Michigan-based, US CMS Energy said that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its interests in the Parmelia and Goldfields pipelines in western Australia to the Australian Pipeline Trust for about A$208 million (about =US$145 million). CMS Energy is the sole owner of the 260-mile Parmelia pipeline system and holds a 39.7% ownership...

Singapore’s Senoko Power Limited recently marked the official handover of its combined cycle plant 4 (CCP 4), which it said was achieved well ahead of its contractual completion date of September 2004. CCP 4 is the second of the three units to be completed under Senoko Power’s innovative repowering programme. The first repowered plant successfully...

Hong Kong-listed CNOOC Limited and its subsidiaries has made an oil discovery with the exploration well JZ 21-1S-1 in Bohai Bay. Located on JZ21-1 south structure in Liaozhong Sag in Bohai Bay, Well JZ21-1S-1 was drilled to a total depth around 2400 meters in 20 meters of water. On 7.94mm and 7.14mm chokes, the well...

Foster Wheeler Ltd has announced that a subsidiary of in England has been awarded a project management consultancy contract by Hyundai Oilbank Co., Ltd. (HDO) for a $200 million clean fuels upgrade project at its oil refinery at Daesan, 130 km southwest of Seoul, Korea. The value of Foster Wheeler’s contract was not disclosed. The...

Hong Kong and China Gas (Towngas) has signed preliminary agreements with the Xian municipal government to invest in natural gas-related projects, as the company continues to look to the mainland to boost earnings growth, according to a South China Morning Post report. The Hongkong paper said the projects, valued at a combined 900 million yuan,...

Caltex Australia said it welcomes the recent decision on new quality standards for gasoline and diesel, announced last month by the Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Ian Campbell, as part of the government’s clean fuels agenda. It said the new standards demonstrate the government’s strong commitment to the environment and will help to greatly...

Australia’s leading resources company BHP Billiton said it produced 324.3 billion cubic (54 million barrels of oil equivalent) of natural gas, 13.3 million barrels of crude and condensates, and 30.3 million boe of oil products for the second quarter ended June 30. Its oil products output was little changed from year-ago levels and 2% higher...

Emoil Petroleum Storage FZCO last month began the construction of a US$33 million gasoline storage and blending facility in Dubai’s Jebel Ali Free Zone. The company is a newly established joint venture company between Emirates General Petroleum Corporation (Emarat) which holds a 60% stake, BP Singapore PTE Limited (20%) and Trafigura Beheer BV (20%). When...

J. Ray McDermott, a subsidiary of McDermott International, Inc, recently announced that it has been awarded a multi-million dollar contract to fabricate two offshore wellhead jackets for the Qatargas II Development. Contracts of this type are typically valued at approximately US$20 million. “We are extremely pleased to have been awarded this contract by QGII and...

Pakistan’s Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) is planning to invest Rs 11.48 billion to build up its gas pipelines and infrastructure for the financial year 2004-05. (US$1=Rs57). The gas distribution company expects to send a record Rs 4.48 billion on the national Gas Infrastructure Development Project. Over the last two years, the company has...

Malaysian power company Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) said its net profit for the nine months ended May 31 has fallen by 49.2% to RM367.3 million. (US$1=RM3.8). Revenue, meanwhile, climbed 7.8% to RM13.068 billion over year-ago levels. According to Bernama news agency, Tenaga attributed the improved revenue to higher electricity sales but forex losses from the...

While other oil producers are reporting record profits from high oil prices, Russia’s Yukos and Indonesia’s Pertamina stand out as lonely exceptions in an industry currently awash in cash. Both are struggling to pay debtors, with Yukos facing the prospect of bankruptcy from its own government while state Pertamina is reduced to receiving hand-outs from...

The Trans Thai-Malaysia gas pipeline grid is expected to be completed by year-end, consolidating Malaysia’s position as the most advanced national grid in the region, The Edge has reported. “By end of this year, Thailand will be connected to Malaysia,” said state Petronas president and CEO Mohd Hassan Marican. According to The Edge, Mr Hassan...

Texas-based, US Australian-Canadian Oil Royalties Ltd (ACOR) has purchased a 1/10th of 1% overriding royalty interest in two licences in the prolific Cooper-Eromanga Basin off South Australia. The concessions are part of a giant area that was held for almost 40 years by Santos and Exxon. The Australian government had forced the two companies to...

The North West Shelf (NWS) Venture said it has signed an liquefied natural gas (LNG) sale and purchase agreement with the Kansai Electric Power Company, Inc that will extend the relationship to 35 years of LNG supply. The agreement is for the supply and purchase of 0.5 million tonnes of LNG a year between 2009...

Franch oil and gas company Total said it has conducted successful drilling and testing of its first exploration well in Kairan in Kazakhstan. The well is located in the Kazakhstan sector of the Caspian Sea about 40 km east of the Kashagan field. The development plan and the launch of the first phase of investment...

For the second consecutive month, US crude oil futures set record highs on fresh fears of supply disruption and continued strong global demand. That has been the enduring theme of the oil markets the past year in clear defiance of predictions by many analysts that prices would eventually “return” to their “normal” US$20-$25 a barrel...

UK independent oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) firm Cairn Energy has received Indian government approval to extend its Rajasthan Block to an 850 sq km area north of Cairn’s so-called N-C discovery there. In a research note, Merrill Lynch said the magnitude of the extension, which compares to 5000 sq km of the...

Halliburton Energy Services (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, a Halliburton subsidiary, said it has received a gold award from the Petronas Group for the implementation of its health, safety and environment (HSE) management system. The award was recently presented to Will Fortenberry, Halliburton’s vice president of Southeast Asia, and Rao Abdullah, Halliburton’s managing director for Malaysia, at...

Government-owned oil firms raised fuel prices from July 31, bringing them closer to international levels. Gasoline prices rose by Rs 1.10 per litre to Rs 36.81, while diesel went up by Rs 1.42 per litre to Rs 24.16 The new populist government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh which came to power in June had announced...

The four US and UK majors are leading oil and gas shares to new highs after reporting blockbuster financial results on the back of record-breaking oil prices. There could be further upside for ExxonMobil, BP, ChevronTexaco and Royal/Dutch Shell if crude prices continue to climb after touching a record US$43.85 a barrel on the New...

Australia’s Clough engineering group said it is finalising four oil and gas sector contracts in Australia, South-East Asia and Europe worth a total of between A$33 million and A$39 million. (US$1=A$1.45). They include: – Decommissioning of the Buffalo Field in the Timor Sea by Nexen Petroleum Australia worth between A$13 million and A$15 million; –...

Caltex Australia has welcomed the decision by the Brisbane City Council to give development approval to the A$145 million Lytton Refinery Clean Fuels Project. The project will upgrade the refinery to greatly reduce the benzene content of gasoline and sulphur content of diesel for sale at terminals and service stations from January 1, 2006. (US$1=A$1.45)....

BNP Paribas Peregrine has described the share price of Singapore Petroleum Company (SPC) as looking expensive relative to its regional peers, despite the company’s outstanding first half to June results. “SPC’s first-half earnings continue to reflect positive refining margins with profit up 334%. However, its valuation looks fair against regional peers. We prefer to buy...

Sinvest ASA of Norway, through a subsidiary of its wholly owned Singapore company Deep Drilling Invest Pte. Ltd, has exercised an option with Keppel FELS Limited (KFELS) to build another KFELS Super B class jackup at US$126 million to meet demand for deep gas drilling activities. Their decision came after it successfully raised funds through...