1. Iraq’s Kurdish region has awarded seven new blocks to foreign operators and four to its new state-owned player, as well as revising terms of old deals. The Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) has pushed ahead with long-term plans to attract operators to develop its oil and gas reserves despite recent military threats from Turkey. “These contracts are a major step towards the Kurdistan region’s goal of increasing oil production to 1 million b/d,” said energy official Ashti Hawrami. “There will be more announcements soon.” At present Kurdistan produces a few thousand barrels per day of oil. The winners of the blocks include India’s Reliance with two contracts for the Rovi and Sarta Blocks, and Austria’s OMV with two PSCs in the Mala Omar and Shorish Blocks. Hungary’s MOL won the Akre-Bijeel Block with partner Gulf Keystone Petroleum, and also the Shaikan Block, where it will work with Gulf Keystone and Texas Keystone. Details of the seventh award will be announced soon, the KRG said. Four more exploration blocks were awarded to a newly-formed government-owned Kurdistan Exploration and Production Co.
2. Sterling Energy has signed a production sharing contract with the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq for the “highly prospective” Sangaw North Block. The company said the contract has an initial three-year exploration period, during which it plans to acquire about 124 miles (200 km) of 2-D seismic and drill at least one exploration well. It said it expects to spend about US $35m on the block, which covers 190 sq miles (492 sq km). Industry estimates suggest potential for up to 45 billion bbl of oil and 100 Tcf of gas in Kurdistan, Sterling Energy added.
3. Iraq oil pipeline flows to the Turkish port of Ceyhan from fields around the northern city of Kirkuk rose to 395,000 b/d in October, the highest since the US invasion of Iraq, the International Energy Agency said. Total Iraqi oil supply in October reached 2.3 million b/d, its highest since April 2004, the IEA said in its monthly report. The pipeline to Ceyhan has been in focus recently because of fighting between Turkey and Kurdish guerillas based in northern Iraq. Turkey is threatening to attack members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) inside Iraq, a move which has sparked some concern Iraq oil exports could be reduced. More than 50 Turkish troops have been killed in a series of hit-and-run attacks by Kurdish rebels since late September. Turkey says it has killed dozens of rebels in that time.
4. A joint venture led by state-owned Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) has won exploration rights to the Bazian oil field in Iraq, which has estimated reserves of 3.67 billion bbl of crude. KNOC said exploration activity at Bazian, which lies in the Kurdish region of Iraq, will kick off in January and is expected to continue until 2010, reported local media. The consortium is led by KNOC with a 38% stake, and several private energy operators, including SK Energy with 19% stake.
5. Iran plans to nearly double its natural gas production to 7.06 Tcf (200 Bcm) a year by 2012. “We are investing heavily in developing our gas sector, and increasing capacity, despite the hurdles that are facing us,” said Saeed Ghavampour, head of strategic studies at the National Iranian Gas Co. Iran currently produces around 3.88 Tcf (110 Bcm) of natural gas a year, including 423.6 Bcf (12 Bcm) which is exported to Turkey and Armenia, Ghavampour said.
6. Indonesia’s state-owned Pertamina is planning to join forces with several partners to bid for Iran’s Laleh offshore block, according to local reports. “We have partnered with several other companies in this venture, yet we cannot disclose them,” the Jakarta Post quoted Pertamina Upstream Director Sukusen Soemarinda as saying.
7. Gulfsands Petroleum has spudded the Khurbet East 3 (KHE-3) appraisal well in Block 26 in Syria. KHE-3 will further appraise the Cretaceous Massive reservoirs encountered in both the Khurbet East 1 (KHE-1) discovery well and the Khurbet East 2 (KHE-2) appraisal well. “The drilling of this well will assist in the planning for early development and production of the Massive reservoir in Khurbet East scheduled for the second half of 2008,” said Gulfsands, which operates the block with a 50% stake. “To date, there has been no clear oil-water contact seen in either well and no formation water has been recovered.” The total drilling depth of the KHE-3 well is expected to be around 6,726 ft (2,050 m). The well will require around 45 days to drill and evaluate at a total cost of US $2.4 million.
8. Japan’s Cosmo Oil has signed a contract to buy a 35% stake in Qatar’s Block 3, the company said today. The company currently holds an 85.8% stake in the 6,000 b/d Karkara oil field offshore Qatar, with Japan’s Sojitz Holdings.
9. Sweden’s Tethys Oil has signed a deal with a subsidiary of Norway’s Noreco for Tethys to take over its 50% stakes in two blocks onshore Oman for US $2 million. Tethys will enter into the second exploration phase of a production sharing agreement (PSA) covering Block 3 and Block 4, which cover a combined area of 30,000sq km. The first phase expires on 15 December and under the agreement Noreco will enter into the second phase while awaiting necessary approvals. The remaining 50% of the licence is held by Canada’s EnCana, which is the operator. Under the PSA, the second exploration phase for Blocks 3 and 4 carries a commitment of 500 miles (800 km) of 2-D seismic and three exploration wells, as well as the shooting of 154 sq miles (400 sq km) of 3-D seismic or the drilling of a fourth exploration well over a three-year period. More than 18,630 miles (30,000 km) of 2-D seismic has already been shot and 27 wells have been drilled on the blocks, with 18 wells finding oil shows.
10. India’s Reliance has signed the production sharing agreement (PSA) for two exploration blocks in Yemen. Blocks 34 and 37 are located in the Jeza Basin of eastern Yemen. The work program consists of conducting seismic survey and drilling of exploratory wells based on comprehensive geological and geophysical studies. In both the blocks Hood Energy partners Reliance with a 30% stake. Reliance has been present in Yemen since 2001 when it was awarded Block 9, where substantial reserves of hydrocarbon had already been established and one of the discoveries has been put into early production. In this block, exploration is also continuing on a number of prospects. Reliance and Hood Energy hold 25% each in this block and Calvalley Petroleum is operator with 50%.
.jpg)
