VIETNAM: Co-operation with Russia to strengthen oil and gas trade

Long-time allies Vietnam and Russia have pledged to deepen commercial trade ties with an emphasis on co-operation in the energy sector, according to a joint statement released after President Tran Duc Luong’s recent visit to Moscow. Russia helped nurture Vietnam’s oil industry in the 1970s soon after the withdrawal of the Americans. The small output...

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AFGAHNISTAN: ADB approves study grant to prepare national power transmission grid project

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is helping the government of Afghanistan to prepare a national power transmission grid project through a US$750,000 technical assistance (TA) grant. The ADB said the project would interconnect the northwestern power system with the northern and central power systems to supply the provinces of Badghis, Faryab, and Jawzjan, which are...

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MALAYSIA: KNM unit to buy Italy’s FBN-Hudson 50% stake in Dubai plant

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – KNM Group Berhad said its wholly-owned unit KNM International Sdn Bhd (KNM) has agreed to buy from FBM-Hudson Italiana SpA a 50% stake in FBM manufacturing plant in Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dubai (FBM-KNM FZCo) for 10 million euro in cash. (1euro=US$1.20). KNMI and FBM will also subscribe equally for a...

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VIETNAM: Investors encouraged to look at small hydropower projects

Recent changes in regulations appear to have sparked off interest in Vietnam’s fledgling hydroelectricity market, said the Ministry of Industry. Over the last two years, it reported that domestic investors have signed up to support 70 small hydroelectric projects in the country. The ministry said its December 2002 decision to liberalise the management, investment and...

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THAILAND: BP Solar wins US$20 million contract with Thai company

BP Solar, a subsidiary of the UK-based oil and gas major, said it has won a US$20 million contract to supply solar power products and services to Thailand-based Solartron Co Ltd. The products and services will be used by Solartron in the construction of solar power systems for the government-funded Mega Rural Electrification Project, which...

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KOREA: South’s KNOC mulls oil exploration project in North Korean waters

SEOUL (AFX-ASIA) – South Korea’s state-run Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) is considering taking part in an oil exploration project off North Korea’s west coast, a company spokesman said. “As part of inter-Korean economic cooperation, we are considering the possibility of taking part in the oil exploration project in North Korea,” the spokesman told Agence...

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PHILIPPINES: Petron taps Citigroup-led consortium for US$100 million loan

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – Oil refiner Petron Corp has awarded the mandate for a five-year US$100 million loan to the consortium of Citigroup, ING Bank and Saudi American Bank, the Philippine Star newspaper reported, citing company documents. Proceeds of the loan will be used to finance Petron’s US$100 million Clean Air Act-related projects, which include the...

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MALAYSIA: MRCB bids for two Middle East power projects Ð CEO

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) has placed two bids for power transmission projects in the Middle East, worth US$200-300 million each, chief executive officer Shahril Ridza Ridzuan said. The construction projects MRCB has bid for — including other jobs that the company is looking at in the region — are in...

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JAPAN: Oil companies to raise gasoline wholesale prices by more than 3%

Two of Japan’s largest downstream oil companies, Nippon Oil Corp. and Idemitsu Kosan Co. said they will raise gasoline wholesale prices by 4 yen per liter on June 1, reflecting the recent rise in oil prices on the world markets. (US$1=110 yen). As a result of the move, motorists will have to pay more at...

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BAHRAIN: BANAGAS awards Foster Wheeler contract to revamp LPG facilities

Engineering group Foster Wheeler Ltd saidthat its subsidiary Foster Wheeler Energy Limited has been awarded a contract by the Bahrain National Gas Company (BANAGAS) for front-end engineering design to revamp its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) facilities. The value of the contract was not disclosed. BANAGAS is 75% owned by the Bahraini government with the remaining...

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MALAYSIA: Petronas Gas FY2004 profit down on lower demand, higher maintenance

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – Petronas Gas Bhd said its year to March 2004 net profit fell to RM641.93 million from RM656.80 million a year earlier, on lower demand from the power sector and higher plant maintenance expenditure and depreciation charges. (US$1=RM3.8). Sales fell to RM2.23 billion from RM2.24 billion a year ago as a result...

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PHILIPPINES: ABB awarded contract to help develop spot energy market

ABB, the Switzerland-based power and automation technology group, has been awarded a contract to provide its SABLE Market Operation System to administer the Wholesale Energy Spot Market (WESM) in the Philippines when it opens early next year. The multi-million dollar contract includes training and support services, and is being financed by the Asian Development Bank...

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INDONESIA: Australia’s Clough Group awarded A$28 million extension to long-term coal contract

The Clough group’s 82%-owned Indonesian subsidiary PT Petrosea Tbk has negotiated a A$28 million (US$20 million) extension through to December 2004 of its long-term coal overburden stripping contract in east Kalimantan. Clough is an Australian engineering company. The contract for the Indonesian-owned company PT Gunungbayan Pratamacoal (GBP) was first awarded to Petrosea in November 1999...

