Turkmenistan raises huge gas field reserve estimate
UK firm Gaffney, Cline and Associates audited the field in 2008 and has said it contained between 4 and 14 tcm of gas, making it one of the five largest deposits in the world.
"Today the maximum estimate has risen to 16 tcm," Deputy Prime Minister Baymurad Khodjamukhamedov told an energy conference, adding the review followed drilling at the field.
He did not say whether the minimum estimate had been changed.
The former Soviet republic signed contracts worth $10 billion with China's CNPC, South Korea's LG International and Hyundai and UAE's Petrofac Emirates last year to develop South Iolotan.
But the companies work under so called "service contracts," where they provide services such as building processing plants in exchange for fixed fees and do not get a share of output.
Foreign firms have long eyed South Iolotan and other potentially lucrative onshore Turkmen fields, looking to get development rights under production sharing agreements (PSAs).
However, Turkmenistan says it will retain all onshore deposits and only offers riskier offshore blocks for PSAs.
"To make sure all of you are aware of this and there is no misunderstanding... Turkmenistan today invites foreign companies only to provide services (onshore)," Khodjamukhamedov said. "We offer offshore blocks under PSAs."
Analysts say this policy limits foreign investment in Turkmenistan but the government forecasts large capital inflows.
Yagshigeldy Kakayev, the head of state agency for hydrocarbon resources told the same conference Turkmenistan expected to attract $60 billion in investments into offshore Caspian production in the next decade.
Turkmenistan produces about 75 billion cubic metres of gas a year and plans to triple output by 2030. It exports gas to Russia, China and Iran.
Turkmenistan has said it could supply gas for the planned Nabucco pipeline that would go to Europe bypassing Russia but that would require a new link across the Caspian.
Reported by Cristina Gallardo, write to cristina.gallardo@ordons.com
Kazakhs open probe against BG, Eni venture
Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan's financial police accused a consortium led by BG and ENI on Friday of earning $708 million illegally in 2008 by producing more oil and gas than originally agreed with the state.
"...A criminal case has been launched," Rustam Ibraimov, deputy head of the Kazakh financial police, said in a written response to Reuters questions. The consortium could not be immediately reached for comment.
Reported by Cristina Gallardo, write to cristina.gallardo@ordons.com
Kazakhstan
Tethys Petroleum Ltd. reported encouraging reservoir parameters at its
AKD01 (Doris) oil discovery
By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Feb. 24 ? 
reported encouraging reservoir parameters at its AKD01 (Doris) oil discovery on the Akkulka block in the Ustyurt basin in Kazakhstan and plans at least two appraisal wells.
The Cretaceous sandstone at 7,126-52 ft has permeability in excess of 1.7 Darcies and a large investigated distance of more than 6.25 miles and a connected volume of 29 million stb in place. The dolomite zone at 7,724-64 ft has 700 md permeability, and consulting engineers interpreted the existence of a similar zone in a previously drilled well more than 10 miles west.
Tethys has chosen the first appraisal well location and plans to shoot 3D seismic over the discovery and shoot targeted 2D seismic lines to firm up other potential in the area. The company has identified several other prospects that appear similar to Doris.
Tethys is moving the rig to a prospect called Daphne in a similar structural position 31 miles northwest to spud in late April targeting Cretaceous, Jurassic, Triassic, and Permo-Carboniferous intervals.
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Chevron opens wallet for Tengiz 
Monday, 25 January 2010 20:36 News wires
Houston. TengizChevroil, the Kazakh oil venture led by Chevron, plans to invest $15.2 billion to boost oil output at the country?s largest producing field from 2016, KazMunaiGaz National Company said.
The venture plans to increase oil production at the Tengiz field to 36.4 million metric tonnes per year after 2016, KazMunaiGaz boss Kairgeldy Kabyldin said, according to a speech posted on the company?s website today.
The government?s cost and production estimates exceed that given by TengizChevroil, which in October said it may spend $10 billion to increase oil output at the onshore field by about 12 million metric tonnes by the end of 2016.
TengizChevroil boosted production 30% last year to 22.53 million metric tonnes, the Atyrau-based venture said on 15 January.
Svetlana Kairgalieva, a spokeswoman for the venture, declined to immediately comment for a Bloomberg story.
