RPT-NZ Oil and Gas says Kupe reserves increased

July 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 14 (Reuters) – Explorer New Zealand Oil and Gas said on Wednesday the estimated reserves of the Kupe oil and gas field, in which it has a 15 percent stake, have been increased.

The oil and gas explorer said its share of the additional reserves has a sales value of nearly NZ$100 million ($71 million).

The review showed gas reserves increased by 8 percent, LPG reserves were higher by 5 percent and light oil reserves were up by 27 percent.

Shares in New Zealand Oil and Gas (NZO.NZ) last traded up 1.6 percent at NZ$1.29, having fallen around 23.2 percent so far this year, compared with a 6.3 percent fall in the benchmark top 50 .NZ50 index.

The Kupe field is 50 percent owned by Origin (ORG.AX), with state-owned power company Genesis Energy holding 31 percent, NZ Oil and Gas 15 percent, and Mitsui E&P Ltd 4 percent. ($1=NZ$1.39)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

NZ Oil and Gas says Kupe reserves increased

July 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 14 (Reuters) – Explorer New Zealand Oil and Gas said on Wednesday the estimated reserves of the Kupe oil and gas field, in which it has a 15 percent stake, have been increased.

The oil and gas explorer said its share of the additional reserves has a sales value of nearly NZ$100 million ($71 million).

The review showed gas reserves increased by 8 percent, LPG reserves were higher by 5 percent and light oil reserves were up by 27 percent.

Shares in New Zealand Oil and Gas (NZO.NZ) last traded up 1.6 percent at NZ$1.29, having fallen around 23.2 percent so far this year, compared with a 6.3 percent fall in the benchmark top 50 .NZ50 index.

The Kupe field is 50 percent owned by Origin (ORG.AX), with state-owned power company Genesis Energy holding 31 percent, NZ Oil and Gas 15 percent, and Mitsui E&P Ltd 4 percent. ($1=NZ$1.39)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

PA Resources AB (publ): Final result of PA Resources rights issue

June 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

This press release may not be announced, published or disseminated, directly or
indirectly, in the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, Switzerland, Singapore or
New Zealand

For complete press release in English, please visit the company’s web site
www.paresources.se http://www.paresources.se/ .

Stockholm, 22 June 2010

PA Resources AB (publ)

Not for distribution or release, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States,
Australia, Canada, Japan, Switzerland, Singapore, New Zealand or any other jurisdiction
in which the distribution or release would be unlawful. Other restrictions are
applicable. Please see the important notice at the end of the press release.

PA Resources AB (publ) is an international oil and gas group with the business strategy
to acquire, develop, exploit and divest oil and gas reserves, as well as explore new
findings. The Group operates in Tunisia, United Kingdom, Denmark, Greenland,
Netherlands, Equatorial Guinea and the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville). PA Resources is
one of the largest oil producers in Tunisia and is also producing oil in the Republic of
Congo. The parent company is located in Stockholm, Sweden.

PA Resources’ net sales amounted to SEK 2,113 million during 2009. The company is listed
on the NASDAQ OMX Nordic Exchange in Stockholm, Sweden (segment Mid Cap) and on the Oslo
Stock Exchange in Norway (segment OB Match). For additional information, please visit
www.paresources.se http://www.paresources.se/ .

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Oman Oil Co eyes Oman oil, gas block as BG exits

June 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

MUSCAT/DUBAI, June 20 (Reuters) – State-run Oman Oil Company (OOC) is in talks with Oman’s Ministry of Oil and Gas to take on an exploration block ceded by Britain’s BG Group (BG.L), a senior Omani oil official said on Sunday.

Like most of its Gulf neighbours, Oman is short of the gas it needs to meet rapidly rising demand for industry and power. Across the region, governments have embarked on exploiting unconventional gas reserves, such as Oman’s tight gas.

The gas is in complex formations that is more expensive to produce than more conventional reserves.

“Oman Oil Company is in discussion with the ministry of oil and gas to take over the BG concession in Oman,” Nasser al-Jashmi, undersecretary for oil and gas, told Reuters.

BG pulled out of its deal to develop Oman’s oil and gas Block 60 earlier this month to focus on global opportunities elsewhere.

OOC is the government’s energy investment arm, and holds both domestic and international oil and gas assets.

It was unclear whether the government would retender the block, which BG signed up to develop in 2006, or whether it would award the acreage directly to OOC. The block covers an area of 1,500 square kilometres at Abu Butabul.

