[Kabar-indonesia] 17 oil/gas/mining reports: FT/"Green Gold; " Nuke Plants [+Platts; WSJ]

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

Note: also see the previously sent: AT: Canberra Quenches Beijing's 
Energy Thirst [+US's Petro-Hysteria]; RI to Raise Cost of Oil Exploration 
Rights [+37 Blocks; Output to Rise; Japan]; and 'Knives Are Out' as 
Santos, Java Partners Fear Angry Mudflow Backlash 

17 Reports:

- FT: Gold miners begin talks 
  on green code
- Indonesia continuing preparations 
  to build nuclear power plant
- Tender for Indonesia's first nuclear 
  power plant in 2007
- Indonesia's Indorama builds coal-fueled
  power station
- Indonesia June Minas crude down 
  to $67.33/bbl
- FT: Renaissance chief spells 
  out mines deal
- WSJ: Petronas Posts 23% Rise 
  in Net On High Oil Prices
- Wijaya Kusuma and Jiangxi Pingxiang 
  in coal mine joint venture
- Platts: Indonesia may retain crude price 
  formula 3 months, mulls change
- Platts: ConocoPhillips to add 20,000 b/d 
  to Indonesia output in 2009
- Platts: Indonesia's GT Petro to shut down 
  No 1 MEG line on weak margins
- Singapore's Samudera to invest 11.1 mln 
  usd in jv with Nippon Yusen, Sovcomflot
- UK's Serica Energy secures drilling rig 
  for 4 wells offshore Sumatra
- CNOOC to provide drilling services 
  for Malaysian oil firm
- Wilmar plans biodiesel plant in Indonesia
  by 2007
- China Daily: BP to supply LNG 
  to Fujian terminal
- Petromindo Headlines, Friday, 
  June 30, 2006

Financial Times (UK)
June 28, 2009

Gold miners begin talks on green code

By Kevin Morrison

The gold mining sector has started talks with social and environmental
activists on a "green" code for an industry that has for decades been
one of their prime targets.

The two sides have fiercely opposed each other, with miners arguing
that they are injecting money into relatively poor communities where
unemployment is high and welfare is low.

In turn, environmentalists claim miners are doing this by adhering to
minimal environmental standards, which has resulted in some cases in
the pollution of local water supplies.

Lobbyists also claim miners only reinvest a tiny amount of the money
they make from exploiting the gold resource.

"We are keen to work with the non-government organisations to find a
solution to these issues, and if we come up with an agreement it is
going to be better for everybody," said Pierre Lassonde, the president
of NewmontMining, one of the world's largest gold mining companies.
"We will have gold that is certified by the NGOs, and they will be
happy that we are working to standards that they have help set."

Mr Lassonde said gold miners and NGOs had a first meeting on the
prospect of "green" gold in Vancouver earlier this month.

The mining industry is conducting the talks through the International
Council for Mining andMetals, an industry group.

The Newmont president said the goal was to have each gold mine
certified if it adhered to the standards set between the NGOs and the
miners.

This in turn could by used by the gold jewellery sector to market gold
that came from environmentally friendly mines. Newmont has been
subject to protests by environmentalists, especially at its gold mine
in Indonesia.

Mr Lassonde said similar schemes have been achieved in the forestry
and fishing industries. In the mining sector, diamond miners have
worked with NGOs on "conflict diamonds". However, any agreement
between gold miners and NGOs will take years to achieve.

"I can't see any agreement for at least two or three years. There are
a lot of issues to discuss, and we are far apart with some people on
certain matters," said Mr Lassonde.

Environmentalists are concerned about the use of mercury in alluvial
gold mining, which represents about 5 per cent of annual gold output
and is concentrated mainly in Latin America where there are cases of
mercury poisoning in rivers.

The use of cyanide is also a contentious issue for NGOs, as the
chemical is widely used by the industry to strip gold from
rock.Cyanide also pollutes local water tables.

