Technip and Wieland sign Heat Exchanger marketing deal

Technip and Wieland have entered into an agreement to jointly market innovative enhanced heat transfer solutions for liquefied natural gas (LNG) and ethylene plants.

Developed jointly by Technip and Wieland, these solutions provide improved energy efficiency through an increase in production capacity, a decrease in energy consumption and reduced CO2 emissions.

Their primary application will be large shell and tube heat exchangers for Technip and third-party projects. Read full story here.

Gazprom says Kovykta deal with BP to be delayed

Gazprom has confirmed an agreement with UK oil giant BP PLC relating to the Kovykta gas project in Russia will not be signed on Saturday December 1st as planned.

The pair in September decided to delay the signing of the agreement, which will give Gazprom a 62.89 percent stake in Rusia Petroelum, the Kovykta field license holder, to Dec 1. They said negotiations are taking longer than expected because of the complexity of the deal, worth around US $700-$900 million.

BP to plead guilty to crimes in Alaska

The Alaska subsidiary of oil company BP PLC is scheduled to plead guilty to an environmental crime today, and federal prosecutors have released new photos showing the company's failure to clean out the pipelines at the nation's largest oil field.

BP Exploration Alaska Inc. is set to plead guilty to one violation of the Clean Water Act for a 200,000-gallon crude oil spill at the Prudhoe Bay field in March 2006, according to a filing by federal prosecutors.

The company agreed last month to pay $20 million in fines related to the spill, the largest ever in the vast, oil-rich region of Arctic Alaska known as the North Slope.The settlement was one of several struck between the oil and gas giant and federal investigators in the resolution of probes across the U.S.

BP agreed to pay another $353 million in fines and restitution over the manipulation of energy markets in the Midwest and in connection with a refinery explosion that killed 15 people in Texas.

A judge on Wednesday allowed surviving victims of the deadly 2005 plant explosion to pursue complaints about a plea agreement resulting from a federal investigation of the accident. Attorneys for the victims have argued that a $50 million fine brokered between the London-based company and the Justice Department is insufficient.

The company's plea in U.S. District Court in Anchorage will be the first time the Alaska case has come before a judge, said assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Steward. Federal prosecutors have worked in secret for 18 months to build a case against the company.

Opening the case to the public allowed prosecutors to release photos that further belie prior claims by the company.In one, a 7-inch layer of dull black sludge cakes the bottom of a pipeline. Others show workers cleaning spills off the high-grassed tundra.

For years, the company denied allegations that a culture of cost-cutting was hurting the quality of maintenance on the network of steel pipes at the 30-year old field.But after the spill in March, federal prosecutors said millions of company documents and interviews with scores of North Slope employees told a different story.They discovered a "failure to allocate sufficient resources to ensure safe and environmentally protective operation of the pipelines that leaked," according to court documents.

Prosecutors estimate the company saved $9 million by choosing not to regularly clean and inspect two of its pipelines over the course of several years, Steward said. The estimated savings represented less than half of one percent of BP''s adjusted net profit of $22 billion in 2006.

Both lines eventually leaked in 2006. The second one, in August, forced the company to halve production at Prudhoe Bay to less than 200,000 gallons a day over the course of several weeks.

Calls to BP Anchorage office were not immediately returned. The company has said it is investing heavily in upgrading its North Slope operations. BP manages Prudhoe Bay on behalf its production partners Exxon Mobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips.

AP update

ARAMCO inaugurates Medina storage site

Saudi Arabia on Nov. 26 inaugurated the latest in the Kingdom's series of strategic storage sites.

On behalf of HRH Crown Prince Sultan ibn Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Minister of Defense and Aviation, Inspector-General and President of the Saudi Strategic Storage Program, HRH Prince Abdulaziz ibn Majid ibn Abdulaziz, Amir of the Medina Area, attended the inauguration of the Medina Strategic Storage Project.

The Amir, joined by other officials and program employees, conducted an inspection of the underground facilities and heard an introduction by Usama As'ad Abu Khidr, manager of the Medina site.

The Medina site receives petroleum products from Yanbu' Refinery through a 162 km pipeline. The underground storage area includes storage caves for three types of refined, ready-to-use fuel: gasoline, jet fuel and diesel.

The site includes lubricating-oil storage, a power-generation area, a product pumping station, a service area with an underground control building and its facilities, and surface support services.

This integration between Saudi Aramco facilities and the previously inaugurated strategic storage sites in Riyadh, Jiddah and Abha have resulted in the ability to store the largest quantity of refined products underground.

In preparation for the project, the management of the Saudi Strategic Storage Program, in cooperation with Saudi Aramco and other agencies from outside the Kingdom, conducted research to determine the correct specifications for products stored underground in order to ensure quality for the longest time possible.

Results of those tests showed that stored products could maintain their specifications for more than five years.

WorleyParsons wins $80m in contracts for new ARAMCO refinery

Saudi Aramco has awarded contracts to WorleyParsons for project management, front-end engineering design (FEED) development, contract bid package development, detailed design support, detailed design package preparation, and construction management services for the Saudi Aramco East Coast Refinery Project at Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia.

The purpose of the East Coast Refinery Project is to partially meet future Kingdom demand by producing fuel oil. Major scope items include several grassroots units: 400-MBOD crude distillation unit, 210-MBOD vacuum distillation unit, 120-MBOD visbreaker crude unit, 50-MBOD continuous catalyst regenerator, 20-MBOD isomerization unit, 90-MBOD diesel hydrotreater, 30- MMSCFD hydrogen plant, 185-TPD (two trains) Sulfur Recovery Unit, 820-GPM amine regeneration unit, 225-GPM sour water stripper, and related utilities, controls, interconnections with existing facilities, flares, and tankage.