The venture will boost gas output to 20 billion cubic metres compared with 11.7 billion cubic metres it produced last year, Kabyldin said in the speech, which he read to a government meeting on 15 January.
The company re-injected 1.8 billion cubic metres of gas last year, which will rise to 8 billion from 2016, Kabyldin said.
The venture?s oil output is expected to total 640 million tonnes from 2016 to 2032, Kabyldin said.
San Ramon, California-based Chevron holds 50% of TengizChevroil, ExxonMobil has 25%, state-run KazMunaiGaz owns 20% and Lukarco has 5%.
Reported by Cristina Gallardo, write to cristina.gallardo@ordons.com
HOUSTON, Dec. 9 ? Guernsey, Channel Islands, UK, won an extension of the Akkulka exploration contract in Kazakhstan until Mar. 10, 2011, which will allow further testing of deep and shallow prospects.
AKD01, the company?s first deep exploration well on the block, went to TD of 11,200 ft and found two zones interpreted to contain movable hydrocarbons.
The lower zone, a dolomite of Jurassic age, has yielded 1,500 bbl of 45-48° gravity oil in an unspecified period and appears regional extensive. The zone is interpreted to have 27 ft of net pay with 16.9% porosity. It unloaded fluid on cleanup at a rate above 1,000 b/d but was unable to sustain continuous flow and is to be acidized.
The upper zone is interpreted to be a clean sandstone of Lower Cretaceous age with 29 ft of net pay of 23% porosity. No hydrocarbon-water contact is observed. It is to be tested after the lower zone and placed on long-term production test.
Analysis of seismic data shot by the company, other recently reprocessed seismic data, and data from the AKD01 well has resulted in a new interpretation of the AKD01 structure giving a most likely area of 60 sq km.
Meanwhile, gas is ready to be produced from the Central Akkulka shallow gas field, second phase of the Kyzyloi-Akkulka gas development when officials approve the contract and technical problems with an underground storage field are solved.
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Total podpisał porozumienie z KazMunaiGazem
(Piotr Apanowicz) - 06-10-2009 12:17
Francuski koncern Total, wspólnie z GdF Suez, przejmie od kazachskiego KazMunaiGazu 25 proc. udziałów z złożu Kwalińskoje na Morzu Kaspijskim.
Total ogłosił podpisanie porozumienia o partnerstwie z firmą KazMunaiGas, w sprawie rozwoju pola Kwalińskoje, zlokalizowanego na terenie Morza Kaspijskiego przy granicy Kazachstanu i Rosji.
Operatorem pola zawierającego kondensat gazu jest rosyjski Łukoil (50 proc. udziałów). Pozostałe 50 proc. do tej pory należało do KazMunaiGazu, teraz Total i GdF Suez przejmą od tej spółki 25 proc. udziałów (przy czym Total będzie miał 17 proc., a GdF Suez 8 proc. udziałów).
Produkowany na tym polu gaz będzie transportowany do Rosji. - Ta umowa pozwoli nam zacieśnić stosunki z KazMunaiGazem, z którym współpracujemy w projekcie Kaszagan w Kazachstanie - powiedział Yves-Louis Darricarr?re, szef działu poszukiwania i wydobycia w koncernie Total.
Materiał z portalu www.wnp.pl. Polskie Towarzystwo Wspierania Przedsiębiorczości 1997-2009
Nafciarze chcą od Kazachstanu zwrotu 1,4 mld dol. podatków
- 23-09-2009 06:03
Zachodnie koncerny w londyńskim arbitrażu domagają się, by władze Kazachstanu zwróciły im 1,4 mld dol. podatków od eksportu ropy i opłat za korzystanie ze środowiska - informuje portal "Gazety Wyborczej".
Spór z zachodnimi nafciarzami ujawnił we wtorek kazachski minister ds. energii Sauat Mynbajew. Powiedział, że zwrotu podatków domaga się konsorcjum, które eksploatuje pola ropy naftowej Karaczaganak. Tym konsorcjum kierują brytyjski koncern BG i włoski Eni, a należą do niego również amerykański Chevron i rosyjski Łukoil.
