Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Katare · Post by **Katare** » 30 Aug 2009 22:39

Katare · Post by **Katare** » 03 Sep 2009 22:09

RIL's gas pricing formula is pretty well designed for RIL investors. It's mostly linked to the crude oil prices, IIRC, not the world market of natural gas. Natural gas prices have gone down almost 70-80% since the formula was approved but RIL prices have stayed the same.

No floor in sight for natural gas; prices plunge

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 04 Sep 2009 23:39

A Qatar-to-India Pipeline?

Katare · Post by **Katare** » 07 Sep 2009 22:16

RIL's side of story -

'Our gas price is fair, our costs are competitive'

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 08 Sep 2009 08:38

Finally, this put end to both Pukes and Persians shenanigans.

India quits IPI gas pipeline deal: Pak envoy
http://www.thepakistaninewspaper.com/ne ... p?id=14497
TEHRAN, Sep 07: India has exited from a gas pipeline deal it earlier planned with Iran and Pakistan; a news agency reported citing a Pakistani diplomat.

‘India definitely quit the IPI (India-Pakistan-Iran) gas pipeline deal,’ the report said Sunday citing Pakistani ambassador to Iran, Muhammad Bux Abbasi.

Iranian officials, however, said India had not yet officially declared its intention.

In May this year, Tehran and Islamabad signed a $7.5-billion deal to supply gas from Iran to Pakistan.

As per the deal, Iran would initially supply 30 million cubic meters of gas per day to Pakistan which would be later increased to 60 million cubic meters per day.

Iran, Pakistan and India had conceptualised the project in the 1990s to help boost peace and security in the region, besides mitigating the power crisis.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 20 Sep 2009 10:02

Reliance turns to Cauvery Offshore once again

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has returned to the Cauvery offshore block, and officials told Business Line that the initial testing of the reservoir in the appraisal well suggests good hydrocarbon prospects.

In 2007, the company had run out of luck in CY-DWN-2001/2 (CY-III-D5), after striking oil and gas in only one out of three wells drilled.

In the fourth appraisal well that RIL began drilling in July, “an increase in thickness of the pay zone is visible,” according to the sources. Simply put, the term ‘thickness of pay zone’ indicates the quantum of oil and gas reserves available in the particular area.

Drilling is expected to be completed shortly, the sources said. “The initial testing undertaken by RIL simultaneously with the drilling activity has indicated good prospects. During the testing, officials from the Directorate-General of Hydrocarbons were also present,” the sources said.

However, the officials are cautious talking about the quantum of reserves, as an assessment on the commerciality of the find will be made after the drilling is completed, and then the find tested and appraised.

RIL had struck hydrocarbon in the first well drilled in the block but had to abandon the second well due to a technical snag. The third well was dry. The find in the first well showed that there were two oil-bearing zones. According to initial tests, in the first, RIL struck 550 barrels/day of oil and one million cubic ft a day of gas, while in the second zone, it found 31 million cubic ft a day of gas and 1,200 barrels/day of condensate.

wig · Post by **wig** » 10 Oct 2009 07:27

i wonder what is the latest on the oil reserves that are claimed to be under the deccan traps by the Indian Inst of Petroleum,
the news item is dated from 2005. is anybody aware of any progress?

Rishirishi · Post by **Rishirishi** » 11 Oct 2009 02:49

wig wrote:i wonder what is the latest on the oil reserves that are claimed to be under the deccan traps by the Indian Inst of Petroleum,
the news item is dated from 2005. is anybody aware of any progress?

It is more of a dream then reality.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 11 Oct 2009 23:21

Rishirishi wrote:
wig wrote:i wonder what is the latest on the oil reserves that are claimed to be under the deccan traps by the Indian Inst of Petroleum,
the news item is dated from 2005. is anybody aware of any progress?
It is more of a dream then reality.

