South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun will make a four-day official visit to Russia next week for summit talks with President Vladimir Putin, according to presidential spokesman Kim Jong-min. The summit will focus on how to find a peaceful solution to the North Korean nuclear issue and Russia’s role in that process, told Foreign Affairs Trade...

Malaysia has launched a locally designed and manufactured compressed natural gas (CNG) powered bus last week. Deputy Transport Minister Tengku Azlan Sultan Abu Bakar said the vehicle forms part of the government’s efforts to promote the use of natural gas in heavy industries. The Chiron brand CNG bus represents a new level of exhaust emission...

Austral Pacific Energy Ltd announced last week that it had been awarded two new permits, a petroleum exploration permit (PEP 38492) and a petroleum mining permit (PMP 38153) in New Zealand’s Taranaki Basin. In a statement, the company said PEP 38492 was awarded in its entirety to two wholly owned subsidiary companies, covering an offshore...

InterOil Corporation, a Canadian company with operations in Papua New Guinea announced that it has loaded the first contract cargos of refined product for export sale from its new refinery in Papua New Guinea. These sales begin the export component of InterOil’s cash flow from its core midstream business and is in conjunction with on-going...

Indian state oil marketing company IBP Ltd is venturing into the business of transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the country’s main terminals to smaller customers. The company is manufacturing cryogenic containers under its engineering business division and will be teaming up with US-based company Chart. According to the Financial Express, IBP managing director NG...

The two leading suppliers of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in Sri Lanka, Shell and Laugfs, may face legal action from the authorities for allegedly “prematurely” raising prices as a result of a “date mix up”. The law requires a one-month waiting period before any price changes. If the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) does not respond...

The Thai government plans to gradually reduce its fuel subsidy budget from next January, while promising to help affected industries like agriculture, fishing, and transportation cope with higher fuel prices. So far, 38 billion baht (US$1 = 41 baht) has been spent to subsidise diesel prices, mainly through the State Oil Fund and taxes collected...

The share price of Australian-listed Oilex has surged for more than a week on news of a discovery of new deposits the proven Surat Basin in Queensland state. The stock was trading at around 16 Australian cents (US$1=A$1.4) early in the month but has been driven up to nearly A$1 after release of the news....

Singapore-listed See Hup Seng Limited (SHS) said it has entered into a conditional agreement to acquire a 73% stake in Top Power Holdings Limited (TPHL), from Dong Fang Gas (China) Limited (DFGC), a subsidiary of Hong Kong listed Pacific Century Premium Developments Limited (PCPD for S$17.58 million. (US$1=S$1.7). PCPD is 93.41%-owned by Hong Kong Stock...

Australia’s Origin Energy has announced its intention to buy over Contact Energy following the grant of an exemption notice from the New Zealand Takeovers Panel, and approval by the boards of Origin and Edison Mission Energy (EME) which its 51.2% stake in Contact Energy. The consideration offered to Contact shareholders is equivalent to that agreed...

Law firm Latham & Watkins said it represented lender BNP Paribas in connection with the financing of the Youngduk Wind Power Project, a 39.6 MW (gross) wind farm power project in North Kyongsang in South Korea. The project, the largest wind power project in Korea, is also the first private wind farm in Korea as...

he Malaysian government has defended Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) in Parliament for allegedly not pressing six large companies to settle their overdue billings. Perwaja Steel Sdn Bhd, Amsteel Mill Sdn Bhd, Megasteel Sdn Bhd, Antara Steel Sdn Bhd, Malaysia Steel Works Sdn Bhd and clothing manufacturer Hualon Sdn Bhd owe TNB a total of RM852.893...

Korea’s Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) is planning to buy a 270,000-ton large crude oil carrier to meet rising demand for oil transportation in the Asia Pacific region. The increased demand is the result of growing crude oil imports by China and India. The Korea Herald said HMM will be buying the vessel from Japan’s Idemitsu...

The Petrol Dealers Association of Malaysia (PDAM) has called on the government to continue subsidising gasoline next year to ensure consumers are shielded from rising oil prices on the world markets. PDAM president Abu Samah Bachik said the removal of subsidies and an increase in retail prices of gasoline would negatively impact the economy. Gasoline...

More than 70 people are involved in beach cleaning operations caused by the grounding of the vessel Cristoforo Colombo after it lost engine power during severe typhoon winds last week. There were no reports of injury among the 29 crew members. Sakhalin Energy Co said that trained beach cleaning crews are at the scene working...

Around 300 experts from 17 countries are meeting in Melbourne this week to discuss solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including burying carbon dioxide in the earth rather than releasing it into the atmosphere. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, carbon sequestration is already widely used in Norway and Canada. The commercial-scale Weyburn project in...

Malaysia International Shipping Corporation Bhd (MISC) plans to expand its LNG fleet to 28 by 2008 from 17 currently. According to The Edge newspaper, MISC chairman Mohamed Hassan Marican said the company had recently placed orders for six LNG tankers each of 137,000 cubic metres capacity. Five of the vessels are being built by South...

Australia’s Origin Energy said it had entered into a conditional agreement with Edison Mission Energy (EME) to acquire its 51.2% interest in Contact Energy. The New Zealand Takeovers Panel announced on July 29 that it had approved exemptions that would enable Origin Energy to acquire EME’s controlling interest in Contact Energy at an upstream or...

CS Mutiara Petroleum Sdn Bhd, an equal joint venture between Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd and Shell Malaysia Exploration & Production, has made another gas discovery in Block PM301, offshore Peninsular Malaysia. According to Bernama news agency, the Bunga Zetung-1 well, spudded on July 9, was drilled to a total depth of 1,876 metres and encountered...

India and Pakistan have agreed to cooperate in exploring different energy sources in the South Asian region. This was announced at the historic meeting between Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri and Indian Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar earlier this month. The Indo-Asian News Service quoted Mr Kasuri as saying, “We recognise the need to...

State-owned Vietnam Oil and Gas Corporation (PetroVietnam) plans to pump 17.5 million tonnes of crude oil and 5.7 billion cubic metres of gas this year, according to the Vietnam News Agency. Already 75.8% of this year’s plan has been achieved. The newspaper also reported that PetroVietnam has exported an estimated 13 million tonnes of crude...

A leading Korean research institute has called for Japan, China and South Korea to work together to secure energy sources for Northeast Asia and to promote diversification of energy resources. In a report titled “Energy Security and Cooperation in Northeast Asia”, the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security (IFANS) said that an energy network...

Malaysia’s Sime Darby Bhd, through wholly-owned subsidiary Sime Darby Eastern Ltd, has entered into an agreement to acquire a 29.9% stake in Singapore-listed Jaya Holdings Ltd for S$1 per ordinary share amounting to S$223 million cash. (US$1=S$1.7). According to the Star newspaper, the stake, to be acquired from five shareholders of Jaya, will position Sime...

Japan’s Mitsui & Co Ltd, working with CO2e.com LLC, has announced its first major carbon credit transaction, involving arrangements for the brokering of carbon credits to Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. (TEPCO). Mitsui bought a stake in US-based CO2e.com, the leading broker of greenhouse gas emissions and carbon commerce in October 2002. Since then Mitsui...

The share price of Hong Kong-listed oil exploration company, South Sea Petroleum, was hit by sharp selling last week on news that an unnamed financial institution had forced a sale of pledged shares that belonged to the company’s chairman. In only 90 minutes of frenzied trading, over half of South Sea’s shares were in play...