Materiał z portalu www.wnp.pl. Polskie Towarzystwo Wspierania Przedsiębiorczości 1997-2009
Turkmenistan nie wznowi dostaw gazu do Rosji
- 13-09-2009 18:21
Prezydentowi Rosji Dmitrijowi Miedwiediewowi nie udało się w niedzielę podczas wizyty w Turkmenistanie osiągnąć porozumienia w sprawie wznowienia dostaw turkmeńskiego gazu, które wstrzymano w kwietniu.
Miedwiediew i turkmeński prezydent Kurbankuły Berdymuchammedow nie ustalili ram czasowych ponownych dostaw gazu do Rosji, wstrzymanych na skutek sporu związanego z wybuchem w głównym gazociągu.
Uszkodzenie naprawiono, lecz dostawy nie zostały wznowione. Strony nie mogły się porozumieć co do przyczyn wypadku i kosztów likwidacji jego skutków.
Duża część turkmeńskiego gazu ziemnego docierała poprzez Rosję do Europy.
Stosunki między obu krajami ucierpiały od czasu, kiedy Turkmenistan oskarżył Rosję, że wstrzymuje import gazu, bo rosyjski monopolista Gazprom odczuwa zmniejszony popyt na gaz w Europie. Aszchabad oświadczył wówczas, że będzie szukać alternatywnych tras eksportu. Eksport gazu, a także ropy i bawełny, przynosi znaczną część wpływów do budżetu Aszchabadu, w wysokości miliarda dolarów miesięcznie.
W niedzielę kremlowski doradca ds. polityki zagranicznej Siergiej Prichodźko powiedział dziennikarzom, że firmy rosyjskie i turkmeńskie spotkają się wkrótce, by sfinalizować sprawy terminów i cen.
"Większość kwestii technicznych, dotyczących rurociągów, została rozwiązana. W najbliższych tygodniach Gazprom skontaktuje się z turkmeńskimi władzami, by porozumieć się w sprawach parametrów i dalszej współpracy" - poinformował Prichodźko. Zapytany, czy dyskutowano datę wznowienia dostaw gazu, odparł, że "takich zadań (przed rozmowami) nie ustalano".
Awarie rurociągów i wybuchy na terytorium byłych radzieckich republik są dość częste, ze względu na wiekowość infrastruktury, ale rzadko się zdarza, by przywracanie ich sprawności trwało dłużej niż tydzień.
"Co do likwidacji (skutków) tego wypadku, chcę powiedzieć, że (państwowy koncern turkmeński) Turkmengaz zrobi sobie przerwę w kontaktach z Gazpromem" - powiedział w niedzielę Berdymuchammedow Miedwiediewowi.
Turkmenistan podjął już działania, by wyjść z cienia Moskwy, i zaproponował sprzedaż gazu Chinom oraz alternatywnym rurociągiem Nabucco Europie. Ale zanim zacznie się budowa nowego rurociągu omijającego Rosję, Aszchabad potrzebuje wsparcia ze strony rosyjskiej, by zachować płynność budżetową.
Obaj przywódcy uczestniczyli w niedzielę w podpisaniu porozumienia w sprawie projektu bloku 21 nad Morzem Kaspijskim z rosyjską firmą gazową Itera. Szef Itery Igor Makarow powiedział, że jego firma zainwestuje miliard dolarów w wydobycie, do spółki z rosyjskim państwowym koncernem naftowym Zarubieżnieft.
W sobotę prezydent Berdymuchammedow oświadczył, że zasoby gazu, jakimi dysponuje jego kraj (czwarte co do wielkości na świecie), są wystarczająco duże, by wysyłać ten surowiec planowanym gazociągiem Nabucco, co mogłoby zmniejszyć uzależnienie Zachodu od importu z Rosji.
Agencja Associated Press wskazuje, że wypowiedź Berdymuchammedowa oznacza poparcie dla omijającego Rosję projektu Nabucco, popieranego przez Stany Zjednoczone i Unię Europejską. Nabucco, projekt międzynarodowego konsorcjum z siedzibą w Wiedniu, ma od 2014 roku transportować gaz kaspijski i z Bliskiego Wschodu, zmniejszając zależność Europy od surowca z Rosji. Za konkurencję dla tego przedsięwzięcia uważany jest rosyjski gazociąg South Stream, który ma dostarczać do Europy gaz z Rosji, biegnąc pod dnie Morza Czarnego, a potem przez kraje Europy Południowej.