BG had planned to start gas output from the block in 2012 and has already made substantial drilling investment there.

GAS PRICE, BP

Gas prices were also a factor in BG’s decision to exit the block, one industry executive involved in the negotiations told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

The government has refused to revise a gas price agreed in 2006, he said. Without a higher gas price, it would have been hard for BG to make returns on the investment needed to produce the tight gas, he added.

British major BP (BP.L) was expected to start output from Oman tight gas fields in August, Jashmi said last month. ???? also said it would start early gas production in August from two fields in block 61. [ID:nLDE64P1E2]

BP has said early output could be between 200 million and 300 million cubic feet per day (cfd).

BP’s plans were unlikely to be affected by BG’s exit, another Omani oil official said.

“BP has different technologies, different experience,” he said. “I think it is happier too with the reserves it has in place in Oman.”

Oman has signed production sharing agreements with a number of foreign companies to boost both oil and gas production.

BG was concentrating on discoveries in Brazil, a coal bed methane project in Australia and recent acquisitions in shale gas in the United States, a BG spokeswoman said last week.

“We have decided to end our activity in Oman because we need to prioritise other opportunities across the global portfolio for development,” she said. “So we are working with the (Omani) government now to finalise our exit from Block 60.” (Additional reporting by Daniel Fineren in London; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Iran approves “peace pipeline” deal with Pakistan

June 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – Iran finalized a $7 billion “peace pipeline” deal on Sunday to export natural gas to Pakistan by 2015, Iran’s state television reported.

World

“The deal was signed. Export of Iran’s gas to Pakistan will be launched by the end of 2015,” state TV reported.

“For 25 years Iran will export one million cubic meters of natural gas to Pakistan per day,” it said.

The project is crucial for Pakistan to avert a growing energy crisis already causing severe electricity shortages in the country of about 170 million, at the same time as it confronts Islamist militancy.

Iran has the world’s second largest gas reserves after Russia but has struggled for years to develop its oil and gas resources. Iranian officials say the country needs $25 billion to develop its crucial energy industry.

Sanctions by the West, political turmoil and construction delays have slowed Iran’s development as an exporter.

The pipeline will connect Iran’s giant South Fars gas field with Pakistan’s southern Baluchistan and Sindh provinces.

State television said the pipeline was 1,000 km (620 miles) long, with about 907 km of it already built.

Dubbed the “peace pipeline,” the project has been planned since the 1990s and originally would have extended from Pakistan to its old rival, India. New Delhi has been reluctant to join the project because of its long-running distrust of Pakistan, with whom it has fought three wars since independence in 1947.

Under a deal signed in March, Pakistan will be allowed to charge a transit fee if the proposed pipeline is eventually extended to India.

The United States has tried to discourage India and Pakistan from any deal with Iran because of Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme, which the West fears is a cover to build bombs.

Iran, hit by a fourth round of U.N. sanctions on Wednesday over its refusal to suspend its uranium enrichment activities, denies any such ambitions.

(Writing by Parisa Hafezi, Editing by Paul Tait)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Research and Markets: Algeria Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts 2010 Report – Algeria is One of the Most Penetrated Mobile & Fixed-Line Markets in Africa

June 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment

DUBLIN–(Business Wire)–
Research and Markets
(http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/1ee327/algeria_telecoms) has
announced the addition of the “Algeria – Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and
Forecasts” report to their offering.

Algeria is one of the most penetrated mobile and fixed-line markets in Africa.
This annual report provides a comprehensive overview and analysis of trends and
developments in Algeria’s telecommunications market, including forecasts.
Subjects covered include:

* Key statistics;
* Market and industry overviews;
* The impact of the global economic crisis;
* Regulatory environment and structural reform;
* Major players (fixed, mobile and broadband);
* Infrastructure development;
* Mobile voice and data markets;
* Average Revenue per User (ARPU) trends;
* Fixed-line, Internet and broadband market, development and forecasts;
* Convergence (voice/data, fixed/wireless/mobile).

With a mobile penetration of close to 90% and fixed-line penetration of around
10% in early 2010, Algeria has one of the highest teledensities in Africa. It’s
relatively well developed infrastructure includes a national fibre backbone and
one of Africa’s first fibre-to-the-home (FttH) deployments. The country’s oil
and gas reserves have made it one of the wealthiest nations in Africa. However,
the market has been affected by the global economic crisis, and its recovery
will depend on a combination of regulatory and economic factors, as well as
choice of business models.

As the mobile voice market approaches saturation, subscriber growth has begun to
flatten and the attention is shifting to maintaining or improving average
revenue per user (ARPU) which has continued to decline under intensifying price
competition between the three networks: Algerie Telecoms Mobilis, Orascoms
Djezzy, and Wataniyas Nedjma. The operators have entered the underdeveloped
Internet market by launching basic mobile data services, but the licensing of
third generation (3G) spectrum is being delayed, which makes it difficult for
them to fully compete in the broadband sector.

In the meantime, fixed-line incumbent Algerie Telecom (AT) is rapidly expanding
its ADSL and WiMAX networks and upgrading its CDMA wireless local loop network
with broadband capabilities. ADSL prices are among the lowest in Africa. Several
of the country’s ISPs are rolling out their own WiMAX wireless broadband
infrastructure. The full liberalisation of VoIP Internet telephony is enabling
them to become players in the fixed voice market as well, and converged
triple-play services (voice, data and video) have been introduced.

Competition in the fixed-line sector received a setback when the second
operator, Lacom (a joint venture between Egypt’s Orascom Telecom and Telecom
Egypt) exited the market in 2008 after three years of operations, citing
regulatory barriers that made it impossible to compete with AT. The government
then announced that the national telco will not be privatised, and plans to
invest US$6 billion into its mobile, fixed and fibre networks over the five
years to 2014 as part of a US$150 billion program to upgrade the country’s
infrastructure.

This report contains an overview of Algeria’s telecommunications sector,
analysis and key statistics, profiles of the major players, and scenario
forecasts for the fixed-line, Internet and mobile market to 2012 and 2015.

Market highlights:

* One of the highest levels of mobile and fixed-line penetration in Africa;
* GDP per capita fell by more than 15% as a result of the global economic
crisis, set to recover in 2010;
* Intense price competition is driving down ARPU;
* Forecasts for mobile, fixed-line and Internet markets to 2012 and 2015;
* Profiles of major players in all market sectors;
* 3G licensing delayed further;
* Major investments in national fibre infrastructure.

Key Topics Covered:

1. Key Statistics

2. Country Overview

3. Telecommunications Market

4. Regulatory Environment

5. Fixed Network Operators

6. Telecommunications Infrastructure

7. Internet Market

8. Broadband Market

9. Convergence

10. Mobile Communications

11. Forecasts

12. Glossary of Abbreviations

For more information visit

http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/1ee327/algeria_telecoms

Research and Markets
Laura Wood, Senior Manager,
press@researchandmarkets.com
U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907
Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Copyright Business Wire 2010

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Research and Markets: Algeria Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts 2010 Report – Algeria is One of the Most Penetrated Mobile & Fixed-Line Markets in Africa

June 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment

DUBLIN–(Business Wire)–
Research and Markets
(http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/1ee327/algeria_telecoms) has
announced the addition of the “Algeria – Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and
Forecasts” report to their offering.

Algeria is one of the most penetrated mobile and fixed-line markets in Africa.
This annual report provides a comprehensive overview and analysis of trends and
developments in Algeria’s telecommunications market, including forecasts.
Subjects covered include:

* Key statistics;
* Market and industry overviews;
* The impact of the global economic crisis;
* Regulatory environment and structural reform;
* Major players (fixed, mobile and broadband);
* Infrastructure development;
* Mobile voice and data markets;
* Average Revenue per User (ARPU) trends;
* Fixed-line, Internet and broadband market, development and forecasts;
* Convergence (voice/data, fixed/wireless/mobile).

With a mobile penetration of close to 90% and fixed-line penetration of around
10% in early 2010, Algeria has one of the highest teledensities in Africa. It’s
relatively well developed infrastructure includes a national fibre backbone and
one of Africa’s first fibre-to-the-home (FttH) deployments. The country’s oil
and gas reserves have made it one of the wealthiest nations in Africa. However,
the market has been affected by the global economic crisis, and its recovery
will depend on a combination of regulatory and economic factors, as well as
choice of business models.

As the mobile voice market approaches saturation, subscriber growth has begun to
flatten and the attention is shifting to maintaining or improving average
revenue per user (ARPU) which has continued to decline under intensifying price
competition between the three networks: Algerie Telecoms Mobilis, Orascoms
Djezzy, and Wataniyas Nedjma. The operators have entered the underdeveloped
Internet market by launching basic mobile data services, but the licensing of
third generation (3G) spectrum is being delayed, which makes it difficult for
them to fully compete in the broadband sector.

In the meantime, fixed-line incumbent Algerie Telecom (AT) is rapidly expanding
its ADSL and WiMAX networks and upgrading its CDMA wireless local loop network
with broadband capabilities. ADSL prices are among the lowest in Africa. Several
of the country’s ISPs are rolling out their own WiMAX wireless broadband
infrastructure. The full liberalisation of VoIP Internet telephony is enabling
them to become players in the fixed voice market as well, and converged
triple-play services (voice, data and video) have been introduced.

Competition in the fixed-line sector received a setback when the second
operator, Lacom (a joint venture between Egypt’s Orascom Telecom and Telecom
Egypt) exited the market in 2008 after three years of operations, citing
regulatory barriers that made it impossible to compete with AT. The government
then announced that the national telco will not be privatised, and plans to
invest US$6 billion into its mobile, fixed and fibre networks over the five
years to 2014 as part of a US$150 billion program to upgrade the country’s
infrastructure.

This report contains an overview of Algeria’s telecommunications sector,
analysis and key statistics, profiles of the major players, and scenario
forecasts for the fixed-line, Internet and mobile market to 2012 and 2015.

Market highlights:

* One of the highest levels of mobile and fixed-line penetration in Africa;
* GDP per capita fell by more than 15% as a result of the global economic
crisis, set to recover in 2010;
* Intense price competition is driving down ARPU;
* Forecasts for mobile, fixed-line and Internet markets to 2012 and 2015;
* Profiles of major players in all market sectors;
* 3G licensing delayed further;
* Major investments in national fibre infrastructure.

Key Topics Covered:

1. Key Statistics

2. Country Overview

3. Telecommunications Market

4. Regulatory Environment

5. Fixed Network Operators

6. Telecommunications Infrastructure

7. Internet Market

8. Broadband Market

9. Convergence

10. Mobile Communications

11. Forecasts

12. Glossary of Abbreviations

For more information visit

http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/1ee327/algeria_telecoms

Research and Markets
Laura Wood, Senior Manager,
press@researchandmarkets.com
U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907
Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Copyright Business Wire 2010

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Clayton Williams Energy Sells North Louisiana Producing Properties for $77 Million

June 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Also Acquires Interest in Wells and Acreage in Andrews County, Texas
MIDLAND, Texas–(Business Wire)–
Clayton Williams Energy, Inc. (the “Company”) (NASDAQ:CWEI)today reported that
it had sold its interests in 22 operated and 76 non-operated producing wells in
North Louisiana to WildHorse Resources, LLC, for $77 million, based on an
effective date of April 1, 2010 and subject to customary closing adjustments.
The assets that were sold in this transaction represent substantially all of the
Company`s proved reserves in North Louisiana. None of the Company`s holdings in
South Louisiana were included in this sale. The sale transaction is not expected
to result in a significant gain or loss since the net proceeds from the sale
approximate the carrying value of the assets being sold. Proceeds from the sale
were used to repay indebtedness on the Company`s $300 million revolving credit
facility, reducing the balance outstanding on the facility to approximately $127
million on the closing date.

The Company also announced that it had recently acquired from a group of private
investors an undivided 14% working interest in 36 Company-operated Wolfberry
wells in Andrews County, Texas for $9.75 million, subject to customary closing
adjustments. This purchase increased the Company`s working interest in these 36
wells to 100%. In addition to the oil and gas reserves attributable to the
acquired interests, the Company increased its stake in approximately 5,700 gross
acres under lease in this area from 86% to 100%.

Clayton Williams Energy, Inc. is an independent energy company located in
Midland, Texas.

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section
27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934.All statements, other than statements of historical or current facts,
that address activities, events, outcomes and other matters that we plan,
expect, intend, assume, believe, budget, predict, forecast, project, estimate or
anticipate (and other similar expressions) will, should or may occur in the
future are forward-looking statements.These forward-looking statements are based
on management`s current belief, based on currently available information, as to
the outcome and timing of future events.The Company cautions that its future
natural gas and liquids production, revenues, cash flows, liquidity, plans for
future operations, expenses, outlook for oil and natural gas prices, timing of
capital expenditures and other forward-looking statements are subject to all of
the risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, incident to
the exploration for and development, production and marketing of oil and gas.