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AUSTRALIA: Caltex forecasts higher first half after-tax profit of A$210-235 million

Caltex Australia Limited said this week that it expects much stronger profits on a replacement cost of sales operating profit basis of A$160 – 180 million excluding significant items for the first half of 2004 compared with A$86.1 million the first half of 2003. (US$1=A$1.45). This forecast is based on unaudited results for the year...

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MARKETS: US’s EPA cracks down on diesel pollution

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is completing a new rule to reduce diesel air pollution from construction, farm, and industrial equipment by more than 90%. The rule essentially extends fuel and emission standards adopted in 2000 for new diesel trucks and buses to non-road applications, such as new diesel backhoes, tractors, and heavy forklifts....

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INDONESIA: Medco flat after Q1 results

JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) Ð Shares of PT Medco Energi Internasional have changed little since announcing poor first quarter results, dealers said. The company earlier reported a 54% year-on-year fall in its first quarter to March net profit to US$13 million amid rising costs. It said sales grew 4.6% to US$111.24 million from US$106.25 million a year...

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MARKETS: SG says US data shows bullish deliveries of RFG and diesel, support for crude

This week’s commercial crude stock figure released by the US Dept of Energy startled the market: flat, despite a slowdown in crude runs and 554,000 b/d more supply, said French investment bank SG. Stocks would have reported a 1.4 million barrels draw, the bullish inverse of consensus expectations, had runs risen as expected, said SG....

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IRAQ: US Sonoran Energy submits additional bids for oilfield contracts

Los Angeles, California-based Sonoran Energy, Inc. (OTCBB:SNRN) has submitted bids for another two contracts servicing Iraqi oilfield, said president and CEO Peter Ostenfeld-Rosenthal. The two applications were submitted to Iraq’s Ministry of Oil through the State Company for Oil Projects (SCOP), which operates the design and engineering of upstream and downstream projects in Iraq. The...

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JAPAN: Tomen, Toyota Tsusho to combine oil product ops in July – report

TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) – Tomen Corp, a major general trading house, and Toyota Tsusho Corp, an affiliate of Toyota Motors Corp, will integrate their petroleum product businesses as early as July, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported, without citing sources. The two trading houses, which are considering integrating all of their operations in 2006, plan to enhance...

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KAZAKHSTAN: UAE’s METITO awarded AED 56 million contract for water and industrial waste water treatm

METITO, the UAE-based company in water, waste-water and desalination treatment projects and technology, has won an AED 56 million contract to deliver industrial waste water and water treatment services for a giant oilfield in Kazakhstan. (US$1=AED3.65). METITO was awarded the contract by the Agip Kazakhstan North Caspian Operating Company (AGIP KCO), the operator of the...

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CHINA: PetroChina enters Hong Kong’s retail fuels market

China’s largest oil producer, PetroChina, is expanding into Hong Kong’s retail fuels market following a recent winning bid for five retail stations by subsidiary Chinaoil (Hong Kong) Corporation. Chinaoil outbid 21 rivals in the open tender by paying a premium on the 21-year land grants, a Hongkong government spokesman told Petrol Plaza. “We welcome the...

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MARKETS: Singapore Airlines’ new US$5 fuel surcharge; Petron raised fuel prices

SINGAPORE (AFX-ASIA) Ð Consumers are starting pay more for transportation as a result of record-high oil prices. Singapore Airlines (SIA) started imposing a US$5 per sector fuel surcharge on tickets issued for services to and from Australia and New Zealand from May 24 in a bid to help combat the impact of the steep rise...

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MALAYSIA: Esso Malaysia reports 1Q RM12 million profit vs RM14 million loss year-ago

Esso Malaysia Berhad (EMB), an ExxonMobil subsidiary, said it recorded an after tax profit of RM 12 million in the first quarter, an improvement over the RM 14 million loss recorded for the same quarter last year. (US$1=RM3.8). It said: “The current quarter results were a significant improvement over the same period last year due...

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CHINA: Kazakhstan oil pipeline project to finish in 2005

The construction of the eastern section of the Kazakhstan-China oil pipeline is expected to begin this year and be completed next year, said Kazakh President Nursultan Abishevich Nazarbayev on his recent visit to China. He told a press conference that the 1,000-km Atasu-Alataw Pass oil pipeline is part of a 3,000-kilometer-long oil pipeline that the...

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PHILIPPINES: Petron Q1 net profit 786 million pesos, up 77% on higher sales

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) Ð Shares of oil refiner Petron Corp have moved higher over the past week after it reported a first quarter to March net profit of 786 million pesos, up from 445 million in the year-earlier period, on the back of higher sales in the domestic market. (US$1=56 pesos). The company has also declared...

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