StatoilHydro submitted PDO for Yttergryta gas field

The plan for development and operation (PDO) of Yttergryta was submitted to the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy. The gas field is located around five kilometres north-west of Åsgard B in the Norwegian Sea.

Expected production from Yttergryta is approximately 1.75 billion standard cubic metres (Sm3) of gas with very low carbon dioxide (CO2) content. It will be developed with a subsea template tied back to the Åsgard B platform.

Start-up is scheduled for the first quarter of 2009. The production period will be between three to five years with a maximum anticipated production of 3.5 million Sm3 per day.

The exploration well that was drilled in June 2007 will be converted to a production well in 2008. The template for the subsea production facility has already been installed. Development costs will total around NOK 1.2 billion, including drilling expenses.

StatoilHydro is operator for Yttergryta with a 45.75% interest. The other licensees are Total with 24.5%, Petoro with 19.95% and Eni with 9.8%. The PDO for Yttergryta is a “simplified” version. The Ministry’s processing is expected to take maximum eight weeks.

DEPA says interruption of Natural Gas flow from Turkey will not affect operations

Regular natural gas shipments from Iran to Turkey will resume next week, possibly on Monday, following a same-day confirmation that gas shipments to Greece, via Turkey, from Azerbaijan have ceased as well, a negative development two months after a Turkey-Greece natural gas pipeline was inaugurated in November 2006.

Reports cited statements by Iranian officials claiming that weather conditions in Iran caused a decrease in gas shipments to Turkey and not a total interruption.

Meanwhile, other reports said Turkey will import electrical power from Greece, given that the shortage in natural gas was reportedly straining power output in the neighbouring country. According to reports, 50 percent of power generation in Turkey is fuelled by natural gas. A figure of 185 MW of imported electricity for January and February was cited.

Officials with Greece's state-run natural gas utility (DEPA) on Wednesday noted that the development will not affect the country's production, as supplies from other providers (Russia, Algeria) are uninterrupted, while reserves of liquefied natural gas (LNG) are also available from the utility's Revythoussa isle site.

In an announcement, DEPA said it is in direct contact with its Turkish partner, BOTAS, to ensure the fastest possible resumption of natural gas supplies from Turkey.

Finally, energy giant Gazprom said it increased natural gas shipments to Greece by up to 1.5 million cubic metres a day, beginning in late December, and following a request by Athens. Gazprom said it also increased supplies to Turkey last December by roughly eight million cubic metres a day.

Crosstex Energy appoints Leldon E. Echols to Board of Directors

Crosstex Energy, L.P. and Crosstex Energy Inc. announced today that Leldon (Lel) E. Echols will join the Board of Directors of Crosstex Energy GP, LLC and the Board of Directors of the Corporation to fill the vacancies created by Frank M. Burke Jr., who announced his retirement in 2007.

Burke began his board service with the Crosstex companies in 2003 and has served as chairman of the Audit Committees of both companies. A noted author on energy taxation and financial reporting for energy companies, he led the companies' development of financial reporting and audit practices during times of significant growth and change.

Echols brings 30 years of financial and business experience to Crosstex. After 20 years with accounting and consulting firm Arthur Andersen LLP, which included serving as managing partner of the firm’s audit and business advisory practice in North Texas, Colorado and Oklahoma, Echols spent six years with Centex Corporation as executive vice president and chief financial officer. He retired from Centex Corporation in June 2006. Since then, he has continued to serve on company boards, managed private investments, and pursued public service and charitable endeavors. Echols is a member of the boards of directors of another publicly traded company, Trinity Industries, Inc., and two private companies, Roofing Supply Group Holdings, Inc. and Colemont Corporation. He also served on the board of TXU Corp. where he chaired the Audit Committee and was a member of the Strategic Transactions Committee until the closing of the recently completed private equity buyout of TXU.

Crosstex Energy, L.P., a midstream natural gas company headquartered in Dallas, operates over 5,000 miles of pipeline, 13 processing plants, four fractionators, and approximately 200 natural gas amine-treating plants and dew point control plants. Crosstex currently provides services for over 3.5 Bcf/day of natural gas, or approximately 7.0 percent of marketed U.S. daily production.

NABUCCO pipeline may transport Gas from Iran in 2017

The Nabucco gas pipeline may transport gas from Iran from 2017, said Nabucco Gas Pipeline GmbH consortium head Reinhard Mitschek in an interview with Handelsblatt.

The Nabucco gas pipeline will link Turkey's borders with Iran and Georgia with Austria. The 5 billion euro EU-backed project is aimed at securing the EU's gas supply by diversifying routes and suppliers away from Russia.

