Posco to buy LNG From BP Indonesia

Posco to buy LNG From BP Indonesia

SEOUL: South Korea's Posco, one of the world's largest
steelmaker, signed a deal on Thursday with BP Indonesia to buy
liquefied natural gas from its Tangguh project in Indonesia,
Posco said on Thursday.

Under the deal, Posco will secure 550,000 metric tons of LNG a
year for 20 years starting in 2005. The LNG will be used to
operate its power plants and steel mills, the company said in a
statement.

The agreement will save the company 46 billion won a year in
costs related to securing LNG, Posco said.

It also noted that it is the first Korean company, along with
SK Corp.to import LNG. Until now, the market had been monopolized
by state-run Korea Gas Corp.

SK Corp., the country's largest refiner, Sunday signed an
agreement with BP to import 600,000 tons of LNG a year, with the
option of increasing the import by 200,000 tons if needed.
--Dow Jones

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Paiton to build another power plant
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Paiton to build another power plant

JAKARTA: PT Paiton Energy will build another coal-fired power
plant with a capacity of 800 megawatts in November to boost its
power generating capacity in East Java, the Antara news agency
reports.

"The construction of the third plant will take three years,"
Syakib Bafagih, a director with Paiton, said in the report.

Paiton has been operating two plants in Paiton village in East
Java with a combined capacity of 1,200 MW.

The company sells the electricity to power utility PT
Perusahaan Listrik Negara, which in turns sells electricity to
end users.

Paiton is jointly owned by affiliates of Edison Mission
Energy, Mitsui & Co., General Electric Capital Corp.and
Indonesia's PT Batu Hitam Perkasa. --Dow Jones

Allianz finally back in the black

MUNICH, Germany: Allianz, the German insurance giant, said on
Thursday it returned to profit in the second quarter of the
current year after four consecutive quarters of losses, on the
back of improved performance at its troubled banking arm Dresdner
Bank.

Allianz said in a statement it booked net profit of 622
million euros (US$703 million) in the period from April to June,
compared with a net loss of 356 million euros a year earlier.

The new profit figure was way ahead of analysts' expectations.

And taking the first six months as a whole, Allianz turned in
a net profit of 102 million euros, compared with a loss of 1.575
billion euros in the corresponding period a year earlier.

Allianz said first-half premium income amounted to 49.548
billion euros, compared with 42.140 billion euros in the period
from January to June 2002. --AFP

Taco Bell plans expansion in China

SHANGHAI, China: U.S. fast food giant Yum Brands, parent of Pizza
Hut and Kentucky Fried Chicken, plans to expand operations in
China following the success of its first Taco Bell restaurant,
state press reported on Thursday.

Yum Brands, formerly known as Tricon Global Restaurants, will
open a second Taco Bell outlet in China's largest city Shanghai,
with plans afoot for further expansion in the country, the
Shangahi Daily said, citing company president Peter Bassi.

"We hope to open the second Taco Bell Grande in Shanghai
within the year. Of course we are considering expanding in other
places in China," Bassi said.

With its new Shanghai restaurant running at near-capacity
since its opening in May, the Mexican food chain seems to have
hit on a new formula for success. --AFP

Ford's F150 the world's fastest

DEARBORN, Michigan: The Ford Motor Co. said on Wednesday that its
supercharged F150 pickup truck has been officially certified as
the world's fastest production pickup by the Guinness Book of
World Records.

The V8, 380 horse-power truck logged speeds in excess of 147
mph during tests at Ford's Michigan test circuit last month,
making it "the fastest truck on the planet," according to Ford
SVT sales manager Tom Scarpello.

The performance version of Ford's best-selling F150 truck,
which retails for 33,495 dollars, replaces General Motor Corp.'s
GMC Typhoon as the fastest pick-up on dealers' lots.

The Typhoon reached speeds of 127 mph according to GM,
although its top speed was never independently verified by the
Guinness Book of World Records, and hence it never had an
official entry in the record book, a Ford spokesman said. --AFP