BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China’s top planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission, has given approval to the country’s two electricity grid firms to raise retail power prices an average 0.014 yuan per kWh, the second hike this year, China Youth Daily reported, without citing sources. (US$1=8.27 yuan). The move is aimed at helping the...

Oman’s state oil company and Korea’s LG International are jointly building a US$320 million polypropylene plant in Sohar, contributing to Oman’s ‘Vision 2020’ economic strategy to become an industrialised state. Due to start up in 2006, the Oman Polypropylene (OPP) project will help create jobs and develop local skills and companies. The plant, linked to...

The Thai government has approved a plan to borrow eight billion baht from the Government Savings Bank (GSB) and other financial institutions to pay for subsidies for domestic oil prices. (US$1=40 baht). The loan will be taken up by the Oil Fund Management and Institution, and guaranteed by the Finance Ministry, said the government’s deputy...

Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) will boost its global investment portfolio to $5 billion from $3 billion in two years through new strategic partnerships in Asia and Europe. According to the Khaleej Times, the state-owned company has just teamed up with Dubai’s Emirates National Oil Company, the Oman Oil Company and France’s Thales...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – The Shanghai government will publish an index of industrial companies in a bid to curb energy consumption in the city, the Liberation Daily reported quoting sources from the local government. The evaluation will be based on energy consumption and water consumption per 10,000 yuan of industrial output and will cover 33 large-sized...

GE Energy is planning to acquire ChevronTexaco’s gasification technology business, the two companies jointly announced last week. GE Energy is a division of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) while ChevronTexaco Worldwide Gasification Technology Inc is a subsidiary of ChevronTexaco Corporation (NYSE: CVX). The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including government approvals. Financial details...

The Iranian government has admitted it needs huge investments to boost its crude oil production from 4.2 to 5.4 million barrels/day. However, Akbar Torkan, deputy oil minister for planning affairs, did not say how much was needed, and if foreign investors would get to play a bigger role. Speaking to the domestic Petroenergy Information Network,...

Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil producing company, increased its oil output by a fifth last year, reversing a two-year decline, according to its annual report released last week. The Gulf Times reported that Aramco’s production climbed 19% to 8.1 million barrels a day last year. Crude exports rose 24% to 6.46 million b/d from...

Thailand’s state upstream company PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP) said its first quarter net income rose more than 30.2% to 3,378 million baht or earnings per share of 5.18 baht from year-ago levels of 2,594 million baht or earnings of 3.98 baht. In its submission of financial statements and report of management’s...

LONDON (AFX) – The Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System and the Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System, two of the largest US retirement plans for public employees, will act as lead plaintiffs of a class action lawsuit against the embattled oil giant Royal Dutch/Shell, said the Sunday Telegraph newspaper. The two funds have combined assets...

From Saturday (May 16), airlines companies operating in the UAE will raise fuel tax on cargo operations from the UAE to the rest of the world by 36% to 55-75 fils per kilogramme. (US$1=Dirham 3.8, or 380 fils). According to the Khaleej Times, in the Middle East region and the Indian peninsula the fuel tax...

SEOUL (AFX-ASIA) – South Korean shipbuilders said they are in talks with Exxon Mobil on a multi-billion dollar deal to build liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers from the global energy giant. Exxon has been looking for suppliers of 28 LNG carriers worth US$4 billion over the next three years, South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries, the...

LONDON (AFX) – Four British companies have announced joint ventures in China worth more than US$1.5 billion, government officials said. Representatives of BP PLC, Shell PLC, Kingfisher PLC and its B&Q unit joined Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt and Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai at the contract signing ceremony in London early this week....

Thailand’s Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding Plc (Ratch) said its net profit in the first quarter this year fell 3.56% to 1.53 billion baht with revenue down 12.13% to 2.81 billion baht. (US$1=40 baht). According to the Business Day, the company’s revenue of 2.81 billion baht came within expectations of analysts’ projections. The told the newspaper...

Loose regulation of the domestic lubricants market has led to a proliferation of over 85 products now competing in the UAE market. Most are unbranded and targeted to meet the needs of the lower end of the market, said a subsidiary of Dubai-based Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC). “Some 75% of these products are unbranded...

Taiwan’s Chinese Petroleum Corp. (CPC) will not rule out raising domestic retail oil prices by month’s end if world oil prices continue surging, its president Pan Wen-yen told the Taipei Times. Oil futures prices settled at a record high of US$40.77 Wednesday in New York, beating the previous record close of US$40.52 in October 1990....

CANBERRA (AFX-ASIA) – East Timor’s President Xanana Gusmao has warned the existence of his impoverished young nation is under threat because of Australia’s disputed claims over oil and gas deposits in the Timor Sea. In an ABC television program, Mr Gusmao also accused Australia of defying international law over a territorial dispute which has placed...

Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz has said that Pakistan’s pro-business policies are making its energy sector increasingly attractive for investors, in particular in the area of oil and gas exploration and development. Speaking at a recent oil and gas event, he said that Pakistan offered liberal investment terms including foreign ownership and little capital controls to...

BANGKOK (AFP) – Some 10,000 Thai anti-privatisation demonstrators marched on the royal palace early this week after petitioning the king to pressure the government into abandoning plans to sell off state enterprises. The workers from the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) and four other state-owned utilities marched on the palace dressed in yellow, the...

Hongkong-listed CNOOC Limited (NYSE: CEO, SEHK: 883) said its wholly-owned subsidiary, CNOOC Muturi Limited, has completed its acquisition of an additional 20.767% interest in the Muturi Production Sharing Contract (PSC) from BG Group for a total consideration of US$105.1 million, inclusive of costs from the economic effective date of January 1, 2003. The transaction was...

Singapore-listed CH Offshore, a vessel operator for the offshore oil and gas industry, said its third-quarter earnings tripled to S$4 million despite a marginal rise in revenue of only 1.5% to S$11 million. The company attributed the sharp rise in profits to improved charter rates helped by higher oil and gas prices. World oil prices...

Rising fuel prices are hurting Thailand’s fledgling budget airlines, but they have ruled out raising ticket prices for now. Jet fuel prices, which account for 30% of operating costs, are hovering around US$46 per barrel FOB Singapore, up more than 25% in recent months. “Our gross margin is now only 10%. If oil prices continue...

OPEC Oil Ministers might meet ahead of their Extraordinary Conference scheduled for Beirut on June 3 to review the international oil market situation, said the cartel’s Secretary General and Indonesia’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Purnomo Yusgiantoro, yesterday. In a statement, he said that OPEC Ministers attending the 9th International Energy Forum meeting in...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – Asian airlines plan to increase fuel surcharges on cargo and some are considering introducing them on passenger flights after crude oil prices surged to a 14-year high of US$40 per barrel, the Financial Times reported. The paper said 72 airlines in Hong Kong will increase fuel surcharges on cargo by 33.3%, starting...

Belgian bank Fortis, a leader in financing the oil and commodities trade, said it is deepening its ties in China following the approval of the China-Belgium Direct Equity Investment Fund by State Development and Reform Commission (SDRC). The Articles of Association were signed this week in Brussels, by key Chinese and Belgian officials, and Anton...