Its a dream which can be turned into reality if new tech emerge to drill through the hard layers. Necessity is the mother of invention so lets not be hopeless. Other facror to watch is commercial minning of Gas Hydrates in IO supposed to start in next few years .

symontk · Post by **symontk** » 12 Oct 2009 15:25

Vietnam has great experience in the rock oil drilling
http://www.conocophillips.com/EN/about/ ... shore.aspx

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 13 Oct 2009 07:59

Poor response to NELP VIII Round

India’s largest ever auction of oil and gas blocks has received a poor response from private and global players in the hydrocarbon industry, majority of whom have preferred to stay away from bidding in the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) round VIII. None of the five top global majors, namely Exxon, Shell, Chevron, Statoil and Conoco Philips, participated with bids.

Although, the Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry had claimed good response to its roadshows across various countries, only 36 of the 70 blocks on offer attracted bids with State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and its partners bidding for 25 blocks. Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), which had won 45 blocks in the previous round of auctions, stayed away from making any bid in the lastest round except for one coal bed methane (CBM) block.

The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, V. K. Sibal, blamed the dispute between the Ambani brothers for the poor international response stating that signals were not good before such a prestigious auction.

Rishirishi · Post by **Rishirishi** » 13 Oct 2009 15:48

Is it right to blame the Ambani brothers for the lack of interest?

Neshant · Post by **Neshant** » 16 Oct 2009 07:06

i'm amazed they even have the balls to ask for aid after price gouging the world through the opec for a good 35+ years and counting.
------------

Saudis ask for aid if world cuts dependence on oil

BANGKOK — There are plenty of needy countries at the U.N. climate talks in Bangkok that make the case they need financial assistance to adapt to the impacts of global warming. Then there are the Saudis.

“This is very serious for us,” he continued. “We are in the process of diversifying our economy but this will take a long time. We don't have too many resources.”

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/bus ... 57947.html

Rishirishi · Post by **Rishirishi** » 17 Oct 2009 03:58

Neshant wrote:i'm amazed they even have the balls to ask for aid after price gouging the world through the opec for a good 35+ years and counting.
------------

Saudis ask for aid if world cuts dependence on oil

BANGKOK — There are plenty of needy countries at the U.N. climate talks in Bangkok that make the case they need financial assistance to adapt to the impacts of global warming. Then there are the Saudis.

“This is very serious for us,” he continued. “We are in the process of diversifying our economy but this will take a long time. We don't have too many resources.”

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/bus ... 57947.html

Actually they are screwed in the long run. With very high birth rate and very low productivity, the average Saudis are becoming poor. Practially all the work is done by outsiders, and they have to feed a huge population, where even the tomatos have to be imported. If they loose the oil income, they will be in serious trouble. But I hardly think anyone will feel sorry for them.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 18 Oct 2009 15:01

Rishirishi wrote:
Neshant wrote:i'm amazed they even have the balls to ask for aid after price gouging the world through the opec for a good 35+ years and counting.
------------

Actually they are screwed in the long run. With very high birth rate and very low productivity, the average Saudis are becoming poor. Practially all the work is done by outsiders, and they have to feed a huge population, where even the tomatos have to be imported. If they loose the oil income, they will be in serious trouble. But I hardly think anyone will feel sorry for them.

No one will ever feel sorry for these double dealing, price gouging, duplicitous jehadis.

But many of the oil economies have already diversified in such a way today that the large portion of their incomes is currently generated from non oil investments like manufacturing, services and real estate, with such assets in other countries. The ratio of oil to non oil revenues is decreasing fast.

kuwait and the gulf economies have intelligently used their sovereign funds to minimize the fore casted ( still a long way off) drop in oil revenues. The many trillions that is yet undoubtedly to come into their oil economies will be completely used to set up in advance the complete diversification from oil income

Many have strategic plans of acquiring food producing resources in other countries that will exclusively produce food specifically for these oil centric economies. This is already beginning to cause resentment in many quarters.

Its only a matter of time before large surplus food producing countries form cartel(s) to pay the jehadi economies in the same coin.

wig · Post by **wig** » 18 Oct 2009 16:04

there has never been any substitutue for hard work and innovations. the gulf countries that invested, "wisely" are now realising; how debt can be inflated away, by their best friends in the west!
given time, the west will inflate all the debt away!

Neshant · Post by **Neshant** » 18 Oct 2009 18:50

given time, the west will inflate all the debt away!

absolutely.

there is zero probability the debt will be worked off. that prescription is only for third world countries and enforced via the IMF/sanctions or threat of invasion.

