Surging oil demand boosts SK Corp’s stock and profits

The share price of Korea’s biggest oil refiner, SK Corp, are trading at a 10-year high after the company raised its operating profit forecast by 23% last week, according to the Korea Herald newspaper. SK Corp shares have nearly doubled this year, compared with the Korean stock index anaemic 6% gain. In a statement to...

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Egcomp keen to buy a stake in Laotian power plant

Thailand’s second-largest private electricity producer, Electricity Generating plc (Egcomp), said it will hold talks to acquire a stake in Laos’ Hongsa lignite power plant project next year, according to a Business Day report. Egcomp wants to increase its electricity production capacity. It has chosen to buy a stake in a foreign country’s power plant because...

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GAIL inks pact with Gasunie of the Netherlands

GAIL (India) Limited has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Gasunie Engineering BV, Netherlands to co-operate in the fields of engineering trading, training, research and development, pilot projects and providing energy solutions to industrial customers. The MoU was recently signed by B S Negi, GAIL’s planning director and Jaap Althuis, Gasunie’s commercial director in New...

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Shell to invest RM50 million to upgrade 50 car maintenance outlets

Shell Malaysia said it will be investing RM50 million to upgrade 50 of its automotive outlets over the next three to four years. (US$1=RM3.8).             Sam Hanna, general manager of Shell autoserv Malaysia, said that on average, the company would spend about RM1million on each new outlet including refurbishment, fittings and stocks.             “It is...

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Origin Energy and JV partners to sue Clough Engineering over BassGas project delays

Australian upstream company Origin Energy said it and the other joint venture participants plan to seek liquidated damages from the EPIC contractor, Clough Engineering Limited, for “significant” delays in the completion of the BassGas project in Victoria state. Liquidated damages are payable by the contractor for each day that Separable Portion 3 of the contract...

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Petronas to build another methanol plant to meet growing local and Asian demand

Malaysia’s state-owned oil and gas company Petronas will build another methanol plant adjacent to its plant in Labuan to satisfy growing demand both locally and in Asia, according to a Bernama news agency report. Scheduled to start operations by the end of 2007, it will have a production capacity of 1.7 million tones a year,...

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PTT to spend US$500 to 700 million on LNG terminal project

Thailand’s state oil and gas company PTT plc plans to spend US$500 to 700 million on its liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal project in the eastern seaboard, according to a Business Day report. PTT has set up a wholly-owned company to import about 400 to 600 million cubic feet a day of LNG, or 35...

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GAIL opens subsidiary company in Singapore

India’s gas company, GAIL (India) Limited, has set up a wholly- owned subsidiary company – GAIL Global (Singapore) Pte Ltd – in Singapore, for making investments overseas. The company is in the midst of acquiring a 15% equity stake in Egypt’s National Gas Company (Natgas) – one of the largest privately-owned companies distributing natural gas...

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Consortium backs out of LPG depot purchase

California, US based Largo Vista Group, Ltd said that, after 60 days of due diligence, the consortium it is heading, has decided not to purchase an LPG depot in China’s Guizhou province.“Having reviewed all of the facts pertaining to the purchase of the liquid petroleum gas (LPG) depot in Zunyi,” said Denise Deng, general manager...

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Joint study with the Philippines into Spratly Islands oil and gas potential

State-owned Philippine National Oil Co (PNOC) and China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) will soon start a US$7.5 million marine seismic study to determine the petroleum potential of the disputed Spratly Islands, according to the Philippine Star.             The two companies hope to transform the area from one of potential conflict into cooperation. But they...

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Another oil tanker fire in shipyard injures 13 Indian workers

Thirteen Indian workers were injured in yet another incident involving an oil tanker at a Singapore shipyard. In Monday’s incident in the Jurong Shipyard, nine workers were admitted to hospital with burns on their arms and faces while the other four were discharged after fire broke out in the pump room of the tanker Jag...

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MPA provides update on bunker industry

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) unveiled Singapore’s bunkering performance at a major industry event last year. It said a total of 20.8 million tonnes of bunkers were supplied to ships in Singapore, eclipsing the previous record of 20.35 million tonnes set in 2001. The MPA also gave an update on Singapore’s accreditation...

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Another oil tanker fire in shipyard injures 13 Indian workers

Thirteen Indian workers were injured in yet another incident involving an oil tanker at a Singapore shipyard. In Monday’s incident in the Jurong Shipyard, nine workers were admitted to hospital with burns on their arms and faces while the other four were discharged after fire broke out in the pump room of the tanker Jag...

