Kuwait’s Shuaiba plant reopens
KUWAIT: Kuwait’s 200,000 barrels per day Shuaiba oil refinery has resumed operations after a power outage, but will need at least 48 hours to return to full capacity, oil officials at the state refiner said.

“There was a limited internal defect in the main electricity feeder in the control room but it was fixed ... We temporarily shut down the refinery,” an official at the Shuaiba refinery said.
Another official said the refinery was gradually resuming work but would need at least two days to return to full capacity.
BP says fire halts pipeline
BAKU: A BP-led group has halted oil flows via the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline after a fire damaged a block valve on a section in eastern Turkey, but exports from Ceyhan continue from storage, a BP spokeswoman said.
The spokeswoman said the pipeline itself was not damaged but declined to predict when the valve could be repaired. She said the pipeline had a total of 100 valves on its route and only one of them was damaged.
She also said BP and its partners were continuing to produce crude from their Azeri fields for stockpiling until flows can resume, and the export terminal in Ceyhan also continued operations, taking crude from reservoirs.
Japan gasoline hits record
TOKYO: Japan’s retail regular gasoline prices hit a record high this week, topping the previous record hit in early July, a research body said, reflecting oil refiners’ moves to raise wholesale prices to pass on higher crude import costs.
The average pump price of regular gasoline in Japan was 185.1 yen ($1.71) per litre ($6.47 a US gallon), up 4.4 yen from last week and topping the previous record of 181.5 yen hit on July 7.
Shell Motiva power back
HOUSTON: Shell Oil has said that full electrical power was restored and all units were operating at its 285,000 barrel per day (bpd) joint-venture Motiva Port Arthur, Texas refinery.
YNCC to restart naphtha unit
SINGAPORE/SEOUL: South Korea’s top ethylene maker Yeochun Naphtha Cracking Centre (YNCC) plans to restart its No 2 naphtha cracker after a weekend outage, a company source said.
The 555,000 tonnes per year (tpy) naphtha cracker, one of its three naphtha units, was unexpectedly shut due to compressor glitches.
“We plan to restart the unit,” said the source, adding that some parts of the compressor need to be replaced.
The cracker shut at a time when naphtha demand is sluggish while supplies are abundant, but the outage is not expected to add any major pressure to the market, if it restarts as planned, traders said. 
“Asia’s naphtha sentiment is already weak because of regular inflows of arbitrage cargoes,” said a naphtha seller.
CPC halves W Africa crude buy
LONDON: Taiwan’s CPC Corp has bought 2 million barrels of West African crude for September loading via tender, taking half the volume it bought for the previous month, traders said.
The refiner bought 1 very large crude carrier of oil comprising Angolan Cabinda from a US major and Equatorial Guinea’s Zafiro from a trader.
These deals were not confirmed and price levels did not emerge.
Last month, CPC bought 4 million barrels of West African crude in its monthly tender for August.
It bought around 2 million barrels of Angolan Cabinda, 1 million barrels of Congolese Djeno and 1 million barrels of Cameroon’s Kole.
Idemitsu plans $150m upgrade
TOKYO: Japan’s third-biggest oil refiner, Idemitsu Kosan, said it plans to invest 16 billion yen ($148.2 million) to upgrade the 45,000 barrels per day fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit at its 220,000 bpd Chiba refinery.
The major work on the secondary unit is the first since it was built in 1971 and is scheduled to be completed between April and September 2011, a company spokesman said.
The move would boost output of high-value-added petrochemical products and gasoline reformate but cut output of cheaper fuel oil.
After the upgrade, gasoline reformate output will increase to 1.5 million kilolitres (kl) (about 26,000 bpd) a year from 1.3 million kl (about 22,400 bpd). It will also boost production of propylene and other petrochemical products, the spokeswoman added.
Malaysia plans new price formula
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will implement a new petrol price formula from September 1 that links retail prices to market levels, although it will maintain the current level of subsidies, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said.
“After studying the issue carefully, the government would like to announce effective September 1, 2008, retail petrol prices will be aligned based on monthly market rates and subsidies will be maintained at 30 sen per litre,” Abdullah said in a statement.
Abdullah’s government has come under pressure since it cut petrol subsidies earlier this year and support for him has dropped to just 42 per cent, according to a poll by the Merdeka Center for Opinion Research.