Rishirishi · Post by **Rishirishi** » 21 Oct 2009 19:06

Neshant wrote:
given time, the west will inflate all the debt away!
absolutely.

there is zero probability the debt will be worked off. that prescription is only for third world countries and enforced via the IMF/sanctions or threat of invasion.

That is also the greates fear of China. US may simply say, we cant afford to pay back and we will not pay interest, nor will be purchase any of your goods. They can use some lame excuse like Taiwan etc.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 30 Oct 2009 05:06

India, Oman still studying undersea pipeline
We are coming back a full circle.

“According to the previous feasibility study, the gas pipeline is very costly, technically speaking. I do hope that if the technical aspects are overcome, we will be able to implement such projects. It would be good for India’s energy security. Some companies are working on it,” he said.

Analysts say the proposed 1,100-km pipeline has an extremely challenging technical dimension because at a certain point, its depth will be over 3,500 metres or four times deeper than any pipeline laid under the sea so far.

manish · Post by **manish** » 30 Oct 2009 23:24

Essar seems to be closing in on a big one - earlier reports listed interest from lots of other bidders, including some MENA biggies:
WSJ: Shell, Essar In Exclusive Talks On Refinery Sales

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB) is in talks with Indian industrial conglomerate Essar Group and no other company about its plans to sell two refineries in Germany and one in the U.K., a company spokesman said Friday.

A spokesman for Essar confirmed exclusive negotiations with Shell on the sale of the Heide and Harburg refineries in Germany and the Stanlow plant in the U.K.

"Essar has done several successful acquisitions in the last few years and continues to look for opportunities across the globe," the company said in a statement. "The move to look out for such opportunities reflects Essar's clear focus on a vertically integrated model for its various businesses in order to strengthen them."

The sale includes some local marketing operations, but not Shell's retail operations, the spokesman said. No price or timeframe for a potential sale has been agreed, he said.

According to BP PLC (BP) data, the amount of money a refiner in northwest Europe can make from refining a barrel of oil has averaged $3.23 this quarter, less than half its fourth-quarter 2008 level. However, refining margins are even worse in Asia. The average Singapore refinery has made a loss of $1.77 a barrel so far in the fourth quarter, BP data showed.

"Whether [a deal with Shell] is one step forward or one step back for Essar would depend solely on the configuration of each refinery and its valuation," said Deepak Pareek, at Mumbai-based Angel Broking.

Aren't the Gross Refining Margins in India waaay better? IIRC Reliance reported $6+ yesterday - am I mistaking the Gross Margins for Net Margins here?

Anyways, looks like Indian pvt O&G players seem to be heading overseas in a big way now. Reliance is said to be looking for refining assets in NA. Interesting times.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 01 Nov 2009 00:44

manish wrote:
Aren't the Gross Refining Margins in India waaay better? IIRC Reliance reported $6+ yesterday - am I mistaking the Gross Margins for Net Margins here?
.

Reliance buys the cheapest crude with high sulfer and refineries are designed to process such crude.
Western refineries are not designed to refine high sulfer content but only "sweet" crude.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 01 Nov 2009 01:21

Acharya wrote:
manish wrote:
Aren't the Gross Refining Margins in India waaay better? IIRC Reliance reported $6+ yesterday - am I mistaking the Gross Margins for Net Margins here?
.
Reliance buys the cheapest crude with high sulfer and refineries are designed to process such crude.
Western refineries are not designed to refine high sulfer content but only "sweet" crude.

I think that some big Indian refiners are grossly under reporting their refining margins for obvious reasons.

Posting the full article for illustration and better understanding. The article may be old but is still very informative and relevant.

ALL HAT, NO CATTLE (Iran's Mullahs, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and crude oil)
Financial Sense ^ | March 30, 2007 | Elliott H. Gue

Posted on 11/30/2007 17:32:43 by 2ndDivisionVet

"Water, water every where, And all the boards did shrink; Water, water every where, Nor a drop to drink." --Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner -----------------------------------------------------

Iran isn’t an energy-independent country.

I’m well aware that Iran produces more than 4 million barrels of oil per day, the fourth-highest production in the world. And with the near-constant reporting about Iranian crude reserves during the past six months, I find it difficult to believe that anyone could be unaware that Iran has 132 billion barrels in proven reserves--or, at least, they claim to.