The project will begin on contract signing during the first week of December 2007 and is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2012. Saudi Aramco estimates the total cost of facilities will be approximately US$8 billion. WorleyParsons' contracts are estimated to be valued at US$ 80 million.

WorleyParsons International, Inc. will furnish Out-of-Kingdom services at its offices in Arcadia, California and Beijing, People's Republic of China. Worley Arabia will furnish In- Kingdom services at its offices in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia and at the Ras Tanura site.

Lukoil expects agreement on West Qurna Oil development

OAO Lukoil Holding, Russia's largest privately controlled oil producer, said it expects to reach an agreement to develop the West Qurna oil fields in southern Iraq soon.

Despite previous statements from the Iraqi government saying that Saddam Hussein-era contracts with Lukoil on West Qurna are canceled, the company is readying itself for exploration of the field, which may hold estimated reserves of between 11 billion and 20 billion barrels.

Officially, the company had put the project on ice until a new and long-delayed oil law is adopted by Iraq's parliament. Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs considers the contract temporarily suspended but the Iraq government has said it is canceled. Hussain al-Shahristani, the Iraqi oil minister, was reported as saying November that the field will be opened to new bidders, perhaps as early as next year.

However, Lukoil still hopes to produce crude from West Qurna.

Dow Jones Newswires

Falcon intends to complete the 3 wells in Hungary

On November 21, 2007, Falcon Oil and Gas submitted its Technical Operating Plan to the Hungarian Mining Bureau. The program will focus on the center of Falcon's basin centered gas play with the completion of the existing Mako-4, Mako-6 and Mako-7 wells. Falcon expects the testing program to commence in the second quarter of 2008 and to continue into early 2009.

Today, Falcon announced a public offering underwritten by a group led by Orion Securities Inc. and including Evergreen Capital Partners Inc., agreeing to purchase 100 million Common Shares at a price of CDN$0.40 per share for aggregate gross proceeds of CDN$40 million. Falcon intends to apply the proceeds from the financing to fund the Testing Program and to provide working capital. Closing of the offering is expected to occur on or about December 11, 2007, and is subject to certain conditions.

Falcon announced previously an initiative to identify potential strategic partners who can add value in respect of the development of its oil and gas properties in Hungary and/or in developing infrastructure and markets for the gas produced from those properties. Watch this story here.

Gazprom plans underground storage near Berlin

Russian gas monopoly Gazprom said Tuesday it had bought mining rights north of Berlin that would allow it to build Europe's biggest natural-gas storage site.

The controversial North European Gas Pipeline (NEGP), to be built under the Baltic Sea, will supply the gas from Russian gasfields. It will be injected under pressure into the rock in Germany till it is needed.

Gazprom already indirectly owns other European rock storage sites, such as that at Rehden, Germany, which stock up in summer, then pump out the gas again in winter when demand peaks.

Andreas Hieckmann, chief of the project, said in the town of Waren that German subsidiary Gazprom Germania had acquired rights to use rock layers at Hinrichshagen and Schweinrich.

One of the 650-metre-deep bodies of rock could hold 5 percent of Germany's entire annual consumption.

The NEGP, which is opposed by Poland and other nations which will be sidetracked, is set to be commissioned in 2010. The pipe will emerge from the sea at Lubmin on the coast north of Berlin.

Iranian Gas 'Irrelevant' now for NABUCCO says EU Official

The issue of Iranian gas is "irrelevant" for the realization of the planned Nabucco pipeline, according to Ferran Tarradellas Espuny, the spokesman for EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs - reports AFX News.

"Iranian gas is neither necessary nor desired for Nabucco's realization at this stage," said Tarradellas Espuny, according to a report by the Austrian press agency APA.

The spokesman said the EU Commission is convinced that the Caspian Sea region can provide large amounts of gas for the Nabucco pipeline even without gas deliveries from Russia and Iran.

The founding members of the Nabucco consortium are Austria's OMV AG, Hungry's MOL, Botas of Turkey, Transgas of Romania, and Bulgaria's Bulgargaz. A sixth partner is scheduled to be named before the end of this year.

Gazprom and BASF form gas trading unit

BASF AG and Gazprom have established Gazprom YRGM Trading within the Agreement on Share Swap between BASF and Gazprom in the authorized capital of Severneftegazprom.

Gazprom YRGM Trading will purchase gas produced in the Yuzhno-Russkoye field from Sevmorneftegaz and sell it in amount, which is proportional to a BASF AG stake in the field development project.

Pursuant to the Agreement on Share Swap Gazprom owns a 100 per cent of ordinary shares in Gazprom YRGM Trading, BASF AG holds one preferred share.

The Board of Directors includes three representatives of Gazprom and BASF, accordingly. Stanislav Tsygankov, Head Gazprom International Business Department was elected to the post of the Board of Directors Chairman of Gazprom YRGM Trading.

Iraq KRG is expected to sign 20 E&P contracts by early 2008

The Kurdistan Regional Government is expecting to sign exploration and production contracts with around 20 more companies by the first half of next year, KRG Natural Resources Minister Ashti Hawrami said Tuesday.

The new contracts would come as tension escalates in Iraq over how the country's massive oil and gas resources should be managed, with the central government - backed by the U.S. administration - pushing for more centralized control. The relationship between the autonomous Kurdish government and Iraq's federal government deteriorated yesterday as Iraq's oil minister accused the Kurds of using military force to prevent Baghdad from developing an oil field in the north of the country.

