Iran ready for gas venture with Russia, Qatar

Iran is ready to set up a joint firm with Russia and Qatar but has no plans to export Iranian gas to Qatari plants so that it could be turned into liquefied natural gas (LNG). Russia, Iran and Qatar -- respectively ranked first, second and third in the world in terms of gas reserves -- agreed to boost coordination at a meeting in Tehran last month, and this month held a follow up meeting in Doha. Russian gas monopoly Gazprom said in that the three could team up to develop Iran's South Pars gas field, a vast reserve of gas of which the southern part is in Qatari territory.

Oxy Petroleum consortium wins Oman gas contract

A consortium led by US oil and chemicals company Occidental Petroleum has won a concession from the Omani government for gas exploration and development in central Oman. Mubadala Development, an Abu Dhabi investment firm, is part of the consortium which will invest more than US$500 million in the project located in Oman's Habiba area. The project partners, which include state-owned Oman Oil, will conduct an intensive exploration programme that comprises drilling exploration wells and developing four fields.

Iran and Oman plan LNG cooperation

Iran and Oman said they intend to seal a major gas deal by the year end that would allow export of more than 1 billion cubic feet of gas per day via pipeline. This would not only supply Oman's needs, but also provide supply for liquefied natural gas that would belong to Iran. A deal to develop the Kish field which may hold as much as 45 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas was signed in April, but the final agreement had been delayed due to price wrangling. Yet, negotiations picked up after a recent visit to the Persian Gulf country by Iran's Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari.

Turkish firms, Shell form Iraq gas partnership

Turkish state firms Botas and TPAO and global energy major Royal Dutch Shell have formed a natural gas exploration and marketing partnership in Iraq, Turkish Energy Minister Hilmi Guler said. Turkish petroleum company, TPAO has also been invited to enter exploration tenders for eight oil fields in Iraq, for which the firm may form a partnership with Shell, Guler said. ""There is a possibility of a TPAO partnership with Shell, especially on the Kirkuk field,"" Guler said during the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the energy major.

NoozzVIEW; Putin downplays Gas-OPEC fears

Russian strongman, Prime Minister Vladimir attempted to play down widespread fears among the gas–consuming countries in the West – whose economies are already feeling the full heat of the continuing credit crunch – that some of the prime gas exporting nations, including Russia could be in the process of forming an OPEC-style gas cartel. It is widely assumed that the founding fathers of any such cartel would be Russia, Iran, Qatar, Venezuela and Algeria. Such a combination is guaranteed to cause serious anxieties in both Washington and many European capitals if it was to have any effect on crucial security and price issues.

Qatar to invest US$5bn in energy, fertiliser in India

Qatar may invest US$5 billion in energy and fertiliser projects in India as part of New Delhi's efforts to use surplus funds from the energy-rich Gulf region to shore up slowing economic pace. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he discussed with the Qatari leadership the modalities of setting up the US$5 billion fund dedicated for investments in India. ""In the next 2 or 3 months, we will work out modalities (and) identify projects in the area of energy, power, fertiliser and related activities,"" he said.

NoozzVIEW; Oil “piracy” blow for Arabs

It is no surprise that the recent growth of piracy in the waters off the lawless coast of Somalia and often through the strategic Gulf Of Aden has caused growing concern in the Arab world – from the boardrooms of Riyadh and the other oil capitals to the headquarters of the Suez Canal in Egypt which sees vital revenues threatened if shipping companies opt for a much longer and less dangerous route. The superlatives surrounding the latest hijacking of the Saudi oil tanker, The Sirius Star tell their own deeply disturbing story. It was owned by Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company and was the biggest tanker eve hijacked, 318,000 tonnes and carrying a cargo of 2 million barrels of oil, about a quarter of Saudi Arabia’s daily output, valued today at over US$100 million.

Bahrain hopes to lure big fish to explore onshore deep gas zones

Bahrain is looking to award a contract to explore deep gas zones in its onshore Awali field in the second quarter of 2009, with bids expected by April, a top government official says. International oil companies will be able to visit data rooms from January. Bahrain was inspired to roll out the contract by the success of deep gas exploration in neighboring Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Oil Minister Abdul Hussein Mirza said. The tiny Mideast Gulf producer wants to discover new reserves to avoid expected gas shortages in the next decade. It is also trying to nail down gas imports, signing a framework agreement with Iran last month to import some 1 billion cubic feet per year of gas.

Bahrain to seal Iran deal in 2009

Bahrain expects to seal a final agreement next year with Iran for imports of 1 billion cubic feet per day of gas, the kingdom's oil minister said. "We expect to sign the final agreement for gas imports from the south pars field in 2009," Abdul-Hussain Mirza said on the sidelines of an oil and gas conference in Abu Dhabi.

Iraq, CNPC put final signature on oil deal

Iraq's state-owned North Oil company and representatives of the Chinese National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) have put final signatures on a 20-year deal to pump Iraqi crude, the Iraqi Oil Ministry said. CNPC head Jiang Jiemin and Iraqi officials attended the signing ceremony in the Oil Ministry headquarters in Baghdad, where media were not invited for security reasons, the Iraqi Oil Ministry said. The two countries announced the deal in August after renegotiating a Saddam Hussein-era production-sharing contract and replacing it with a service contract, which Iraq said would let it keep a greater share of revenue from the Ahdab oil field.

GFH reveals Energy City Libya plans

Bahrain's Gulf Finance House (GFH) has unveiled the conceptual master plan for its US$5 billion Energy City Libya development. The city will cover 600m2 on the shores of the Mediterranean city of Sabratha, 70km west of Libya's capital Tripoli. A company spokesperson said the final design will be completed in the first quarter of 2009 and infrastructure works will start once the design is approved. He said the various plots of the city will then be sold to developers. Energy City Libya was designed by international architects MZ and Partners and will feature the ""iconic"" Africa Tower at its centre surrounded by several business clusters.

Centrica lines up Qatari gas supplies

Centrica, the owner of British Gas, is in talks about a multi-billion pound deal with a Qatari energy company to secure long-term gas supplies, in a bid to reduce the UK's dependence on dwindling North Sea reserves and volatile wholesale markets. Centrica chief executive Sam Laidlaw led the talks with Qatari RasGas officials, as he joined Prime Minister Gordon Brown's business trip to the Middle East this month. As part of the deal, the first major shipment arrived within days after the talks on the Glasgow super tanker, Al Khuwair. It is understood the 50 million therms of supply on board will provide enough gas for 4.5 million homes of British Gas customers for a week in winter.

Petrofac awarded US$543 million lump-sum contract

Petrofac, the international oil and gas facilities service provider, announced that it has been awarded a US$543 million lump-sum contract by Kuwait Oil Company (KOC). The contract is for engineering, procurement and construction services for a new gas pipeline running from KOCs Booster Station 131 in North Kuwait to its liquefied petroleum gas plant located at the Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery. Petrofac is the main contractor and will commence work shortly, undertaking engineering design, procurement and construction, pre-commissioning and commissioning of the pipeline. The project is expected to last for 21 months.