(EnergyAsia, March 21) — Engineering firm Foster Wheeler Ltd said it suffered a net loss of US$95.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2004. This included after-tax charges of a net US$74.8 million relating to a previously announced adverse court decision in asbestos insurance coverage allocation litigation involving some of the company’s subsidiaries, $18.4 million...
(EnergyAsia, March 21) — The international Energy System Review Committee (ESRC) has issued its findings after a comprehensive review of last June 29’s power blackout affecting a large part of Singapore. The committee blamed ConocoPhillips for causing the blackout. In response, the Energy Market Authority said “several measures have been implemented by the various...
(EnergyAsia, March 21) — Indian Oil Corporation Ltd is targeting to raise its total revenues to US$60 billion by 2011 from US$35 billion this year, according to marketing director N.G. Kannan. He told the Times of India that IOC plans to grow its petrochemicals, gas and oil exploration and production businesses. He predicted petrochemicals revenues...
(EnergyAsia, March 21) — Venezuela and Iran, both deeply opposed to the US, recently signed contracts valued at more than US$1 billion. Iranian Minister of Industries and Mines Es’haq Jahangiri announced the deals during President Mohammad Khatami’s trip to Venezuela. The two sides signed more than 20 agreements and memoranda of understanding (MOUs), according...
(EnergyAsia, March 21) — Financially-stricken China Aviation Oil Corp (CAO), swamped with lawsuits from creditors after losing US$550 million in oil derivatives trades last year, has launched one of its own against a former trading counterpart. The suit against J. Aron & Company, the commodities division of Goldman Sachs, could mark a shift in Singapore-listed...
(EnergyAsia, March17) — Hong Kong-listed Titan Petrochemicals Group Ltd said it has issued US$400 million worth of fixed-rate notes to secure funds to invest in oil-carrying tankers, bunkering barges and oil storage facilities to meet the demand of its growing China trade. The notes carry a guaranteed 8.5% p.a. payment maturing in 2012. The...
(EnergyAsia, March 18) — China’s Huaneng Power International, Inc said its 2004 net profit fell 1.96% to RMB5.324 billion while net operating revenue jumped 28.78% to RMB30.118 billion from year-ago levels. (US$1=RMB8.27). The company, listed on the both the New York and Hong Kong Stock Exchanges, attributed the profit decline to “sharp” increases in...
(EnergyAsia, March 18) —The Philippines Congress could soon consider a call by former Energy Secretary Vince Perez that the oil deregulation law or Republic Act 8479 be reviewed and amended to encourage badly needed investments in the downstream sector. According to the PNA news service, Press Secretary and Presidential spokesman Ignacio R. Bunye said...
(EnergyAsia, March 18) — State PetroVietnam has unveiled a plan to meet between 60 and 70% of the country’s oil demand and up to 60% of fertiliser requirements by 2015. Its subsidiaries plan to meet up to 30% of plastic products demand, and half the country’s need for polythene fibres, according to a Vietnam...
(EnergyAsia, March 18) — India holds 30 billion tonne of hydrocarbon reserves, said its petroleum minister Mani Shankar Aiyar as he tried to sell his country as an investment destination for international oil companies. “We are no longer a hydrocarbon-poor country. After the recent spate of oil and gas discoveries, we are transiting from...
(EnergyAsia, March 18) — Canada-listed PetroKazakhstan Inc has announced record financial results and ‘significant’ increases in oil reserves for the three months and year ended December 31, 2004. Fourth-quarter 2004 net income was US$114.9 million ($1.51 per share) compared with US$88.8 million ($1.14 per share) for the same period in 2003, while cash flow was...
(EnergyAsia, March 18) — Sri Lanka paid an extra US$372 million for its oil imports last year, as rising oil prices pushed its trade deficit to US$677 million, the Central Bank said recently. The impoverished country depends entirely on imports to meet its domestic fuel needs of 2.1 million tonnes a year. The cost...
