OMAN: Tractebel consortium wins Sohar water and power project

Tractebel EGI, a business division of the SUEZ group, said a consortium it is leading has been selected to design, build, own, operate and maintain the greenfield Sohar Independent Water and Power project in Oman. The project comprises a 585MW combined cycle gas turbine plant and a 33 million imperial gallons a day (6250 cubic...

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THAILAND: ChevronTexaco makes hydrocarbon find in Gulf of Thailand

Chevron Offshore (Thailand) Ltd (COTL) has reported successful exploration and appraisal drilling results in Block G4/43 in the Gulf of Thailand approximately 125 miles south of Bangkok. The company is an affiliate of US major ChevronTexaco. The successful results come less than a year after the G4/43 concession was awarded to COTL (operator, with an...

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AUSTRALIA: Aker Kvaerner awarded BP’s clean gasoline project

Aker Kvaerner Australia, a subsidiary of the Norwegian engineering, construction and technology group Aker Kvaerner ASA, has been awarded a contract by energy major BP for the delivery of a new facility to produce clean gasoline at the Bulwer Island Refinery in Queensland, Australia. Aker Kvaerner said its subsidiary would be responsible for overall project...

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CHINA: Venture with Thailand on US$1 billion power projects in Yunnan

China’s Huaneng Group and Thailand’s GMS Co will jointly build and operate two power stations on the Lancang-Mekong River in the southern Chinese province of Yunnan. The project is expected to cost 9 billion yuan (US$1=8.27 yuan). Huaneng will hold a 75% the stake in the venture to build the Jinghong and Nuozhadu power stations...

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MARKETS: ESAI says California sets new fuel economy trend, with world implications on oil

The state of California has embarked on a path to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars. While the automakers and the federal government will fight California on this, if the state wins this battle, US energy consultant ESAI believes it will be a dramatic development for the US and global oil markets. California’s Air Resources...

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QATAR: RasGas signs heads of agreement to supply LNG to Florida

FPL Group Resources LLC, a subsidiary of the US FPL Group, Inc., and Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited (II), a joint venture between Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil RasGas Inc., have signed a Heads of Agreement (HOA) to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar to a proposed LNG terminal and regasification facility located...

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AUSTRALIA: Former Exxon subsidiary Delhi Petroleum aims to raise A$250 million

Australia’s former ExxonMobil subsidiary Delhi Petroleum is trying to raise A$250 million from the public through a hybrid offering that pays investors a 11% yield, according to the Australian Financial Review (AFR). (US$1=A$1.45). Delhi Petroleum holds about 21% of the offshore Cooper and Eromanga Basin oil and gas exploration and production assets. A Westpac-managed investment...

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BANGLADESH: ADB approves study to help develop natural gas sector

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it has approved a US$480,000 technical assistance grant to assist in developing Bangladesh’s natural gas industry. The study grant will analyse opportunities for the gas sector’s growth and review development plans prepared by the Bangladeshi government and its development partners. It will review existing policies and prepare reform measures...

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CHINA: Zhenhai oil refinery oil reports 30% rise in output to meet demand

Hongkong listed Zhenhai Refining & Chemical said it has refined 30% more crude oil in the first half of this year to meet China’s rising oil products demand. But analysts are unsure if that will translate into fatter profits as Beijing continues to hold oil product prices down fearing a resurgence of inflation, analysts told...

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MALAYSIA: Power company Tenaga reports 140% rise in January-to-March net profits

Malaysia’s power company Tenaga Nasional Bhd has reported a 140% jump in its net profit to RM336.60 million for the third quarter to March 31, 2004, thanks to higher electricity sales. (US$1=RM3.8). However, for the nine months, The Edge newspaper said Tenaga’s net profit fell 49.2% to RM367.30 million from RM723.40 million previously, because of...

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RUSSIA: Gazprom and Japanese Embassy discuss sale of Russian gas to Asia

Officials from Russian energy company Gazprom and the Japanese embassy in Moscow recently discussed the possibility of Russia supplying natural gas to the Far East, according to Russian news service RIA Novosti. Gazprom, represented by deputy chairman Alexander Ananenkov, and Dzyun Niimi, a senior Japanese diplomat, discussed the outlook for Russian gas sales to the...

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AUSTRALIA: Sale of TXU Australia to Singapore Power expected by July 30

Singapore Power is expected to complete the purchase of TXU Australia from New York-listed TXU Corp. (NYSE: TXU) for around US$3.72 billion by July 30 following approval of the deal by Australian competition regulators. On 26 April 2004, TXU Corp announced it had entered into an agreement to sell TXU Australia to Singapore Power. The...

