Three queens sail out of New York

Three queens, the world's best-known ocean liners steamed out of New York harbor together, sailing out of the same port for the first and only time in their history.

The Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth 2 and newly launched Queen Victoria slipped past the Statue of Liberty together under the cover of darkness as fireworks burst overhead, offering maritime history fans a unique opportunity. "This is the first time they've all met," Carol Marlow, president of Cunard Line, which operates the three ships, said. "It's not only special because it's the first time we've had these three ships together, it's special because it will never happen again," she said. "This is a truly momentous occasion." The Queen Victoria, launched in December and on her maiden world cruise, and the Queen Mary 2, launched in 2004 and the largest ocean liner in the world, were both headed for the Caribbean. The Queen Elizabeth 2, which is due to be retired in November to become a floating hotel in Dubai, was headed for South America at the beginning of her final world cruise.
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'OOCL Busan' named at Geoje Shipyard, Korea

OOCL announced the christening of its fourth in the line of sixteen 4,578-TEU vessels, ordered with Samsung Heavy Industries since 2004.

Sponsor Mrs Harriet Tung, the wife of Mr CC Tung, Chairman and CEO of Orient Overseas International (OOIL), has named the new vessel the ‘OOCL Busan’. ‘As a leading maritime hub, Busan is a major trading gateway to the Asian region. We are very proud to name this vessel after such a dynamic city. With this name, we believe the OOCL Busan is truly an ambassador for world trade,' said Mr. Tung at the vessel's christening. The 'OOCL Busan' will be deployed on the Trans-Pacific CCX service. The port rotation will be Dalian / Xingang / Qingdao / Ningbo / Shanghai / Busan / Los Angeles / Oakland / Busan and back to Dalian in a 35-day round trip.
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Malaysia defends palm oil ads

Malaysian Palm Oil Council has defended advertisements claiming their plantations are environmentally sustainable after the ads were declared misleading and pulled from British television.

MPOC said the TV advertisements, aired over BBC World last summer, stressed that oil palm plantations in Malaysia co-existed harmoniously with rainforests and that was the true picture it sought to portray. Britain's Advertising Standards Authority Council had said the advertisements contained misleading claims of environmental sustainability in the production of the edible oil. ASAC took issue with the choice of phrases such as, "its trees help our planet breathe," used in the visual advertisement, which ASAC believes could lead viewers to infer that Malaysian palm oil production benefited the environment. ASAC also noted the concerns of land rights conflicts with native tribes over the clearing of native rainforests for oil palm plantations. Environmentalists complained the advertisements could lead viewers to believe palm oil plantations are as environmentally friendly as natural rain forests, which have been cut down to make space for plantations, hurting biodiversity and the life of indigenous jungle dwellers.
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China output on the rise

China's crude production continues to inch up, managing to gain a marginal 1.6% increase in 2007 to hit 186.65 million metric tonnes, or 3.733 million barrels per day, reflecting difficulties in the eastern fields to maintain stable production.

December posted the strongest crude output increase over the year, rising by 2.8% to 15.67 million tonnes. Natural gas has fared much better than crude, with output last year rising by 19.3% on year to 66.6 billion cubic metres. In December, the natural gas production gained 9.9% on year to 5.87 billion cubic metres. China's eastern fields - led by Daqing - are struggling with the natural decline. The country will have to rely on the output increase in the western fields to offset the fall in the east.
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UK round could add 17 billion barrels

Close to 17 billion barrels worth of oil could be added to the UK's prospect pool in the next licencing round, which is set to get underway this month.

Coupled with that is the potential for 36 new licences for discoveries which could add 389 million barrels and 1.55 Tcf of gas. Hannon Westwood's 25th Round Screening Study says the round will offer the largest number of blocks for any UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) Licensing Round. They estimate 36 discoveries currently within unlicensed acreage could go up for grabs, with gross unrisked estimated discovery potential reserves of 648 million BOE, including 389 million barrels of oil and 1.55 Tcf of gas. There could be 275 prospects in unlicensed acreage made available, with estimated unrisked prospect potential reserves of 16.6 billion BOE, including 11.8 billion barrels oil and 28.6 Tcf of gas. The potential resource contained in the study compares to a background of total potential UKCS resource in the Hannon Westwood database of about 7,500 million BOE in discoveries and about 50,000 million BOE unrisked, undrilled in exploration prospects in licensed and unlicensed acreage.
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Regional competition forces IHI and Universal to merge

IHI Corp., Japan's third-biggest heavy-machinery maker, has said it is in talks with JFE Holdings Inc., the nation's second-biggest steelmaker, to create the biggest Japanese shipbuilder to compete against Asian rivals.

The two units could be merged as early as this year creating a company with sales of ¥345bn. IHI Marine United would be merged into Universal Shipbuilding, which JFE is currently seeking to raise its stake in from 50% to 80%, buying out part of Hitachi Zosen's 50% share. "We need to have a clear vision on the business before Chinese shipbuilders' expected rise on the global market, expected in around 2012," a spokesperson told. Japanese shipbuilders need to merge and become bigger to compete against South Korea and China.

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