■ENERGY
Korea Gas wins bid
South Korea’s state-run Korea Gas has won a US$1.1 billion deal to jointly develop natural gas fields in Canada with a Canadian gas firm Encana, a news report said yesterday. Korea Gas has acquired a combined 50-percent stake in three Encana oil fields in northeast British Columbia under the deal, Yonhap news agency said. Korea Gas will invest US$1.1 billion to build gas exploration and production facilities in the fields, expecting to produce 1.1 million tonnes of natural gas every year for 40 years from 2017, it said. South Korea annually consumes around 25 million tonnes of natural gas. It is the world’s fifth largest crude importer. It has no proven oil or gas reserves on its own territory.
■ENERGY
Enron chief to take last shot
Former Enron chief executive Jeff Skilling lost the first half of the fight of his life when a jury convicted him nearly four years ago for committing fraud while at the helm of the once high-flying energy trader. Today before the US Supreme Court, lawyers for federal prisoner 29296-179 will take their last shot at shredding a lower court’s conviction that sentenced him to 24 years in jail. If Skilling succeeds, his sentence could be shortened or he could win a new trial. Skilling, 56, was convicted in May 2006 of 19 counts of conspiracy, securities fraud, insider trading and lying to auditors. He has been serving time at a prison in Colorado, where he has been teaching Spanish to fellow inmates.
■ENERGY
Oil firm to leave Curacao
Venezuelan oil company PDVSA may withdraw from the 320,000 barrel-per-day Isla refinery it operates in Curacao to protest US military operations on the Caribbean island, Ultimas Noticias newspaper reported on Saturday, citing an interview with Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez. Venezuela may order state-run PDVSA to abandon its lease of the Isla refinery because the US military has been staging “provocations” on Venezuela from Curacao, Ramirez was quoted as saying. PDVSA has operated the Isla refinery since 1985 under a long-term lease with the government of Curacao, a Dutch island 65km north of the Venezuelan coast.
■PAKISTAN
Government wants US$5bn
Pakistan aims to attract US$5 billion in foreign investment this year, but needs to tackle reform, maximize anemic growth and stem rampant violence to clinch its ambitious target. Last fiscal year, Pakistan recorded its worst economic growth in more than a decade, at 2 percent, and attracted only US$3.7 billion in investment. Yet Board of Investment chairman Saleem Mandviwalla is optimistic despite Pakistan’s immense challenges. “Traditionally the investment pace that we had kept — which was an average of US$5 billion a year — I think we should be able to go back to it very soon depending on if the global situation improves,” he said.
■RESOURCES
Ministry seeks sale approval
India’s Mines Ministry may seek government approval next week for the sale of shares in Hindustan Copper Ltd, the country’s largest copper miner, Press Trust of India reported, quoting Mines Secretary Santha Sheela Nair. The ministry last month approved a plan to sell 10 percent of the government’s share holdings in a public offer and raising fresh capital by diluting another 10 percent stake through a follow-on offer.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique