English Edition

Russia Not Planning To Raise Oil, Gas Taxes For Several Years

Πεμ, 28 Ιουνίου 2012 - 18:21

Russia is facing a slowly declining output of oil, its main source of the foreign income, as companies are reluctant to invest in largely untapped fields in the Arctic and in Eastern Siberia. However, Russia has introduced tax breaks for the companies ready to explore oil and gas offshore, mostly in the Arctic, which has already resulted in three major international deals with Russia's state-controlled oil company OAO Rosneft

Gazprom: Ebitda May Fall 10% On Mineral Extraction Tax Increase

Πεμ, 28 Ιουνίου 2012 - 16:21

Gazprom's earnings before taxation, interest, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, may fall 10% due to the increase in Russia's mineral extraction tax, deputy board chairman Andrei Kruglov said, Interfax news agency reported Thursday

BP-led Shah Deniz Selects Nabucco West as 2nd Caspian Pipeline Option

Πεμ, 28 Ιουνίου 2012 - 16:01

BP PLC and its partners in the Shah Deniz gas field have selected the Nabucco West pipeline concept over the BP-backed South East Europe Pipeline as one of the two final options to be considered when the consortium decides on a route to pipe Caspian gas to Europe next year. Nabucco West will now be paired off in a two-horse race with the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, known as TAP, for the right to export gas from the giant Shah Deniz development offshore Azerbaijan. A final decision is due in 2013

Saipem Wins $1 Billion Onshore Contracts in Saudi Arabia, Nigeria

Τετ, 27 Ιουνίου 2012 - 19:45

Saipem SpA , Europe's biggest oil services company by market value, Wednesday said it had won onshore engineering and construction projects worth a combined $1 billion in Saudi Arabia and Nigeria. In a statement, Saipem said the Saudi deal was for the expansion of the integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex in the city of Rabigh on the Western coast

Strike Cuts 15% Of Norway Oil Output, 7% Of Gas Output

Τετ, 27 Ιουνίου 2012 - 19:44

A Norwegian oil workers' strike has shut down 240,000 barrels a day, or 15%, of the country's oil production, and 11.9 million cubic meters a day, or 7%, of its natural-gas output, the Oil Industry Association told Dow Jones Newswires Wednesday, a significant cut which could push oil prices upwards. The strike was launched Sunday, due to a disagreement about an early pensions deal. Some 700 oil workers on four different offshore installations, including the Heidrun and Oseberg platforms, are now striking

Total Starts Production at Iraq's Halfaya Oil Field With PetroChina, Petronas

Τετ, 27 Ιουνίου 2012 - 19:37

French oil giant Total SA said Wednesday it has started production at Iraq's Halfaya oil field as part of a consortium led by operator PetroChina, with partners Petronas Caligari and the Iraqi state partner South Oil Company. The company said that production should reach, in its first phase, an average of 70,000 barrels of oil a day

Gazprom Sees No Grounds To Review Prices For Ukraine

Τετ, 27 Ιουνίου 2012 - 19:35

Russian gas giant OAO Gazprom sees no reason to review gas prices for Ukraine, the company's head Alexei Miller told reporters Wednesday, Interfax news agency reported. "The prices are absolutely the same as they are on the market. I may say that for Ukraine the prices are much lower than for a number of European countries," Mr. Miller told journalists in Kiev

BP to Double Down on Gas Pipelines to Europe, Despite Rising Costs

Τετ, 27 Ιουνίου 2012 - 17:34

BP PLC is set to invest in two pipeline projects aimed at carrying Caspian natural gas to Europe, in a sign the oil giant is doubling-down on its involvement in the Shah Deniz project despite a projected 25% rise in costs. U.K.-listed BP leads Shah Deniz 2, a consortium of companies developing a giant gas field in Azerbaijan's chunk of the Caspian basin, a project that the European Union sees as key to its energy security because it will start relieving the bloc's dependence on Russian imports

New EU Sanctions Will Hurt Nuclear Talks - Iran

Τρι, 26 Ιουνίου 2012 - 17:04

New European Union sanctions that are due to come into effect against Iran on Sunday will hurt negotiations over the country's nuclear program, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said. "Actions that are against the agreements between Iran and the P5+1 will have a negative impact on reaching an acceptable resolution," he told reporters on Tuesday in his regular weekly briefing

Potential U.S. Oil Boom Shakes Up Energy Politics

Τρι, 26 Ιουνίου 2012 - 17:02

Energy has already been a key feature of the presidential campaign so far, even if gasoline prices fell from their springtime peak. Barack Obama has given his "all-of-the-above" energy speech all over the place; Mitt Romney has prominently toured the new American oil patch to assail the Obama administration's policies. There's that Solyndra case. And Mr. Romney's own solar push as governor. Political fact-checker types have a macro installed for debunking specious claims about energy

Turkey, Azerbaijan To Sign TANAP Pipe Pact Tuesday

Τρι, 26 Ιουνίου 2012 - 16:47

The Trans-Anatolian natural-gas pipeline project, which has supplanted the European Union-backed Nabucco proposal as the leading contender to carry Caspian gas to Europe, will be endorsed by the Turkish and Azeri leaders at a signing ceremony later Tuesday, the office of Turkey Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement

Hague: Full Iran Oil Embargo Will Take Place July 1

Δευ, 25 Ιουνίου 2012 - 17:40

U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague confirmed Monday the full European Union oil embargo on Iran will come into effect July 1. Speaking after EU foreign ministers discussed the measures at a meeting in Luxembourg, Mr. Hague said: "We have also confirmed the detail of the sanctions being imposed on Iran. "Those come into full force...on July 1, which is this Sunday," he told reporters

Cnooc: Seeking Foreign Firms to Jointly Operate Nine Offshore Blocks

Δευ, 25 Ιουνίου 2012 - 17:39

China National Offshore Oil Corp. said Monday that it's making nine offshore blocks in the South China Sea available for joint operation with foreign companies. The blocks, in water 300-4,000 meters deep, cover an area of 160,124.38 square kilometers, the company said in a statement on its website. Seven blocks are located in the Zhongjianan Basin and two in areas covering parts of the Wan'an and Nanweixi basins, the company said

Egypt's Morsi Vows Stronger Ties With Iran

Δευ, 25 Ιουνίου 2012 - 17:38

Egypt's Islamist president-elect, Mohamed Morsi, has pledged to strengthen ties with Iran to build a "strategic balance in the region," according to an interview excerpt given by Iran's Fars news agency Monday. "Part of my agenda is the development of ties between Iran and Egypt that will create a strategic balance in the region," Morsi, who comes from Egypt's long-repressed Muslim Brotherhood, was quoted as saying

Crude Falls on Renewed EU Worries

Δευ, 25 Ιουνίου 2012 - 17:35

U.S. crude futures slumped Monday along with global stock markets and the euro, as investors grow skeptical that a European Union summit will help stem the continent's debt crisis. Light, sweet crude for August delivery recently traded $1.02, or 1.3%, lower at $78.74 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange for August delivery traded 72 cents lower at $90.26 a barrel

Japan, Russia Agree to Back LNG Export Terminal at Vladivostok

Δευ, 25 Ιουνίου 2012 - 17:34

Japan and Russia agreed to build a liquefied natural gas plant at Vladivostok in a deal signed Sunday. Japan's Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yukio Edano, whose portfolio includes energy, signed the memorandum of understanding with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic cooperation forum