Materiał z portalu www.wnp.pl. Polskie Towarzystwo Wspierania Przedsiębiorczości 1997-2009
Kazakhstan
By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Sept. 8 ? UK independent Tethys Petroleum Ltd. said drilling reached 11,200 ft in what is interpreted to be Triassic at AKD01, its first deep well in the Akkulka Block in southern Kazakhstan.
The well has targets in the Cretaceous-Jurassic sequence and Triassic. Hydrocarbon indications were observed on electric logs of the upper part of the interval as well as while drilling, the company said.
Independent petrophysical analysis confirmed the interpretation of movable hydrocarbons in at least two zones in the Lower Cretaceous-Jurassic interval that may contain oil and-or gas-condensate.
Large Urga gas-condensate field south of the AKD01 well in northern Uzbekistan produces from the Jurassic sequence in a similar structural position. Tethys plans to case this section before drilling ahead and will production test these intervals after the well reaches total depth.
Oil and gas shows have also been evident while drilling the Triassic. Work is under way to evaluate the potential for deeper Triassic reservoirs, and based on this the planned total depth for the well will be determined. The Triassic sequence is one of the major productive horizons in oil fields in the Mangyshlak area southwest of Akkulka.
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Tajikistan
By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Sept. 8 ? of the UK killed its East Komsomolsk well KOM200 in Tajikistan after a gas blowout in the shallow part of the well.
The gas influx is thought to have come from a fracture tapping into the deeper potential gas reservoir, one of the well?s targets. After killing the well, Tethys has cemented casing and is preparing to drill ahead. It gave no depths.
Meanwhile, the East Olimtoi EOL09 exploration well is drilling ahead at 9,127 ft in the Neogene sequence. The well is being drilled in the southeast part of the Bokhtar PSC area, south of Kulob and just north of the Panj River.
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Rosjanie uruchamiają gigantyczny projekt wydobywczy
(Irina Nowochatko) - 21-08-2009 15:06
Rosnieft, rosyjska spółka paliwowa, uruchamia jeden z największych projektów wydobywczych w kraju. Koncern przystępuje do eksploatacji złoża Wankor, które leży w środkowo-wschodniej części Rosji.
Rosnieft otrzymał koncesję na eksploatację złoża Wankor, którego udokumentowane zapasy wynoszą około 1,5 mld baryłek ropy, jeszcze w 2003 roku.
Prace wydobywcze miały się rozpocząć rok temu. Ale projekt opóźnił się. Przyczyną zmiany terminu początku realizacji projektu było opracowanie nowego schematu i planów technologicznych projektu.
Szacuje się, że po uruchomieniu prac wydobycie ropy wyniesie około 500 tys. baryłek dziennie i 25 mln ton ropy w skali roku.
Eksperci podają, że eksploatacja tego złoża wpłynie na dynamikę wydobycia ropy w Rosji, która będzie wzrastała.
Materiał z portalu www.wnp.pl. Polskie Towarzystwo Wspierania Przedsiębiorczości 1997-2009
Gazprom seeks to rattle EU with Azerbaijan gas agreement
Eric Watkins
OGJ Oil Diplomacy Editor
LOS ANGELES, June 30 -- Russia?s OAO Gazprom, in an apparent effort to exert greater control over the European Union?s energy supplies, signed an agreement to import natural gas from Azerbaijan and transport it to Europe.
Under its agreement with State Oil Co. of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), Gazprom has secured the supply of 500 million cu m/year of gas starting Jan. 1, 2010.
Gazprom Chief Executive Officer Alexei Miller, who this week accompanied Russia?s President Dmitry Medvedev on a flying visit to Baku, acknowledged the amount of gas as small but, eyeing future growth potential, said, "Well begun is half done."
That view was apparently endorsed by Azerbaijan?s President Ilham Aliyev who said, "We plan in the future to increase supplies as the volume of Azerbaijani natural gas production goes up.?
Aliyev noted the ?commercial character? of the contract and played down any political overtones that might be read into it. "It is very important because the theme of gas relations has been groundlessly politicized lately," said Aliyev.