But what’s often ignored is that we don't consume crude oil. You don't fill your car's tank with crude, nor is it used to power jet aircrafts, cruise ships or railway locomotives. Crude oil, in its natural state, often isn’t even that flammable; one of the first uses of crude oil was as an alternative to whale blubber in oil lamps.

The real global source of energy is refined products: gasoline (petrol), diesel and jet fuel. Crude oil is nothing more than a raw material--the feedstock used to produce these refined products.

Here's where Iran's energy equation doesn't add up. Last week, the Iranian parliament set a date for the introduction of gasoline rationing; it also announced a roughly 25 percent hike in gasoline prices. That's because the country is literally running out of gas.

The problem is twofold. First, as I've highlighted before, the Iranian government has elected the self-destructive practice of subsidizing petrol by pegging the price at 9 cents a liter (34.6 cents per gallon) for the past three years, despite the rapid rise in gasoline prices almost everywhere else around the world.

As with any good, artificially low price, it leads to excess demand and waste encouragement. Because gasoline is so cheap, consumers will use more petrol and won't take steps to conserve.

Second is the far-more-obstinate problem of refining capacity. Refiners literally convert raw crude oil into these usable refined products such as gasoline. They're the key middlemen between crude oil and actual, usable products. This crucial step in the crude oil supply chain is often ignored by the financial media.

Assuming the refineries are working properly, the total throughput of Iranian refineries is less than 1.5 million barrels of crude oil per day. And that's a big assumption; as I've stressed before, Iran has massively underinvested in the upkeep of its energy infrastructure. If refinery accidents and shut-ins are relatively common in countries like the US and the UK, you can imagine the potential if a country isn't investing sufficient cash in maintenance.

At any rate, Iran's refining capacity is no better than 38 percent of its oil production; the country can't even refine half the oil it produces. Nor, for that matter, can Iran even refine close to what it consumes.

The bottom line: Iran actually imports some 40 percent of the oil consumed domestically. Somewhat akin to Coleridge's ancient mariner, Iran is surrounded by crude oil but totally incapable of using that oil domestically.

Importing all that petrol is expensive. Iran's parliament is sensibly concerned with its domestic subsidy program and wants to limit the annual subsidy to $2.5 billion. My guess: A 25 percent price hike isn't going to fix that problem or curb Iran's dependence on foreign refining capacity.

And this isn't a problem just for Iran. When you factor the refining capacity into the global energy puzzle, the picture changes dramatically. Take Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, for example.

As part of Chavez's "Socialist Revolution," he's implicitly and/or explicitly threatened to cut off US oil supplies; Venezuela exports roughly 1.5 million barrels of oil per day to the US, including both raw crude and oil products. That puts Venezuela behind only Canada and Mexico as a source of petroleum for the American market. In the context of the current tight global crude market, this would seem to be a significant potential problem.

Chavez has, of course, followed up this rhetoric with stunts like offering subsidized heating oil to poor in the US and even getting Joe Kennedy to front that effort. He's also talked with China and the left-leaning mayor of London about ways for Venezuela to divert more of its oil to these countries and away from the US.

But it's important to understand the myriad issues with Chavez's plan. First, much of Venezuela's crude is heavy and/or sour crude. To explain, every day in the newspaper and all over the Internet we hear of crude trading at $60 or $58 per barrel as if it were just one commodity with one price. Typically, the price we hear about will be the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) futures price, which is based on the price of light, sweet crude oil.

You'll also hear talk of Brent crude, a standard for oil sourced from the North Sea of the UK and Norway. The name comes from the Brent oilfield, located northeast of Scotland's Shetland Islands.

But these are just common types of crude and certainly don't represent the current trading price of every grade of crude on Earth.

Oils are typically described based on two basic properties--specific gravity and sulphur content. Without delving into too much detail, specific gravity measures the density of a substance compared to the density of pure water. According to the standard scientific definition, the specific gravity of water is 1; if a substance has a specific gravity less than 1, it's less dense than water and will float.

To put this into context, 1 gallon (3.79 liters) of gasoline typically weighs a little more than 6 pounds (2.73 kilograms). In comparison, a gallon of fresh water weights closer to 8.3 pounds (3.77 kilograms); that means the specific gravity of gasoline is roughly 0.72 (6.0 divided by 8.3). Gasoline is less dense than water.

In the petroleum business, however, the standard scientific measure of specific gravity is altered by a standard formula to yield API gravity. (API stands for American Petroleum Institute.) API gravity moves opposite to standard specific gravity; in other words, the higher the API gravity, the "lighter" or less dense the crude oil.

Crude oils are graded by API gravity. For example, crude oils with an API gravity of more than 31.1 degrees are considered light crude oils. When you hear the term light, sweet crude on the news, that's exactly what they're talking about.

Crude oils with an API gravity of less than 21.5 degrees are, as you may have already guessed, called heavy crude oils. And crudes with a grade between these two levels are typically termed medium crude oils.

Brent crude typically has an API gravity around 38 to 39, so it's considered a light crude. The NYMEX crude oil futures contract also calls for crude with "not less than 37 degrees API gravity nor more than 42 degrees API gravity." Therefore, this futures contract is also based on light crude oil.

This measure isn’t meaningless from a refiner’s standpoint. Specifically, light crude oils are simpler to refine than heavy crude oils. That's because your typical barrel of light crude oil will tend to yield a higher quantity of useful products such as gasoline per-barrel refined.

Refining light crude into gasoline is a less-complex process than refining heavy crude. Using some more-complex processes, the gasoline yield of heavy crude oils can be increased tremendously. But not all refineries can handle heavy crude economically. That is why light crudes typically trade at a premium valuation to heavy crudes.

The second key terms to understand are sweet and sour. These terms have absolutely nothing to do with taste; rather, both terms refer to the sulphur content of the crude oil. Sweet crudes are relatively low in sulphur, while sour crudes have a higher naturally occurring sulphur content.

The bottom line about all of this is that the most-commonly quoted type of crude oil is light, sweet crude. This is also one of the most-expensive, highest-quality types of crude oil on the planet.

Standard Maya crude has an API gravity of 22 degrees and a sulphur content of 3.3 percent; it's a heavy, sour crude. The current price of Maya crude is about $45 per barrel, a whopping $11 discount to West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and closer to $14 discount to Brent. The chart below shows the difference in price between WTI crude and Maya crude over the past several years.

Here's the problem for Venezuela: The country has no alternative market to the US for much of its crude. One useful measure in this regard is a refinery's complexity index. Refineries that are able to run heavier, more-sour feedstocks are said to be more complex than refineries that can only run light, sweet crude.

There are a few different ways to measure this, but one of the simplest is to compare a refinery's conversion capacity to its total throughput capacity. Without delving into too much detail, suffice it to say that conversion capacity is what allows a refiner to process heavy, sour crudes.

Venezuela has total refining capacity of about 1.28 million barrels of crude oil per day. The country's total conversion capacity is less than 40 percent of that amount; my crude measure of complexity stands at 38 percent. Venezuela is woefully incapable of refining even a small part of its crude domestically, so it must export that oil to countries where it can be refined.

Of course, the Venezuelan government-owned oil company, doing business as Citgo in the US, owns refineries abroad--mainly in the US mainland and in the US Virgin Islands (St. Croix). Citgo either owns outright or holds a large stake in another 1.1 million barrels per day worth of refining capacity located in the US.

The complexity index for its US-based refineries stands at 83 percent. Obviously, these refineries were set up with the express purpose of handling Venezuelan heavy crude oil imports into the US market. And, as a whole, US refineries are among the most complex in the world; it's a logical importer of Venezuela's crude.

How about those other potential markets? China has total refining capacity of about 6.25 million barrels per day. But the complexity index for these refineries is only 15.5 percent; China can't adequately refine heavy crudes, so the vast majority of Venezuelan oil exports would be useless to China.

Chavez's threats ring hollow when you consider these facts. Chavez needs every ounce of oil revenue he can get to stay in power. Without his oil-funded social programs and "21st century" socialist spending, he'd likely be out of power in a matter of weeks. The fact is he's just as dependent on the US as the US is on Venezuela, perhaps even more so.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 01 Nov 2009 12:12

pandyan wrote:
Acharya wrote:Western refineries are not designed to refine high sulfer content but only "sweet" crude.
should be more like old refineries are not capable of processing heavy crude....and the only place where new refineries are popping up is in our neighborhood.

China has also upgraded its refineries to handle heavy crude and is now one of irans biggest customers.

Reliance is making a killing as always.

vina · Post by **vina** » 01 Nov 2009 13:40

China has also upgraded its refineries to handle heavy crude and is now one of irans biggest customers.

Reliance is making a killing as always.

Chetak, from what I recall, Iranian crude was historically extremely light and high quality . It is the Iraqi and later Saudi crudes at are heavier.

Venezualan crude especially the Orinoco is actually more tar /bitumen nearly than conventional crude and even pumping that kind of crude is extremely tough. For eg for the Petrozuata /PDVSA project to transport that crude via pipelines, I think they basically have a solvent to dissolve the crude and the resulting slurry pumped and the solvent extracted back and reused.

Indian traditioanlly imported Iraqi and heavier crude. I think the only Iranian involvement used to be with the Madras Refineries which (had /has some Iranian equity involvment?). But in any case after CENTO and Pakiland sucking up to Iran, geopolitics and India's traditional closeness with Iraq and Kuwait I think led to India sourcing crude from there.

Dubai futures quite Dubai light crude only. I think every other crude is is priced relative to that

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 01 Nov 2009 19:27

vina wrote:
China has also upgraded its refineries to handle heavy crude and is now one of irans biggest customers.

Reliance is making a killing as always.
Chetak, from what I recall, Iranian crude was historically extremely light and high quality . It is the Iraqi and later Saudi crudes at are heavier.

Venezualan crude especially the Orinoco is actually more tar /bitumen nearly than conventional crude and even pumping that kind of crude is extremely tough. For eg for the Petrozuata /PDVSA project to transport that crude via pipelines, I think they basically have a solvent to dissolve the crude and the resulting slurry pumped and the solvent extracted back and reused.

Indian traditioanlly imported Iraqi and heavier crude. I think the only Iranian involvement used to be with the Madras Refineries which (had /has some Iranian equity involvment?). But in any case after CENTO and Pakiland sucking up to Iran, geopolitics and India's traditional closeness with Iraq and Kuwait I think led to India sourcing crude from there.

Dubai futures quite Dubai light crude only. I think every other crude is is priced relative to that

Vina,

Iran has some good sweet crude.

But they also flog a lot of the poor quality stuff.

http://sify.com/finance/reliance-will-i ... idjje.html

Reliance will import 25% less crude from Iran
2009-02-23 17:23:00

Quote

Poor Quality

Reliance may have decided that the quality of crude from Iran was too poor to warrant the prices Tehran wanted, trade sources said.

Among the grades which Reliance has purchased were the heavy and acidic Soroush and Nowruz crudes from Iran's offshore fields. The new Jamnagar refinery can process the oil, but with a glut on the market as the global economy slows, Reliance may have opted for better grades widely available.

"Soroush has very poor qualities which reduces its attractiveness even to complex refiners like Reliance, kitted to process this type of rough material," one Asia-based crude trader said.

Politics might also have played a role in the decision, some traders said.

Also

http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article155109.ece

Iran adds to offshore stockpile
Sunday, 01 November, 2009, 05:30 GMT |
News services

Iran has earmarked more supertankers from its state-owned fleet to store grades of heavy crude in the Persian Gulf, increasing supply stored offshore to 30 million barrels, partly from an inability to sell it, prompting oil traders to speculate that Iran might shut in fields.

Oil traders say the sulphurous crude in storage, first assembled some two months ago, is from the Soroush and Nowrouz fields which for price and quality reasons the country is finding difficult to market.

“They’ve had problems selling it and it’s up for grabs probably at a discount,” Reuters quoted a shipping broker as saying.

“Some of the refiners in the eastern Med can use the crude.

“Others in the central and western Mediterranean with more sophisticated refineries won’t touch it.

“All the talk now is whether the Iranians will choose to shut in production from those fields.”

Reuters quoted one source saying there were 12 Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC) owned by the National Iranian Tanker Company around Kharg.