These risks include, but are not limited to, the possibility of unsuccessful
exploration and development drilling activities, our ability to replace and
sustain production, commodity price volatility, domestic and worldwide economic
conditions, the availability of capital on economic terms to fund our capital
expenditures and acquisitions, our level of indebtedness, the impact of the
current economic recession on our business operations, financial condition and
ability to raise capital, declines in the value of our oil and gas properties
resulting in a decrease in our borrowing base under our credit facility and
impairments, the ability of financial counterparties to perform or fulfill their
obligations under existing agreements, the uncertainty inherent in estimating
proved oil and gas reserves and in projecting future rates of production and
timing of development expenditures, drilling and other operating risks, lack of
availability of goods and services, regulatory and environmental risks
associated with drilling and production activities, the adverse effects of
changes in applicable tax, environmental and other regulatory legislation, and
other risks and uncertainties are described in the Company’s filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.The Company undertakes no obligation to
publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.

Clayton Williams Energy, Inc.
Patti Hollums, 432-688-3419
Director of Investor Relations
e-mail: cwei@claytonwilliams.com
website: www.claytonwilliams.com
or
Mel G. Riggs, 432-688-3431
Chief Financial Officer

Copyright Business Wire 2010

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Pakistan, Iran finalise gas pipeline deal – ministry

May 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Pakistan and Iran have finalised a deal for the construction of a much-delayed pipeline to pump Iranian natural gas to the energy-starved South Asian country, the Pakistan petroleum ministry said.

The $7.6 billion project is crucial for Pakistan to avert a growing energy crisis already causing severe electricity shortages in the country of about 170 million.

Pakistani and Iranian petroleum officials signed the agreement on Friday evening in Islamabad, the ministry said.

“The project is now ready to enter into its implementation phase,” the ministry said in a statement.

Pakistan said the first gas is scheduled to flow by the end of 2014 and expects its total cost on the project to be $1.65 billion, funded through private and state capital.

Under the deal, Pakistan will import from Iran 750 million cubic feet of gas daily for 25 years. The amount could be increased to 1 billion cubic feet a day and the deal could be extended five years if needed, the ministry said.

The ministry said the imported gas would help generate about 5,000 MW of power.

The pipeline would connect Iran’s South Fars gas field with Pakistan’s southern Baluchistan and Sindh provinces.

Iran has the world’s second-largest gas reserves after Russia. But sanctions by the West, political problems and construction delays have slowed its development as an exporter.

“U.S. OPPOSITION”

Dubbed the “peace pipeline” by the two countries, the project has been planned since the 1990s and originally would have extended from Pakistan to its old rival, India.

However, India has been reluctant to join the project given its long-running distrust of Pakistan, with which it has fought three wars since independence in 1947.

Under a previous deal between Iran and Pakistan, Islamabad holds the right to charge a transit fee if the pipeline is eventually extended to India.

The United States has tried to discourage India and Pakistan from any deal with Iran because of Tehran’s suspected ambitions to build nuclear weapons. Iran denies any such ambitions.

India has invested in civilian nuclear reactors to help fulfil its increasing energy demand. It also signed a landmark civilian nuclear deal with the United States in 2008.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan has long called for a similar deal with the United States, but Washington has been unwilling to make an agreement with its ally, which is battling an al Qaeda-linked Islamist insurgency.

(Editing by Chris Allbritton and Paul Tait)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Kimberley footprints causing a stir

April 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Woodside’s proposed $30-billion gas plant on WA’s north-west coast has been fiercely opposed by environmentalists and some Aboriginal groups.

Now palaeontologists have joined in the chorus of opposition.

They say the stretch of Kimberley coastline targeted for the development, is home to some of the world’s best preserved dinosaur footprints.

Before the backpackers arrived and the resorts were built, 130 million years ago enormous dinosaurs, such as the bony Stegosaurus, roamed the area around Broome.

“Estimates on the size of some of these animals range from between 30-40 metres, making them potentially some of the biggest dinosaurs that ever existed.”

Steve Salisbury is a palaeontologist from the University of Queensland.

He says the last remaining evidence of the creatures are fossilised footprints that stretch from Broome to James Price Point, 60 kilometres north.

Their exact location is a closely guarded secret, because the prints are highly prized on the black market, and some of the best have already been drilled out and stolen.

The problem is James Price Point is where Woodside and its four Joint Venture partners are hoping to build an LNG processing precinct, to open up the massive Browse Basin gas reserves.

That’s a big concern for Dr Salisbury.

“Given that the new gas hub is going to occur right in the middle of where they’re known, it’s going to open that area up to potentially more traffic, and potential damage to some of these trackway areas which would be a real shame.”

There is one immediate way in which the footprints could be protected.

The Kimberley is currently being reviewed for National Heritage Listing, but the draft map released last month has left out most of the Peninsula.

A local conservationist, Kerrie Marvell says she can’t understand why.

“The Heritage Council has been made aware that dinosaur footprints actually go all the way up the coast, so I wonder why they’re ignoring that fact seeing that they’re protected.”

Heritage council wants locations

The Heritage Council’s Libby Mattiske says the map is only a draft and the footprints may be included by the time it goes to the Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett for approval.

“We’re aware that the tracks exist but we do not have specific locations other than Gantheaume Point. For any locals, if anyone does have specific locations then obviously that information would be very valuable to the council members.”

It’s possible that the Heritage Listing of James Price Point could bring an end to plans to build the gas hub there.

Dr Salisbury says it’s a sacrifice worth making.

“If this is the only record we have of those sorts of dinosaurs, not only in Australia but in the world, then protecting these tracks is very important. Because if they’re washed away or even worse, destroyed by development, then that’s it, they’re gone, and you don’t get any other ones.”

Public submissions to the National Heritage Listing review close on May the 14th. A final map will be released at the end of June.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Qatar”s Deputy Premier meets Manmohan Singh

March 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Mar 23 (ANI): Qatar”s Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy and Industry, Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here on Monday.

The two reportedly discussed issues ranging from mutual cooperation to economic, commercial and energy ties between India and Qatar.

Earlier, Abdullah al-Attiyah, had said that Qatar is negotiating to supply India additional four million tonnes a year of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from 2013.

The price is yet to be decided.

India wanted to import additional 300,000 tonnes of LNG this year.

The additional supply would be imported at the Dahej terminal of Petronet LNG and the Dabhol terminal of GAIL India, which is likely to be commissioned later this year.
Qatar is already supplying 7.5 million tonnes of LNG a year.

With the third-largest gas reserves in the world, Qatar is the world”s largest exporter of LNG. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Lockerbie bomber unable to speak due to ‘deteriorating’ health

September 14, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, Sep. 13 (ANI): The Lockerbie bomber’s brother has said that Abdel Basset al-Megrahi’s health condition has deteriorated rapidly in the last 24 hours, and he is now unable to speak.

“He is at a special ward at Tripoli Medical Centre. His condition has deteriorated rapidly since yesterday. He is unable to speak to anyone. His situation is worrying. His temperature is at 39.5 degrees,” Sky News quoted his brother Abdenasser Megrahi, as saying.

Doctors treating Megrahi confirmed this.

“We are expecting the result of lab exams from Germany to arrive here before a special committee of doctors release a statement on his health circumstances,” a doctor said.

A reporter who was allowed inside Megrahi’s room said that the Lockerbie bomber was unable to speak.

“He could not utter words. He cannot speak. I was due to interview him from his hospital bed but he cannot speak to me because of the apparent sudden deterioration of his health,” he said.

Last month, Abdel Basset al-Megrahi was freed to his home country Libya after Scotland decided to release him on the grounds that he has prostate cancer and does not have long to live.

Megrahi was sentenced to life in prison in 2001 for his part in blowing up Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in December 1988, killing 270 people.

The British Government has been accused of backing Megrahi’s release in order to benefit from North African state’s oil and gas reserves.

However, the Gordon Brown Government has rejected such allegations. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Dutch want observer status in international gas forum

May 25, 2009 By 1 Comment

Dutch want observer status in international gas forum Amsterdam – The Netherlands is seeking observer status on the 14-member Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), the source of 70 per cent of the world’s gas reserves, officials said Monday.

Economic Affairs Minister Maria van der Hoeven would file a request to that effect during a visit to Qatar on June 15, her spokesperson told the daily Het Financieele Dagblad.

GECF members include Russia, Iran and Algeria.

Theoretically, the GECF could function as a cartel and determine production quota and prices. If this were to become the case, however, the Netherlands would leave the forum, van der Hoeven said.

The Netherlands, which has one of Europe’s most advanced gas pipeline networks due to its own natural gas resources, aspires to become one of Europe’s main natural gas suppliers and distributors.