--------------------------------------------

Indonesia continuing preparations to build nuclear power plant

JAKARTA, June 29 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - Indonesia is continuing to make
preparations for the construction of a nuclear power plant in the
Mount Muria peninsula in Central Java, a cabinet minister said.

"We keep on making preparations including formulation of the project`s
specifications and the body that will manage it, namely the Nuclear
Power Management Agency," Energy and Mineral Resources Minister
Purnomo Yusgiantoro told newsmen here on Wednesday after a meeting at
the office of Vice President Jusuf Kalla.

The meeting which was also attended by State Firms Minister Sugiharto
and acting president director of state-owned electricity company PLN
discussed electricity issues.

Purnomo said so far no domestic investor had expressed readiness to
invest in the project.

"We are still making preparations. Later we will invite companies to
bid, probably next year," he said.

He said the planned project could probably be carried out only in 2010
and was expected to finish within five years in 2015 or 2016.

"If it is to be built in 2010 preparations will be from 2007 to 2008.
So there will be no delay," he said.

He said the plant was expected to have a capacity of 4,000 Megawatt,
which would be achieved in several stages.

Regarding the technology that would be adopted for it the minister
said the country`s experts were still studying it and the pressurized
water reactor system.

He said the pressurized water reactor system was also used in France,
the US, South Korea and Japan.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Tender for Indonesia's first nuclear power plant in 2007

JAKARTA, June 29 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - Energy and Mineral Resources
Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said the government will issue a tender
for the country's first nuclear power plant next year.

The plant to be built on the foot of Mount Muria in the northern part
of Central Java, is designed to be operation in 2016.

If the plant to is to come onstream in 2010, construction has to start
in 2010, Purnomo said.

Earlier Research and Technology Minister Kusmayanto Kadiman said,
there are already investors interested in building the project if the
government agree to buy he output under long term contract.

The plant to be coordinated by the National Atomic Power Agency
(Batan) will have the capacity to generate 4,000 megawatts by 2025.

Analysts said the government is expected to buy power from the plant
when it is operational as state electricity company PLN needs an
addition of up to 2,000 MW annually in 2016.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Indonesia's Indorama builds coal-fueled power station

JAKARTA, June 30 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - PT Indorama Synthetics Tbk
(INDR), a private national company in the petrochemical industry, is
currently building a coal-fueled power station with a capacity of 60
MW estimated to cost US$65 million to fulfill its need of electricity
supply.

Indorama Secretary VS Baldwa stated when delivering a report to the
Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSE) here Thursday that, in accordance with
Indorama`s statutes, the construction of the power station is part of
the business activities of the firm.

He cited article 3 paragraph 1 of the statutes, which stipulates that
the company operates in the petrochemical industry, including the
production of materials that are used in the textile industry and the
packaging industry.

Article 3 paragraph 2 underlines that business activities of the
company include providing a power station to expedite its production
activities and, if possible, to sell its electricity supply to other
companies or consumers, he explained.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Indonesia June Minas crude down to $67.33/bbl

TOKYO, June 29 (Reuters) - The official Indonesia Crude Price (ICP)
for the country's main Minas grade has been calculated at $67.33 a
barrel for June, down $2.10 from the record-high of $69.43 for May, an
industry source said on Thursday.

-------------------------------

Financial Times (England)
June 28, 2006

Renaissance chief spells out mines deal

By SHAWN DONNAN

JAKARTA -- Renaissance Capital, theIndonesian bank behind south-east
Asia's biggest takeover this year, said yesterday it would complete
the Dollars 3.1bn acquisition of two Borneo coal mines without equity
partners and is eyeing a possible initial public offering.

Renaissance has been working with Credit Suisse to raise Dollars 2.1bn
in debt to finance its purchase of the Arutmin and Kaltim Prima Coal
mines from Bumi Resources, one of Indonesia's largest listed mining
groups.

The international capital-raising - due to close at the end of this
month - is the largest single such exercise undertaken by an
Indonesian group since the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.

But Samin Tan, the bank's president, said yesterday that Renaissance
had decided to set aside plans to raise a further Dollars 1bn by
selling equity in the mines after securing Dollars 700m in bridge
financing from Singapore's United Overseas Bank.

