SembGas, Pertamina deal<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): SembGas, the consortium led by
\nSingapore's SembCorp Engineering, has finally sewn up the long
\noverdue US$8 billion deal with Indonesian state oil company
\nPertamina to buy natural gas from West Natuna and pipe it to
\nhere, a local daily reported Thursday.<\/p>\n
The final gas sales agreement, which both sides had said they
\nwould sign by end-October, is now expected to be signed in mid-
\nJanuary, two-and-a-half months behind schedule, the Straits Times
\ncited unidentified sources as saying.<\/p>\n
Under the deal, Singapore will import 325 million standard
\ncubic feet of natural gas daily for 22 years through a 640-
\nkilometer pipeline from the West Natuna Sea to supply the power
\nstations and petrochemical complexes here.<\/p>\n
The deal was delayed because \"several issues thought to have
\nbeen resolved earlier had been dragged onto the negotiating table
\nagain,\" a source was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n
Among the issues that had to be ironed out after the deal was
\ninitialed in mid-July were a payment guarantee by the Singapore
\nparties, a supply agreement with the production sharing
\noperators, the pipeline operators' and offtake agreements, the
\ndaily said.<\/p>\n
SembGas comprises SembCorp Industries' SembCorp Engineering &
\nConstruction, Tuas Power, Belgium's Tractabel S.A. and
\nSingapore's Economic Development Board.<\/p>\n
;DJ;
\nANPAf..r..
\nBizbrief-Total-gas
\nTotal sells field to Clough
\nJP\/9\/BOX<\/p>\n
Total sells field to Clough<\/p>\n
PERTH (Dow Jones): Clough Ltd., an Australian engineering and
\nconstruction company, said Thursday it has won an A$82 million
\ncontract at the Tunu gas and condensate field in Indonesia for a
\nunit of France's Total SA.<\/p>\n
PT Petrosea Tbk, a Clough subsidiary, will engineer, procure,
\nconstruct and install offshore platforms and pipelines for phase
\nseven of the Tunu field. The project is in east Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
Clough said in a statement that work will start \"immediately,\"
\nand is due for completion in 20 months.<\/p>\n
Shares in Clough closed steady at 71 cents after a shortened
\ntrading session on the Australian Stock Exchange.<\/p>\n
;AFP;
\nANPAf..r..
\nBizbrief-SKorea-Kia
\nFord to buy Kia shares
\nJP\/SKOREA<\/p>\n
Ford to buy Kia shares<\/p>\n
SEOUL (AFP): U.S. automaker Ford Motor Co. is likely to
\nacquire new shares of South Korea's Kia Motors Co. and take part
\nin its management, a senior official of Hyundai Motor Co. said
\nThursday.<\/p>\n
\"Ford is likely to take over a certain portion of the 51
\npercent (holding) of new Kia shares Hyundai will acquire. Hyundai
\nand Ford are in talks over the possible equity participation,\" a
\nsenior Hyundai Motor official said.<\/p>\n
\"But, at this stage, it is too early to say how much Ford will
\nbuy into Kia Motors,\" he told AFX, an AFP affiliate.<\/p>\n
The official also said Hyundai is talking with several other
\nforeign automakers on possible equity participation.<\/p>\n
Ford Motor, along with its subsidiary Mazda, held a 17.7
\npercent stake in Kia Motors. This stake is expected to fall below
\ntwo percent after Kia Motors' capital write-down is carried out,
\nthe official said.<\/p>\n
;AFP;
\nANPAf..r..
\nBizbrief-Mexico-IMF
\nMexico increases IMF quota
\nJP\/MEXICO<\/p>\n
Mexico increases IMF quota<\/p>\n
MEXICO CITY (AFP): Mexico's Senate approval to increase the
\ncountry's contributions to the International Monetary Fund by
\nUS$946 million, will improve Mexico's access to potential credit,
\nthe Secretary of the Treasury said Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Rodolfo Becerril said the higher quota would give Mexico
\n\"better access to potential credit\" of some $10.2 billion over
\nthe next three years.<\/p>\n
Mexico's quota will now go from $2.45 billion to $3.4 billion,
\nor from 1.19 percent to 1.21 percent of all member country
\ncontributions.<\/p>\n
The Senate approved the vote 93 to four Tuesday, with six
\nabstentions.<\/p>\n
;DJ;
\nANPAf..r..
\nBizbrief-airlines-Qantas
\nAussie airlines cut airfares
\nJP\/9\/BOX<\/p>\n
Aussie airlines cut airfares<\/p>\n
SYDNEY (Dow Jones): Australia's two dominant airlines, Qantas
\nAirways Ltd. and Ansett Australia Holdings Ltd., Thursday
\nannounced airfare cuts of up to nearly 70 percent on several
\ndomestic routes, seeking to offset a slowdown in business travel
\nafter the Christmas and New Year holiday period.<\/p>\n
Peter Young, an Ansett spokesman, told Dow Jones Newswires
\nthat the price cuts are a \"damage minimization\" exercise.<\/p>\n
\"One of the issues we face is fairly soft demand in January
\nand February. Business travel tends to dry up, so what we're
\nseeking to do is stimulate demand for travel,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The third and fourth quarters of the calendar year tend to be
\nthe most profitable for the domestic airline industry, while
\nJanuary and February are particularly weak because of the
\nslackening in business travel, he said.<\/p>\n
Ansett's discounted fares are for travel between Jan. 7 and
\nMarch 25. Qantas' fares run from Jan. 7 to March 25.<\/p>\n
;AFP;
\nANPAf..r..
