(EnergyAsia, March 16) — India is laying the groundwork to build oil refineries dedicated to exporting products, said petroleum minister Mani Shankar Aiyar.   “The idea is to offset India’s huge burden of imports of crude oil by exporting oil products. Such a strategy will also substantially enhance country’s energy security,” he told the Financial...

(EnergyAsia, March 16) — Sri Lanka’s state-owned Ceypetco expects the Treasury to pay off its remaining Rs 6 billion in fuel subsidy claims this year despite the prospect that oil prices might rise further this year. (US$1=Rs100).   The Treasury has made good on more than half of last year’s claims of Rs 14 billion...

(EnergyAsia, March 16) — India is interested to acquire stakes in oil and gas fields in Venezuela and is exploring the possibility of importing crude oil from the Latin American country, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said after his recent meeting with visiting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.   The two leaders who met in New...

(EnergyAsia, March 16) — US engineering and construction company Halliburton said its energy services group and Indian upstream company Oil and Gas Natural Corporation Ltd. (ONGC) have entered into a five-year Memorandum of Understanding to pursue services and support opportunities in India.   ONGC’s Chairman Subir Raha said: “This Memorandum of Understanding provides ONGC with...

(EnergyAsia, March 16) — Energy policy makers from APEC Member Economies are meeting in Hanoi this week to develop solutions to meet the region’s growing energy needs. APEC stands for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.   The 29th meeting of the APEC Energy Working Group (EWG) will cover areas including the implementation of the APEC energy security...

(EnergyAsia, Mar 16) —The key DCA Environment Report on Dubai International Airport, which will be used to develop a vision for future environmental protection policies at the award-winning airport, has been completed on schedule, according to the Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC).   The 80 page document, produced by ENOC in collaboration with the Department...

(EnergyAsia, March 16) — Pakistan’s oil refining sector earned net profits of Rs3.66 billion for the half year to December 2004, up from the previous year’s level of Rs1.46 billion. (US$1=Rs59). Revenue grew more than 70% to Rs81 billion from Rs48 billion over the same period as the sector was boosted by high international crude...

 (EnergyAsia, March 16) — Korea’s SK Corporation shareholders voted overwhelmingly at the last week’s annual general meeting to accept every recommendation of the board, including the reappointment of chairman Chey Tae-Won.   The company said the resounding endorsement by shareholders of the long-term growth strategy set in place by Mr Chey paves the way for...

(EnergyAsia, March 16) — Keppel FELS Ltd through Keppel Offshore & Marine Limited (Keppel O&M) has secured contracts worth over S$990 million from A.P. Moller – Maersk A/S (Maersk) to build four jackup rigs. (US$1=S$1.61). Keppel FELS is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore’s Keppel Corporation.   Keppel said the four rigs are of the CJ...

(EnergyAsia, March 16) — Malaysian state gas and oil company Petronas will invest US$100 million to expand its upstream and downstream businesses in Indonesia this year.   According to Petronas chairman and CEO Mohamed Hasan Marican, most of the funds will be allocated to exploration and production activities.   Through eight concessions, Petronas produces about...

(EnergyAsia, March 15) — Australian upstream company Woodside Energy Ltd is buying over part of Shell Development (Australia) Pty Ltd’s interests in the offshore Laminaria-Corallina project in the northern part of the country.    Woodsid said it will buy from Shell an additional 16.67% interest in production licence AC/L5, which covers most of the Laminaria-Corallina...

(EnergyAsia, Mar15) — A group of companies comprising Malaysian state oil company Petronas, UK’s BG International Limited and Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) has exported its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo to Petronas subsidiary Asean LNG Trading Company Ltd (ALTCO).   In a statement, Petronas said the cargo is the partners’ first commited under a...

(EnergyAsia, March 15) — Indian gas giant GAIL has given an update of its recent deals in Myanmar, Egypt and China, proclaiming them as vital to its globalisation drive.   GAIL made its entry into Myanmar in January 2002 through the acquisition of a stake in the offshore Block A1 oil and gas field. To...

