Energy Intelligence

Mitchell Had an Eye for Gas Long Before Cracking Barnett's Code
Natural Gas Week (Monday, July 6, 2009)
Veteran Texas operator George P. Mitchell has always leaned toward the natural gas side of the business, going back to the days after World War II when he and his older brother Johnny set up shop in a downtown Houston office building, putting together prospects at night and selling them to brokers who gathered in a first-floor coffee shop each morning.

Gas Supply Models, Math Suggest Plunging Gas Supplies on Horizon
Natural Gas Week (Monday, July 6, 2009)
Because the supply-driven weakness in natural gas futures has been so persistent over the last several months, it is analytically tempting for some traders, investors and end users to start getting bullish. And as impossible as it sounds now, there is mathematical support for a higher trending market in months ahead.

Peru Seeks to Trim Camisea Export Volumes
Oil Daily (Monday, July 6, 2009)
Peru�s government, which has long seen the large Camisea gas field as a vehicle to become a major energy exporter, is now having some second thoughts. Energy Minister Pedro Sanchez admitted last week the government wants to renegotiate its contracts with the consortium that is developing Camisea.

BG Blocks Centrica's Trinidad Deal
International Oil Daily (Monday, July 6, 2009)
BG said Thursday that it will exercise its preemption rights to a 45% stake in a gas development block off Trinidad for which compatriot Centrica made an offer early last month. This is understood to be the first time that one part of the former state-run British Gas group has blocked the upstream expansion of another.

Bidders Balk At Iraq's Service Fee Demands
Petroleum Intelligence Weekly (Monday, July 6, 2009)
Iraq's landmark oil and gas licensing round last week fell rather flat, delivering just one deal, for the giant Rumaila oil field, awarded to BP and state China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC). Five other prized oil fields were left on the block after top oil companies refused to swallow service fees they felt were a decade out of date. But years spent poring over data for Rumaila, Iraq's biggest oil field, convinced BP and CNPC that they could afford to match Baghdad's $2/bbl demand.

Total, Shell Back In Favor In Moscow
Petroleum Intelligence Weekly (Monday, July 6, 2009)
France's Total has become the latest major to find itself lauded by analysts for having "cracked" Russia, the basis for this assessment being its recent agreement with independent gas producer Novatek for a stake in the Termokarstovoye field and a perhaps not unrelated refinery deal with Russia's Lukoil.

Iran: Weighing Engagement
Energy Compass (Friday, July 3, 2009)
As the dust begins to settle in Iran after weeks of turmoil, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will need to think long and hard about his foreign policy. Will he look to ease Iran's isolation by seeking closer engagement with Europe and putting out feelers to the US? Or will he cement Iran's alliances with Russia and China by offering them more energy deals in return for a tacit understanding to block further sanctions at the UN?

Russia: Into Africa
Energy Compass (Friday, July 3, 2009)
On the surface, the spoils of Dmitry Medvedev's four-day African safari last week look quite impressive: a big joint venture in Nigeria, a deal to finance part of Namibia's Kudu gas project, and the promise of closer ties with current Opec head Angola and influential Egypt. The treasures lose some of their luster with close examination, however. Most are, for now at least, only pacts or memorandums of understanding, rather than firm deals.