Cosmo Oil to trim production
Tokyo - Cosmo Oil Co, Japan's No 5 oil refiner, will cut its output in the last two months of the year, as economic slowdown reduced fuel demand, the Daily Nenryo Yushi reported, without citing sources. The fuel and oil newspaper didn't say how much crude oil the company will refine in the November-December period.

Cosmo Oil's refining output in the three months ended December will be 3 per cent less than the same quarter a year ago, it reported. Cosmo Oil will cut refining output again starting from January if demand continues to fall, the report said. If demand remains unchanged during the second half, ended March, the company's output may fall 5 per cent from the same period a year before.

Japan lends $176m to Sonatrach
Tokyo - Japan Bank for International Cooperation has lent Algerian state-owned oil and gas firm Sonatrach $176 million to finance the development of the major Orhoud oil project, Sonatrach officials said yesterday. The eight-year loan bears a 1.95 per cent annual interest rate. It will be used to finance the purchase of Japanese equipment and services, they said.

Algerian Energy and Mines Minister Chakib Khelil, who is also Sonatrach's chief executive officer, has said the Orhoud oil project is "the biggest oil deposit discovered in Algeria after Hassi Messaoud." Hassi Messaoud is Algeria's main oilfield and Orhoud project is located south of the promising hydrocarbon Hassi Berkine basin. Investments to develop Orhoud are estimated at $1 billion, according to Sonatrach officials.

Norway says no plan to cut output
Oslo - Norway has no plans to cut its oil production despite an appeal from Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi yesterday, the oil ministry said. "There are no plans of a production cut in Norway now," spokeswoman Sissel Edvardsen told Reuters, adding that the ministry is "continously reviewing the market."

He also said that Opec would have to reduce its production by more than a million barrels a day to stem an oil price slide. The Norwegian oil ministry also confirmed that Naimi would meet Norwegian Oil Minister Einar Steensnaes in Norway on November 13. Norway pumps some 3.1 million barrels per day.

Gazprom signs contracts with Iraq
Baghdad - Russia's Gazprom has signed with Iraq contracts worth $18 million to repair gas stations in the country and supply trucks and machines, an official from the company said yesterday. Oleg Papkov, representative of the company in Baghdad, also said Gazprom was holding talks with Iraq to carry out explortion work to produce gas in the country.

"Gazprom has signed a contract worth $10 million to repair domestic gas filling stations in Iraq," he told Reuters, adding the company "has offered to improve and repair Iraqi gas production facilities." The company is among major Russian oil firms such as Lukoil, Tatneft and Slavneft attending Baghdad's trade fair which opened last week. The fair ends next week.