"Later we could add gas from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan through the trans-Caspian pipeline," Mitschek told the newspaper. "In a next step, around 2017, deliveries from Iran, Iraq and Egypt cannot be ruled out."

The founding members of the Nabucco consortium which is to build the pipeline are Austria's OMV AG, Hungry's MOL, Botas of Turkey, Transgas of Romania, and Bulgaria's Bulgargaz.

Iran and Malaysia signed $16 billion gas deal

Iran and Malaysia signed a $16 billion agreement to develop two Iranian gas fields, state-run television reported Wednesday, describing the deal as the largest energy contract in Iran.

Iran's Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC) and Malaysia's SKS Ventures signed the multibillion dollar contract to develop Golshan and Ferdows gas fields in southern Iran.

The contract was formally signed by Ali Vakili, director of POGC, and Mokhtar Al-Bokhari, director of SKS Ventures, in the capital Tehran on Wednesday, according to the report.

Russia offers Serbia $1.5 Billion for Gas Control

Russia has offered Serbia $1.5 billion for control of its oil industry and additional deals related to a gas pipeline and a gas underground storage. The Russian government offered $750 million in cash and $750 million in investments for a majority interest in Serbia's NIS oil company, the Serbian daily Blic reported Wednesday. No international tender would be involved, Blic said quoting an unidentified Serbian government official.

The offer includes arrangements for a leg of the Russian South Stream gas pipeline, yet to be built, that would transport natural gas from the Black Sea across Bulgaria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia and on to Western Europe. The construction of large natural gas underground storage at Banatski Dvor, 65 miles north of Belgrade, is also included in the offer. The deal would give Russia full control of Serbia's gas and oil markets, Blic said.

Swedish government receives Baltic Pipeline plans

The joint venture that plans to build an underwater Baltic Sea gas pipeline from Russia to Germany on Friday handed in application documents to the Swedish government.

The move was announced shortly after members of the opposition and government held a special debate in parliament on the project.

Members of the opposition cited a recent survey by Swedish radio news that said 72 percent of the legislators that answered a recent poll opposed the envisaged pipeline through the Baltic Sea, some 10 percent were in favor while 17 percent were undecided.

The 1,200-kilometer pipeline would run from Viborg in Russia to Greifswald, Germany and was planned to pass through the Swedish economic zone, east of the Swedish Baltic Sea island Gotland.

Sweden is not dependent on Russian energy exports, but critics of the project have noted that Moscow has at times used energy as a means to gain political leverage, citing the example of Ukraine.

Nord Stream, the Russian-German joint venture, said it had submitted an application for the construction of the pipelines as well as an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report.

The group said it was willing to "discuss all relevant factual issues with authorities, organizations and citizens."

GDF-Acea JV bids for Italian gas storage facilities

Gaz de France said it is jointly bidding with Acea SpA for two former Eni SpA facilities that will be used for gas storage.

Angelo Ferrari, head of GDF's Italian operations, said the venture, in which it will have a majority stake, is interested in two exhausted gas fields at Bagnolo Mella and San Benedetto del Tronto which will be converted into storage facilities.

The Italian development ministry is selling five exhausted gas fields, formerly owned by Eni, that will be used for storage. Ferrari added that GDF is also interested in building a regasification facility off the Italian coast in the Adriatic Sea. The plant would have a capacity of 5-10 billion cubic meters, he said.

Bulgaria awards Melrose Resources rights to block Galata

The Bulgarian Government granted Melrose exploration rights to Block Galata, an exploration concession which surrounds the Melrose operated Galata producing gas field. Following the formalization of the concession award, the Company expects to reduce its working interest in the Block to around 60% in order to share the exploration drilling risks and costs.

Block Galata is prospective in a number of geologic horizons and contains three gas prospects in the same Paleocene formation as the Galata field reservoir. These three prospects have a combined unrisked reserves potential of approximately 100 billion cubic feet and are medium risk.

Jura announces the spudding of the Khanpur 2 well

Jura Energy has spudded the Khanpur 2 well today. The Khanpur 2 well is located in Block 22 in the Central Gas Basin of Pakistan and has been designed as a development well to target the Sui Main Limestone Reservoir at a depth of approximately 1162 meters; the well is expected to take 30 days to drill and will be tied-in to the existing gas processing facilities after a 4 day testing program. The rig will be moved to the Sadiq field immediately thereafter where an additional well will be drilled.

The drilling contractor is the Sichuan Petroleum Administration drilling company of China; Khanpur 2 and Sadiq 2 are the second and third wells of a three well program. The first well of the program, Hasan 3, was successfully drilled in October. Hasan 3 is scheduled to be tied-in to the processing facilities at Block 22 during the month of December.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.