South Korea tops import spending
SEOUL: South Korea has spent about $3 billion more than the United States or Europe to import oil over the past three years because of its heavy dependence on the Middle East as a source of energy, a ruling party lawmaker claimed.
Kuwait set for rise
MANAMA: Kuwait’s oil minister says the country is ready to supply the global market with oil from the 200,000 barrels a day of new capacity it has developed, according to the official Kuwait News Agency.
Saudi to slash price
WASHINGTON: Saudi Arabia informed term customers bringing crude oil to the US that prices of Arab Heavy for November would be slashed by $1.90 per barrel from September prices, sources are reported as saying.
Public offer set
BANGKOK: Thailand largest oil refiner, Thai Oil Plc, has announced it will launch an initial public offer (IPO) to raise up to 28.8 billion baht ($700 million), source say.
Concession offer
JAKARTA: The Indonesian government is planning to offer 10 new oil and gas concessions for tender in November, Iin Arifin Takhyan, the country’s director general for oil and gas said.
Iraq output down
BAGSHOT, England: Iraq’s oil production capacity is around 400,000 barrels a day less than prewar levels due to war damage, looting, sabotage and delays to work at key installations, former Iraqi oil minister Fadhil Chalabi is reported to have said.
Malaysia hikes pump prices
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia buckled under the strain of soaring crude oil prices and announced a 4-6 per cent rise in regulated pump prices of fuel and LPG, state news agency Bernama said.
ICP up
TOKYO: The official Indonesian crude price (ICP) for the country’s main grade, Minas, has been calculated at $43.56 per barrel for September, up $2.14 from August, an industry source said.
OSP higher
SINGAPORE: Malaysia’s official selling price (OSP) for Tapis crude in September is calculated at a record high of $49.66 per barrel, $2.06 higher than the August OSP, traders said.
PTT to sell gas
BANGKOK: Thailand’s largest oil and gas firm PTT PCL said it would sell natural gas worth five billion baht ($120 million) a year to Gulf Electric under a 25-year deal starting in 2007.
Japan move
TOKYO: The Japanese government lobbied the US government to influence the decision by Royal Dutch/Shell and Unocal Corp to withdraw from a disputed Chinese gas project in the East China Sea, a report said.
Pipe onstream
SINGAPORE: China’s long-distance west-to-east natural gas pipeline started full operations on China’s national day, with gas from the Tarim and Changqing gas fields in western Xinjiang and Shaanxi provinces being pumped across the country to Shanghai, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Claim dismissed
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian government has dismissed Indonesia’s claim to two new oil and gas fields at ND6 and ND7 blocks off Borneo island, saying in reports that they were both within its territory.
Elf strikes oil in Nigeria field
PARIS: French oil company Total’s Elf Petroleum Nigeria Ltd unit has made a significant oil discovery in the western Usan field area off the coast of southeast Nigeria, it said.
Chad boost
N’DJAMENA: Chad, Africa’s newest oil producer, pumped over 38 million barrels of crude by the end of June, earning it an estimated $70 million in badly-needed revenues, a board monitoring the oil income said.
$18m raised
LONDON: London-based Falkland Oil & Gas has raised 10 million pounds ($18 million) to seek oil near the Falkland Islands as high oil prices renew interest in the area after a disappointing drilling programme four years ago.
Firms apply
OSLO: Twenty-two companies have applied for new offshore oil and gas licences in the country’s latest licensing round for predefined areas on the Norwegian continental shelf, Norway said.
High Point set
CALGARY: Hampered by wet weather conditions, High Point Resources Inc expects its third-quarter production to be “slightly below” the second-quarter average of 3,196 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
LUKoil to invest
NEW YORK: LUKoil Holdings plans to invest $3 billion in the Timan-Pechora oilfield and projected production will peak at 700,000 barrels per day, its president said.
Target raised
NEW YORK: US natural gas producer EOG Resources Inc said it has raised its production growth target for 2004 to nine per cent from eight per cent, adding that that it is targeting production growth of 14 per cent in 2005 and eight per cent in 2006.
MRPL offers naphtha
SINGAPORE: India’s Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) has offered via tender 30,000 tonnes of naphtha for mid-October loading, traders said.
