U.S. oil firm Conoco to invest more in Asia
U.S. oil firm Conoco to invest more in Asia
SINGAPORE (AFP): U.S. oil giant Conoco plans to increase its presence in Asia with investments in emerging markets including India, China, Vietnam and Indonesia, according to an oil industry journal here.
Conoco, which has refining, trading and retail businesses in Asia, and runs port terminals for oil cargo in the region, could also enter petrochemicals and power generation as its investments in energy projects and infrastructure grow, the Singapore Oil Report said.
The company, with revenues of US$16 billion in 1993, has just put in place the "biggest piece" in its Asian strategy with a 40- percent stake in a new $1.2 billion Malaysian refinery, the journal said.
The refinery will supply products mainly to a retail business the company plans to start in Malaysia. In Thailand, it plans to expand its chain of 28 retail stations to 300 over the next 10 years.
Conoco is planning to invest in India, China, Vietnam and Indonesia as they comprise the region's largest emerging economies, the journal said.
Investments in India could lead to project start-ups in 1997, when the Malaysian refinery begins operating, it said.
"Whatever the demand growth figures you choose -- four to eight percent annually -- Asia's the market you have to be in," Todd Fredin, the company's regional vice-president, was quoted as saying.
"The U.S. and western Europe are mature. Eastern Europe is the other growth area for us now, but it's this region that will be our focus in the future," Fredin said.
Conoco recently formed a power company and could expand into chemicals and petrochemicals, a field in which its parent company, Du Pont, is a major player, Paul Lashbrooke, president of Conoco Asia-Pacific, told the journal.
Du Pont recently repurchased its own shares for $8.8 billion from the Canadian distiller Seagram and is looking to sell some assets to raise funds, but that deal would not affect Conoco's commitment to invest in Asia, Lashbrooke said.
Conoco chose Kuala Lumpur over Singapore as its regional headquarters last year in a decision influenced by its stake in the 100,000-barrel-per-day refinery in western Malaysia.
Other partners in the $1.2 billion venture are state firm Petronas and Norway's Statoil. Using Conoco technology, the plant will extract gasoline, diesel and fuel oil from heavy crudes.
A part of the production will be exported in the first three or four years until Malaysian demand rises to absorb all its output, the Singapore Oil Report said.