Unocal sells Sarulla project to PLN
Unocal sells Sarulla project to PLN
EL SEGUNDO, California: Unocal Corp. agreed to sell its interest
in the Sarulla geothermal project to PLN, the Indonesian state
electricity company, for US$60 million, resulting in a third-
quarter gain.
The sale includes the operations and sales contracts the
Unocal North Sumatra Geothermal Ltd. unit signed with Pertamina
and PLN in 1993.
The unit's exploration activities discovered commercial
geothermal resources in Silangkitang in 1995, but a presidential
decree postponed the project in 1998, due to the economic crisis
in Indonesia. The presidential decree was later revoked, the
company said.
In a press release on Monday, Unocal said its legal,
technical, and commercial requirements to invest further in the
project could not be satisfied after several months of
negotiations.
The oil and gas producer expects to close the sale in
September. -- Dow Jones
;Agencies;
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CorporateBrief-Yahoo-buying-Overture
Yahoo! buying Overture for $1.6b
JP/14/Brief
Yahoo! buying Overture for $1.6b
SAN FRANCISCO: Yahoo! snapped up online advertising pioneer
Overture Services for about US$1.6 billion, giving the Internet
powerhouse a potent weapon in the competitive search-engine
business.
By buying Overture on Monday, Yahoo gains control of one of
its most important business partners and strikes a blow against
Google and Microsoft.
Google is the top search engine, and Microsoft has been
pouring more resources into the online search on its MSN site.
Overture has been one of Google's fiercest rivals and now its
ad-based search engine threatens to become more formidable by
tapping into Yahoo's greater resources.
Like Yahoo, Microsoft's MSN service had been collecting a
steady stream of profits from Overture.
Although Yahoo executives said they hope to maintain
Overture's existing alliances with partners such as MSN, it seems
improbable that the rivals will want to subsidize each other,
said Danny Sullivan, editor of the industry newsletter Search
Engine Watch. -- AP
;Agencies;
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CorporateBrief-SIA-flights
SIA filling more flights
JP/14/Brief
SIA filling more flights
SINGAPORE: Singapore Airlines (SIA) said on Tuesday passenger and
cargo demand was on the increase following the end of the Severe
Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) crisis, although business was
still well down on last year.
SIA said its overall load factor, the amount of cargo space
and passenger seats filled, was 70.3 percent in June compared
with 74.1 percent for the same month in 2002 but well up from
63.6 percent in May this year.
The passenger load factor for June was 71.8 percent, a big
jump from 53.1 percent in May.
The SARS crisis, which reduced visitor arrivals into Singapore
by more than 70 percent at its peak, began in mid-March with
Singapore being declared free of the virus at the end of May. --
AFP
;Agencies;
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CorporateBrief-ANA-fall
ANA suffers 34.1 percent fall
JP/14/Brief
ANA suffers 34.1 percent fall
TOKYO:: The number of people flying internationally with All
Nippon Airways (ANA) plunged 34.1 percent in the three months to
June from a year earlier to 558,679 due to SARS and the war in
Iraq, Japan's number two airline said on Tuesday.
As for the domestic operations, ANA's passenger numbers dipped
4.4 percent to 10.1 million over the quarter.
The airline said it expected passenger demand to pick up as
fear over Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) subsided, with
demand for business class flights already rebounding.
Separately, ANA has reportedly decided to hire Chinese flight
attendants for the first time ever as part of a campaign to
strengthen services on its routes to China. -- AFP