?For us this is an opportunity to enter a new market. The agreement fully meets our interests and has a good future,? Aliyev said.
The Russian president also played down the political dimensions of the agreement, saying it was necessitated by the need to develop bilateral cooperation between the countries and to ensure energy supplies.
Medvedev said it was ?extremely important? that ?the two countries that consider energy resources as one of the main riches have not only come to agreement but see big prospects not for political reasons but out of mutual benefit.?
Medvedev said, ?This is the energy security we have been talking so much lately,? adding, ?Such exemplary agreements can serve as an example for others to follow.?
European unease
Despite the assurances of both presidents, the agreement between them is likely to stir some unease in Europe?especially following Gazprom?s agreement with Nigeria last week, also regarding gas supplies.
In fact, the formation of the 50-50 joint venture of Gazprom and Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (Nigaz) has caused concerns in Europe?s capitals which see Nigerian gas as a way of reducing their dependence on Russia, which already supplies up to half the gas consumed by the EU.
Nigaz intends to explore for gas and to develop infrastructure for its development and transport?even including a section of pipeline that could form part of a proposed trans-Sahara pipeline to export gas directly to Europe.
The EU even has pledged political and economic backing for the trans-Sahara pipeline, but in the absence of a Western consortium to emerge to fund and build the project, Gazprom looks to step into the gap.
Boris Ivanov, head of Gazprom International, played on Europe?s concerns, saying, "We will take part in building the first segment of gas pipeline from southwestern Nigeria northwards.?
Underlining Gazprom?s determination to be Europe?s supplier, regardless of European sentiments, he said, "If [the] trans-Sahara pipeline is realized, it [the Gazprom segment] will be its first segment."
Meanwhile, concerns in Europe over the agreement between Moscow and Baku will be focused on supplies for the Nabucco pipeline, which is designed to bolster the EU?s energy security by circumventing Russia and carrying gas directly to Europe from Azerbaijan?s Shah Deniz field in the Caspian Sea.
However, according to Miller, also in words calculated to cause concern in the capitals of Europe, Gazprom has been promised priority in buying gas from the second phase of the Shah Deniz field?the very source Europe is counting on as a main point of supply for the Nabucco line.
Azerbaijan expects to reach production of 9 billion cu m/year by 2010 within the first stage of Shah Deniz 1, while Shah Deniz 2?expected to come online in 2014?might produce 10-15 billion cu m/year according to state officials.
How much of that will go to Russia remains to be seen. While the Russians appear eager to play on European anxieties, independent analysts suggest that Baku is unlikely to jeopardize its independence from Moscow by supplying Russia with large amounts of gas, especially at the expense of its political allies in the EU.
Contact Eric Watkins at hippalus@yahoo.com
Total przejmie 49 proc. udziałów spółki Terneftegas
(Piotr Apanowicz) - 25-06-2009 12:12
Francuski koncern 
Total podpisał porozumienie 
z firmą Novatek, w sprawie objęcia 49 proc. udziałów rosyjskiej spółki zależnej Novatek o nazwie Terneftegas.
Novatek pozostanie większościowym właścicielem rosyjskiej firmy z 51 proc. udziałów. Terneftegas posiada licencję na wydobycie gazu ziemnego i kondensatu ropy naftowej na polu Termokarstwoje, w regionie Jamalsko-Nenetskim.
Szacunkowe zasoby węglowodorów na tym polu to ponad 47,3 mld m sześc. gazu i 10,3 mln ton kondensatu ropy. Novatek i Total będą prowadziły dalsze prace nad rozwojem złoża, z którego produkcja ma ruszyć w 2011 roku.
Total jest obecny w Rosji od dwudziestu lat. Obecnie produkuje tam ok. 20 tys. baryłek ekwiwalentu ropy dziennie (niespełna 1 mln ton rocznie), a do roku 2011 poziom produkcji ma wzrosnąć o połowę.
Materiał z portalu www.wnp.pl. - Polskie Towarzystwo Wspierania Przedsiębiorczości 1997-2009
Chiny udzielą Turkmenistanowi pożyczki w wysokości 4 mld dolarów
- 25-06-2009 10:07
Chiny udzielą Turkmenistanowi pożyczki w wysokości 4 mld dolarów na rozwój sektora gazowego - poinformowała w środę turkmeńska telewizja państwowa.