A KRG spokesman said "no one" was blocking any development in the region. Iraq Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani has called contracts the KRG has already signed with companies such as TNK BP, a Russian company in which BP Plc holds 50%, and OMV, "illegal," while Hawrami says the regional governments are allowed to sign deals under the current constitution.

"Dr. Sharistani, he is wrong, plainly wrong," Hawrami said. "We are a federal region...(he) can't do anything...we don't need his approval," he said.

Speaking at a press briefing here, Hawrami said that several of the new contracts could be signed by mid-December, following a trip to Texas. He declined to comment on which companies the KRG was planning to sign contracts with. "Significant companies are negotiating with us now," he said.

Once the contracts are all signed - doubling the number of firms currently in the Northern Iraq region - around $10 billion in exploration and production investment could lead to a boost of around one million barrels a day in the long term, Hawrami said.

The KRG was also planning for an additional $4 billion in downstream investments to help solve power and fuel shortages. Any oil produced in the region could be shipped out of the 1.6 million barrel a day Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline, but will still require an export permit, raising additional legal hurdles for the KRG and project operators.

Analysts have said that larger oil majors such as ExxonMobil and Chevron Corp. have shied away from signing deals with the KRG for fear of alienating the oil ministry in Baghdad as the central government gears up to offer contracts on some of the massive prospects in southern Iraq.

Also, the larger companies have wanted to avoid the legal quagmire that any contracts face as the country tries to establish a national hydrocarbons law. Development of that legislation - which would establish federal rules for the management of the country's resources and revenues from oil and gas - has faced tough political hurdles raised by regional and ethnic disputes.

A main point of difference between the KRG and Baghdad is that the Kurds are willing to give foreign energy companies more attractive contractual terms than Baghdad to work in the country, saying Iraq needs the investment, know-how and technology. Hawrami said the production sharing agreement model the KRG prefers for contracts will ultimately give Iraqis a better rate of return, particularly as many state-run projects are likely to run over schedule and budget, than Baghdad's desire for more national oil company control.

KRG's strategy has been to focus on second-tier companies, as larger companies haven't expressed interest in the smaller blocks drawn by the regional government. Some Iraqi government and industry officials have said they would blacklist any companies that signed contracts with the KRG. Hawrami said if Iraq could agree on the Hydrocarbon law, production could rise from its current levels oscillating around 2 million barrels a day to as much as 8 million barrels a day.

DryTree & Riser Forum: "Deeper Water - Practical Solutions"

The fourth DryTree & Riser Forum will be held in Houston, Texas this year at the Omni Houston Hotel today. As in the past, the forum is dedicated to the open exchange of ideas, best practices, and lessons learned that impact the selection and execution of deepwater drytree systems and drilling or production riser systems from floating facilities.

This year's theme, "Deeper Water - Practical Solutions", will present practical experiences relating to choices when choosing drytree production systems and deepwater riser systems. During this one-day forum, speakers and delegates will explore the technology, tools, decision-making processes, and functional requirements of the concept selection and execution employing drytrees and various riser systems.

Gazprom and Dow Chemical to establish Joint Venture

Meeting Tuesday at Gazprom's Headquarters in Moscow, Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, Dmitry Konov, President of Sibur Holding, Andrew Liveris, President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Dow Chemical Co. have signed a Memorandum of Intentions in the area of high-value added hydrocarbon processing.

The document stipulates examination of prospects to set up a joint venture based on new petrochemical production facilities of the Dow Chemical Co. in Germany, joint natural gas processing in the Valanginian deposits of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug as well as examination of cooperation opportunities in other sectors. Read the full story update here.

Occidental & OMV Boost Ties in Libyan Oil Sector

Occidental Petroleum has signed agreements with the Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC) to upgrade several of its existing petroleum contracts. The new agreements will be consistent with the newly established EPSA IV contractual framework now utilized in the Libyan oil industry.

The term of the new agreements will be 30 years. This will enable NOC and Occidental to design and implement major field redevelopment and exploration programs in these contract areas in the prolific Sirte Basin. For more details please click here.

Keppel Wins FPSO Conversion Contract from Prosafe

Keppel Shipyard, a wholly owned subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine, has been awarded a conversion contract, worth around S$100 million by Prosafe Production.

The contract, signed with Prosafe, is for the conversion of a tanker into a Floating, Drilling, Production, Storage and Offloading facility (FDPSO). This will be the world's first converted FDPSO.

Keppel Shipyard will convert a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) size tanker into an FDPSO constructed with a moonpool used for drilling purposes. It will have the drilling package modules and derrick integrated into the FDPSO. The provision of the drilling packages will be by Prosafe's client.

Work on the vessel is expected to be completed by late 2008. See more details here.

Petrom to build Romanian fuel terminal

Romanian oil and gas group Petrom is set to build a fuel terminal in Bucharest, Romania, costing €32 million.

The terminal, due to come online before 2009, will have a total capacity of 27,000 cubic metres and five multi-product loading lines for bottom and top-loading, as well as an unloading facility for 20 railway trucks.

The terminal will be provided with a vapour recovery unit, fire protection system and terminal control and tank farm management system.

Bahrain to expand supply capability by 6%

Bahrain's Oil and Gas Affairs Minister Dr Abdul-Hussain Mirza said Bahrain plans to expand production capacity and enhance import connections with Saudi Arabia through a crude pipeline.