Cargo bought
SINGAPORE: Taiwan’s Chinese Petroleum Corp (CPC) has bought by tender a cargo of Australian Laminaria condensate for November-loading, traders said.
IOC move
LONDON: Top Indian oil refiner Indian Oil Corp (IOC ) bought just under two million barrels of December loading sweet light Nigerian crude in its latest tender, traders said.
Tender issued
SINGAPORE: India’s largest refiner, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) , has issued a tender to sell four fuel oil cargoes, totalling 100,000 tonnes, over a five-month period from October to February, industry sources said.
BPCL plan
TOKYO: Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) has offered two cargoes of naphtha for November-December loading via a tender, traders said.
Gasoline sought
SINGAPORE: Taiwan’s top refiner, Chinese Petroleum Corp (CPC), has issued a tender to sell 30,000 tonnes of 95 or 92 octane gasoline to load during any five-day period in October, an industry source said.
Kochi set
TOKYO: India’s Kochi Refineries Ltd has offered via tender low aromatic naphtha for second-half October loading, traders said.
Petron bid
SINGAPORE: The Philippines’ Petron Corp has issued a tender to buy two cargoes of high-sulphur fuel oil, totalling 500,000-barrels, for November delivery, industry sources said.
Kewpco to buy
SINGAPORE: Korea East-West Power Co (Kewpco) is expected to buy two medium-sulphur fuel oil cargoes, totalling 144,000 tonnes, for November delivery, industry sources said.
US approves loan to firm
WASHINGTON: The US Energy Department said it has approved another emergency oil loan to refining company Astra Oil to make up for crude supplies disrupted by Hurricane Ivan.
Asia to export
SINGAPORE: Asia will export around 90,000 tonnes of jet fuel to the US West Coast this month, as bullish heating oil futures helped to create an export opportunity across geographies, traders and shipping brokers said.
Crude bought
LONDON: Taiwan oil refiner CPC bought just under six million barrels of November loading sweet light West African crude in its latest tender, traders said.
LSWR allocation
SINGAPORE: Indonesia’s Pertamina has allotted an extra cargo of straight-run low-sulphur waxy residue (LSWR) to its October allocation, bringing the month’s total to 2.385 million barrels, industry sources said.
Kerosene sold
SINGAPORE: China’s leading export refinery, West Pacific Petrochemical Co Ltd. (Wepec), has sold up to 80,000 tonnes of term winter kerosene for November 2004 and February 2005, traders said.
Tender issued
SINGAPORE: Indonesian oil company Pertamina has issued its regular tender to buy sweet crudes for December arrival, traders said.
Petrolimex buys
SINGAPORE: Vietnam’s National Petroleum Import-Export Corp (Petrolimex) has bought a 27,000-tonne spot high-sulphur fuel oil cargo from Vitol Asia, sources said.
Ceypetco move
SINGAPORE: Sri Lanka’s Ceylon Petroleum Corp. (Ceypetco) has issued a tender to seek 300,000 barrels of 0.25 percent sulphur gas oil for delivery in early November.
Egypt crude output rises
CAIRO: Egypt’s crude oil production rose in September to 604,667 barrels a day (bpd) from 596,129 bpd in August, an official from the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) said.
OSP set
TOKYO: Yemen has set October’s official selling price (OSP) for its Marib Light crude at dated Brent plus 10 cents a barrel, down 10 cents from the September price of dated Brent plus 20 cents, an equity holder said.
Price cut
LONDON: State oil firm Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) has cut October official selling prices by between 50 cents and $2 from the previous month, trade sources said.
Saudi move
SINGAPORE: Saudi Arabia has cut most of its November crude oil official selling prices (OSPs) for Europe and the United States by between $0.55 and $2.30 per barrel, trade sources said.
Price lowered
SINGAPORE: Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has lowered the retroactive official selling price for its key Murban crude for September by $1.70 to $39.85 per barrel.
BPCL buys
TOKYO: Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL), India’s fourth-largest refiner, has bought at least 500,000 barrels of November-loading Dubai crude oil via tender, traders said.
Aramco offer
SINGAPORE: Saudi Aramco has offered a 100,000-tonne cargo of high-sulphur fuel oil for end October-loading, industry sources said.
Oman plan
DUBAI: Oman has cut the retroactive official selling price (OSP) for its September crude oil to $36.05 a barrel, a $2.95 decrease from August.
