The US Department of Energy said in its latest weekly report that it does not expect retail gasoline prices to drop substantially in the coming weeks. Having seen gasoline fall off the peaks of late May, the DoE said it would not be surprised to see prices fluctuate near current levels in the near term....

The oil industry has criticised Manila’s plan to increase tariffs on oil products as “ill-timed” given the current volatility in world oil markets. “If the timing is right, ultimately there will be no pass on, no price increase and no burden on the part of the consumers,” Independent Philippine Petroleum Companies Association (IPPCA) chief Fernando...

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec), Asia’s largest oil refiner, said its crude throughput increased by 19.2% year-on-year in the first half of the year to keep pace with the country’s surging demand for oil products. In a statement, the company said it processed 64.98 million tons of crude oil into fuel in the first...

Metito, a Sharjah, UAE-based water, wastewater treatment and desalination company, has won a 20 million dirham contract to service Iran’s massive South Pars gas field development in Assaluyeh. (US$1=3.6 dirham). Metito will install a major industrial system for phases 6, 7 and 8 of the gas field development and it will be one of the...

India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has appointed an expert group comprising members of the state and the private sectors to draft the country’s energy policy. The group, under the Planning Commission, is expected to complete its report early next year, focusing on the two most important issues of energy pricing and supply security. The Financial...

Malaysia’s Petronas Dagangan Bhd said it not in discussion to buy over BP Malaysia’s retail outlets as reported by the local media. “No. We are not acquiring any BP stations in Peninsular. We will expand through our own organic growth, building 60 petrol stations every year as part of our expansion programme,” Petronas chairman Mohd...

Singapore-listed K1 Ventures Limited said its subsidiary, Mid Pac Petroleum, LLC, formerly known as K-1 Petroleum, LLC, has entered into purchase agreements to acquire the retail gasoline operations of ConocoPhillips in Hawaii for US$38.15 million in cash. The proposed acquisition, subject to various conditions, is expected to be completed by August 31. The assets include...

Abu Dhabi’s Dolphin Energy Limited said it has signed a $1.36 billion loan agreement with a consortium of sixteen local, regional, and international banks. The proceeds of the loan will be used to fund a portion of the construction and operating costs for the multi-billion Dolphin project. The Dolphin Gas Project is a unique strategic...

The Viet Nam Oil and Gas Corporation (PetroVietnam) is carrying out five-petroleum exploration contracts overseas, said general director Tran Ngoc Canh. According to Vietnam News, the company has completed the initial technical planning of oil wells for exploration contracts in Algeria’s Block 433a and 416b in Algeria. It is also carrying out bid packages of...

Australia’s upstream company Bounty Oil & Gas NL said the first phase of its drilling programme of Tanzania’s offshore Nyuni block has been deemed satisfactory by the government of the African country. In a statement, Bounty said the government has also allowed the joint venture until November 30 to finalise a work program and complete...

State Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) of India is said to be planning to spend as much as US$6.5 billion on building a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, a chemical plant and two power plants over the next four years. The Gulf Times has reported that ONGC is trying to secure long term LNG...

BP Singapore this week launched the world’s first pilot hydrogen service station alongside a conventional BP motor fuel service station. Singapore’s Environment Minister Lim Swee Say made the milestone refuelling stop at the BP Upper East Coast Road Service Station after a 30-minute drive from the Botanic Gardens in one of the first two fuel...

OPEC’s overall crude production soared towards 29 million barrels per day (million b/d) in June as the cartel opened the taps to keep a pledge to try cool down overheated oil prices, a Platts survey of OPEC and oil industry officials showed July 13. Including Iraq, output from the group’s 11 members climbed by 680,000...

The US state of California has embarked on a path to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars despite fierce opposition from automakers and the federal government. If California succeeds, US energy consultant ESAI predicts in the latest edition of its Stockwatch Quarterly Review a “dramatic development for the US and global oil markets.” ESAI said...

Malaysia’s Seloga Holdings Bhd and Thai companies Tipco Asphalt Public Company Limited (TASCO) and Thai Bitumen Company Ltd (TBC) will jointly build a US$63.5mil asphalt plant in Kemaman in the Malaysian state of Terengganu. (US$1=RM3.8). Seloga will own a 50% stake in the joint venture company, Kemaman Oil Corp Sdn Bhd (KOC), while TASCO will...

Unocal Corporation (NYSE: UCL) has named Joseph H. Bryant its president and chief operating officer effective September 1. The post had been vacant since early this year after Timothy Ling died unexpectedly. Mr Bryant, 48, the president of BP Angola since 2000, was previously president of BP Canada and an Amoco joint venture in China....

GE Energy said it has received a contract to supply a second compressor train for the new Tangguh LNG Project in Bintuni Bay Regency in Indonesia’s Papua province. Last year, GE was selected to supply the first compressor train for the project. When both trains are completed, the new facility, which is owned by BP...

Las Vegas-based Cheetah Oil & Gas Ltd recently completed the acquisition of an 85% interest in Scotia Petroleum Incorporated, with an option to purchase a further 14% interest. Cheetah Oil & Gas Ltd. has now acquired one of the largest oil and gas exploration land packages of any company in Papua New Guinea. The company...

Houston-based upstream company Apache Corporation (NYSE, Nasdaq: APA) said its appraisal of the Ravensworth-2 well off Western Australia has encountered oil while its recently discovered Monet field near Varanus Island has started producing 10,500 barrels of oil per day. Ravensworth in the Exmouth Basin encountered a 97-foot oil column (37 feet of net sand) in...

Petronas, Malaysia’s national petroleum corporation, has launched its range of premium grade automotive and motorcycle engine oils in China, officially entering the country’s lubricants market. The move is expected to enhance the company’s presence in China which began in 1991. Petronas recently held a launch ceremony in Pudong Shangri-la Hotel, attended by vice-president of oil...

About 2,800 retail stations, or 26% of the total in Korea, have been idled by a nationwide strike by workers at downstream oil company LG Caltex. The stations are owned and supplied by Korea’s second-largest oil refinery in Korea, and have been affected by labour action since July 19. Analysts fear that even if workers...

Australia’s Motor Trades Association (MTA) said the fuel link-ups between refineries and Australia’s two biggest grocers is forcing hundreds of service stations out of business and putting pressure on unaligned BP and Mobil. According to the Herald Sun, MTA director Michael Delaney said he believed the Coles Myer-Shell and Woolworths-Caltex alliances will not be good...

Bangkok Aviation Fuel Services Plc (BAFS), Thailand’s only aviation service provider, said the country’s jet oil consumption jumped 27.5% to 971.1 million litres during the second quarter, according to a Business Day report. It said the sharp rise came off last year’s low demand as a result of the impact of SARS on air travel,...

Vietnam’s Tax Policy Department has proposed imposing a 25% tax on gasoline imports to raise revenues, reported Vietnam News. The department is hoping the new tax will help the Ministry of Finance recover some of its reduced revenue from the country’s import of diesel and kerosene. The report did not say how much the ministry...

China’s customs bureau has announced a 39.3% rise in crude oil imports to 61.2 million tonnes for the first half of 2004. The volume includes an estimated 11.2 million tonnes imported during June, a record for a single month, and suggests that crude imports for the full year should easily surpass 100 million tones, reported...