UPI Energy Watch

European Union to push Azerbaijan pipeline

EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said as tension mounts with Russia following its attack on Georgia, the group needs to refocus its attention on building a new pipeline to reduce its dependence on Russia for natural gas.

The $12 billion, 2,000-mile Nabucco gas pipeline would carry gas from the Caspian Sea and Azerbaijan through Georgia and Turkey to Europe, The Guardian reported.

By diversifying the routes its energy supplies take, the union could be sure its supplies are more stable and secure.

The tension in Georgia scared some leaders away from the idea of building a pipeline there, but Piebalgs said EU leaders need to step up and get it done.

Russia's Gazprom had offered to buy gas from Azerbaijan and pipe it to Europe, which Germany, Italy and Austria agreed to, but Piebalgs said he and Nobuo Tanaka, executive director of the International Energy Agency, support alternative routes.

The pipeline would open up new channels to the Middle East and their supplies of oil and gas and would allow the European Union to take back control of about 70 percent of its imports.

France's GDF SUEZ acquires North Sea assets

The French natural gas giant announced Friday it has begun negotiations with Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij to acquire a package of oil and gas assets on the Dutch Continental Shelf.

The assets are located along the NOGAT pipeline and include the options of exploration, production and transportation of oil and gas in the Dutch section of the North Sea.

GDF will buy the assets from NAM for more than $1.53 billion, though the deal is still subject to final approvals.

The French firm will get 30 percent to 60 percent interest in five producing fields, in addition to potential additional volumes in existing fields and discoveries and participation in the Dutch section of the A6-F3 pipeline.

The five fields currently produce about 3.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per year, and the pipeline transports gas from the German sector of the North Sea to the NOGAT pipeline system.

Total signs three oil and gas agreements in Syria

Another French firm also has expanded its international oil and gas assets. Total announced it is fulfilling its plans to strengthen its long-term presence in Syria by renewing its Deir ez Zor oil license, enhancing its output from the Tabiyeh field and signing a memorandum of understanding with state-owned Syrian Petroleum Co. and Syrian Gas Co.

The Deir ez Zor oil license, which was extended through 2021, is owned by Total and jointly operated by Total and the Syrian Petroleum Co. through a joint venture called the Deir ez Zor Petroleum Co. joint venture. The license will allow the venture to continue production from the Jafra, Qahar and Atalla fields.

Total has been in Syria since 1988, and its production totaled 29,000 barrels per day in 2007.

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Closing oil prices, Sept. 5, 3 p.m. London

Brent crude oil: $108.35

West Texas Intermediate crude oil: $109.63

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(e-mail: energy@upi.com)