Regional product supply capability will increase from 7.6 million b/d to 11.9 million b/d, representing an annual increase in supply of about 5.6%.

Two major campaigns have been established to attract bids from international oil companies for exploration of offshore petroleum resources and for enhancing reserves and recovery from the Bahraini offshore field.

Bahrain is investing $1.1 billion (€741,000) to modernise refinery assets to reduce the high level of sulphur content in the diesel the country produces. Bahrain's oil production is expected to be doubled by the middle of next year after the development of the oil field. Total output is to reach 70,000 barrels a day.

New joint venture to construct Antwerp terminal

Rubis, Intercontinental Terminals Company and Mitsui have announced a joint venture to construct a new bulk liquid chemical terminal in the port of Antwerp, Belgium.

The new 110,000 cbm terminal will be built for the storage and handling of liquid chemicals, gases and petroleum products.

France-based terminal operator Rubis will own 50% of the shares in the joint venture with Mitsui & Co., Europe (Mitsu) a comprehensive trading, investment and service enterprise, and Intercontinental Terminals Company (ITC), which will jointly acquire a 50% share. The company will be renamed ITC Rubis Terminal Antwerp S.A.

Fire Extinguished at North Sea Platform

Petrofac, as duty holder of the Thistle Alpha installation on behalf of Lundin Britain Limited, can confirm that following the incident this morning, 116 non essential personnel have been down manned to the nearby Murchison and Dunlin platforms.

There were originally 159 personnel on board and 43 personnel remain on the platform. All are safe and well. A fire was reported on the platform at 08.07 on November 25th in the turbine module and was confirmed extinguished at 10:45.

All relevant authorities have been notified. A full investigation as to the cause of the fire is underway.

The Thistle Alpha installation is located approximately 523 km (325 miles) north north east of Aberdeen and comprises a steel jacket supporting a three deck platform, accommodation and helideck.

Maria Hamilton, a spokesperson for Lundin Petroleum, said total oil production of the Thistle Alpha platform is 5,000 barrels a day. A spokesman at Petrofac also confirmed production at the platform has stopped completely.

Apache East Ras Budran Corp. to Abandon Egyptian Well

Regal Petroleum reports that an unsuccessful well test has been conducted in the ERB-B-1X well operated by Apache East Ras Budran Corp. LDC in the East Ras Budran ("ERB") Concession in which Regal holds a 25% working interest.

The well was spudded on October 7, 2007 and drilled to a total depth of 5,146 feet in basement, several zones in the well had oil shows and the well was subsequently tested without a productive flow of oil being achieved. The well is now being plugged and abandoned.

The ERB-B-1X well is the second of two commitment wells in the initial exploration period of the ERB Concession. An additional exploration well, ERB-B-2X, is now under consideration to be drilled in late 2007 if a suitable drilling rig can be mobilized to the area.

Sakhalin II Production Suspended

Earlier this week due to severe weather conditions production at the Vityaz complex offshore facility off the northeast Sakhalin coast was suspended and the Okha floating storage and offtake vessel was disengaged.

While preparing to re-connect the Okha over this weekend it became apparent that the Single Anchor Leg Mooring (SALM) buoy at the Vityaz complex has suffered damage. The cause of the damage is being investigated. The damage to the SALM resulted in a small release of oil into sea. Oil spill response and other vessels are at the scene to avoid the chance of further release of oil.

Yamal Gas Development to Last Over 50 Years

The development of the oil and gas fields in Russia's Yamal Peninsula and the neighboring Kara Sea will last over 50 years and cost several hundreds billion dollars, a Dutch natural gas trading company said in a presentation.

The assessment was presented Nov. 6 by GasTerra NV Chief Executive Gertjan Lankhorst during a visit to Moscow by a Dutch delegation, which also included Royal Dutch Shell PLC. The delegation made a pitch to help develop Yamal's gas resources, most of which controlled by OAO Gazprom, to officials including Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko.

"Phased development and production of the Yamal Peninsula and Kara Sea fields will happen over a time span of more than half a century," the presentation sent to Dow Jones Newswires by GasTerra Thursday, said.

"Preliminary estimates of total investments for developing the gas and oil fields and supporting infrastructure are of the order of several hundred billion U.S. dollars. The estimated undeveloped gas resource potential is over 30 trillion cubic meters, equivalent to 45 years of future gas supplies at Russia's present rate of total annual production," the GasTerra presentation said.

"Rotterdam could also become a principal destination for liquids to be exported" from the Yamal and Kara Sea fields it said. GasTerra also said Dutch experiences such as the Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij, or NAM, operations at the giant Groningen onshore gas field could be used in the Yamal project. NAM is jointly-owned by Shell and ExxonMobil Corp.

Dutch dredging contractors such as Van Oord NV or Royal Boskalis Westminster Group could also bring valued skills to the fields, it said. The Dutch proposals to help the Russian projects were made under the auspices of the Russia-Netherlands Joint Business Dialogue forum. Its energy committee is co-chaired by Lankhorst and Victor Vekselberg, an executive director at BP PLC joint-venture TNK-BP Holding.

Eni and Gazprom to Commission Study on South Stream Project

Eni and Gazprom signed another agreement related the South Stream project, in which the parties agreed to use a joint special purpose vehicle (SPV) for the commissioning of the marketing and technical feasibility studies of the project.

The new structure will be governed by a shareholders agreement. The two partners, after months of work which also involved Saipem, acknowledged the achievement of the preliminary studies and have agreed to commission the detailed feasibility work as soon as possible.

