Chinese firm picks majority stake in Indonesian oil block
Beijing: Chinese company CITIC Resources Holdings has acquired a 51 per cent stake in the production sharing contract (PSC) of an oil block in oil-rich Indonesia, the second such deal by the cash-rich group in less than a month.

The company said it had agreed to buy the stake from Kuwait-based Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company a participating interest in the PSC of the Non-Bula Block on Seram Island for $97.4 million. The bid was based on the company's expectation that oil prices would remain at $40 to $50 per barrel after 2009 and expected a profit from the deal when the output of the Oseil field, a major field in the block, peaked in two or three years, according to a report by Xinhua news agency.

CITIC Resources is a new player in the oil exploration field.
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38,000 Ford Motors' workers agree to leave
New York: About 38,000 hourly workers more than half of Ford Motor's U.S. factory work force have accepted offers to leave the company, according to the company. This will allow Ford (Charts) to speed up cost cuts and plant-closing plans as it tries to stem losses in its North American auto operations. Shares of Ford gained 1.6 percent in early trading in Frankfurt on Wednesday.

The company had set a target of 30,000 voluntary job cuts in September when it offered its 75,000 workers represented by the United Auto Workers union payments of up to $140,000 to leave the company.

All workers who signed must leave the company by September 2007, when the current labor contract with the UAW expires.

Ford now hopes to convince another 10,000 to take voluntary buyouts, according to the report. If not, the company has said more layoffs will be coming.

Earlier on Monday Ford announced plans Monday to borrow $18 billion by pledging assets as collateral for loans.
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