"Podczas spotkania w Aszchabadzie chińskiego wicepremiera Li Keqianga z prezydentem Kurbankułym Berdymuchammedowem w Aszchabadzie podpisano porozumienie o udzieleniu Turkmenistanowi kredytu w wysokości 4 mld dolarów" - podała telewizja.
Pożyczka, przyznana przez Bank Rozwoju Chin, trafi do turkmeńskiego koncernu gazowego Turkmengaz.
Obydwa kraje podpisały też umowę o dostawie dodatkowych 10 mld metrów sześciennych turkmeńskiego gazu nowym rurociągiem, który ma ruszyć pod koniec tego roku. Gazociągiem tym, o długości 7 tysięcy kilometrów, Turkmenistan będzie dostarczał rocznie Chinom 40 mld metrów sześciennych paliwa
Materiał z portalu www.wnp.pl. -Polskie Towarzystwo Wspierania Przedsiębiorczości 1997-2009
Rosneft, Abkhazia sign E&P accord
MOSCOW -- Rosneft has signed an exploration and development agreement with the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of 
Abkhazia.
Under the five-year accord, the two parties will pursue upstream and downstream co-operation in oil and gas field projects. This may extend to development of advanced technologies for exploration and secondary recovery from discoveries offshore.
Abkhazia President Sergey Bogdanchikov said there were further plans to establish a new company to explore offshore oil and gas fields ? Abkhazia, formerly part of Georgia, borders the eastern Black Sea coast.
05/28/2009
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Kyrgyzstan
By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Apr. 21 -- Manas Petroleum Corp., Baar, Switzerland, said its joint venture will spud within weeks the first of two shallow exploration wells in Kyrgyzstan.
The first well is to test the North Ayzar prospect in the Tuzluk license (see map, OGJ, Nov. 19, 2007, p. 34). The North Ayzar-1 well is to test established, oil-saturated Paleogene sandstone and limestone strata at 1,650-1,900 m. The prospect is 5 km northeast of Beshkent Togap Tashravat field and 10 km southwest of Niyazbek-Severnity Karachikum oil field.
The second well is to test the East Chongora prospect in the Soh license. The well is to test the same oil-saturated Paleogene sandstone and limestone beds that have been producing oil from neighboring North Soh oil and gas field and Chongara Gulacha oil field for more than 60 years.
In the event of exploration success, and to eliminate standby time costs, testing of the wells will start once both wells are drilled and completed.
The Santos Ltd. joint venture will spud the deep subthrust prospects in the first quarter of 2010, Manas said.
Contracts awarded for Sakhalin-1 gravity-base structure
Guntis Moritis
HOUSTON, Apr. 30 -- 
Exxon Neftegas Ltd. has awarded 
contracts for designing, constructing, and delivering the Arkutun-Dagi gravity-base structure (GBS) for a future phase of the Sakhalin-1 development, off the east coast of Russia's Sakhalin Island.
Aker estimates the contracts have a value of about $600 million over the next 3 years, if the consortium fully sanctions the project.
Arkutun-Dagi oil field is in 33-197 ft of water about 15 miles off Sakhalin Island (see map, OGJ, June 17, 2002, p. 42). Development problems include pack ice 3-5 ft thick during 6-7 months of the year, severe waves, and earthquakes.
Earlier this year, Russian authorities raised environmental concerns about the work and delayed approval of 2009 plans and budgets (OGJ Online, Feb. 20, 2009).
Sakhalin-1 involves the development of three offshore fields: Odoptu (discovered in 1977), Chayvo (discovered in 1979), and Arkutun-Dagi (discovered in 1989).
The initial phase developed the Chayvo field with extended-reach wells from shore. The Odoptu field development will also include extended-reach wells drilled from shore.
Initial production to the domestic market from Chayvo started in October 2005 at 50,000 bo/d and 60 MMcfd.
After completion of an export pipeline in October 2006, peak production from the field reached 250,000 bo/d in 2007 and natural gas supplies to Khabarovsk Krai reached 200 MMcfd in January 2008.