Mr Tan told the FT the deal with UOB would give him 12 months to
refinance before the Singaporean bank could convert the debt into 49
per cent of the new coal group's equity.

His preferred option for the time being was for an IPO although he
said he might still hold discussions with potential equity partners
once the deal closed.

A source close to the deal said Renaissance had been in discussions
with potential equity partners including Xstrata, the Swiss miner
whose subsidiary Glencore is the marketing agent for KPC, and Japanese
trading house Marubeni. Also understood to be among those seeking an
equity stake has been Australian contractor Leighton, whose subsidiary
has a "life of the mine" contract to operate KPC.

Mr Tan said international investors had reacted positively to plans
for the debt financing during a recent roadshow in spite of global
emerging market jitters. "The book is still open but if we decide to
close the book now we are oversubscribed already," he said.

The size of the deal, Renaissance's short track record, and past
relationships with the Bakrie Group, which controls Bumi Resources,
have fuelled questions in Jakarta about whether Mr Tan and Renaissance
are acting on behalf of the Bakrie family. But Mr Tan insisted he was
not acting on anybody's behalf.

He and Renaissance worked as "exclusive financial adviser" to the
Bakrie Group in its 2003 Dollars 500m acquisition of KPC and "we are
reasonably close professionally and friendship wise", he said.

He also said that as a result of Renaissance's past involvement with
the Bakrie Group and Bumi Resources, his bank had spent years studying
the Borneo coal mines. "We think outside of Bumi itself we are the
only people who really know these assets as well," he said.

But he added: "We're generally reasonably close to anyone."

Mr Tan said Renaissance's acquisition of the Arutmin and KPC mines was
built on a "fully blended" price of Dollars 42 per tonne for the coal
produced and that the mines were already negotiating two- to
three-year contracts with buyers at more than Dollars 50 per tonne.

------------------------------

The Wall Street Journal
June 30, 2006

Petronas Posts 23% Rise 
in Net On High Oil Prices

By ELFFIE CHEW

KUALA LUMPUR -- Petroliam Nasional Bhd., Malaysia's state-owned oil and gas 
company, reported a 23% rise in annual profit and predicted oil prices will 
remain firm.

Malaysia's biggest company, commonly known as Petronas, said its net profit 
rose to 43.59 billion ringgit ($11.83 billion) in the year ended March 31 from 
35.56 billion ringgit a year earlier. Revenue rose 22% to 166.89 billion 
ringgit from 137.05 billion ringgit, while sales from oil extracted outside 
Malaysia rose 17% to 56.6 billion ringgit.

With global oil prices near record levels, Petronas said it sold Malaysian 
crude oil at an average of $61.60 a barrel during the just-ended year, up 37% 
from a year earlier. The strong crude price more than offset a 2.1% year-to-year 
decline in total average production of crude oil and natural gas.

Petronas is Malaysia's only Fortune 500 company and the country's most 
profitable company. It is also among Malaysia's largest bond issuers.

Unlisted Petronas controls several listed units, such as shipping firm 
Malaysia International Shipping Corp., retail gasoline-station operator Petronas 
Dagangan Bhd. and gas distributor Petronas Gas Bhd.

Petronas Chief Executive and President Hassan Marican said the slight decline 
in production was caused by shutdowns for major maintenance and repair work 
in several fields operated by production-sharing contractors.

Looking ahead, Mr. Hassan said: "The uncertain global industry environment is 
likely to remain in the foreseeable future with oil prices anticipated to 
remain firm" in 2007.

In the current year ending March 2007, Mr. Hassan said the company plans to 
maintain its production, but added that production should rise slightly 
starting in 2008 thanks to new deepwater wells.

--------------------------------------

NewsTrak Daily
June 30, 2006

Wijaya Kusuma and Jiangxi Pingxiang in coal mine joint venture

Wijaya Kusuma Group of Indonesia, owned by Indonesian Chinese
businessman Hong Gui-yan is planning to venture into the mineral
market of China. Wijaya Kusuma has recently reached an agreement with
Jiangxi Pingxiang City Mining Group about jointly developing a coal
mine in Indonesia. The two may jointly enter coal processing and
exporting business.