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SRI LANKA: State Ceypetco wants government to raise retail fuel prices

Sri Lanka’s state oil company Ceypetco wants the government to raise fuel prices immediately and to maintain them for at least three months. It has submitted a proposal to the Treasury that the gasoline price be raised by Rs 8 to Rs 65 a litre, diesel by Rs 6 to Rs 32 a litre and...

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SINGAPORE: SPC reports sharp jump in second quarter profit to S$26.1 million from S$567,000 in 2003

Singapore Petroleum Company (SPC) has reported a sharp rise in its second quarter net profit to S$26.1 million from S$567,000 a year ago, thanks to high oil prices and strong refining margins. (US$1=S$1.7). Revenue surged past the S$ billion mark to nearly S$1.08 billion, up by 13.3% from S$760.924 million in the second quarter of...

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COMPANY: BP chief predicts good times ahead after reporting strong second quarter results

Energy major BP believes oil prices will stay high and that the company will continue to deliver higher profits and higher oil and gas output in the future. Chairman Lord Browne made this bold prediction after announcing a set of strong results for the second quarter with second quarter profits up 23% to US$3.908 billion...

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QATAR: Exxon Mobil wants ethane deal with Qatar Petroleum next year

Exxon Mobil Chemical Company is hopeful of finalising an agreement with Qatar Petroleum (QP) next year on setting up a world scale ethane cracker project at Ras Laffan, reported the Gulf Times. Exxon Mobil director and executive vice-president Harry J Longwell said a feasibility study on an ethane-based cracker and ethylene derivatives complex at the...

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INDONESIA: Pirates attack LPG tanker, no one injured

Pirates armed with automatic rifles boarded a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tanker off the coast of Indonesia on July 26. Despite opening fire at the crew, no one was unhurt in the attack in the Anyer anchorage on the Sunda Strait, between Indonesia’s Sumatra and Java islands. In its latest weekly report, the International Maritime...

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Proposal for ONGC to swap assets with Cairn Energy

The Indian government is considering a proposal for a swap of oil assets between state Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Cairn Energy, reported the Financial Express. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has submitted a proposal for ONGC to acquire Cairn’s equity in two offshore blocks in the Krishna-Godavari and Cambay basin...

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THAILAND: Government to revise ex-refinery oil price

The Thai government is likely to revise the ex-refinery price of oil to bring it in line with the world market, reported the Business Day. The new price will exclude the cost of transportation and insurance from retail fuel prices. According to the report, the director general of the Energy Policy and Planning Office (Eppo),...

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AUSTRALIA: BHP Billiton completes WA-255-P(2) drilling campaign off Western Australia state

Australian upstream company BHP Billiton said it has successfully completed its four well drilling programme in its operated licence block WA-255-P(2) in the Exmouth Sub-basin in waters 65 kilometres from Exmouth in northwest Western Australia. The purpose of the drilling campaign was to appraise the discovery at Stybarrow (February 2003) and the oil shows at...

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AUSTRALIA: Debt-free Oil Search reports 9% jump in first-half revenue to record US$161.6 million

Australian upstream company Oil Search said its first half revenue rose 9% to a record US$161.6 million, thanks largely to higher oil and gas prices. The company had a particularly strong second quarter, with revenue surging 41% to US$94.7 million. The company said: “This record was achieved without contribution from gold production, following the sale...

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MALAYSIA: BP to look into climate change issue

BP Malaysia has established a partnership with the Centre for Environment, Technology and Development Malaysia (CETDEM) to address the issue of climate change and to increase public awareness of the matter, its associate president Peter M. Wentworth said, according to Bernama news agency. The two organisations would organise programmes with government agencies, other companies, the...

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CHINA: Kerr-McGee starts crude production from Bohai Bay fields

Oklahoma-based Kerr-McGee China Petroleum, Ltd., a wholly owned affiliate of Kerr-McGee Corp, said it has begun producing crude oil from four wells at its CFD 11-1 and CFD 11-2 fields in block 04/36 in China’s Bohai Bay. The company expects to have a total of 10 wells on line by the end of July and...

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THAILAND: PTT to invest in Philippines’ retail oil business

Thailand’s PTT Plc is venturing into the retail oil business in the Philippines with local refiner Petron Corporation, according to a Business Day report. PTT’s profit from its Philippines retail operations is expected to rise by 100 million baht this year and to 160 million baht in 2005. (US$1=40 baht). PTT’s retail operations and assets...

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MARKETS: Consultants launch study into the impact of hedge funds on energy trading

Two US energy consultants, UtiliPoint International, Inc and Global Change Associates, have announced plans to jointly undertake several significant energy trading research and consulting projects. The first project is a multi-client study looking at the impact of hedge funds entry into energy commodities trading. Global Change Associates (GCA) is led by Peter Fusaro while UtiliPoint’s...

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