority of Kazakhstan, have approved the development plan for the Kashagan oil field. With production estimates of up to 13 billion barrels of oil, the Kashagan field is one of the largest...

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – Hong Kong power producer CLP Holdings (0002.HK) announced full year 2003 net profit up 9.92% year-on-year to HK$7.687 billion, beating analyst expectations and boosted by strong mainland China power demand. (US$1=HK$7.78). The power firm said Hong Kong demand and system demand — including sales to the mainland — reached historical peaks...

Denmark’s A.P. Moller of the Maersk Group has ordered from Dalian New Shipbuilding and Guangzhou Shipyard International the construction of four oil product tankers. The deal was signed last month in Beijing in the presence of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and visiting Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. “With the signing of these contracts, Maersk...

Singapore-listed China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corporation Ltd (CAO) said it recorded a 12.5% rise in net after-tax profit of S$54.3 million for the financial year ending December 2003. For the fourth quarter, its pre-tax profit came to S$20.6 million while net after tax profit was S$14.5 million. (US$1=S$1.7). Commenting on the results, CAO managing director...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – Oil and gas company Petra Perdana Bhd said it won the Securities Commission’s (SC) approval to place 6.15 million shares at RM7.65 each to investors and to sub-divide its RM1 par value shares into two shares of RM0.5 par value. (US$1=RM3.8). On completion of the private placement and share split, Petra’s...

PARIS (AFX) – OPEC member countries will be allowed to raise their output if the oil price stays above US$28 per barrel for another two consecutive weeks, OPEC president Purnomo Yusgiantoro told the Jakarta Post. The ten countries in question — Iraq is currently outside the quota system — will be allowed to produce above...

For more than five decades, Japan’s foreign policy has largely been driven by its desire to maintain a strong alliance with the US. That is likely to undergo changes given Tokyo’s growing nervousness with the state of global oil supply and competition from an increasingly energy-starved China. Few issues ignite Japanese passion as much as...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – Rating Agency Malaysia Bhd said it is maintaining its P1 rating on Petronas Gas Bhd’s RM500million Murabahah notes issuance facility, despite the company currently being involved in a legal dispute. (US$1=RM3.8) Petronas Gas was served a writ of summons on Feb 13 by Tetracon Engineering Sdn Bhd, one of its contractors...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China Petroleum and Chemical Corp (Sinopec) (SHA 600028; HK 0386; NYSE SNP) said it started issuing a total of 3.5 billion yuan in 10-year bonds from last week until March 8, at a fixed annual coupon of 4.61%. Sinopec said the proceeds will be used to build two oil pipelines and to...

US independent Unocal Corporation (NYSE: UCL) said its Unocal Ganal Ltd subsidiary has drilled a successful appraisal well at the Gehem field in the Ganal production sharing-contract (PSC) area offshore East Kalimantan, Indonesia. “The Gehem-2 well results show the primary zone of interest to have a single gas column of greater than 550 feet (168...

Front end engineering work to develop the estimated $200 million Casino gas field offshore western Victoria, has been given approval by Santos Limited and its joint venture partners in the acreage, AWE and Mitsui. As operator and 50% stakeholder of the project, Santos said that expenditure had been approved for the completion by the end...

SINGAPORE (AFX-ASIA) – Oil producer PTT Exploration & Production PCL said its board has approved its planned purchase of a 15% stake in Ratchaburi Power Co (RPC) for 249.75 million baht. (US$1=39 baht) RPC plans to build a two gas-fired combined-cycle power plants, with a capacity of 700 megawatts each. The power plants, which will...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – Sinochem International Ltd (SHA 600500), a Chinese state-owned oil trader, is considering launching a takeover bid for Inchon Oil Refinery, a bankrupt oil company in South Korea, to help it meet the country’s rapidly growing demand for oil, the Financial Times reported. The paper quoted an unidentified official at KDB Partners, an...

This book explores the growth in the LNG industry and how the increase in the number of buyers and greater supply competition will gain pace, bringing rapid expansion and further globalisation. The book is a series of in-depth articles from leading industry executives that address key issues including:...

Broker Ginga Petroleum has announced the launch of a forward physical contract for fuel oil cargoes traded on a C&F Huangpu basis. The semi-physical forward contract will provide a new trading instrument to the traders involved in the China fuel oil market. The company said the contract has been launched in response to the demand...