Wijaya Kusuma Group and Pingxiang City Mineral Group will be investing
US$50 million in the coal mine project in Indonesia. In the initial
stage of development, the two will invest US$10 million in the
project. The coal mine, located in Surabaya, has coal reserve of 50
million tons. It is expected to produce about 1 million tons of coal a
year for exporting. By teaming up with Jiangxi Pingxiang City Mineral
Group, Wijaya Kusuma Group will be able to obtain coal mining and
processing technology from China.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Platts Commodity News
June 30, 2006

Indonesia may retain crude price formula 3 months, mulls change

Indonesia will likely roll over for three more months its current
pricing formula for crude oil exports, but continues to consider
revising the formula, perhaps beginning October 1, a senior official
said Friday.

The official Indonesian Crude Price or ICP formula is a weighted
average of spot crude assessments by Platts (40%), RIM Intelligence
(40%) and Asian Petroleum Price Index (20%). It is reviewed every six
months and is due to expire at the end of June. The current formula
was adopted Oct 1, 1999. Indonesian crudes typically trade as a
differential to their ICP price in the spot market.

"We are still assessing the new pricing formula. Meanwhile we may
extend the current formula for another three months," Marketing,
Finance and Economy Deputy at upstream regulator BPMigas Eddy Purwanto
said.

"We will modify the percentage of each index in the new formula. The
percentage of APPI may be lowered to 5%. However it still requires
government approval," he said.

The new pricing formula assessment takes time because it will impact
Indonesian commodity prices, including for liquefied petroleum gas.
"Therefore we need to be careful in setting the new formula," he said.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Platts Commodity News
June 30, 2006

ConocoPhillips to add 20,000 b/d to Indonesia output in 2009

ConocoPhillips is expected to 20,000 b/d to Indonesia's total
production in 2009 when production from the Bukit Tua field in
offshore Madura, East Java peaks, a senior official said Friday.
"Bukit Tua field is expected to commence its initial production in the
fourth quarter of 2008. It will reach the peak of oil output by 20,000
b/d. Usually the peak could be reached in a year later, but it depends
on the development stage," the chairman of upstream regulator BPMigas
Kardaya Warnika told reporters. The development plan was submitted to
BPMigas in December 2005 after Conoco completed the appraisal well of
the field in the same year. Bukit Tua is operated by ConocoPhillips
with a 50% stake with its partners Petronas.

Indonesia's total output currently languishes around 930,000 b/d. This
is way below Indonesia's OPEC production quota of 1.451 million b/d.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Platts Commodity News
June 30, 2006

Indonesia's GT Petro to shut down No 1 MEG line on weak margins

Indonesia's GT Petrochem plans to shut down its 96,000 mt/year No 1
monoethylene glycol line in Merak for a few weeks from early July due
to weak margins, a company source said Friday.

The company's No 2 MEG unit, with a production capacity of 120,000
mt/year, is expected to continue normal operations.

MEG prices started increasing and bids were reported to have reached
at $900-$905/mt CFR China, while Southeast Asian ethylene prices slid
$50/mt to $1,205/mt CFR on Friday. MEG producers can make profit, but
not at what is considered to be an acceptable level.

MEG producers need to sell their product at $825/mt on an FOB basis to
break even on their ethylene feedstock costs. Earlier Friday, South
Korea's Lotte Daesan awarded its sell tender for a 3,000mt cargo of
MEG, which will load in the second half of July, at $880/mt FOB Korea.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Singapore's Samudera to invest 11.1 mln usd in jv with Nippon Yusen, 
Sovcomflot

SINGAPORE, June 30 (XFN-ASIA) - Samudera Shipping Line Ltd said it
will invest 11.1 mln usd to take a 25 pct stake in LNG East-West
Shipping Co (Singapore) Pte Ltd, a joint venture company with Japan's
Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha and Russia's JSC (joint stock company)
Sovcomflot.