The today's agreement is a further significant step for the implementation of this strategic project for the Russian and European gas market. Eni and Gazprom, together with the Italian and Russian governments, will develop top level discussions with the governments of the transit countries of the South Stream pipeline and possible other partners in the coming months.

In its offshore section, the South Stream will cross the Black Sea from the Russian coast of Beregovaya - the same starting point of the Blue Stream pipeline - to the Bulgarian coast, with a 900-km pipeline reaching a maximum water depth of more than 2,000 meters. For the onshore section two different routes from Bulgaria are being studied: a route towards northwest and one towards southwest.

Eni and Gazprom will carry out the project using the most advanced technologies in full respect of the strictest environmental criteria. This project represents an important and substantial contribution towards strengthening the security of European energy supply.

WoodMac to Consult for UK Upgrader Project

SONHOE Development Co. has appointed Wood Mackenzie as independent consultants to investors and lenders for its Heavy Oil Upgrading Project on Teesside.

In this role, Wood Mackenzie will provide an independent opinion of the technical and commercial aspects of the project, together with an assessment of its competitive position within the peer group of European refineries and the refining super-sites currently under development in the Middle East.

Iraq Reopens Kirkuk Pipeline; Ups Oil Exports to 2M bpd

Iraq has boosted its oil exports to almost 2 million barrels a day (bpd) after reopening a pipeline to Turkey and hopes to sharply raise output in 2008, a senior oil official said.

Falah Alamri, director general of Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization, told an international security forum that exports were now about 1.8 to 1.9 million bpd, boosted by the 300,000 bpd now going from the northern Kirkuk region to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.

Alamri said that security had also improved on the southern pipeline which runs through the port of Basra but gave no details.

The northern pipeline reopened in August having been largely paralyzed by attacks and the decrepit state of Iraq's oil infrastructure since the US-led invasion of 2003.

No Impact on Physical Oil Market Yet By The French Port Strike

The brief closure of a key French port has had little impact, so far, on the physical oil market in Europe, traders and shippers said Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for the Port Autonome de Marseille said Wednesday the port is now operating normally after a four-hour work stoppage from around 0900 to 1300 GMT Tuesday.

There are "no real problems" in the movement of tankers in and out of the oil and petrochemical terminal Fos-Lavera, within the port of Marseille, according to a shipping analyst in London.

And there is sufficient tonnage of crude available in the Mediterranean basin at present to offload Aframax vessels - those with a capacity of 80,000-120,000 metric tons - to tide over any brief disruption to supply, she said.

Schlumberger Increases Holding in Framo Engineering

Schlumberger has acquired an additional 5.5% in Framo Engineering to take its holding to a majority 52.75%. Frank Mohn AS, which has been instrumental in the development of Framo to become a world leader within its main product groups, continues to hold the remaining shares. Framo is a Norwegian-based company providing multiphase booster pumps, flow metering equipment and swivel stack systems.

"Framo has long demonstrated its capacity to innovate and has now become a worldwide leader," said Imran Kizilbash, president, Schlumberger Reservoir Characterization. "We have worked closely with Framo through the 3-PHASE Measurements joint venture and our increased stake will allow us to strengthen our cooperation in the subsea technology field."

"Since 1983, we have developed unmatched technologies and experience in the subsea multiphase pumping business," added Ole G. Steine, managing director of Framo. "We see this move by Schlumberger as recognition of the high-quality solutions developed by Framo, and an opportunity for our dedicated team to continue and expand our market exposure."

Schlumberger will begin consolidating the results of Framo in the first quarter of 2008.

Aladdin to Develop Uktha Gas Discovery

Based on the reserve-and resource report for OOO Geotechnologia, published November 19th, Aladdin Oil & Gas Company has decided to develop and commercialize the gas field belonging to well 1A on the Middle Sedolskoya-license in Uktha, Russia.

The company has made it their goal to drill 2-4 wells to be used for production within the end of 2008. Each well is expected to produce 2-3 mcf (million cubic feet) per day. If the discovery proves to be close to the size that is presently expected, the drilling of additional 2-4 wells will be required in 2009. This can bring the gas production to a total of 16-24 mcf per day in this field over the course of 2009.

AOGC is negotiating with several interesting parties regarding purchase of the gas. Each gas well is expected to yield a positive cash flow of $3,000-$5,000 per day after royalty tax given today's price levels of US $55-$60 per 1000m3, and we are expecting that the commercialization of the gas discovery will significantly contribute to the production already at the end of 2008, says Espen Glende, CEO of Aladdin Oil & Gas Company.

The gas demand in the Uktha-area is expected to increase significantly ahead, among others following the construction of the world's largest aluminum plant close to the company's license. The authorities are indicating that gas prices will increase as much as by two to three times before 2010 as a harmonization towards European levels, which again indicates a possible upside for the company, says Glende.

Guidelines to Reduce Cost of Tendering Process by Oil & Gas UK

Move has been made to simplify the contracting process between purchasers and suppliers in the oil and gas industry to make major cost and time savings for both parties by eliminating duplication of effort and information.

It is anticipated the process could save up to GBP50,000 per bid, which will translate into millions of pounds a year across the industry.

Oil & Gas UK has produced new guideline documents, known as "model ITTs" (invitation to tender), providing a standard lay-out for suppliers to follow when structuring their response to a purchaser's request for services and/or equipment.

The three new model ITTs, which have been drawn up by a team which included representatives of major oil and gas operators, contractors and trade organisations, cover marine construction, topside support and well services. A document is already in operation for the drilling industry.

