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
;AFP; ANPAf..r.. 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
;AFP; ANPAf..r.. 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
;AFP; ANPAf..r.. 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