COMPANY NEWS
Murphy forecasts setback in third quarter
NEW YORK: Murphy Oil Corp , a US energy producer and refinery, warned that third-quarter results would fall short of Wall Street expectations, hurt by its refinery business.
The El Dorado, Arkansas-based company forecast earnings from continuing operations of between $1.15 and $1.35 per share, including a gain of 27 cents from the sale of properties in the North Sea.
Analysts, on average, expected the company to earn $1.39, according to polling by Reuters Estimates.
The company expects results from its US refineries to be severely impacted by lower profit margins and reduced volumes of oil refined in the third quarter.
Murphy forecast its worldwide downstream business, including refining and marketing, to earn about $14 million.
It also warned of dry hole charges of between $40 million to $60 million depending on results of the Kenarong No 2 and Todak wells currently drilling in Malaysia.
Total worldwide exploration expense should average between $60 million and $80 million.
Yugansk evaluated
MOSCOW: Investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein has completed the valuation of embattled oil major Yukos’ main Siberian oil unit Yugansk, establishing it at $15.7-$17.3 billion, Interfax news agency said.
The agency, quoting unnamed sources, said the report had not yet been filed to the Russian Tax Ministry, which is threatening to sell Yugansk to recover more than $7 billion of back taxes from Yukos.
Dresdner declined immediate comment.
Strictly business ...
QUITO, Ecuador: Ecuador’s foreign minister Patricio Zuquilanda has suggested his country negotiate a solution to a spat with Occidental Petroleum Corp instead of revoking the US company’s contract to produce oil.
LONDON: Spanish oil and gas major Repsol YPF sold 1.0 billion euros of a 10-year bonds at a spread of 57 basis points over mid-swaps, said lead managers for the sale.
JOHANNESBURG: South African synthetic fuels producer Sasol and its Namibian black empowerment partner have won a contract worth 800 million rand ($124.1 million) a year to supply fuel to Namibia, Sasol said.
CHICAGO: Oil and gas production company McMoRan Exploration Co said it has priced 6.2 million shares of common stock at $12.75 per share.
ENVIRONMENTAL EYE
Oil tanker runs aground off Denmark coast
LONDON: An oil tanker carrying 63,000 tonnes of gas oil and chartered by AOT has run aground in the Kattegat Sea off the north eastern coast of Denmark, a source at the Swiss-based oil trading house said.
The confirmation about the contents of the vessel followed an earlier report from Lloyd’s Casualty Reporting that the tanker was carrying gasoline.
No serious damage to the ship and no spill pollution were reported, Lloyds said.
The brand new double-hulled Fotini Lady, en route from Ventspils, Lithuania to Malta, ran aground close to the Danish island of Samso according to Danish marine authorities, Lloyd’s said.
“It was carrying gas oil and it was chartered by AOT,” the AOT source said.
The Liberian-flagged tanker was only delivered from South Korean yards in February.
According to ship brokers, the Fotini Lady was scheduled to load up with Russian gas oil at Ventspils.
The cargo was headed for the Mediterranean where refinery shutdowns, reduced imports from the Black Sea and strong regional demand have caused tight supply of heating oil in the run-up to the peak winter consumption season.
Record fine
WASHINGTON: The US government said it had settled a landmark environmental suit with Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC under which the US chemical group will pay a record $1.8 million fine. 'The company will pay a $1.8 million civil penalty for Clean Air Act violations that led to two explosions and releases of chemicals into the air from a chemical manufacturing plant in Pasadena, Texas in 1999 and 2000,” the Department of Justice said.
Chevron Phillips Chemical will also spend at least $1.2 million on two environmental projects under the deal.
It added that the fine was the largest civil penalty ever levied against a company for such a violation. The government had charged that Chevron Phillips failed to exercise sufficient care to prevent the accidental releases of chemicals at its Pasadena Plastics Complex.
Leases given up
ANCHORAGE, Alaska: The company that bought Evergreen Resources has relinquished coal bed methane gas leases in Alaska that had drawn widespread public opposition and raised environmental issues, governor Frank Murkowski said.
Pioneer Natural Resources Co, which completed its acquisition of Evergreen, gave up rights to explore 224,000 acres in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough north of Anchorage.