(EnergyAsia, March 18) —The local authorities of Russia’s Sakhalin region and Japanese trading houses Mitsui and Mitsubishi Corp have signed a memorandum to cooperate on developing gas projects and use. The two sides agreed to look into using Sakhalin’s natural gas to replace coal used in thermal power plants in Sakhalin, according to Russian...
(EnergyAsia, March 18) — Retail oil prices continue to rise in Singapore, hitting a multi-year high as oil prices rose to record high on the world markets. Caltex Singapore Pte Ltd, one of the country’s four main oil retailers, said it raised gasoline prices by 8 Singapore cents a litre and diesel by 6...
(EnergyAsia, March 18) —“Great Gas Projects Need Great Gas Markets – What Does the Future Hold?” by Vivienne Cox, BP’s Chief Executive, Gas, Power & Renewables, at the Gastech Conference in Bilbao, Spain on March 14 Twenty years ago as a young graduate starting out my career, I went to work in what was then...
(Energy Asia, March 17) —Korean companies and manufacturers are struggling to stay competitive against the effects of a strengthening local currency against the dollar and rising oil prices. The won has surged to its highest levels since 1997, breaking the 1,000 level against the US dollars in recent weeks. Oil prices have climbed to near...
(EnergyAsia, March 17) — India’s privately-owned Essar Oil Ltd said its 10.5 million tonnes/year oil refinery at Vadinar in Gujarat state will be ready by June 2006, according to a Business India report. The company added that it plans to expand its chain of retail stations to 5,000 in the next few years. “We...
(EnergyAsia, March 17) — The US Biotechnology Industry Organisation said American farmers are well positioned to profit from the growing popularity of turning crops into bioenergy sources. “Two recently released reports point to a brighter energy future for all Americans and more profits for farmers if Congress takes the necessary action to support bioenergy,”...
(EnergyAsia, March 17) — Individuals and companies will be given tax writeoffs for energy conservation under a new Finance Ministry initiative aimed at cutting the country’s fuel bills, according to the Bangkok Post. Sirot Sawadpanish, director-general of the Revenue Department, said 70% of the country’s energy was used by businesses and the industrial sector,...
(EnergyAsia, March 17) —Former Merrill Lynch investment banker, Mr Andrew Seaton, has joined Australian upstream company Santos Limited as its new group executive for investor relations. Santos said Mr Seaton will be responsible for managing its relationships with the broader investment community to ensure that the company’s strategies, value drivers and results are understood...
(EnergyAsia, March 17) — Gas-rich Qatar could spend up to US$100 billion on investment and infrastructure projects by 2012, according to the Al Sharq newspaper quoting Economy and Commerce Minister Sheikh Mohamed bin Ahmed bin Jassem Al Thani. According to the daily, the minister led a trade delegation to Spain recently where these figures...
(EnergyAsia, March 17) — Indonesia and India have signed an agreement at their recent Joint Commission Meeting in New Delhi to cooperate on promoting the use of compressed natural gas (CNG). India has successfully introduced CNG to some 200,000 vehicles over the last few years, mandating that public transport vehicles in the city use...
(EnergyAsia, March 17) — Two oil majors have warned that New Zealand motorists and the public could face higher retail fuel prices if the government proceeds to raise the national oil stockpile to 90 days of consumption from the current level of 70 days. A study commissioned by the government wants the oil industry...
(EnergyAsia, March 17) — India has emerged as a leading gasoil exporter, with net exports reaching 165,000 b/d in the fourth quarter of 2004. However, in recent months Indian refiners have been forced to import large volumes of low sulphur gasoil to meet looming new specifications for gasoil in urban areas. According to US...
(EnergyAsia, March 17) — Thai Oil Plc (TOP), Thailand’s biggest publicly listed oil refiner, said it made an early repayment on loans worth US$100 million to reduce its interest burden by 150-200 million baht per year. (US$1=38baht). The company told the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) last week that it had repaid loans, worth...