\nBizbrief-India-aviation
\nIndian Airlines suffers huge loss due to fog
\nJP\/9\/Colbox<\/p>\n
Fog hits Indian Airlines<\/p>\n
NEW DELHI (AFP): Indian Airlines has been suffering a daily
\nloss of 10 million rupees (US$250,000) since blanket fog forced
\nit to start canceling flights in and out of New Delhi last week,
\nthe Press Trust of India (PTI) said Thursday.<\/p>\n
The loss-making, state-run domestic carrier has so far
\ncanceled 65 flights, including 44 from New Delhi, since the
\nannual winter fog started playing havoc with flights to and from
\nthe capital.<\/p>\n
PTI said the flight disruption in New Delhi had led to delays
\nand cancellations in other cities as well.<\/p>\n
The disruption is especially serious for Indian Airlines,
\nwhich made a 380 million rupee (US$9 million) loss in the six
\nmonths to October.<\/p>\n
New Delhi's airport, which caters to both domestic and
\ninternational flights, has been shut almost every evening since
\nDecember 18 and flights the next morning resume only around 11
\na.m. (0530 GMT).<\/p>\n
The airport handles 40 percent of India's aviation traffic.<\/p>\n
The cancellations and delays have left hundreds of passengers
\nstranded.<\/p>\n
;AP;
\nANPAf ..r..
\nBizbrief-China-Reserves
\nChina's foreign reserves up<\/p>\n
China's foreign reserves up<\/p>\n
BEIJING (AP): China's foreign exchange reserves grew 0.6
\npercent to US$144.59 billion at the end of November from a month
\nearlier as the government stepped up efforts to stop illegal
\noutflows of hard currency, central bank officials said on
\nThursday.<\/p>\n
A Beijing-based spokesman for the People's Bank of China, the
\ncentral bank, said reserves are steadily building again. They
\nplateaued earlier this year and then started declining this
\nsummer as $10 billion left the country through illicit channels
\nfrom July to September, Shanghai's central bank chief, Wu
\nXiaoling, told reporters.<\/p>\n
At the end of October, China's foreign reserves reached $143.7
\nbillion, 1.8 percent higher than in September.<\/p>\n
Chinese bank officials are anxious to show that reserves are
\nnot sliding, a trend that could lead to a weakening of the
\ncurrency, the yuan. The government has made a stable yuan the
\nfoundation of policies to counter the economic turmoil that has
\nafflicted the rest of Asia.<\/p>\n
;DPA;
\nANPAf..r..
\nBizbrief-aerospace
\nPan-European aerospace giant
\nJP\/9\/BOX<\/p>\n
Pan-European aerospace giant<\/p>\n
PARIS (DPA): Germany's Daimler-Chrysler Aerospace AG (Dasa),
\nBritain's GEC, France's Lagardere and Italy's Finmeccanica
\nWednesday announced plans to merge their aerospace sectors on the
\nroad to a pan-European aerospace giant.<\/p>\n
The companies involved signed agreements in principle
\ncementing the plans at their respective headquarters on
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
No agreement has been reached on a name or on where it will
\nhave its headquarters.<\/p>\n
The envisioned European aerospace concern - currently called
\nonly NEWCO - will have a projected turnover of more than 5
\nbillion marks (3.2 billion dollars), Dasa said in Munich.<\/p>\n
This would put it in third place worldwide behind U.S.
\naerospace rivals Lockheed Martin and Boeing-Rockwell. It would
\ntake second place in satellite technology, according to Dasa.<\/p>\n
\"This will be the first truly multinational, European concern
\nin this area,\" a Dasa spokesman said in Munich.<\/p>\n
;REUTERS;
\nANPAf..r..
\nBizbrief-US-economy
\nU.S. consumers spent less
\nJP\/9\/BOX<\/p>\n
U.S. consumers spent less<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON (Reuters): U.S. consumers spent cautiously in
\nNovember ahead of the vital Christmas sales season, despite the
\nstrongest surge in incomes in nine months, the Commerce
\nDepartment said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
In a potentially worrisome sign for retailers, total spending
\nedged up just 0.1 percent in November to a seasonally adjusted
\nannual rate of US$5.924 trillion. Spending growth was slower than
\nthe 0.2 percent forecast by Wall Street economists, and
\nsignificantly slower than October's 0.7 percent increase.<\/p>\n
Total incomes from wages, salaries and all other sources
\nclimbed solidly by 0.5 percent to an annual rate of $7.249
\ntrillion following a 0.4-percent gain in October.<\/p>\n
The 0.5-percent rise in November incomes exceeded Wall Street
\nforecasts for a 0.3 percent rise, and the department said it was
\nthe strongest since an identical 0.5-percent gain in February.<\/p>\n
The November spending rise, on the other hand, was the
\nsmallest since July, when spending was flat.<\/p>\n
;REUTERS;
\nANPAf..r..
\nBizbrief-trade-banana
\nWTO sets Jan. 12 for banana
\nJP\/9\/BOX<\/p>\n
WTO sets Jan. 12 for banana<\/p>\n
GENEVA (Reuters): A key World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting
\non the banana dispute involving the European Union, the United
\nStates, Latin American and Caribbean states will be held on
\nJanuary 12, diplomats said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Both the EU and Ecuador, on opposite sides of the squabble,
\nhave agreed on the date for a special session of the WTO's
\nDispute Settlement Body (DSB) at which requests from both for a
\npanel on Brussels' incoming banana regime will be on the agenda,
\naccording to the diplomats.<\/p>\n
A WTO spokesman confirmed the date, but gave no further
\ninformation.<\/p>\n
The diplomats said there was still no sign that the United
\nStates might itself formally challenge the EU's new regulations
\non banana imports and marketing, which go into effect on January
\n1, before the meeting.<\/p>\n
The incoming regime replaces a previous one which a WTO panel
\nin 1997, backed by an appeals board in 1998, found to be in
\nviolation of open trading rules.<\/p>",
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