Ian Donaldson, chair of the Oil & Gas UK supply chain forum, said: "There are significant resources being used which are costing this entire procurement process. You have a myriad of people on the contractors' side who are viewing and trying to respond to this invitation to tender and, likewise, when the tender is received by the purchaser a myriad of people on his side trying to extract information from different areas. It is a very time-consuming and costly venture and detracts from what we should be doing, which is looking for opportunities to add value to our process.

"Now they know where to go in the document to find something and they know what it is going to say when they get there."

Saudi Aramco: 40 Deaths from Pipeline Fire

Saudi Aramco announced the final number of fatalities caused by the fire incident at the Haradh-Uthmaniyah Gas Pipeline on November 18.

A total of 40 employees were killed in the fire: five Saudi nationals and employees of Saudi Aramco; and 35 contractor employees: one Saudi national, one South African, one Nepali, 18 Pakistanis, seven Bangladeshis, and seven Indians.

Nine workers of various nationalities were injured, six of whom were treated and released.

Heerema Wins Contract for Hasdrubal A Platform

Heerema Vlissingen, one of the three construction yards of Heerema Fabrication Group (HFG) has signed an EPCI contract for the Hasdrubal A Platform of BG Tunisia Ltd. and Entreprise Tunisienne d’Activités Pétrolières (“ETAP”).

The contract between BG Tunisia, ETAP and Heerema Vlissingen comprises the engineering, procurement, construction, transportation and installation (EPCI) of the Hasdrubal A platform. This facility, consisting of a 1,000 ton jacket and a 1,500 ton topside, forms part of the Hasdrubal field development in the Gulf of Gabes, situated on Tunisia’s east coast in the Mediterranean Sea.

Shell signs MOU with Regal Petroleum for Ukraine gas

Shell Exploration & Production Ukraine Investments (I) B.V. has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Regal Petroleum plc, to acquire a 51% interest in Regal Petroleum (Jersey) Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Regal Petroleum plc indirectly holding the licences for the Mekhediviska-Golotvschinska and Svyrydivske gas fields in Ukraine.

Under the terms of the MOU, Shell would become the operator of the gas fields which are in the Dniepr Donetsk sedimentary basin where most of Ukraine's gas and condensate production is located.

Patrick van Daele, General Manager, Shell Ukraine Exploration & Production 1 LLC, commented: "The MOU is another important step in Shell's development in Ukraine. The growth potential from the Mekhediviska-Golotvschinska and Svyrydivske fields is a clear fit with Shell's strategy."

The negotiations, which are exclusive to Shell and Regal, are subject to due diligence and final transactional documentation. If successfully completed, the MOU builds on Shell's position in the Dniepr Donetsk basin.

In 2006, Shell signed an oil and gas exploration agreement with Ukrainian company Ukrgazvydobuvannya to explore eight licence areas in the Dniepr Donetsk Basin, in central-eastern Ukraine. The agreement covers an area that is thought to contain potentially significant resources of natural gas. Shell holds a 50% interest in the JAA covering these licences (excluding the producing fields) in exchange for a commitment that comprises acquisition of seismic data and drilling of deep exploration wells over a three-year timeframe.

Shell has a downstream presence in Ukraine through a joint venture established in August 2007 with OJSC Alliance Group to operate a network of approximately 150 Shell-branded retail sites in Ukraine. Shell has operational control with 51% share and Alliance a 49% share in the newly established joint venture.Shell is also a supplier of gas in Ukraine, via Shell Energy Ukraine LLC.

BP Starts Producing at Mango Field Offshore Trinidad

BP has begun natural gas production from the Mango field located offshore Trinidad. Production started on the evening of November 17, 2007. The field, in the South East Galeota Block, was first discovered in 1971 and further appraised in 2000.

The Mango field is 35 miles south east of Galeota Point in water depths of some 235 feet (72 meters). BP Trinidad and Tobago (bpTT) holds a 100 percent interest in the field.

The field has been developed using a single unmanned platform with a capacity to produce from nine wells. Gas is exported through a new subsea four-mile 26-inch diameter pipeline tied into the current Cannonball pipeline and then to the Cassia B gas processing hub.

Gas from Mango will supply Atlantic LNG's liquefaction plant for export as LNG to international markets, as well as the domestic market. During operations, the field is expected to add an incremental 750 million standard cubic feet a day of gas deliverability plus some associated condensate.

Turkey signs power deal with Iran

Turkey today signed an agreement with neighbouring Iran for joint power production projects despite US pressure against investment in the Islamic republic.

Energy Minister Hilmi Guler played down US discontent with flourishing energy cooperation between its NATO ally Turkey and Iran, saying more agreements would be concluded in the coming days. 'The signing (of agreements) will continue. Our efforts are continuing,' Guler told a joint news conference with his Iranian counterpart Parviz Fattah after the two signed the power production deal.

Fattah also hailed the improvement of Turkish-Iranian economic cooperation. 'Our improving ties may annoy some circles but they will harm no one,' he said through an interpreter. 'They have to accept that.'

Today's agreement foresees the joint construction of three thermal power plants -- two in Iran and one in Turkey -- with a capacity of 2,000 megawatts each, as well as several hydroelectric plants in Iran with a total capacity of 10,000 megawatts, the Anatolia news agency reported.

Under the deal, transmission lines between Iran and Turkey will be upgraded and expanded within a year. 'After we enhance the lines, both countries will take as much power as they need,' Guler said.

Public and private companies will be involved in the project, whose cost will become clear early next year after technical work by the private sector, he said.