The cut in subsidies won plaudits from economists as it reduced the strain on government finances. Before the cut subsidies accounted for a third of government spending.
Nexus wins $800m deal
OSLO: Oilfield services group Nexus Floating Production has won a seven-year contract worth about $800 million to provide a production vessel for a deepwater project off the Philippines, Nexus said.
The deal with Philippines exploration firm Burgundy Global Exploration Corporation is for lease of a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel for the Camago Malampaya Oil Leg project, Nexus said.
“The agreement has a value of approximately $800 million for a managed lease of the Nexus 1 generic FPSO over the seven-year contract period,” Oslo-listed Nexus said in a statement. “First oil is scheduled for the first quarter 2010.”
Shell, BP eye Origin assets
LONDON: Oil majors Royal Dutch Shell and BP have approached Australia’s Origin Energy about its coal-seam gas assets, The Sunday Telegraph reported, citing sources close to the company.
The Australian company has been sounding out interest in the assets as part of its defence against a $12.86 billion hostile bid from British energy company BG Group, the newspaper said.
Origin has said that joining up with a major energy group to commercialise its gas assets would deliver better value for shareholders than BG Group’s offer.
Pertamina to shut Cilacap
JAKARTA: Indonesia’s state oil firm, Pertamina, will shut its crude distillation unit with a capacity of 118,000 barrels per day (bpd) at Cilacap refinery for 21 days of maintenance, a company official said.
Cilacap refinery, Indonesia’s biggest and located in central Java province, has two CDUs. The other one has a capacity of 230,000 bpd.
A company official had said last month that it would shut the CDU for a month. “We have prepared to shut the 118,000-bpd crude unit on August 5 for 21 days,” Pertamina’s processing director, Rukmi Hadihartini, said via a mobile phone text message.
TNK-BP CFO resigns
MOSCOW: James Owen, chief financial officer of BP’s Russian oil venture TNK-BP, resigned, citing a conflict between the British major and its partners, TNK-BP said in a statement.
“Owen’s letter states that as the current shareholder issues remain unresolved he feels it is difficult for him to continue working independently, as his role demands,” TNK-BP said in a statement.
BP and its partners, a quartet of Soviet born billionaires who share control of TNK-BP 50-50 with the British major, have been locked in a dispute over the firm’s strategy and management control over the past months.
A source close to TNK-BP said Owen’s resignation, effective at the end of August, had nothing to do with newspaper reports that BP and its partners had agreed a peace deal involving a wholesale management change at the Russian unit.
Algeria to invest $45.5bn
ALGIERS: Algeria’s energy sector plans to invest $45.5 billion in 2008-2012, with $35.8 billion from state company Sonatrach and $9.7 billion from foreign partners, Energy and Mines Minister Chakib Khelil said in remarks published.
The aim of the spending is to increase the north African Opec member country’s oil production and gas exports, Khelil was quoted as saying by the Algeria Weekly Energy magazine.
“Sonatrach total investment, including its partners’ share, over the medium term plan of 2008-2012, amounts to $45.5 billion,” he was quoted as saying.
“Of that figure some $35.8 billion represents Sonatrach’s own investment, transport by pipelines, downstream activities and petrochemical projects, as well as external servicing activities set up through joint ventures.
Essar in Iran crude deal
NEW DELHI: India’s Essar Oil is in talks to sell gasoline to Iran and has signed its first-ever term contract with Tehran to import 1.6 million barrels of crude oil every month, top company officials said.
Iran lacks sufficient refining capacity to meet its needs, forcing it to import fuels and has recently resumed gasoline purchases from India’s Reliance Industries, which had stopped supplies last year over credit issues.
“Iran has asked us for gasoline supplies, we are talking to them,” managing director Naresh Nayyar told Reuters.
Traders say Iran’s gasoline imports are set to rise to 170,000 bpd from a monthly average of 95,000-115,000 bpd as the world’s fourth-largest oil producer is planning maintenance at two large refineries in the fourth quarter.
Norway-UK gasline shuts
OSLO: Norway’s Vesterled gas pipeline to Britain has been shut down for maintenance and will remain closed for 21 days, pipeline operator Gassco said.
The pipeline, which runs from the Heimdal field to St Fergus in Scotland, has daily export capacity of 36 million standard cubic metres.
Norwegian gas continues to flow to Britain through the Langeled pipeline from the Ormen Lange field to Easington with daily capacity of 69.4 million cubic metres per day.
“This is planned maintenance for 21 days,” a Gassco spokeswoman said.
Indian Oil to shut plants
NEW DELHI: State-run Indian Oil Corp plans to shut half of its 240,000 barrels per day Panipat refinery for three weeks from September 18 for maintenance, cutting naphtha exports in October, a company source said.
“We will shut down our 6 million tonnes crude unit from September 18. Some secondary units would have to be shut down,” the official, who did not wish to be identified, told Reuters.
He said naphtha production at the plant in the northern state of Haryana was already lower as it was being processed to produce gasoline for local markets.
“Our naphtha production would further reduce because of shutdown,” the official added.
Imperial Energy shares leap
MOSCOW: Imperial Energy, already discussing a 1.3 billion pound takeover, said it was in talks with a second unnamed suitor, sending shares in the Russia-focused oil company up almost 8 per cent.
British media said the latest approach came from Chinese state-owned Sinopec—pitching it against Indian state rival Oil and Natural Gas Company Ltd (ONGC), which industry sources have said was the first suitor.
“There can be no certainty that any offer will ultimately be made for the company or as to the terms on which any such offer might be made,” Imperial said in a statement.
ONGC to spend $3bn
NEW DELHI: India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) said it would spend $3 billion to develop offshore fields and install processing facilities to produce up to 39 million standard cubic metres of gas.
It would set up a unit to receive and process gas from its fields in the gas-rich east coast region to speed up development of the state-run firm’s assets, ONGC said in a statement.
ONGC did not say when it would start pumping gas from various phases of development of the small fields.
BP plans overhaul of unit
NEW YORK:  BP is planning a “major overhaul” of a low-pressure hydrotreater at its 410,000 barrel per day Whiting, Indiana, refinery during a scheduled turnaround later in 2008, a company spokesman said.
The company did not provide information on any additional units that would be included in the turnaround or give details on the timing of the overhaul. The work is part of BP’s expansion project, slated to be completed in 2011, which will upgrade the refinery’s facilities to process heavier Canadian crude oil. 
Conoco refinery reports flaring
HOUSTON: ConocoPhillips said operations were normal at the Carson, California, plant of its 139,000 barrel per day (bpd) Los Angeles refining complex following a partial power disruption.
A notice filed with the California Office of Emergency Services said the refinery was flaring. “This was a minor upset due to a partial power disruption,” said Conoco spokeswoman Terry Hunt. “Operations are normal.”
Exxon plans work on Joliet
NEW YORK: ExxonMobil is planning work on a gasoline-making fluid catalytic cracking unit at its 238,000 barrel per day refinery in Joliet, Illinois, trade sources said.
The work was expected to begin in mid-September and last for about a month. A company spokeswoman was not available to comment.
Tesoro says all units in service
HOUSTON: Tesoro Corp said all units were back in service at its 100,000 barrel per day (bpd) Los Angeles refinery and were being ramped up to full production.
Two process units at the refinery were shut by a partial power disruption and production from other units was reduced due to the shutdown of the units. Tesoro expects all units will be back to full production rates by the end of the day, said company spokeswoman Sarah Simpson.
Western reports snag
NEW YORK: Western Refining had a snag in a recovery unit at its 107,000 barrel per day oil refinery in El Paso, Texas, but production was not affected, according to a company filing with state regulators. “Level controller on the absorber column in the Light Ends Recovery unit malfunctioned.
Chesapeake to invest in LNG
HOUSTON: The chief executive of Chesapeake Energy Corp said his company was looking at ways to invest in US export facilities for liquefied natural gas.
“I’m trying to figure out a way to get it on a boat and get it to overseas markets as well,” Chesapeake CEO Aubrey McClendon told analysts on a conference call to discuss the company’s second-quarter earnings.
Russia oil supply normal
PRAGUE: Oil supplies from Russia to Czech refiner Unipetrol have returned to normal after being cut by around half in July, a Unipetrol spokeswoman said.
“It looks like the supplies (today) are in the volumes that have been promised,” spokeswoman Dana Dvorakova said. She added official confirmation on August supply levels will come next week.
StatoilHydro plans repairs
OSLO: Norwegian energy group StatoilHydro said it expects to shut its Snoehvit liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in the Barents Sea for 30 days in the fourth quarter.
Chief Financial Officer Eldar Saetre said a second-quarter maintenance shutdown for Europe’s only LNG export facility, which has been plagued by problems and below-capacity production since its start-up last year, helped alleviate some problems..
Murphy plans turnaround
NEW YORK: Murphy Oi said it plans a 38-day turnaround at its Meraux, Louisiana, oil refinery hydrocracker unit starting in mid-September.
“The 38-day planned maintenance at Meraux’s hydrocracker complex is scheduled to commence in mid-September,” Dory Stiles, a company spokesman, said in an email.
Total happy with CEPSA stake
LONDON: The chief financial officer of Total said the French oil major was happy with its 49 per cent stake Spanish refiner CEPSA, despite possibly having the opportunity of increasing it.
When asked if Total would be interested in buying Union Fenosa’s stake in CEPSA, if Gas Natural  was successful in its plan to take over Fenosa and decided to sell the stake, Patrick de la Chevardiere said Total was happy with its current shareholding. 
Exxon Mobil upgrade
NEW YORK: Exxon Mobil Corp said it has completed refinery upgrading projects at its Fawley, UK, and Baytown, Texas, refineries.
In Fawley, design changes increased production of jet and diesel fuel as well as the feedstock for gasoline. At Exxon Mobil’s 562,000 barrel per day refinery in Baytown, the company started up new facilities to increase the capacity of crude distillation and delayed coking units.
Alaska okays natgas pipeline
ALASKA: TransCanada Corp won Alaskan legislative approval to build and operate a huge pipeline to ship natural gas from the North Slope to a network feeding domestic markets.
The Alaska Senate voted 14-5 to award a state license to ratifying an earlier vote by the state House. TransCanada plans to build a 1,700-mile line to an exiting pipeline hub in Canada that would send about 4 billion cubic feet of Alaska natural gas a day to domestic markets.
Allis-Chalmers earnings up
NEW YORK: Oilfield services company Allis-Chalmers Energy reported second-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ expectations by a cent, helped by higher revenue at its drilling and completion, and oilfield services segment.
For the quarter, the company reported net income of $10.6 million, or 30 cents a share. It earned $19.5 million, or 55 cents a share, a year ago, when it had a gain of 16 cents a share.
Ecopetrol records high earnings
BOGOTA: Colombia’s state oil company Ecopetrol reported record high earnings of 5.65 trillion pesos ($2.9 billion) in the first half of the year, spurred by high petroleum prices.
The company, which sold 10 per cent of itself to private Colombian investors last year, had earnings of 2 trillion pesos in the first half of 2007. Improving oil and gas production in the Andean country contributed to the gains, Ecopetrol said in a statement. 
Imperial Oil profit soars
CALGARY: Imperial Oil Ltd’s  profit surged 61 per cent to a company record in the second quarter as sky-high oil and gas prices more than made up for lower output, Canada’s No 2 oil producer and refiner said.
Imperial, known for its extensive oil sands holdings and national chain of Esso gas stations, also boosted its dividend by 11 percent to 10 Canadian cents a share.
OGX hires rigs from Diamond
SAO PAULO: Brazilian oil and gas company OGX  said  it hired two drilling rigs for three years from drilling contractor Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc.
The two semi-submersible rigs have the capacity to drill wells of up to 6,100 meters (20,000 feet), OGX said in a statement.The Ocean Lexington drill can operate in a water depth of up to 610 meters (2,000 feet) while the second, Ocean Ambassador, can operate in depths of up to 335 meters (1,100 feet).
Sasol hedges 30pc
JOHANNESBURG: Sasol Ltd, the world’s top producer of liquids from gas (GTL), has hedged about 30 per cent oil equivalent of its planned South African synthetic fuel production, it said.
Sasol said in a statement it hedged 16,425 million barrels of oil for the rest of the 2009 financial year, with downside protection, or put level, of $90 per barrel and a call level of $228 per barrel.
Caspian CPC July exports fall
MOSCOW:  Kazakh and Russian oil exports via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) to the Black Sea fell to 616,675 barrels per day in July, down by 10.8 per cent from 691,716 bpd in June, the consortium said on its website.
The consortium did not give the reason for the decline. The pipeline group is led by US major Chevron and includes Russian pipeline company Transneft, ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Lukoil and BP.
