Energy

Amec in running for Gulf's £40bn nuclear project

Amec, the British engineering giant run by Samir Brikho, has emerged as a leading contender to manage the £40 billion United Arab Emirates nuclear programme.

The FTSE-100 company is on a shortlist of nine for the role of managing agent. This would involve overseeing the technical design, construction and operation of around 14 nuclear facilities planned in the Gulf state.

Total set to sign Iraq oil field deal-CEO

Total Chief Executive Christophe De Margerie said the company is ready to sign an oil field deal with Iraq, one of six major new contracts marking the return of Western firms.

Iraq is negotiating six short-term service contracts with international oil companies, each contract worth about US$500 million and aimed at boosting production by 100,000 barrels per day. Five of the deals under discussion are with oil majors Royal Dutch Shell, Shell in partnership with BHP Billiton, BP and Exxon Mobil, plus Chevron and Total.

Lamprell says wins US$186m Scorpion job, its biggest

UAE-based oil services firm Lamprell announced its biggest-ever contract, a US$186 million drilling rig job that allows its Oslo-listed Scorpion Offshore client to offer deeper drilling in more remote areas.

Lamprell said it won the job, due for delivery in two years, from Riginvest, which had exercised an option transferred to them by Norwegian oilfield services group Scorpion Offshore.

UAE group seeks to build oil refinery in central Vietnam

Al Tamouth Investments LLC, a big group with great competence and experience in petrochemical investment of the United Arab Emirates, has recently proposed a plan to build a petrochemical plant in central Binh Thuan province.

The plant, which is expected for construction in local Son My industrial park, will import oil and gas from overseas countries.

NoozzVIEW; King pledges more oil

In a gesture likely to be warmly appreciated by oil consumers around the world (between 30 to 60 consumer countries are understood to have made requests to Riyadh), Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has further enhanced his reputation as a diplomat and voice of sanity in the frenetic world of oil politics by pledging to raise oil production to record levels within weeks.

In a move designed to avert an escalation of social and political unrest around the world, the King informed South Korea’s UN Secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, that next month, the Saudis will be pumping an extra 500,000 barrels of oil a day, compared to May.

Chinese firm starts drilling for oil in Harir

As negotiations between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Baghdad's central government continue to solve disputes over foreign oil contracts, a Chinese company specialised in drilling for oil continues work in the Harir area of Kurdistan which is located in the Harir valley in Irbil governorate.

Abu Dhabi's Taqa plans US$5bn in deals in 2008

State-controlled Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. said it expects to announce four new transactions worth around US$5 billion this year including a joint venture with a major US utility.

The company, better known as Taqa, would use a US$1.13 billion bond sale announced this month to pay down existing facilities and finance acquisitions and might seek further financing later in the year, Chief Executive Officer Peter Barker-Homek told reporters in Abu Dhabi.

Dolphin Energy and ADNOC sign 25 year gas system lease agreement

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Dolphin Energy Limited signed a long term agreement for Dolphin to lease and operate ADNOC’s Eastern Gas Distribution System (EGDS) in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. This well-established pipeline network will be managed by Dolphin Energy for 25 years.

Finland, Bahrain to build base oil joint venture

Finland's biggest refiner Neste Oil Corporation said in a statement that the company will make a joint venture with Bahrain's oil companies to build a lubricant base oil facility in Bahrain.

Nigeria signs gas exploration deal with Indian, Bahrain firms

Oil- and gas-rich Nigeria has signed a deal with two foreign firms to explore its huge gas resources and shore up its foreign earnings, the gas minister said.

""We want gas resources to develop our resources, our economy and power. Since there are a lot of gas resources, we need the appropriate approach to explore them,"" Olatunde Odusina said at the ceremony. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed with an Indian consortium and Remington International Resources based in Bahrain.

News Analysis: Backlash over gas exports to Israel

The opening of a pipeline that will supply Israel with natural gas from the Sinai has provoked a public opinion backlash in Egypt, prompting the government to announce it would re-negotiate the sale price for the gas.

News of the fifteen-year US$2.5 billion deal has been public since 2005 but a tightening world energy market and the parties’ refusal to disclose the price Israel is paying have fuelled concerns among an Egyptian public still deeply ambivalent about doing business with Israel. While the deal is likely to go forward following re-negotiation, the episode is a stark reminder that business ties between the two countries involve political dimensions that are impossible to ignore.

Spain ready to provide UAE with solar and wind energy technology

Minister of Economy and Finance at the Government of Aragon, Spain, Laraz Filitta said his country was prepared to provide the UAE with solar and wind energy technology. In a statement, the minister said the UAE's participation at Zaragoza International Exhibition 2008 on 'Water and Sustainable Development' will further promote UAE-Spanish relations.

He said Spanish companies specialised in emission-free energy production is in cooperation with Masdar, The Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, on producing clean energy as well as on the construction of a planned zero-carbon city.

New US$500m Islamic energy fund

Bahrain-based Islamic investment bank, Global Banking Corporation (GBCorp) has launched a US$500 million energy-investment vehicle to identify and structure investments in global energy infrastructure, oil and gas and power sectors.

The Global Energy Financial Services Company was floated in partnership with global project finance advisor, Taylor-de Jongh and the new entity plans to fund transactions worth US$300 million in the near future. Target sectors range from upstream exploration and production to natural gas processing, refining, petrochemicals, oilfield services, power generation and related infrastructure.

Kuwait eyes Shell, Dow Chem for China refinery JV

Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) is considering Royal Dutch Shell and Dow Chemical Co as possible partners in a refinery it intends to build as a joint venture with Sinopec in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, a senior KPC executive said.

Abdullatif Al-Houti, KPC's managing director for international marketing, said Sinopec would have 50 or 51 percent of the Nansha refinery, which would have a capacity of 250,000 to 300,000 bpd.