Nippon Yusen and Sovcomflot will each have 37.5 pct interest in the
joint venture company.

LNG East-West owns one ship, currently under construction, which has
been contracted by BP Berau Ltd to export liquefied natural gas from
Indonesia to South Korea and North America.

Samudera said the ship will be contracted out on a 20-year charter employment.

The project is estimated to start contributing to the company's
performance by 2009, Samudera said in a statement.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

UK's Serica Energy secures drilling rig for 4 wells offshore Sumatra

LONDON, June 29 (XFN-ASIA) - Serica Energy PLC it has secured the
Seadrill 5 jack-up drilling rig for four wells offshore north Sumatra,
Indonesia, from PT Lins Petrotama Energi, but financial details were
not disclosed.

It expects the drilling programme to commence in the first quarter of 2007.

Chief executive Paul Ellis said: "Serica is moving forward rapidly on
the development of its gas fields in the Asahan and Glagah-Kambuna
blocks offshore north Sumatra and this rig contract demonstrates our
ability to source the equipment we need despite the present intense
level of oil industry activity."

---------------------------------------------------------------------

CNOOC to provide drilling services for Malaysian oil firm

BEIJING, June 29 (Asia Pulse/XIC) - China National Offshore Oil
Corporation (CNOOC) announced Wednesday that its holding company China
Oilfield Services Limited (COSL) has signed a contract to provide
drilling services for a Malaysia-based oil firm.

According to the contract with Genting Oil and Gas Limited (GOGL),
Nanhai II, COSL's semi-submersible drilling rig, will operate in the
Natuna Sea of Indonesia.

The drilling rig is scheduled to leave Singapore and arrive at the
designated location at the end of June.

Operations will commence in July and the contract is expected to be
completed in October.

GOGL will be responsible for the mobilization and demobilization
costs, and operation fees will be charged on day-rate basis, according
to the contract.

Soaring international oil price in recent years have resulted in an
increase in the price of oilfield services.

This contract will contribute significantly to the COSL's overseas
operations, and accelerate the achievement of the company's overseas
expansion goal for 2006, said a senior executive from the firm.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Wilmar plans biodiesel plant in Indonesia by 2007

SINGAPORE, June 30 (Reuters) - Wilmar Holdings Pte. Ltd. will build
Indonesia's first biodiesel plant by 2007, though another plant
planned in Singapore for this year has been put on hold, the company
said on Friday.

The $20 million biodiesel plant in Riau, Indonesia, will have an
annual capacity of 250,000 tonnes, with the potential for further
expansion as the firm seeks to capitalise on demand for biofuels to
cut costly oil imports and greenhouse gas emissions.

"Feedstock for this project is mainly palm oil," said a spokeswoman
from Wilmar Holdings, a Singapore-based edible oil producer and
refiner.

Indonesia is the world's second-largest palm oil producer and plans to
develop another 3.0 million hectares (7.4 million acres) of
plantations in the next five years, partly to meet biofuel demand.

Wilmar's plant will be the first in Indonesia if it comes onstream
ahead of a $25 million joint venture between plantation company Pt
Bakrie Sumatera Plantation TBK and construction firm Pt Rekayasa
Industri, scheduled for the middle of 2008 with an annual capacity of
60,000-100,000 tonnes.

Wilmar Holdings also has a joint venture plan with Archer Daniels
Midland Company (ADM) to build a biodiesel plant in Singapore, but
both companies are still considering the feasibility of the project,
said the spokeswoman.

The S$50 million ($31.5 million) plant was originally expected to be
completed by end-2006 to produce 150,000 tonnes per year (tpy) of
biodiesel, before expansion to 300,000 tpy.

----------------------------------------

China Daily
July 1, 2006
  
BP to supply LNG to Fujian terminal

By Wang Ying
China Daily

BP Plc, a majority stakeholder in the Indonesian Tangguh gas project, is 
close to finalizing a deal to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to China's second 
LNG 
terminal in East China's Fujian Province.

