ALMATY, Kazakhstan (AP) — China National Petroleum Corp. is in talks with Kazakhstan's state energy company on acquiring a 49 percent stake in the Central Asian country's fourth-largest oil producer, a KazMunaiGaz spokesman said Monday.CNPC's proposed purchase of the stake in MangistauMunaiGaz would consolidate Chinese energy interests in the oil-rich region. MangistauMunaiGaz, which controls oil reserves estimated at 500 million barrels, has also been eyed by Russia and India's national energy companies in recent months.
 
 In 2008, China imported six million tons of oil through the Kazakhstan-China oil pipeline, a 26 percent increase on the previous year. Russia also uses the route, which is jointly managed by CNPC and KazMunaiGas, to transport its oil exports to China.China hopes the completion of the third section of the pipeline by the end of this year will eventually see an increase in annual capacity to 20 million tons of oil by 2020.Kazakhstan is eager to diversify its oil export routes, most of which currently go to Western buyers across Russian territory.

"KMG and CNPC are currently negotiating CNPC's involvement in the purchase of MMG, and we are planning to sign some documents on that in the nearest future," Arzhan Takachakov, a spokesman for the state energy company, KazMunaiGaz, said by E-mail.KazMunaiGaz did not specify the terms of the deal. KazMunaiGaz secured its 50 percent-plus-two-shares stake in MangistauMunaiGaz from the British Virgin Islands-registered Central Asia Petroleum in January.China is seeking to bolster its energy security by sealing long-term deals with neighboring states and reducing its reliance on maritime oil transportation routes.Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev is to fly to China on Wednesday for a five-day visit. According to recent media reports, China could use the visit to agree on a deal for billion worth of investments in Kazakhstan's energy sector. Analysts say the agreement could pave the way for preferential conditions in CNPC's acquisition of the MMG stake.China secured similarly advantageous assurances in February, when it signed a long-term oil supply contract and pipeline deal with Russia worth billion.MangistauMunaiGaz's holdings include 36 oil and gas fields, of which 15 are currently under development. The company also owns a 58-percent stake in the Pavlodar refinery.CNPC bought Canadian-run oil producer PetroKazakhstan for .18 billion in 2005, the largest foreign purchase by a Chinese company at the time. A 33 percent stake in PetroKazakhstan was sold to KazMunaiGaz in July 2006 amid pressure from the Kazakh government for greater national ownership of the energy sector.In 2008, China imported six million tons of oil through the Kazakhstan-China oil pipeline, a 26 percent increase on the previous year. Russia also uses the route, which is jointly managed by CNPC and KazMunaiGas, to transport its oil exports to China.China hopes the completion of the third section of the pipeline by the end of this year will eventually see an increase in annual capacity to 20 million tons of oil by 2020.Kazakhstan is eager to diversify its oil export routes, most of which currently go to Western buyers across Russian territory.

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Firefighters have won in their fight over pensions and jobs for injured and sick staff.
A judicial review at the Court of Appeal upheld a legal challenge by three London firefighters who had their ill-health and injury pensions removed under changes to the service’s pension scheme.
The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) welcomed the decision.
Under government guidelines issued in 2004, a disabled or badly injured firefighter would be given an ill-health pension unless they could be redeployed to another job. But new guidance issued in 2006 meant that, if they were capable of doing any small part of their work, they would not

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The decline is manufacturing is accelerating. Output in the three months to February 2009 slumpedby 6.5% compared with the previous three months according to the Office for National Statistics.
The January figure was 6.4%. There were widespread decreases in output. The most significant falls were 13.1% in the transportequipment industries, 11.2% in the basic metal and metal products industries and 11.7% in the machinery and equipment products industries.
Manufacturing output in the latest three months was 12.2% lower than the same period a year ago.
Output of the production industries, which includes energy and construction, has fallen by 5.8% in the latest three months to February on the previous three months.
And against the same period a year ago, production output was down by 11.1%.