The consortium has estimated that over its life the project has a potential to recover 2.3 billion bbl of oil and 17.1 tcf of gas.
Contact Guntis Moritis at guntism@ogjonline.com
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Gazprom to pay $1.5 billion for SeverEnergia stake
LONDON, May 21 -- Eni SPA and Enel SPA will assign to OAO Gazprom a 51% stake in SeverEnergia, a Russian holding company with exploration and production licenses. The deal is expected to close in June.
and 
have given 
until 2010 to pay the $1.5 billion for the stake in two tranches. "As a result of the transaction, Eni and Enel's equity will cash in $900 million and $600 million dollars, respectively," said Eni.
The new shareholding in SeverEnergia will be Gazprom holding 51%, the Italian partners, 49% (via a joint venture between Eni and Enel holding 60% and 40%, respectively).
This agreement builds upon a deal that was signed in April giving Gazprom until May 30 to implement its option to buy the stake (OGJ Online, Apr. 11, 2009). SeverEnergia was formerly known as EniNeftegaz and was two production companies belonging to the defunct OAO Yukos.
By 2013, SeverEnergia hopes to produce at least 150,000 boe/d focusing on west Siberian fields. SeverEnergia has the Arcticgaz, Urengoil, and Neftegaztechnologia E&P licenses, which hold an estimated 5 billion boe.
"The parties also agreed to produce first gas by June 2011 from the Samburskoye field. The parties have 90 days to define the plan and obtain all the necessary authorizations, including the extensions of the licenses by Rosnedra, the Russian authority regulating the exploitation of the country's mineral and oil resources," said Gazprom.
Enel Chief Executive Officer and General Manager Fulvio Conti said that this partnership would enable Enel to grow in the Russian market throughout the entire value chain, from gas fields to generation and sale of electricity. "From this perspective, the entry of Gazprom provides us with a guarantee of being able to continue contributing a reliable supply of gas to our Russian power plants at advantageous conditions through our SeverEnergia gas quota."
The companies signed the agreements in Sochi.
Contact Uchenna Izundu at uchennai@pennwell.com
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Uzbekistan
HOUSTON, Apr. 13 -- Tethys Petroleum Ltd., Guernsey, Channel Islands, UK, is working to hike oil production in North Urtabulak field in Uzbekistan after completing the acquisition of Rosehill Energy Ltd., which holds a production enhancement contract for the field.
Work is under way on further production enhancement with workovers, optimizing beam pumps, and other means. A gas lift system is to be installed. Further development drilling and attention to nearby fields is under consideration.
North Urtabulak field is in the Afghan-Tajik basin.
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Mongolia
HOUSTON, Apr. 28 -- Manas Petroleum Corp., Baar, Switzerland, signed production sharing contracts covering blocks 13 and 14 in southeastern Mongolia.
The blocks total almost 5 million acres along the border with China 500-600 km southeast of Ulaanbaatar.
Manas has identified several leads from seismic and plans to start a $1.6 million nondrilling exploration program in mid-2009.
Manas holds 74% interest in the blocks. A Mongolian oil and gas company and two investors hold the rest.
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RWE, Turkmenistan sign energy pact 
Uchenna Izundu
OGJ International Editor
LONDON, Apr. 23 -- 
has formed an energy partnership with Turkmenistan that will focus on gas supplies, upstream activities, and knowledge transfer.
Under a memorandum of understanding, both parties will investigate exporting Turkmen gas to Germany and other parts of Europe, providing supply diversity from Russia and improving energy security.
With other partners, RWE is developing the Nabucco pipeline to deliver gas from central Asia into Europe via Turkey starting in 2014. But meeting the targeted start-up date is challenging because of doubts about the pipeline's financial viability; promises of Turkmen gas supplies would help the project.
Russia is the primary purchaser of Turkmen gas and opposes the Nabucco pipeline.
"There are several options (for shipping Turkmen gas to Europe) and one of them is through the Caspian Sea; and we will work on it," RWE Chief Executive Juergen Grossmann told reporters.
RWE also is keen to explore and produce gas in Turkmenistan's western Caspian Sea.
"They will work on developing oil and gas resources on the 23rd block of Turkmenistan's Caspian shelf," Turkmen President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov said after meeting with Grossmann in Ashgabat, the Turkmen capital.
