UPI Energy Watch

Uzbekistan, S. Korea to hold energy talks

Officials from Uzbekistan and South Korea held their second committee meeting to discuss cooperation in energy and natural resources at the International Business Center in Tashkent, UzA reported.

The meeting was attended by the representatives of a number of ministries and agencies, companies and firms of both countries operating in the fields of oil and gas, energy, mineral resources production, economy, and banking and finance.

"Cooperation between Uzbekistan and South Korea was developing consistently in all spheres. The agreements achieved during the meetings of the heads of the two states serve as an important legal foundation for this cooperation," G. Saidova, first deputy minister of economy of Uzbekistan, said.

"Under the direction of President (Islam) Karimov, close attention is being paid to the development of all sectors of the economy, including the oil and gas industry. From year to year, the volume of oil and gas production and export is increasing. Uzbekistan is one of the leading countries in production of natural gas not only in Central Asia, but the world as a whole," he said.

Kim Jong Gwan, head of the Korean delegation, said cooperation between the two countries is based on friendship, mutual respect, trust and interest was developing intensively in all areas, and particularly in the energy sector.

Gazprom Neft to increase number of board members

Shareholders in Gazprom Neft approved an increase in the number of the company's board members to 10 from nine at an extraordinary general meeting on Oct. 29, the company said in a statement.

A new board of directors will be elected Nov. 19.

In addition to the current nine board members (all representatives of Gazprom), three new candidates will be proposed for the 10th position.

The candidates are Gazprom Neft President Alexander Dyukov as well as two representatives of Italy's Eni, which owns a 20 percent stake in the company; Milan Marco Alvera, Eni senior vice president of supplies and portfolio investment development as well as the manager of the Russian division development and the Yuzhny Potok projects; and Stefano Cao, Eni senior director of production in the company's exploration and extraction division.

Gazprom, the company's main shareholder, initiated the amendments to Gazprom Neft's charter, a company official told Interfax.

Eni bought 20 percent of Gazprom Neft in April 2006 along with stakes in other gas assets at an auction to sell Yukos property. Eni applied to the register to take part in the shareholders' meeting to receive dividends for 2006 but did not manage to get its representative elected to the board of directors. As a result, the board, on which Yukos had two of its own managers earlier, was exclusively made up of Gazprom representatives.

China's LNG capacity grows

China plans to import about 10 million tons of liquefied natural gas annually by 2010, an official of China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. said.

Fujian LNG Co. Ltd. and Indonesia Tangguh Gas Field have signed a 25-year contract with an annual supply of 2.6 million tons; Shanghai LNG Co. Ltd. and Malaysia's Petronas have reached a long-term agreement on LNG supply with an annual supply of 3 million tons.

Sinopec subscribed agreements with Shell Oil Co., the U.S.-based affiliate of Royal Dutch Shell, and Woodside Petroleum Ltd. of Australia respectively in September. Sinopec will purchase totally more than 4 million tons of LNG annually from the two companies in the next 20 years.

The global LNG sellers' market has formed now, and LNG's price will keep rising with the rise of international oil prices, said Zhang Weiping, the former general economist of China National Offshore Oil Corp.

Established on Feb. 25, 2000, Sinopec is China's second-largest crude oil producer.

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Closing oil prices, Nov. 13, 3 p.m. London

Brent crude oil: $90.76

West Texas Intermediate crude oil: $93.51

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(e-mail: energy@upi.com)