The construction of a hydroelectric power station on the River Zarafshon will not have any negative consequences for the population and economy of Uzbekistan, Gernot Erler, state secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany, said at a meeting.

Avesta cited a source as saying that Erler had noted that German specialists had thoroughly studied and analyzed a project to build the hydroelectric power station on the River Zarafshon.

Avesta said the source also noted that practical research had been carried out at the site of the construction of the facility in March and a conclusion had been submitted by the German side to relevant Tajik bodies.

Qatar to supply gas to Hungary in 2012

Hungary will be able to receive liquefied natural gas in 2012 from Qatar after the two sides build a pipeline with a planned transfer facility on the Croatian Island of Krk, national daily Nepszabadsag reported Friday.

Main opposition party leader Viktor Orban -- who is comfortably expected to win the next election in spring 2010 -- held talks in Qatar this week with Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ahmed bin Abdullah al-Mahmoud, who said Qatar will be ready to supply gas to Hungary from 2012, when reserves are sufficiently high.

Currently, Hungary does not have pipeline links with the Gulf Bay that would supply LNG from boats, Kutas said. However, a transfer facility on the Island of Krk is set to be completed in 2012 and Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany recently said a pipeline connecting Hungary and Croatia would also be completed in 2012, he added.

As a result, Hungary's first gas link that is independent from Russia can start functioning in 2012, a year before Russia's South Stream is ready.

Officials of E.ON and Hungarian gas and oil company Mol told the paper that neither company had held talks with Orban about the possibility of LNG supplies from Qatar.

Kenya optimistic about presence of oil in arid north

The offshore oil exploration in Kenya's Eastern province by a Chinese company has triggered interest from other international oil companies.

CNOOC has been prospecting for oil in Isiolo and Wajir since last year, ending a 16-year exploration lull.

A senior petroleum geologist with the Ministry of Energy, Hudson Adambi said that the Chinese company accepted to underwrite the risks associated with oil exploration by signing six exploration-sharing contracts at once.

"CNOOC's entry into Kenya has encouraged other international oil companies, which immediately began to show increased interest in petroleum exploration opportunities," said Adambi.

The chances of striking oil by CNOOC in the areas, he said, were encouraging, thus making the company the local focal point.

Since oil exploration began in Kenya in 1937, said Adambi, 31 wells have been drilled to date but oil has not been discovered.

He, however, said 19 of them had some gas and oil shows. He said the oil and gas shows were found in two of three wells CNOOC is exploring.

"With the deployment of modern exploration techniques by CNOOC, the chances of Kenya determining the status of oil prospective in Anza basin are higher now than before," he said.

Adambi said from 1990, after the drilling of Kaisut-1 well, exploration activities for oil in block nine, which is in Eastern province, remained dormant for more than 16 years until CNOOC reactivated the exploration in April 2007.

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Closing oil prices, Apr. 18, 3 p.m. London

Brent crude oil: $111.09

West Texas Intermediate crude oil: $113.66

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(e-mail: energy@upi.com)