Pertamina to bid for oil fields in Egypt
Pertamina to bid for oil fields in Egypt
JAKARTA: The state-owned oil and gas firm Pertamina said on
Monday it would take part in a tender for oil and gas fields in
Egypt in April as part of its expansion program.
Pertamina upstream director Iin Arifin Takhyan said the
company was interested in bidding for two oil fields in the Nile
river area and in the Western desert of Egypt.
"The fields are quite prospective for exploration. We are
still studying their economic scales," he told reporters after a
seminar on the relationship between the mining industry and
regional administrations.
Pertamina has expanded its oil exploration and exploitation
activities overseas, and has moved into Vietnam, Malaysia, and
countries in the Middle East with the eventual aim of becoming a
leading world energy company. --JP
Kia Motors posts record '01 net profit
SEOUL : Kia Motors Corp, South Korea's second-largest
automaker in terms of sales, said on Monday it posted a record
net profit of 552.2 billion won (US$423 million) in 2001, up 67
percent year on year.
Kia said its 2001 sales totaled 12.4 trillion won, up 14.3
percent year on year.
Kia, which has not released a new model in more than a year,
saw January sales rise 7.2 percent year on year to 70,476
vehicles, while exports rose 1.8 percent over the same period.
The automaker plans to unveil its second sport utility
vehicle, the Sorento compact SUV, later this month in South Korea
and then in the key U.S. market mid-year. -- Reuters
Yokohama Rubber, Continental eye tieup
TOKYO : Number two Japanese tire maker Yokohama Rubber Co.
Ltd. said Monday it was in talks with German counterpart
Continental AG to start a joint venture in Japan.
"We are holding discussions at the moment ... and an
announcement will be made imminently," said a Yokohama Rubber
spokesman.
The alliance, Yokohama Continental Tire, would open for
business in April, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper said,
citing sources close to the matter.
Capitalized at 100 million yen (752,000 dollars) the German-
Japan venture would be headquartered in Tokyo, with three other
offices around the country, one in the United States and another
in Germany.--AFP
DBS Group 2001 profit drops 28.1%
SINGAPORE: Singapore's DBS Group said Monday its net profit in
2001 fell 28.1 percent to S$999.1 million (US$548.9 million) from
S$1.388 billion in the previous year.
Southeast Asia's biggest lender said the drop in profit was
due to a rise in provisions it made as a protection against
Singapore's worsening economic state last year.
"The decline in net profit was primarily due to the 325
million (dollar) increase in provision charges that were taken as
a prudent response to the general slowdown in the economy and
lower asset values," it said.
For 2001, the bank's provisions totalled S$378.855 million. --
AFP
NTT DoCoMo's product to enter Germany
TOKYO: Germany is set to become the first country outside
Japan to enjoy NTT DoCoMo Inc.'s mobile phone-based Internet "i-
mode" service after the Japanese firm granted German telecom E-
Plus Mobilfunk GmbH a license Monday.
"NTT DoCoMo will transfer and licence technologies to E-Plus
for the launch of a mobile Internet service in Germany" as early
as next month, Japan's top mobile phone operator said in a
statement.
DoCoMo declined to reveal the value of the contract with E-
Plus, which is affiliated with KPN Mobile of the Netherlands.
Under the deal, which lasts until January 2012, DoCoMo will
provide the German firm with the patents, service know-how, and
technologies needed to launch the service. -- AFP