http://www.oilandgasinsight.com Oil and Gas Insight RSS Feed from Business Monitor International en Copyright 2013, Business Monitor International Ltd Sat, 14 Sep 2013 06:30 GMT Sat, 14 Sep 2013 06:30 GMT AFP RSS Generator At the end of 2006, Royal Dutch Shell was compelled to reduce its stake in the landmark Sakhalin-II venture in Russia's Far East from 55% to 27.5%, thus handing over control to Russian gas monopoly Gazprom . http://www.oilandgasinsight.com/file/162022/The-End-Of-The-Beginning.html Thu, 04 Jan 2007 00:00 GMT Spain's Repsol has been awarded three offshore exploration licences in Tunisia, the country's Ministry of Industry said on July 6 2011, Reuters reported. http://www.oilandgasinsight.com/file/161988/Repsol-Widens-North-Africa-Portfolio-With-Offshore-Tunisian-Blocks.html Thu, 07 Jul 2011 00:00 GMT oday's vote for Germany's next president is widely perceived as a vote of confidence for the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel, which has been subjected to chronic coalition infighting and falling approval ratings. Should the conservative government's candidate, Christian Wulff, state premier of Lower Saxony, fail to obtain the 623 votes needed for an outright majority in the Federal Convention, this could severely undermine Merkel's status as leader of the Christian Democrats and as chancellor. http://www.oilandgasinsight.com/file/161987/Merkel-Needs-A-First-Round-Victory-For-Christian-Wulff.html Wed, 30 Jun 2010 00:00 GMT BMI View: A small Chinese company, Chzhunnen Oil Exploration, has generated much excitement in in Kyrgyzstan after making a small oil find. While this find has encouraged some to speculate about the country's hydrocarbons potential, BMI urges caution, given mixed results in the past, and the country's poor - though slowly improving - risk environment. http://www.oilandgasinsight.com/file/161975/Cautious-About-Foreign-Investment.html Thu, 10 May 2012 00:00 GMT BMI View: Chinese President Xi Jinping's summit with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin has produced remarkable results - not only has Russia agreed to double its crude oil supply to China, progress is finally being made in bringing the two countries closer towards a gas supply agreement. Also on the table during the summit is Chinese involvement in Russia's upstream segment - both onshore and offshore in the Russian Arctic, to which access has been elusive for non-Russian state-owned companies. For China - one of the world's largest energy consumers - and Russia - one of the world's largest energy producers - there is a harmony of interests to bring the two into closer cooperation. However, these agreements are also as much about politics as they are about economics, and reflect the primacy of political concerns in these countries' decisions regarding policies towards the oil and gas industry. http://www.oilandgasinsight.com/file/160038/Moving-Closer-To-The-East.html Tue, 26 Mar 2013 00:00 GMT Rosneft's unilateral move to push forward with a LNG export project at Sakhalin is an overt challenge to Russia's restrictive gas export policy, which reserves gas export rights solely for Gazprom. The need to support state coffers with revenues from gas sales could force the government to relent on its position in order to expand Russia's presence in the growing Asian LNG market, though any liberalisation of its gas export policy will likely be limited in the short-term. http://www.oilandgasinsight.com/file/160037/Rosneft-Ups-The-Ante-On-LNG-Export-Policy.html Thu, 18 Apr 2013 00:00 GMT BMI View: Uganda's decision to accept plans for a smaller refinery project is a victory for Total and its partners, whose upstream development plans had previously been held hostage to an agreement to invest in a 200,000b/d refinery. http://www.oilandgasinsight.com/file/160036/Refinery-Compromise:-A-Small-Victory-For-Upstream-Development.html Tue, 16 Apr 2013 00:00 GMT BMI View: Protests and militant clashes only reinforce our forecast for limited gains in Libya's oil production. While the country has abundant untapped below-ground potential, above-ground risks -reflected in political uncertainty, growing willingness by oil