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Chinese Petroleum Corp to open new NT$10 billion logistics center next year

Taiwan’s state-run Chinese Petroleum Corp will open a NT$295 million logistics center next year and invest NT$10 billion (US$1 = NT$33.9) to build ships to transport crude oil, naphtha, and chemical materials, according to the CENS news service. The logistics center will act as the company’s global trading platform with the assistance of a shipping...

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High oil prices to slow the economy in FY2005

Higher oil prices and unfavourable weather for agriculture will slow India’s economic growth to 6.5% in FY2004 and 6% in FY2005 after 2003’s 8.2% expansion in 2003, according the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The Asian Development Outlook 2004 Update released last week is ADB’s annual flagship economic publication analysing and forecasting economic trends in the...

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EGM on KS Tech’s proposed distribution of its Sinwa Limited shares as dividend pay-out

Singapore-listed KS Tech, an equipment supplier to the oil and gas industry, has called for an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to seek shareholder approval for distributing its holding of 12,783,365 ordinary shares in Sinwa Limited as a dividend payout. The holdings representing 10.23% of the issued and paid up capital of Sinwa. KS Tech said...

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The oil and gas sector will figure prominently in attracting foreign investment

Oil and gas will be a major factor in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) as the sector consolidates its position as a pillar of the Malaysian economy, according to the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Asian Development Outlook 2004 Update. Medium-term strong regional demand for energy and the expectation of sustained high oil prices will bolster...

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British Energy Minister hold discussions with GAIL on strategic alliances

The emerging opportunities for promoting gas sector joint ventures and strategic alliances were among the topics discussed in a recent meeting in London between Michael O’ Brien, UK’s Minister for Energy and Information Technology, and Proshanto Banerjee, chairman and managing director of GAIL (India) Limited. The meeting was also attended by officials from the UK’s...

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Hong Kong and China Gas Co uses Siebel Energy to manage the delivery of its customer services

Siebel Systems, Inc, a leading US provider of business applications software, said that Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited (Towngas) is using Siebel Energy to manage the comprehensive range of services it provides to its 1.5 million customers.“”Siebel Energy represents a very important aspect of our total customer information system,” said Alfred Chan, Towngas...

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CNOOC to start LNG project in Fujian

China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), the largest offshore oil firm in China, recently signed a contract with Fujian province for the construction of a liquid natural gas (LNG) terminal there.             Fu Chengyu, general manager of CNOOC, said that they planned to make a total investment of about RMB 24 billion in the first...

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Unocal and partners sanction phase 3 development of Caspian Sea hydrocarbon field

Unocal Corporation has joined other companies in signing a resolution sanctioning the Phase 3 development of the giant Azeri-Chirag- Deepwater Gunashli (ACG) field in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea. “The sanctioning of the phase 3 development is an important step toward making this resource a million-barrel-per-day producing field,” said Don Hansen, vice president...

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Energy Ministry to at least double capacity of planned oil refinery

Thailand’s newest proposed oil refinery will have a capacity of 1.5 to two million barrels a day, up from 500,000 b/d previously, said the Ministry of Energy. According to a Business Day report, the ministry concluded that a 500,000 b/d plant would be too small to compete against bigger players in China and South Korea....

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Egat wants to raise power tariffs next month

The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) has asked the government for permission to raise electricity prices from next month, according to a Business Day report. Egat plans to invest 200 billion baht to build new power plants and power transmission line networks, starting next year as part of a five-year investment plan. The price...

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ESAI predicts that crude price will fall early next year, but stay above US$40/barrel for 2004

Boston, US-based energy consultants ESAI has predicted oil prices will weaken from current levels by early next year as a result of OPEC’s continued overproduction. It said that high US refinery runs, continued violence in Iraq, and weather related concerns from Hurricane Ivan are all supporting WTI prices in a bullish move back over $45/bbl....

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President Roh brings home new sources of energy after Kazakhstan and Russian visits

President Roh Moo-hyun’s recent visits to Kazakhstan and Russia are expected to secure new sources of energy, giving Korea an opportunity to restructure its energy sector, according to the Korea Herald. Korea’s heavy dependence on imports underlines the importance of the agreements signed in Russia and Kazakhstan, which are expected to expand bilateral development of...

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