Enbridge profits jump
CALGARY: Enbridge Inc is making big strides with a multibillion-dollar plan to ship crude from Canada’s oil sands to Asia, the pipeline operator said as it reported a more than fourfold jump in second-quarter profit.
Enbridge, Canada’s No 2 pipeline company, also boosted its forecast for 2008 earnings. Its shares jumped 4 per cent.The company aims to file its regulatory application for the Gateway pipeline in the first quarter of next year, having secured C$100 million ($98 million) in funding.
Nigeria crude output cut
ABUJA: Nigeria’s crude oil production fell by 150,000 barrels per day after militant attack on a major pipeline in the Niger Delta, an official with state-run oil company NNPC said.
“Due to the attack, a total of 150,000 bpd was lost, of which NNPC’s equity loss was 82,500 bpd,” he said.
Russian production falls
MOSCOW: Russian oil output edged up by 0.1 per cent in July versus June but was still down year-on-year, casting more doubt on the government’s target of averting the first annual decline in production since 1998.
Energy Ministry data showed that oil production stood at 41.361 million tonnes (9.78 million barrels per day) in July compared to 39.999 million tonnes (9.77 million bpd) in June.
UK oil output steady in 2007
LONDON: UK crude production was steady in 2007 from the previous year as new oilfields came onstream to offset drops in output from older oil wells in the British North Sea, a government report said.
“Gross production of crude oil and NGLs (natural gas liquids) in 2007 was 76.8 million tonnes, virtually unchanged when compared to 2006,” the UK Energy Statistics 2008 report said.
Turkey, Iran reach deal
ANKARA: Iran and Turkey have worked out the details, including the pricing, of a deal to produce natural gas in the Islamic Republic and export it to Turkey, senior Turkish and Iranian officials told Reuters.
Part of the gas deal agreement may be signed during Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s upcoming trip to Turkey, said Ahmed Noorani, head of economic affairs at the Iranian embassy.
Turkey plans to sell to Europe the gas it helps produce in Iran.
Iran sees $8bn imports
TEHRAN: Iran will need around $8 billion for gasoline imports in the 2008-09 year based on the price in recent months, a senior official was quoted as saying, despite fuel rationing launched in 2007.
The Islamic Republic is the world’s fourth-largest oil exporter but lacks sufficient refining capacity to meet domestic demand and therefore has to buy large amounts of gasoline from abroad.
Reliance on expensive fuel imports is a sensitive issue for Tehran, which is facing the threat of more sanctions from the West over its nuclear programme if it does not halt work that can have both military and civilian uses. Iran says it only seeks to generate electricity.
Traders have said Iran’s gasoline imports are set to rise to 170,000 barrels per day from a monthly average of 95,000-115,000 bpd as the country is planning maintenance at two large refineries in the fourth quarter.
Oman may sell stake
MUSCAT: Oman would consider selling its 7 per cent stake in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) if the Gulf Arab state receives a favourable offer, a finance ministry official said.
“If the offer is right, then why not? We have had a few interested parties but nobody put in a firm proposal,” the  official, who declined to be named, told Reuters. 
Last month, Kazakhstan and Russia voiced interest in buying Oman’s 7 per cent stake in CPC should the Gulf state decide to sell out.
Shareholders in CPC, the key export route for Kazakh crude, are struggling to come to terms on the pipeline’s expansion, with Russia, the key host state, opposing the plan.
Industry sources told Reuters that Oman, frustrated with delays, had decided to quit the project.
“We are not really frustrated, as reported earlier, with the project but we may sell purely from a business point of view,” the official said.
‘Not jolted over Anaran’
TEHRAN: Iran will be able to complete the Anaran oil project on its own after Norwegian oil and gas group StatoilHydro said it will not make any new investments in the country, the oil minister said.
“If this company avoids developing this project, Iran will be able to bring this project to fruition using domestic capability,” Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari was quoted as saying by the Oil Ministry’s website Shana.
StatoilHydro had been in talks to develop and invest in the Anaran project in the Azar oil field in Iran, talks that are now halted.
The Norwegian company’s announcement followed US pressure to isolate the Islamic Republic over its nuclear plans, which the West fears are aimed at making bombs. Tehran denies the charge.
StatoilHydro, the latest in a series of foreign companies to back away from Iranian investment as perceived risk to investors has grown, said it would honour existing contracts.