sector workers to disrupt operations to push for better compensation, and a poor security environment - remain the most compelling trends in our outlook for the country's oil sector. http://www.oilandgasinsight.com/file/160034/Protests-Clashes-Underscore-Forecast-For-Limited-Gains.html Mon, 08 Apr 2013 00:00 GMT The dismissal of Treasury Minister Mikolaj Budzanowski for failing to prevent state-owned PGNiG from agreeing to study the expansion of the Yamal-Europe pipeline with Gazprom highlights the political opposition within Poland to increasing Russia's gas supply options into Europe. This could thwart Russia's plan to preserve its gas dominance in Europe. http://www.oilandgasinsight.com/file/160035/Yamal-Europe-2-Faces-Political-Test.html Mon, 22 Apr 2013 00:00 GMT BMI View: ExxonMobil and BHP Billiton are turning to the floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) option to monetise gas from the large but remote Scarborough field. It is a testament to the growing appeal of FLNG - a view we had previously highlighted- which could prove to be more cost effective and help companies hedge against the risks of cost blowouts that are becoming increasingly frequent in Australia's LNG development. Such plans could face local opposition, however, as investment could bring minimal economic benefits to the local community. http://www.oilandgasinsight.com/file/160033/Scarborough-Supports-FLNG-Take-Off.html Wed, 03 Apr 2013 00:00 GMT BMI View: Kuwait may be set to join its other resource-rich neighbours and bid to explore its shale gas potential. Given a preference for reserving oil for export rather than power generation, new supplies of gas will be needed; unlocking unconventional deposits would reduce the country's import burden, which is currently set to grow over our forecast period. http://www.oilandgasinsight.com/file/160032/Shale-May-Help-Stem-Growing-Gas-Shortfall.html Mon, 15 Apr 2013 00:00 GMT Sinopec subsidiary Sinoangol's interest in offshore acreage in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of São Tomé and Príncipe is welcome news amid exploration challenges and the withdrawals of foreign players which have seen the country's hopes of oil production dashed. Sustaining interest from larger players will be key to delivering long-delayed first oil from the prospective, but unproven, waters of the island nation. http://www.oilandgasinsight.com/file/160031/Sinopec-Asks-For-Acreage-As-Islands-Continue-Oil-Hunt.html Mon, 22 Apr 2013 00:00 GMT Petronas' plan to expand its domestic LNG production capacity is indicative of a shift towards LNG within its portfolio as it seeks to capture the opportunities afforded by expected growth in the global LNG market. Its limitations lie in the availability of gas to feed its LNG plants, though results from exploration appear to be supportive of this domestic expansion. http://www.oilandgasinsight.com/file/160029/Petronas-Gambles-On-LNG.html Tue, 16 Apr 2013 00:00 GMT Myanmar's auction of 30 offshore blocks promises to be a success, while at the same time, neighbouring Bangladesh's most recent offshore round failed to attract more than two bidders. Although, Bangladesh has since entered a process to revamp its production sharing contract (PSC) model, we do not believe that this overhaul will be sufficient to overcome Myanmar's supremacy in terms of its above-ground business environment competition. Myanmar benefits from better licensing terms, a greater commitment to transparency and stronger investor sentiment due to an anticipated economic boom. http://www.oilandgasinsight.com/file/160030/Above-Ground-Competition-Pushes-Regulatory-Overhaul.html Mon, 22 Apr 2013 00:00 GMT BMI View: A recent Black Sea exploration deal between Turkey's TPAO and Royal Dutch Shell, as well as the state-owned company's stated intention to conduct exploration and production (E&P) activities across several African states, underscores Turkey's push towards raising production volumes both at home and abroad in order to bring more balance to the country's energy landscape. http://www.oilandgasinsight.com/file/160028/Expanding-The-Search-For-Greater-Production-Volumes.html Wed, 20 Mar 2013 00:00 GMT