www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/iop0409.pdf

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More than 20 million employees across UK could benefit from reduced qualifying period for statutory redundancy pay
The TUC called on the Government today (Thursday) to reduce the qualifying period for statutory redundancy pay (SRP) entitlement from two years to 12 months. TUC research reveals that more than 20 million employees across the UK could benefit from this step.
Currently, employees aged 16 or over are entitled to SRP after a two year qualifying period working for the same employer, so the youngest age at which an employee can benefit from redundancy pay is 18.
TUC analysis of official statistics reveals that if this qualifying period was halved to one year then 20,543,000 employees would gain extra redundancy entitlement. Of these more than three million employees would be entitled to SRP for the first time - nearly one in eight (12.2 per cent) of the workforce. More than 17 million employees would increase their existing entitlement to SRP.
While older workers are most likely to be in the same job for more than one year, many younger employees would stand to gain SRP for the first time under the TUC's proposals. Nearly one in three (30.3 per cent) employees aged 17-19 and one in five (20.9 per cent) 20-24 year olds would gain.
Employees in every region across the UK would benefit from the reduced qualifying time for SRP. The nations and regions with the highest percentage of employees gaining are Northern Ireland (87.2 per cent), Wales (84.2 per cent) and the East of England (83.3 per cent).
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: 'We are seeing a return of mass unemployment to the UK. And the situation will get worse before it gets better, as unemployment always persists even after a recovery starts.
'Many employees will be facing redundancy and unemployment for the first time in their lives.
'There can be no assumption that the people who are losing their jobs will find it easy to get new ones, and they will need all the help they can get with redundancy pay, retraining and personal advice.
'Many decent employers, especially those that recognise unions, already offer their staff more generous redundancy packages than the statutory entitlement. The qualifying period for statutory redundancy pay should be cut to 12 months to help more employees across the UK cope with the financial costs of losing their jobs.'
The TUC is also calling on the Government to increase the amount of an employee's weekly earnings which counts to SRP from £350 to at least £500, and to ensure that future rises are in line with average earnings.
The current £350 limit is far lower in real terms than the original value of statutory redundancy pay when it was introduced in 1965, so to ensure that employees are properly compensated when they lose their jobs, the TUC believes the Chancellor should increase the weekly limit on statutory redundancy pay to at least £500.
Official statistics also show that 46.2 per cent of UK employees earn more than £350 a week, so nearly half of the workforce is losing out with a statutory limit of £350 for redundancy pay.

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A powerful earthquake has struck central Italy, killing at least 20 people, collapsing buildings and leaving thousands of people homeless.
Officials said the death toll was likely to rise as rescue crews made their way through the debris.
Firefighters aided by dogs are trying to rescue people from crumbled homes, including a student dormitory in the city of L'Aquila where half a dozen students remained trapped.
The US Geological Survey said the magnitude of the quake was 6.3, though Italy's National Institute of Geophysics put it at 5.8.
The quake struck about 70 miles north-east of Rome at 3.32am local time (2.32 BST), officials said. The Civil Protection Department said the epicentre was near L'Aquila, in the mountainous Abruzzo region.
By early morning, the death toll stood at 20, including five children, with some 30 people unaccounted for, carabinieri paramilitary police said. In addition to L'Aquila, the town of Castelnuovo appeared hard hit, with five of the dead there.
Premier Silvio Berlusconi declared a state of emergency, freeing up federal funds to deal with the disaster. He said he was weighing whether to cancel a planned visit to Russia to deal with the crisis.
Agostino Miozzo, an official with the Civil Protection Department, said between 10,000 and 15,000 buildings were damaged.
Four children died in L'Aquila after their houses collapsed, the ANSA news agency said. They quoted doctors at the main San Salvatore dell'Aquila hospital as saying there was nothing they could do for them.
ANSA said the dome of a church in L'Aquila collapsed, while the city's cathedral also suffered damages. L'Aquila Mayor Massimo Cialente said some 100,000 people had left their homes and that many buildings in the city's historic centre were damaged.

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