Five Japan oil firms closed

Five Japan oil firms closed

TOKYO (Dow Jones): State-run oil company Japan National Oil
Corp. said Wednesday that five Japanese companies set up to carry
out oil and gas exploration projects have been shut down because
their projects failed to discover enough oil and gas reserves to
be considered economically feasible.

The project companies were Aceh Gas and Oil Co. in Indonesia,
Teikoku Oil Leveque Co. in Australia, Teikoku Oil Offshore
Vietnam Co., Kazakstan Oil Co. and Teikoku Oil Colombia Co.

Aceh Gas and Oil Co., involving Japan Petroleum Exploration
Co., Japan Energy Corp. and Nissho Iwai Corp., has sold off its
20 percent stake in the concession, located onshore North
Sumatra, to Mobil Block A Company.

Teikoku Oil Leveque has transferred its 20 percent stake in
the WA-242-P block offshore northwest Australia to the other
project partners, which include Woodside Petroleum Ltd. and
Broken Hill Proprietary Co.