Petronas eyes BP refining stake

Petronas eyes BP refining stake

KUALA LUMPUR: Petronas, Malaysia's state-owned oil and gas
company, is interested in buying BP PLC's stake in Singapore
Refining Co., Petronas' chief executive said Monday.

"Yes, if the opportunity exists, we'd be interested to do
something," Hassan Marican, Petroliam Nasional Bhd.'s chief, told
reporters on the sidelines of an oil and gas conference in Kuala
Lumpur.

BP, one of the world's largest petroleum and petrochemicals
companies, has been seeking buyers for its 30 percent stake in
Singapore Refining since 2000. There is speculation it is in
talks with potential bidders including Singapore Petroleum Co.,
Oman Oil Co. and Indonesia's state-owned Pertamina.

Singapore Refining operates a 285,000-barrel-a-day refinery in
the city state's Jurong Island. Singapore Petroleum Co. holds a
40 percent stake while Caltex Corp. holds a 30 percent stake in
the company.

Marican also said Petronas is continuing negotiations with
Pertamina and ExxonMobil Corp. on developing natural gas from the
East Natuna field in Indonesia.--AP

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Corporatebrief-Kawasaki
Kawasaki, INI Steel tie up
JP/14/Brief

Kawasaki, INI Steel tie up

TOKYO: Japanese steel maker Kawasaki Steel Corp. on Monday
announced a technical tie-up with INI Steel Co. of South Korea
for the production of stainless steel sheets for automotive use.

The two companies signed the agreement on Friday in South
Korea, the Japanese steel maker said in a statement.

Under the accord, Kawasaki Steel will provide hot coils for
INI, which is to sell the product to South Korean auto makers,
Kawasaki said.

The Japanese firm said last month it would merge with its
domestic rival NKK Corp. with the establishment of a holding
company on September 27.--AFP

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Corporatebrief-Mizuho
Mizuho to cut pay across the board
JP/14/Brief

Mizuho to cut pay across the board

TOKYO: Japanese banking giant Mizuho Financial Group is
considering cutting the salaries of all its employees in a bid to
reduce costs, a report said Monday.

"Mizuho, which has already lowered bonuses, is set to begin
negotiations with its labor union over the group-wide wage cut --
the first among the country's major banks," said the Nihon Keizai
Shimbun, citing company sources.

"It will also sharply slash compensation to executives for
their mishandling of the recent computer system fiasco, which
disrupted money transfers and crippled automatic teller machines
in April," it said.

Detailed plans would be announced "soon," the newspaper said,
adding they would include a payroll cutback and consolidation of
branches and affiliates, in addition to the pay cuts.

The world's biggest financial group in terms of assets had
originally planned to close 130 of its 618 branches and cut jobs
from 30,000 to 25,000 by March 2006. -- AFP

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Corporatebrief-Alstom-Vietnam
Alstom to build Vietnam power plant
JP/14/Brief

Alstom to build Vietnam power plant

HANOI: Vietnam's state-owned power company has signed a
contract with a consortium led by engineering group Alstom SA to
build a US$215.6 million power plant in southern Vietnam, the
power company's board chairman said Monday.

The 450-megawatt plant in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province will have
two gas-powered turbines with capacities of 150 megawatts each
and one 150-megawatt steam-powered turbine, said Dang Hung, board
chairman of Electricity of Vietnam Corp, or EVN.

EVN signed the contract Friday with the consortium, which also
includes Japan's Marubeni Corp. and Vietnam's Lilama.

Construction of the Phu My-4 plant is scheduled to begin in
June and be completed in 24 months, Hung said.

Gas for the plant will come from the Nam Con Son basin gas
field developed by British Petroleum off Vietnam's southern
coast, Hung said. -- AP