  (EnergyAsia, Mar15) — Indian oil refiners and companies said high steel prices have contributed to their delay in meeting the April 1 deadline for supplying low sulphur fuels. Along with problems implementing technology, the rising cost of steel have forced a slow-down in their refinery upgrade programme over the past year.   The refiners will...

(EnergyAsia, Mar15) — The Indonesian authorities have accused Royal/Dutch Shell of having illegallyegal’ data on the oil potential of the Ambalat field   , which is in the center of tense border dispute between Indonesia and Malaysia, is suspected to have illegally used data about the oil potential of Ambalat it already sold to other contractor,...

(EnergyAsia, March 15) — Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp and Marubeni, and Petrobras, Brazil’s largest energy company, announced that they have signed contracts worth a total of US$910 million for financing the building of oil infrastructure project in Brazil. The financing include a US$491.4 million term facility to by Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and a...

(EnergyAsia, Mar15) — Pakistan’s National Refinery Ltd (NRL) has signed an agreement to export 100,000 to125,000 tonnes of paraffinic naphtha to Swiss Singapore Overseas Enterprises Pte Ltd during the second quarter.   M. Qaiser Jamal, managing director of NRL and T.M. Siddiqui, director of MNS Trading Enterprises on behalf of its principal Swiss Singapore, signed the...

  (EnergyAsia, March 15) — ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL), the overseas arm of Indian upstream company ONGC, has been awarded the rights to explore the 120-sq km acreage Najwat Najem acreage located in the Arabian Gulf in Qatar. OVL said it won the contract against bids submitted by a dozen companies in a tender exercise....

(EnergyAsia, March 15) — Vietnam’s Nam Con Son gas field, off southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, has produced more than 4 billion cubic metre of natural gas since began production in November 2002.   According to the Vietnam News Agency, the field produced 575 million cubic metre of gas last month, doubled the volume from...

(EnergyAsia, March 15) — Canada’s InterOil Corporation said a crude oil cargo arrived at its Papua New Guinea refinery last week in place of a previously scheduled shipment from the Kumul Terminal. The Toronto-listed company said it had suspended operations at its refinery on February 28 after the declaration of a force majeure by supplier...

(EnergyAsia, March 14) — The Korean government plans to increase its crude oil stockpile from 109 days supply to 135 days by 2008. According to the Chosun newspaper, it plans to derive 10% of the country’s oil requirements from oil fields abroad.             Prime Minister Lee Hai-chan has directed his Cabinet to review the country’s...

(EnergyAsia, Mar 14) — Indonesian state oil company Pertamina said it will soon issue a tender calling for the construction of an oil fuel terminal and pipelines in Tuban. The project is expected to cost US$80 million. The terminal will have the capacity to handle 450,000 kiloliters of fuel per day, said deputy marketing director...

(EnergyAsia, March 14) — Heilongjiang provincial authorities have approved Longjing Petrochemical Company’s proposal to build an oil depot in its capital of Harbin, according to Interfax new service. The company, a Heilongjiang-based oil products retailer, will invest RMB 65.6 million building 10 tanks with a total throughput capacity of 100,000 tons a year. (US$1=RMB8.27). The...

(EnergyAsia, March 14) — Hans Energy Company Limited said one of its controlling shareholders, Vand Petro-Chemicals (BVI) Company Ltd, has sold off its 6.58% stake or 100,000,000 shares to Glencore Finance (Bermuda) Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Glencore International AG, for HK$1 per share. (US$1=HK$7.79). The sale was completed last week. On February 24, Petro-Chemicals,...

(EnergyAsia, March 14) — India’s leading upstream company ONGC said it has made a ‘significant’ gas discovery in its on-going Sagar Samriddhi deepwater exploration campaign at location VA-1A in Block No. KG-OS-DW-IV in the Krishna-Godavari Basin. The find is located some 30 km from the Amalapuram coast and about 75 km from Kakinada port. ONGC,...