Houston. BP PLC (BP) is teaming up with Chevron Corp. (CVX) to bid for a South China Sea exploration block, a person familiar with the matter said, signaling the UK major's failure to stop a leaking Gulf of Mexico oil well isn't deterring rival producers from choosing it as a partner on deepwater projects.

Chevron will own a 60% stake in the block and act as operator, while BP will hold the remaining interest, the person said.

South Korea. LG Electronics said it was investing $820 million in a 5-year plan to boost solar cell manufacturing at a plant in South Korea.

Korea. GS Caltex Corp., Korea’s second-largest oil refiner, said Tuesday it will begin mass production at its new refinery in September. The company held a ceremony to mark the completion of the 2.6 trillion won ($2.2 billion) plant that converts heavy oil into transportation fuels such as gasoline.

Beijing. China is expected to have a natural gas shortage exceeding 10 billion cubic meters in 2010, according to information from the South China Coal Trading Center.

The trading center said that China's natural gas demand is increasing sharply and the supply and demand gap would expand in the coming years, since natural gas resources are limited in the country.