Sinoenergy Opens First CNG Station in China

Sinoenergy Corp. says it has opened its first compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel filling station at Xuancheng City, China. The station has gas capacity of 10,000 cu meters/day—enough to fuel 300 taxies or 150 buses per day. Sinoenergy says it has two additional CNG facilities under construction that are expected to be operational in January 2008.

Bahrain Refinery gets upgrade

Bahrain's Minister of Oil and Gas, Abdulhussain bin Ali Mirza, has said the Bahrain Refinery is to undergo significant expansion, reported the Bahrain Tribune.

All of the refinery units will be replaced, while new pipelines will be laid to transport crude from Saudi Arabia. The refinery, which has a capacity of 250,000 barrels per day, is the oldest in the GCC and takes 17% of its oil from the Bahrain Field.

Abu Dhabi to Decide on Ruwais Upgrade Next Year

Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., the U.A.E.'s main crude oil producer, may decide next year whether to go ahead with the multi-billion-dollar upgrade of its Ruwais refinery, a company official said Monday.

The plans to expand the 420,000-barrel-a-day refinery and integrate it with a major petrochemicals complex are presently being studied by Adnoc's refining subsidiary Takreer, the official, who declined to be named, told Zawya Dow Jones.

A final investment decision may be made in 2008, as it is difficult to predict project cost at this stage. If the project goes ahead it would see the country's largest refinery being integrated with several petrochemical units as part of Abu Dhabi's plans to broaden its industrial base.

"We have ambitious plans to expand the petrochemicals sector in this country," the official said.
Abu Dhabi Polymers Co., a joint venture between Adnoc and Vienna-based Borealis, is already operating petrochemical facilities at Ruwais, an industrial area located some 240 kilometers west of Abu Dhabi city.

Countries like Oman, Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. are developing domestic petrochemical industries to diversify their economies away from oil and to create jobs for their young and growing populations. Cheap gas has made Persian Gulf countries an attractive destination for investments in petrochemical industries, which are booming on the back of high global demand, especially from fast-growing markets in Asia.

A second refinery project, to be carried out by Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment Co., or IPIC, in the U.A.E. emirate of Fujairah has been delayed after ConocoPhillips (COP) recently dropped out due to rising cost. Project costs in the Middle East have soared as governments are spending their oil revenues on building and expanding industries and infrastructure, leading to a shortage of contractors, raw materials, equipment and qualified labor, which in turn has driven up prices.

The Fujairah refinery was originally anticipated to cost about $5 billion to build but industry estimates earlier this year put the price tag at more than double that amount.
Takreer will implement a scheduled maintenance program at the Ruwais refinery between Dec. 22 and Feb. 25, Adnoc said in September.

Chevron and MIT launch energy research initiative

Chevron and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have launched a five-year global energy research program to develop remote, ultra deepwater exploration and production technology.

The $5-million program will focus on developing the technologies required to access hydrocarbons in water depths up to and greater than 3,000 m (9,842 ft). "The need for affordable, sustainable energy is one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century," says Ernest Moniz, director of the MIT Energy Initiative. "Conventional oil and gas supplies will play a critical role in meeting global energy demand for at least the next several decades, and advanced technologies are essential for producing these essential resources in environmentally sensitive ways."

"Developing remote, ultra deepwater reserves is one of the greatest challenges the industry faces as we seek to meet the world's growing demand for energy," says Don Paul, VP and CTO of Chevron Corp.

Imtech Wins Order for Spain Refinery Expansion

Cepsa recently designated Imtech N.V. its technology partner for the expansion of its La Rabida refinery in Spain's Huelva province. The order is worth approximately 55 million euro.

Imtech will be responsible for implementing the complete mechanical solutions for the expansion, which include: new crude and vacuum units, a Gascon unit and dozens of very large pressure vessels. Imtech will provide detailed engineering, project management, planning and execution for the entire processing system, piping, all metallic structures and static and dynamic components of the extension of the production plant. The company will produce some of the required materials at its "mechanical shop" in the Huelva branch.

The initial activities are already underway. Imtech expects to spend more than two years on this project, with an average of 400 people per month working on it. In combination with other current activities for Cepsa, such as long-term maintenance contracts for the Cepsa refineries in Algeciras and Tenerife, this order makes Imtech the primary subcontractor working for Cepsa.

As a result of the expansion, Cepsa's production capacity in Huelva will double to approximately 10 million tonnes of ready-to-use diesel products.

Nakilat and Qatargas name four LNG carriers

Qatar Gas Transport Co. (Nakilat) and Qatargas Operating Co. Limited (Qatargas) named four Q-Flex liquefied natural gas carriers at a number of ceremonies held in South Korea.

CB&I Acquires Lummus Global

CB&I has completed the acquisition of the Lummus Global business from ABB. CB&I shareholders approved the transaction at a special shareholder meeting in Amsterdam on Friday.

28 killed in Saudi Arabia Gas Explosion

An explosion and fire killed 28 people working on a natural gas pipeline in eastern Saudi Arabia on Sunday, the Saudi national oil company, Saudi Aramco, said.

The company said that the cause of the fire was an accident during maintenance work, and that it did not expect a disruption in gas supplies. The fire broke out just after midnight while contract workers were linking a new pipe to the line, Aramco said. “The company is taking all necessary measures to guarantee the continuation of the normal gas output,” it said.

It said 28 workers, including five Aramco employees, had died in the fire, which was put out earlier today. The company did not specify how many people had been injured in the blaze some 18 miles from its Hawiyah gas plant, or give the victims’ nationalities.