The energy pact was signed after an RWE delegation visited Yagshigeldy Kakayev, chairman of the State Agency for the Management and Use of Hydrocarbon Resources of Turkmenistan.
RWE invited 20 Turkmen experts for training within the company starting this month.
Contact Uchenna Izundu at uchennai@pennwell.com
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Turkmenistan
HOUSTON, Apr. 22 -- Press reports quoted a top official of Germany's RWE Dea as having expressed interest in oil and gas exploration in the Caspian Sea off Turkmenistan.
Juergen Grossmann, chief executive officer, was quoted as saying the company is in talks regarding Block 23 on the Turkmen shelf.
Block 23 is in shallow water off Okarem in southwestern Turkmenistan and at its closest point about 75 miles north of waters claimed by Iran.
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Calgary firm to explore Mongolian block
HOUSTON, May 28 -- Canoel International Energy Ltd., Calgary, plans to purchase an interest in Block XXIII in southeastern Mongolia from the undisclosed present holder, which will continue as a partner.
Canoel will buy shares of the entity, which will retain a 6% carried working interest through the first commercial discovery. Canoel, as operator, is required to pay as much as $46 million in the next 5 years, including a small amount in the first year.
Block XXIII covers 3.37 million acres in the East Gobi basin just north of the border with China. The Ulanbator-Beijing rail line crosses the eastern part of the block.
The block has a structural feature that separates the highly prospective Erlian basin in China from the East Gobi basin. Ershan, the Erlian basin's largest field, is said to contain 500 million bbl of oil in Lower Cretaceous sediments and produces 60,000 b/d that is shipped to a refinery at Dong Wu, China.
PetroChina's Zuunbayan and Tsagaan Els fields, in Mongolia a few kilometers north of Block XXIII, are producing 1,600 b/d from shallow Lower Cretaceous sediments.
Block XXIII is lightly explored. The Soviets conducted regional gravity and magnetic surveys and in 1970 shot limited seismic. Most of the results are published in Soviet academic journals. No wells have been drilled in the block since the Soviet exploration efforts.
Canoel said it has identified several large structures under major regional thrust faults that need to be verified by modern seismic data.
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Kazakhstan orders oil tankers from Russian shipyard 
Eric Watkins
OGJ Oil Diplomacy Editor
LOS ANGELES, Apr. 22 -- Russia's Krasnoye Sormovo Shipyard will construct three 13,000-dwt crude tankers for Kazakhstan's KazMorTransFlot (KMTF) shipping company, all to be delivered to the Caspian Sea port of Aktau in 2009-10.
The order follows delivery by Krasnoye Sormovo Shipyard last November of the tanker Zangezur to Azerbaijan's Caspian Sea Shipping Co. for transporting Kazakh oil to the Sangachalsky terminal near Baku for export via the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline.
The Krasnoye Sormovo Shipyard will deliver the first tanker in this year's second half, while the other two vessels will be constructed in the first or second quarter of 2010.
"Such terms of delivery are very important to a new maritime shipping sector of Kazakhstan," KMTF said, referring to plans for the shipment of Kazakh oil across the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan.
Kazakhstan signed a memorandum of understanding with several international oil companies in 2007 on using tankers to transport Kazakh crude across the Caspian Sea to the BTC pipeline for exports through Turkey's Mediterranean coast.
Last November, Kazakhstan's state-owned KazMunaiGas (KMG), which owns KMTF and will pay for the new ships, signed an agreement with the State Oil Co. of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) on the main terms of shipping Kazakh crude oil to international markets via Azerbaijan.
KMG said the agreement outlined main terms and principles of the Trans-Caspian project, including an agreement on establishing a joint project company, funding, tariffs and further development steps of the Trans-Caspian system.
Successful implementation of the transportation project would ensure "a reliable shipment of Kazakh crude oil to Azerbaijan across the Caspian Sea onboard tankers and to international markets through BTC pipeline," KMG said.
Initial shipment capacity of the Trans-Caspian system will stand at 500,000 b/d and will eventually rise to 750,000 to 1.2 million b/d, KMG said, without specifying when the transportation system would be launched.
Meanwhile, the Chevron-operated Tengizchevroil (TCO) consort
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