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Russian oil company Tatneft says it’s considering a return to Libya.

Russian state-controlled oil company Tatneft said it’s planning to resume operations in Libya, which were idled at the onset of the Libyan revolution in 2011. Tatneft in February 2011 suspended geological exploration in Libya as civil war began. Staff were returned in February 2013, but later pulled out of the country following an October 2013 attack on the Russian embassy in Tripoli. The company, in its latest financial report, said it’s been working since last year to return to work in Libya. "Starting in February 2013 the group has been working to resume operations in Libya, including returning staff to Tripoli and continuing supplier negotiations," the company said . "The group expects to re-launch its operations in Libya in 2014." Tatneft’s Libyan subsidiary operates in central Libya through a bilateral exploration and production sharing agreement with the National Oil Corp. of Libya. Internal conflicts have […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oman Eyes Minority Stake in India LNG Project

Oman is in talks with India to buy a minority stake in Petronet LNG Ltd. ‘s planned liquefied natural gas terminal off India’s east coast, the middle-eastern nation’s oil and gas minister said Wednesday. Mohammed Bin Hamad Al Rumhy told reporters on the sidelines of an event that Oman wants to buy a 10% to 20% stake in the 5 million tonne a year LNG terminal at Gangavaram, in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The stake could be bought through an investment or pension fund, he added. "Petronet’s track record in the terminal business is attractive……..There are synergies (as well)," he said. Indian state-run companies Corp. , Indian Oil Corp. , Bharat Petroleum Corp. and GAIL hold a 12.5% stake each in Petronet. French power company GDF Suez owns 10% and the Asian Development Bank another 5.2%. The rest is held by public, insurance companies and mutual funds. […]

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Seesi in Egypt Savior Role Carries Burden of Hope Amid Blackouts

Egyptians look at a row of portraits of deputy prime minister Abdel-Fattah al-Seesi supporting him to run for presidency in the upcoming elections, in Alexandria. Another evening, another power cut at Raouf Fayez’s jewelry store in Cairo’s sprawling Shoubra neighborhood. Flanked by darkened shops, his window display is empty of the gold ornaments that Fayez hasn’t felt safe showcasing since the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak . Overlooking the scene from a poster on a neighbor’s balcony is the man who Fayez hopes can finally make it all better: Abdel-Fattah al-Seesi, who shed his military uniform last week […]

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Nigeria: Fuel Scarcity Looms As Warri Refinery Shuts Down

The nation’s pioneer crude oil refining plant, Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company (WRPC), has again been shut down. LEADERSHIP learnt that the plant was shut down last Friday following some operational challenges, especially at some of its strategic units. It was learnt that hitches with some major units, particularly Fluid Cracking Catalyst (FCC), regarded as heart of refining operation, Topping and Reforming units, made the shutdown of the plant inevitable. Findings showed, for instance, that Catalyst, a feedstock of FCC unit, was in short supply while there was a haulage crisis at Topping Unit (TU), whose fate was said to have impacted the Reforming Unit (RU). The latest development coincided with the vandalisation of the pipeline which conveys crude oil from the various fields of Chevron Nigeria Ltd (CNL) in Escravos to Warri and Kaduna refineries. The pipeline, known as System 2C, is reported to have been ruptured by […]

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Growing service sector won't avert China slowdown

A robust services sector will not stop China’s economy from slowing into the middle of the year, analysts said after modest government stimulus was seen as a signal authorities want to steady growth to keep their reform drive on track. Two surveys on Thursday showing growth in the service sector offered some relief after a run of disappointing data this year, but did little to alter the view that the world’s second-largest economy has lost more momentum than expected in 2014. On Wednesday, the government said it would accelerate construction of rail projects and cut taxes for small firms, the first concrete action this year to boost activity. "The scale of the stimulus is modest, likely aimed at smoothing GDP growth at around the 7.5 percent target, rather than another round of massive stimulus," HSBC economists said in a report. The targeted moves showed authorities wanted […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Growing service sector won’t avert China slowdown