The country is currently building a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) station in Rotterdam harbour from where gas could be distributed throughout Europe.

In recent months, the Netherlands has increasingly sought the cooperation of Algeria and Qatar for the purchase of gas for the new station.

Western Europe’s largest natural gas field is located in the northeastern Dutch province of Groningen. The 900-square-kilometre field was discovered in 1959.(dpa)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Russia plans to build five floating Arctic nuke stations

May 4, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Tromso (Norway), May 3 (ANI): Russia is planning to build a fleet of floating and submersible nuclear power stations to exploit Arctic oil and gas reserves.

This is causing widespread alarm among environmentalists, reports The Guardian. prototype floating nuclear power station being constructed at the SevMash shipyard in Severodvinsk is due to be completed next year.

An agreement to build a further four was reached between the Russian state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, and the northern Siberian republic of Yakutiya in February.

The 70-megawatt plants, each of which would consist of two reactors on board giant steel platforms, would provide power to Gazprom, Russia’s largest oil firm.

The building of the nuclear power stations would allow Gazprom to power drills needed to exploit some of the remotest oil and gas fields in the world in the Barents and Kara seas.

The self-propelled vessels would store their own waste and fuel and would need to be serviced only once every 12 to 14 years.

In addition, designers are known to have developed submarine nuclear-powered drilling rigs that could allow eight wells to be drilled at a time.

Bellona, a leading Scandinavian environmental watchdog group, yesterday condemned the idea of using nuclear power to open the Arctic to oil, gas and mineral production, terming it as a highly risky proposition.

Environmentalists also fear that if additional radioactive waste is produced, it will be dumped into the sea.

Russia has a long record of polluting the Arctic with radioactive waste.

Countries including Britain have had to offer Russia billions of dollars to decommission more than 160 nuclear submarines, but at least 12 nuclear reactors have been dumped, along with more than 5,000 containers of solid and liquid nuclear waste, on the northern coast and on the island of Novaya Zemlya.

The US Geological Survey believes the Arctic holds up to 25 percent of the world’s undiscovered oil and gas reserves, leading some experts to call the region the next Saudi Arabia.

The technological exploitation of the region is next to impossible due to sea ice, strong winds and temperatures that can dip to below -50C.

Russia, Norway, Denmark, Canada and the US have all claimed large areas of the Arctic in the past five years. But many countries bordering the Arctic see climate change as the chance to exploit areas that were once inaccessible and to open trade routes between the Pacific and Atlantic. (ANI)

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Germany hopes to expand energy supplies from Libya: minister

May 3, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Berlin – Germany’s economics minister announced plans Sunday to develop economic and energy ties with Libya, during a weekend visit to the north African state accompanied by a delegation of 100 business leaders. Talks focused on energy policy and infrastructure projects, the German economics ministry said.

“Libya is our largest oil supplier outside of Europe and also has large gas reserves,” Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg told the Sunday edition of German daily Bild.

“We need to diversify our energy supply and must not make ourselves dependent on individual countries,” Guttenberg said, in reference to an energy row between Russia and Ukraine that threatened European supplies at the start of the year.

Libya has recently emerged as a potential international diplomatic and trading partner, after years of isolation from western states.

Guttenberg cautiously praised the controversial Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi. “Gadaffi remains an enigmatic character, but he is taking increased responsibility, for example as the head of the African Union,” Guttenberg said.

“Some now see in him a partner in the fight on international terror,” the German economics minister added.

It remained unconfirmed whether Guttenberg would personally meet the Libyan leader during his trip.(dpa)

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Pak-Iran gas pipeline talks in final stages

February 27, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Peshawar, Feb. 27 (ANI): Iranian Consul General Muhammad Iqbal Asghari has said that talks on the Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline are in their final stages.

Asghari said the Iranian government was aware of Pakistan’s requirement of gas, had preferred to supply gas to Pakistan, rejecting Swiss and Bulgarian proposals, the Daily Times reports.

Iran boasts of having world’s second-largest gas reserves after Russia but poor management, politics and construction delays are blocking it from becoming a major exporter.

Speaking with the reporters at his residence, Asghari claimed that the people who had kidnapped Iranian diplomat from Peshawar four months ago, wanted to damage Pak-Iran ties.

Asghari said the Pakistani government should ensure safe recovery of the diplomat, adding no group had yet contacted the Iranian embassy regarding the kidnapping. (ANI)

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