In addition, other sources said Iran has hired three other VLCCs from private owners, each capable of holding two million barrels for up to three months, and three Suezmaxes, each storing a million barrels for 70 days.

If all the tankers were completely full, as is widely believed, it would take storage levels offshore to some 33 million barrels, worth over $3 billion.

On top of the giant quantity of floating storage, Iran has also hired at least three private VLCCs on the spot market to ferry crude from Kharg Island to the Red Sea, some for consecutive voyages.

“Once they find buyers they funnel it up through the Suez-Mediterranean (SUMED) pipeline and sell it through Sidi Kerir to customers,” the shipping broker said.

Nihat · Post by **Nihat** » 13 Nov 2009 18:01

Dhaka to revive talks on Myanmar-India gas link

DHAKA, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Bangladesh will restart negotiations over a long standing proposal for a pipeline across its territory that would take natural gas from Myanmar to India, a senior energy official said on Thursday.

"We have received a green signal from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and forwarded the proposal to the foreign ministry to resume negotiations with New Delhi and Yangon in this regard," said Mohammad Mohsin, secretary for the energy and mineral resources division.

India has in the past proposed building the 290-km (181-mile) pipeline to import gas from Myanmar, but the proposal did not get immediate approval from Bangladesh.

"Now we have received the green signal from the head of the government to revive the discussions regarding the construction of a regional gas pipeline as it will benefit our country," Mohsin told Reuters.

Bangladesh, which faces gas shortages of up to 250 million cubic feet a day, hopes to use gas from the link and to gain from fees, the official said.

In January 2005 energy ministers of the three countries met for the first time in Yangon to discuss construction of a tri-nation gas pipeline with a total length of 950-km, and signed a draft memorandum of understanding.

The pipeline was expected to enter eastern Bangladesh through the Brahmanbaria border point and enter India's West Bengal state from the northern Rajshahi area of Bangladesh.

The draft had a provision for hydropower transit from the Himalayas to Bangladesh through India, and a corridor across India for trade between Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan.

Progress on the project has been delayed due to differences between Dhaka and New Delhi over trade and corridor issues.

India and Myanmar in 2006 considered redesigning the gas pipeline so that it skipped Bangladesh altogether.

Analysts said there were gas reserves of up to 6.0 trillion cubic feet in the blocks off Myanmar from which gas is to be transported to India.

Investors in the relevant gas fields off Myanmar include South Korean Gas Corporation (KOGAS), India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) (ONGC.BO), GAIL India (GAIL.BO) and Daewoo International (047050.KS).

If the plan is implemented, about $350 million would be invested in Bangladesh and it would expect to get nearly $100 million as a carrier fee per year, energy officials said.

Bangladesh would also get another $100 million as a one-off "right of way" charge and $25 million each year for sharing in its management, the officials said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssE...15240020091112

Katare · Post by **Katare** » 01 Dec 2009 02:27

RIL topples ONGC as largest gas producer

Neshant · Post by **Neshant** » 02 Dec 2009 07:27

Dhaka to revive talks on Myanmar-India gas link

they have wasted everyone's time in the past over the gas pipeline issue.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 04 Dec 2009 09:08

The landline through Bangladesh for Myanmarese oil&gas would not work. There is a significant opposition to any such concessions to India within Bangladesh. Instaed of wasting time, India should work on an shallow water undersea link for which Bangladesh's opposition may not be averse.

Prasanth · Post by **Prasanth** » 04 Dec 2009 19:08

The Myanmar-Bangla-India pipeline had been in the talks for almost a decade like the IPI pipeline. Now the gas had been sold to China and they are completing the Myanmar-China oil and gas pipeline. Gas from Myanmar and oil from mid-east bypassing the Straits of Malacca. The gas being sold was discovered by ONGC! I can bet with you that China is gonna make a I-P-C pipeline soon....

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 09 Dec 2009 08:10

India likely to get access to Siberia

India on Tuesday secured promises for securing hydrocarbons from several Russian oil fields.

In an unanticipated development, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s intensive engagement in the Russian capital with President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin led to understandings of immediate and long-term nature to access the vast Russian resources in eastern Siberia and far eastern Russia.

Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said Russia agreed to allow India to enter the Trebs and Titov oil fields in the Timan Pechora region.

ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) and Russia’s Sistema signed a memorandum of understanding to scout for oil and gas assets in Russia and other Central Asian countries. The Russian political leadership also gave a “very positive response” to India’s request to participate in the bidding for the lucrative Sakhalin-3 oil field.

With OVL having entered into tie-ups to study investment opportunities with Russian oil and gas giants Roseneft and Gazprom {IIRC, Gazprom of Russia and ENI of Italy conducted the joint study for undersea gas pipeline from Oman to India in the 90s. This project must be revived now.}, Ms. Rao was confident of India obtaining sourcing rights in at least some of the projects.

In the case of Sakhalin-3, Russia told India that it was yet to take a decision on allowing foreign participation. In case such a decision is taken by the first quarter of next year (when Mr. Putin will visit India), New Delhi could take a stake in the project.

amol.p · Post by **amol.p** » 09 Dec 2009 17:47

Uncertainty prevails but oil majors rush to Iraq

As multinational military forces have left Iraq, international petroleum companies have eagerly descended - seduced by the long-term potential of vast oil reserves off-limits to foreigners for decades. Yet lingering violence, legal questions and political uncertainty make doing business in this country a gamble

There was some news today that ONGC is also in bidding process.

http://www.commodityonline.com/news/Unc ... 6-3-1.html

BijuShet · Post by **BijuShet** » 11 Dec 2009 23:18

^^^^^Bad news for ONGC
ONGC loses bid for Iraqi oilfield

...It was, however, outsmarted by bid from China National Petroleum Corporation, Petronas Cargali Sdn Bhd of Malaysia and France's Total SA, sources said.

CNPC-Malaysia-Total offered to boost production from Halfaya to 535,000 barrels per day at a cost of $1.40 per barrel.

The OVL-led consortium had offered to boost output to 550,000 bpd but at a higher cost of $1.76 a barrel. Turkish Petroleum had a 50 per cent interest in the consortium, while OVL held 30 per cent.
...

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 16 Dec 2009 21:33

India to raise strategic oil reserves to 8.5mt by 2012.

India will create an additional five million tonne strategic petroleum reserve by 2012, over and above an existing reserve, to meet eventualities in case of war or natural calamities.The additional reserve would raise the country's total storage capacity to 8.5 million tonnes, enough to meet 90-days consumption, parliament was informed on Tuesday.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 17 Dec 2009 07:05

Qatar ready to consider India's fresh gas demands

Qatar has agreed to consider meeting India’s additional long-term demand for natural gas following talks between the visiting Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Murli Deora, and Qatar’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy and Industry Abullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah.

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 22 Dec 2009 08:49

Forbes:

Cairn India's Man

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 22 Dec 2009 14:36

RIL discovers gas yet again in KG basin

Reliance Industries has struck gas for the third successive time at its exploration block in the Krishna Godavari (KG) basin, the company said Tuesday.

"The deep water block KG-DWN-2003/1 is located in the Krishna basin, about 45 km off the coast in the Bay of Bengal," said RIL in a statement.

The potential of the new discovery named "Dhirubhai 44" is still being ascertained, the statement added.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 24 Dec 2009 10:02

ONGC makes two gas discoveries

Katare · Post by **Katare** » 29 Dec 2009 00:55

May God bless India with a couple of dozen more Ambanis/Reliances
RIL tests peak output capacity of KG fields

"A flow rate of 80 million standard cubic meters (the peak production envisaged from KG-D6 fields) was achieved through the KG-D6 facilities and delivered" to the pipeline, a company statement said here.

RIL, which is currently producing about 60 mmscmd gas from two of the 18 gas discoveries in the KG-D6 block, has put deep-sea production facilities to produce 80 mmscmd. These facilities were successfully tested last week.

RIL started gas production in six-and-a-half years from discovery, in comparison to the world average of 9-10 years for similar deepwater production facilities. "Continuous gas production for about 9 months, with 100 per cent uptime, once again demonstrates its flawless commissioning and execution capabilities."

Muppalla · Post by **Muppalla** » 29 Dec 2009 04:37

^^^
That was a great achievement. I never read these things in detail.