BRIEFING – ASIA ENERGY – JUNE 13, 2005
Asia Pulse; Jun 13, 2005
An executive briefing on energy for June 13, 2005, prepared by Asia
Pulse (), the real-time, Asia-based wire with
exclusive news, commercial intelligence and business opportunities.
DONGFENG TIES UP WITH BP IN CHINA’S LUBE MARKET
WUHAN – British Petroleum and Dongfeng Motor Corporation have set up
a joint venture — Dongfeng Castrol Petroleum Co., Ltd. in Wuhan in a
bid to secure a beachhead to fight for a niche on China’s lubricant
market.
BP Group, one of the world’s largest energy companies, is engaged in
petroleum and gasoline prospecting and production, natural gas,
power-generating, renewable energy, oil refining, marketing and
petrochemical manufacture. It has operations in 105 countries, with a
total market value of more than US$200 billion.
NUMEROUS COAL-FIRED POWER PLANTS TO BE BUILT IN PAKISTAN
KARACHI – Sindh Minister for Mines and Mineral Development Irfanullah
Khan Marwat chaired a meeting of the Sindh Coal Authority late last
week, which reviewed progress on work on different coal-fired power
plants.
The board announced that an American firm, AES Oasis Ltd, had started
work on the establishment of an integrated coal-fired 1,000 megawatt
power plant at the Thar coalfield, which would be completed by the
end of the this year.
STANDARD CHARTERED BANK, SHELL PAKISTAN SIGN STRATEGIC DEAL
KARACHI – Standard Chartered Bank and Shell Pakistan Limited have
signed an agreement for a fully automated dealer finance programme
based on an electronic dealer finance card system.
Operating on a debit card based structure, the dealer finance card
solution is a fully automated service that enables Shell to enjoy
instant conversion of receivables and Shell’s dealers to enjoy the
full benefits of automated payment initiation, payments outsourcing,
simplified account reconciliation, comprehensive MIS and robust
security.
SINOPEC, CNPC TO INVEST BILLIONS IN NEW ETHYLENE PROJECTS
BEIJING – With several large ethylene projects to start construction
or be subject to approval, the investment committed by China
Petroleum and Chemical Co., Ltd. (Sinopec) and China National
Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) to ethylene projects will exceed 60
billion yuan ($US7.24 billion) in the next few years.
After the Maoming Petroleum and Chemical Co., Ltd. initiated the
one-million-ton ethylene expansion project, the Zhenhai Refining and
Chemical Co. and Tianjin Petrochemical Co., both affiliated to
Sinopec, are making preparation for launching ethylene projects of
the same scale.
SOUTHEAST ASIA’S BIGGEST THERMO POWER PLANT TO BE BUILT IN VIETNAM
HANOI – A coal-fuelled power plant, which will be the biggest in
Southeast Asia, is expected to be built in the Vietnam’s central
province of Phu Yen .
The plant is designed to have four turbine groups with a combined
capacity of 2,400 MW, generating 15.6 million MWh annually.
IRANIAN FIRMS TO HELP BUILD DAM, POWER PLANT IN TAJIKISTAN
TEHRAN – Iran and Tajikistan here Saturday signed an agreement to
build a dam and power plant on the Vakhsh river in Nurek, which
located in the west of Tajikistan.
The 19-article agreement was signed by Iran’s Energy Minister
Habibollah Bitaraf and his Tajik counterpart Jurabeck Nurmahmadov.
INDIAN MINISTER FACES TOUGH TASK IN IRAN ON LNG DEAL
TEHRAN – India’s Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar will have a
lot on his plate to discuss when he visits Iran this week to finalise
purchase of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and discuss the ambitious
Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline.
While India is keen on purchasing 2.5 million tonnes of additional
LNG at a concessional rate, Iran is understood to be demanding a
price which is higher than what New Delhi has already agreed to pay
for 5 mt of LNG per annum it will source from Tehran.
INVESTMENT FLOWING INTO IRAN’S PETROCHEMICAL SECTOR: MINISTER
AHVAZ – Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said some US$18 billion
has been invested in the country’s petrochemical industry during the
past eight years.
Addressing official ceremony to inaugurate five major petrochemical
projects in Bandar Imam Special Economic Petrochemical Zone, near
Mahshahr in this southwestern province, Zanganeh said out of the
total amount, some US$2.5 billion are returned annually.
IRAN, ARMENIA SIGN MOU ON ELECTRICITY COOPERATION
TEHRAN – Iran and Armenia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU)
here to bolster bilateral cooperation in the field of electricity.
The MoU was signed by Iran’s Energy Minister Habibollah Bitaraf and
his Armenian counterpart Armen Movsisyan.
PETROCHINA ACQUIRES OVERSEAS ASSETS FROM CNPC
BEIJING – PetroChina Company Limited announced Friday that it will
acquire overseas assets from its parent, China National Petroleum
Corporation (CNPC), China’s largest oil producer, for 20.74125
billion yuan (US$2.5 billion).
It is a bid for PetroChina to boost its reserves portfolio, promote
overseas business development and enhance corporate value in a long
run, said Chen Geng, Chairman of PetroChina.
INDIAN, CHINESE OIL COMPANIES SEEKING ROSNEFT SHARES: RUSSIA
MOSCOW – Oil companies from India and China are seeking stake in
Russia’s state-owned oil major Rosneft but no concrete deals have
been struck so far, Russian Energy Minister Victor Khristenko said.
“Many companies, first of all, Indian and Chinese, are showing
interest in the purchase of Rosneft shares,” he said.
S.KOREAN COURT RESUMES PUBLIC AUCTION FOR INCHEON OIL
SEOUL – A local court has resumed the public auction for Incheon Oil
Refinery Co. following its January failure to sell off the firm,
court officials said Monday.
Incheon Oil is currently under court receivership.
OMAN, CHINA SIGN MOU IN PETROLEUM SECTOR
MUSCAT – A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on boosting
Omani-Chinese cooperation in petroleum sector was signed between the
Sultanate and China at Al-Bustan Palace Hotel yesterday.
The MoU was signed by Ahmed bin Salim al-Wahaibi, Executive President
of Oman Oil Company from the Omani side and by Chen Geng, President
of China’s National Petroleum Corporation from Chinese side in the
presence of Dr. M
OMAN AND CHINA SIGN OIL AGREEMENT
MUSCAT – Oman and China signed at Al-Bustan Palace hotel yesterday an
oil agreement to provide the latter with Omani Oil.
The pact was signed by Dr. Mohammed bin Hamad al-Rumhi, Oil and Gas
Minister and the deputy general manager of the Chinese company for
chemical industries.
NSW COAL SECTOR ISSUES WARNING ON ALTERNATIVE FUELS
SYDNEY – Ruling out coal in favour of gas or nuclear power would cost
more and harm the environment, the NSW coal industry has warned.
Environmental groups have called for a ban on the development of
coal-fired electricity plants after NSW Premier Bob Carr indicated he
was gearing up to approve at least one new plant west of Sydney.
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