A robust services sector will not stop China’s economy from slowing into the middle of the year, analysts said after modest government stimulus was seen as a signal authorities want to steady growth to keep their reform drive on track. Two surveys on Thursday showing growth in the service sector offered some relief after a run of disappointing data this year, but did little to alter the view that the world’s second-largest economy has lost more momentum than expected in 2014. On Wednesday, the government said it would accelerate construction of rail projects and cut taxes for small firms, the first concrete action this year to boost activity. "The scale of the stimulus is modest, likely aimed at smoothing GDP growth at around the 7.5 percent target, rather than another round of massive stimulus," HSBC economists said in a report. The targeted moves showed authorities wanted […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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China Considers More Electric-Car Incentives: Official

China may exempt electric-car buyers from paying purchase taxes as part of expanded state measures to bolster sales of such vehicles after past incentives failed to spur demand, Vice Premier Ma Kai said. The government may cut or waive the 10 percent auto-purchase tax for new-energy vehicles — China’s term for electric cars, plug-in hybrids and fuel-cell vehicles — and slow down the reduction of government subsidies beyond 2015, according to comments from Vice Premier Ma Kai posted on the Chinaev.org website. Ma also urged local governments to help companies develop electric-car rental services. Shares of BYD Co. (1211) , China’s biggest maker of electric cars, rose in Hong Kong trading amid mounting signs the government is stepping up efforts to fight the thickening pollution that’s choking its people. Last month, Premier Li Keqiang declared war on smog and Hangzhou became the sixth Chinese city to impose restrictions on […]

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Asian Gas Demand Spawns Floating Superfactories

A rendering of Prelude, which when completed is expected to be the largest floating structure ever built. High costs are driving energy companies into the sea. In an effort to cut expenses, an increasing number of natural-gas producers are planning to pack entire gas-production plants onto superships bigger than aircraft carriers instead of building expensive land-based industrial complexes. These huge floating gas factories are creating a multibillion-dollar market for Asian shipyards, especially South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. , Samsung Heavy Industries Co. and Co. The new fleet of floating liquefied natural-gas vessels, or FLNGs, also demonstrates how the global race to provide cheaper gas supplies to Asian economies is pushing the boundaries of technology in the oil-and-gas sector. Oil-and-gas exploration is going deeper and farther into the oceans, and the size of gas discoveries is shrinking, making it more economical to build a single floating facility and move […]

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Golfers to Indiana Jones Choke on Smog From Sumatra Fires

As smoke from Indonesia ’s burning forests drifted across the Strait of Malacca into Singapore last June, the pollution index shot up and Ong Eng Tong’s golf course shut down. “Once the PSI reaches 150 or 200, they have to close,” said Ong, a 71-year-old independent energy consultant. His Singapore Island Country Club was overwhelmed as the Pollutant Standards Index surged on June 21 to a record 401, a “hazardous” reading in a city averaging less than 50 on most days. “I stayed indoors and turned on the air-con.” This year may be worse, stoked by drought and El Nino. Backed by activists including Harrison Ford, Singapore is pushing fines for culprits overseas. Even Indonesia is faulting last month’s local response to blazes that sickened 50,000 in Sumatra, where fires are set to turn forests into crop fields. Burning in the region’s peatlands emitted as much […]

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Old Math Casts Doubt on Accuracy of Oil Reserve Estimates

Jan Arps is the most influential oilman you’ve never heard of. In 1945, Arps, then a 33-year-old petroleum engineer for British-American Oil Producing Co., published a formula to predict how much crude a well will produce and when it will run dry. The Arps method has become one of the most widely used measures in the industry. Companies rely on it to predict the profitability of drilling, secure loans and report reserves to regulators. When Representative Ed Royce, a California Republican, said at a March 26 hearing in Washington that the U.S. should start exporting its oil to undermine Russian influence, his forecast of “increasing U.S. energy production” can be traced back to Arps. The problem is the Arps equation has been twisted to apply to shale technology, which didn’t exist when Arps died in 1976. John Lee , a University of Houston engineering professor and an authority on […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple