SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): Indonesia has awarded the Tanjung Aru
SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): Indonesia has awarded the Tanjung Aru
block, located offshore Kalimantan in the Makassar Straits, to
Malaysia's state oil and gas company Petroliam Nasional Bhd., or
Petronas, the company said in a statement released Tuesday.
Petronas said its exploration unit Petronas Carigali Sdn. Bhd.
will hold a 50 percent stake in the block. The remaining 50
percent will be held by Amerada Hess Corp., which will act as the
block operator.
Petronas said it will drill three exploration wells in the
block shortly.
Tanjung Aru block is located in the Kutei Basin - the site of
large oil and gas discoveries made over the past few years,
Petronas said. The block encompasses 4,160 square kilometers with
water depths from 150 meters to 1,700 meters.
;AFP;
ANPAf..r..
bizbrief-China-Saudi
Aramco plans US$3b JV
JP/11/Colbox
BEIJING (AFP) : Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia's national oil
company, plans to invest in a south-eastern China petrochemical
joint venture valued at US$3 billion, state media reported
Tuesday.
The joint venture, one of the largest ever in the
petrochemical field in China, will also receive investment from
China's number one petrochemical producer Sinopec and Exxon
Mobile, the China Daily said.
Once completed, the joint venture, to be located in Fujian
province near Taiwan, will produce 600,000 tons of ethylene every
year, the paper said.
Sinopec will control half of the joint venture while Saudi
Aramco and Exxon Mobil will share the rest, the paper said.
;AFP;
ANPAf..r..
Bizbrief-Philippines-jobs
RP jobless dips to 10.1%
JP/11/colbox
MANILA (AFP): About 10.1 percent of the Philippines' labor
force were unemployed in July, down from 13.3 percent in April,
the National Statistics Office said Tuesday.
The figure was also lower than the unemployment rate of 11.2
percent in the same month last year. The government issues the
figures every three months.
The labor force rose 6.7 percent from a year earlier to 32.6
million people, the National Statistics Office said in a
statement.
Agricultural employment rose 11.4 percent to 11 million, while
industrial jobs rose 6.1 percent to 4.7 million and the services
sector added 6.3 percent to 13.6 million.
The underemployment rate, measuring people who worked less
than 40 hours a week, also fell to 17.7 percent of the labor
force, compared to 21.2 percent in July last year.
;AP;
ANPAf..r..
Bizbrief-Singapore-U.S.
S'pore bank recalls NY staff
JP/11/colbox
SINGAPORE (AP): Singapore's central bank has recalled some
staff from New York and temporarily shut its offices there
because of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the
bank said Tuesday.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore said in a statement that
four of the bank's six Singaporean staff and their families
returned to the city-state on Sunday.
"The tragic events in New York have meant the temporary
suspension of operations out of New York, and relocation of
activities to our head office and London office," it said.
The bank said its New York office and staff apartments were "a
few blocks from the World Trade Center" and some of the
apartments remain inaccessible.
;AP;
ANPAf ..r..
Bizbrief-Singapore-Flanders
Singapore, Flanders tie up
JP/11/colbox
SINGAPORE (AP): Leaders from Singapore and Flanders -
Belgium's Dutch-speaking northern half - signed a pact Tuesday
agreeing to cooperate in the fields of industry, technology,
research and education.
Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and Patrick Dewael,
head of the Flemish regional government, signed the pact,
Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
"The two leaders exchanged views on a broad range of topics,
for example, on innovation and enterprise, development of
information technology and e-government services, and how to use
technology for higher productivity in port operations," the
statement said.
The pact said Singapore and Flanders enjoy "close links
through their companies and research institutes" and that there
is "wide scope" to build upon existing ties.
;AFP;
ANPAf..r..
Bizbrief-Germany-bank
Dresdner may cut 1,300 jobs
JP/11/Colbox
FRANKFURT (AFP): Germany's third-largest bank, Dresdner Bank,
is preparing to cut an additional 1,300 jobs over the next two
years, bringing the total to 7,800, a source close to the bank
told AFP late Monday.
The decision is expected to be made at a meeting on Tuesday.
There was no immediate confirmation of the report.
Dresdner, which is in the process of being taken over by
insurance giant Allianz, had earlier announced job cuts as part
of a restructuring of its investment banking activities.
It said it would shed 5,000 jobs, mostly in its retail
division, by the end of 2003 and another 1,500 in its investment
banking unit Kleinwort Wasserstein.