Shell to sign groundbreaking energy deal in Iraq.
The Dutch energy firm will be the first Western company to sign such a deal with the Iraqi government since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, the U.K. Financial Times reported.
Royal Dutch Shell confirmed it will enter a joint venture when it signs the deal next month.
Shell will use the gas flared off by the oil industry in the south of Iraq where an estimated 700 million cubic feet of gas is burned every day. The Financial Times estimated that the natural gas that is burned could be enough to provide energy for nearly everyone in the country.
To access the gas, Shell will have to install the necessary infrastructure to transport the gas domestically and to export it.
Once the deal is approved by the Iraqi Cabinet, Shell will be invited back to Iraq to sign a finalized agreement, the Financial Times reported.
Since security has improved and violence has eased, many Western companies have expressed interest in getting involved in Iraq's resources.
Last month the Iraqi Oil Ministry signed a deal with China National Petroleum Corp. to develop the al-Ahdab oil field.
Ministry officials told the Financial Times they are focusing on longer-term contracts.
Oil majors report Ike evacuations in Gulf of Mexico.
Since Hurricane Gustav passed through the Gulf of Mexico almost two weeks ago, disrupting production, oil and gas producers in the Gulf have been working to restore production at their offshore rigs, The Guardian reported.
Now, Category 1 Hurricane Ike is picking up speed and power as it rounds the tip of Florida and heads toward the Gulf, and producers are taking no chances. Ike is expected to strengthen before it hits the Gulf.
Royal Dutch Shell said 150 people have been moved away from their offshore facilities. Shell also evacuated two of its facilities because of Gustav. U.S.-based Valero said it was watching Ike carefully, preparing to make any necessary evacuations. Valero is the largest oil refiner in the United States.
Gustav caused about 80 percent of oil production in the Gulf and 70 percent of natural gas production to be taken offline, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
An energy expert at Rice University in Houston suggested that, with the number of storms brewing in the Atlantic,ould make sense to wait until the end of hurricane season to try to restore production in the Gulf.
Russia to join Myanmar's search for oil and gas.
Russia's Nobel Oil reportedly will be working with Myanmar's state-owned oil and gas company to explore oil and gas onshore in Myanmar, according to Myanmar's state-run newspaper New Light.
Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise and Nobel will work on a production-sharing contract in the Hukawng and U-ru regions, Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.
Three other Russian oil companies have been working in Myanmar under respective contracts since 2006.
According to its government, Myanmar's oil and gas industry reached $3.2 billion in 2007, and currently there are 13 foreign oil companies working in the country from Australia, Britain, Canada, China, Indonesia, India, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Russia.
--
Closing oil prices, Sept. 9, 3 p.m. London
Brent crude oil: $105.10
West Texas Intermediate crude oil: $107.80
--
(e-mail: [email protected])