“This is purely maintenance-related,” a Saudi oil ministry adviser said, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the delicacy of the matter.

An Aramco official contacted by phone by The Associated Press declined further comment.

Greece and Turkey inaugurate joint gas pipeline

Greece and Turkey today inaugurated a pipeline that will pump natural gas from the Caspian Sea to Europe, easing the continent's dependence on Russian energy supplies and boosting ties between old rivals.

Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and Tayyip Erdogan, his Turkish counterpart, shook hands in a symblic meeting on a bridge over the river Evros which separates the two countries.

"We are forming a bridge as an energy transit country," Erdogan said in a speech at a ceremony held at Ipsala on the Turkish side of the border.

The project marks another step forward in boosting ties between two former foes, creating energy partners out of two NATO members who came close to war as recently as 1996.

"It is a great step forward for relations bewteen the two countries and for stability in the region. By cooperating we can build a better future for all," Karamanlis said, reiterating his country's support for Turkey's bid to join the European Union.

Greece and Turkey, still divided over territorial disputes in the Aegean sea and the island of Cyprus, agreed in 2004 to build the 285 km (177 miles) gas pipeline between Karacabey in northern Turkey and Komotini in Greece.

The pipeline will eventually carry around 12 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas a year -- 3 bcm for Greece and the rest for re-export to Europe -- from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field.

The European Union is backing the Greek-Turkish project as it seeks to diversify its energy suppliers and reduce its natural gas dependence on Russia, from where it buys about a quarter of its gas.

"Turkey is moving fast to become the fourth energy supply route for natural gas to western Europe. There is a mutual dependence in energy policies which will help create a favourable atmosphere," Erdogan said.

Greece is already forging ahead with an extension of the pipeline to run from its west coast, under the Adriatic sea to Italy, giving central Europe much-needed access to natural gas from the Caspian sea by 2012.

A much bigger, 31-billion-cubic-metre capacity pipeline, the Nabucco, backed by the EU and designed to ease the bloc's dependence on Russian gas, is still in the planning. It is designed to cut through the Balkans to Austria.
(Reuters)

Cameron Names Moore to Board

Cameron has elected Jack B. Moore to the company's board of directors.

Moore, 54, has been president and chief operating officer of Cameron since January 2007. He previously served as president of the Drilling & Production Systems organization (formerly the Cameron division), having been named to that position in July 2002. He joined Cameron in July 1999 as vice president and general manager, Western Hemisphere, after 23 years with Baker Hughes Incorporated, where he held a variety of marketing, manufacturing and human resources positions.

Moore holds a BBA degree from the University of Houston and is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. His election increases the size of Cameron's board to eight members.

Sole Baltic Refinery Resumes Production

Mazeikiu Nafta, the only refinery in the Baltic States, has completed a turnaround and resumed refining operations.

Lukoil Awards Foster Wheeler CFB Contract for Romania Refinery

Foster Wheeler Ltd. announced that a subsidiary of its Global Power Group has been awarded a contract for a 70 MWe (gross megawatt electric) circulating fluidized-bed (CFB) steam generator by Lukoil Energy & Gas Romania s.r.l., a subsidiary of Lukoil OAO. The new combined heat and power plant will be located in Lukoil's oil refinery in Ploiesti, Romania.

Foster Wheeler has received a full notice to proceed on this contract. The terms of the contract, which were not disclosed, will be included in the company's fourth-quarter 2007 bookings.
Foster Wheeler will design and supply the CFB steam generator and auxiliary equipment for the boiler island. The plant will be designed to burn petcoke and up to 20% heavy fuel oil. Commercial operation is scheduled for early in 2010.

"We are very pleased to be given this opportunity by Lukoil, one of Russia's largest vertically integrated oil companies," said James E. Stone, president and chief executive officer of Foster Wheeler Power Group Europe. "The award is further evidence that the fuel flexibility of CFBs appeals to clients globally across a full spectrum of power generation needs in a wide variety of utility and industrial applications."

Iraq's Kirkuk Term Deals Signal Rising Confidence

Iraq expects to sign in January more long-term oil contracts with customers for its Kirkuk crude, signaling the war-torn country's rising confidence it can boost and sustain shipments from the north.

Repsol, Gas Natural Claim Damages Over Gassi Touil Decision

Repsol YPF SA and its 30 percent-owned affiliate Gas Natural SDG SA are claiming at least 400 mln usd in damages from Sonatrach over the Algerian state-owned group's decision to kick the Spanish partners out of the Gassi Touil LNG project, Expansion reported, citing unnamed energy sector sources.

When Sonatrach announced its decision to go it alone with the project, it blamed Repsol and Gas Natural for delays and cost overruns in the construction of the gas terminal, due to begin shipping LNG in 2009.

The Spanish companies said it rejected the Algerian move to "illegally appropriate the project," noting that it would appeal the decision via international arbitration.

According to Expansion, the case is now with an arbitration court in Geneva. It noted that Sonatrach has also put in a claim for damages with the United Nations Commission for Commercial Rights.

The original agreement included a penalization clause for some US$24 million if the Gassi Touil project was halted.

Saudi Aramco Announces Jan. IPO for PetroRabigh

Saudi Aramco is preparing to offer 219 million shares in an upcoming IPO for PetroRabigh, the joint-venture project with its Japanese partner, Sumitomo Chemical.

Iraq Oil Pipeline Set Ablaze by Bomb

Iraqi insurgents blew up a roadside bomb under an oil pipeline in the central province of Salahudin on Saturday.