"We have reached an agreement (with China National Offshore Oil Corp) on the 
company level, and we're waiting for final approval from the Indonesian 
Government," Heather R. Ting, president of BP Gas China, told China Daily on Friday 
in Beijing after a ceremony launching the BP Statistical Review of World 
Energy 2006.

The deal could be finalized "in months," said Ting, who refused to comment on 
prices agreed on the supply of LNG.

Rising gas prices have prolonged talks between China's biggest offshore oil 
producer China National Offshore and the BP-led Tangguh project, with its rich 
gas reserves, which is set to supply 2.6 million tons of LNG annually for 25 
years to the Fujian terminal invested by the Beijing-based oil firm.

A Reuters report on Wednesday said China National Offshore expected to reach 
an agreement with Indonesia by the end of July, and the final price could be 
US$5-10 per million British thermal units, the report cited company President 
Fu Chengyu as saying.

Liu Junshan, spokesman for the Chinese oil producer, on Friday said he was 
not aware of the updated situation.

State-owned China National Offshore is leading the race to build LNG 
terminals along the eastern coast of China as the government aims to diversify energy 
supplies and reduce its heavy reliance on coal and oil, instead pushing the 
use of cleaner natural gas.

Beijing so far has approved the construction of two terminals, one each in 
Fujian and South China's Guangdong Province. Both are owned by China National 
Offshore.

The State-owned company's Guangdong LNG terminal received the second shipment 
of liquefied gas on Wednesday from Australia's North West Shelf venture under 
a A$25 billion (US$19 billion) 25-year contract.

Construction of China National Offshore's Fujian LNG facilities is expected 
to be completed by 2007, with an initial capacity of 2.5 million tons a year.

The Tangguh project, located in Papua of Indonesia, is scheduled to come on 
stream by late 2008, drawing its gas supplies from six fields in the Bintuni 
area.

China's top three oil companies, PetroChina, Sinopec and China National 
Offshore, plan to build a string of LNG terminals in coastal areas such as 
Shanghai, Shandong and Jiangsu, but the current high price of gas is prohibitive.

Xu Dingming, vice-chairman of the nation's leading energy group set up last 
year, on Friday said that China has its own solutions to secure gas supplies 
for these LNG terminals, but "would not import an enormous quantity of the fuel 
if prices remain high."

BP on Friday issued its Statistical Review of World Energy 2006 in Beijing.

The BP report said China's energy consumption saw a weak increase last year 
despite the economy's robust momentum. The country last year saw a 9.5 per cent 
increase in energy usage, compared with 15.5 per cent in 2004, and its 
economy continued its bullish increase by 9.9 per cent last year, it said.

The slowdown in energy consumption was a result of the government's macro 
efforts to restrain investments in major energy-intensive sectors such as steel 
and aluminium production, as well as the high energy prices which contained 
demands, said Wang Tao, chief Asian economist at BP.

"It (the BP Statistical Review of World Energy) is published in English and 
Chinese, which is the only other language we have in print it shows the 
importance we place on China," said Gary Dirks, vice-resident of BP Group.

World primary energy consumption increased by 2.7 per cent in 2005, below the 
previous year's strong growth of 4.4 per cent but still above the 10-year 
average, BP said in the report. Growth slowed from 2004 in every region and for 
every fuel. The strongest increase was again in the Asia-Pacific region, which 
rose by 5.8 per cent, it said. 

----------------------------------------

Petromindo Headlines, 
Friday, June 30, 2006

Oil/Gas: 

- Samudera Shipping announces JV to transport Tangguh LNG
- Release: Santos: Clarification re Banjar Panji 1 well incident
- Ketapang PSC to commence oil production in Q4 2008
- Pertamina increases fuel prices for industrial users
 
Mining: 

- S. Kalimantan coal miners say not affected by flooding
 
Power: 
 
- Update 1: Govt mulls giving tax incentives to geothermal 
  investors
- Govt mulls giving tax incentives to geothermal investors
 
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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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