Tag: oil and gas industry

Russia says it will start geological oil and gas exploration in one year Russia says it will start geological oil and gas exploration of the promising Barents Sea shelf near Norway in 2012.After reaching a key agreement with Norway over arctic maritime borders last year, Russia will embark on developing large fields in the border zones, Natural Resources Minister Yury Trutnev told RIA Novosti Thursday."Forty-year-long talks have finished. We can now start working jointly. Norway has already begun seismic surveys in its part of the shelf. Russia plans to begin work in 2012," Trutnev said.Analysts say the West Arctic oil and gas shelf province, which the Russian-Norwegian border agreement runs through, may compensate for falling oil production in the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.Forecasts suggest the region of the Barents Sea contains reserves of some 10 billion to 12 billion tons of fuel equivalent.The ecological safety of any drilling in the region and the subsequent transportation of oil and gas would be a top priority for Russia, Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu said.Source: UPI

Yıldız said Turkey would be exploring off the northern half of Cyprus Turkey's energy minister said on Thursday that a Turkish research ship will set sail for the Mediterranean to start oil and gas exploration.Taner Yıldız said the seismic research ship, the Piri Reis, would head for the Mediterranean on Friday.On Wednesday, Turkey marked its marine borders with Turkish Cyprus for offshore oil and gas drilling in response to a similar move by the internationally recognized Greek Cypriot half of the divided island.Yıldız said Turkey would be exploring off the northern half of the island.He said however, that some areas earmarked for exploration by Turkey "clashed" with those of the Greek Cypriot administration. He did not rule out future Turkish exploration in those areas too.Greek Cypriot leader urged the United Nations to tell Turkey to back off from threats over the divided island's offshore oil and gas drilling.Dimitris Christofias told the UN General Assembly on Thursday that Turkish naval maneuvers off the island's south coast where US firm Noble Energy is carrying out exploratory drilling constitutes a "provocative and real danger" for the region.Turkey strongly opposes drilling by the island's internationally recognized Greek Cypriot administration, saying it undermines the rights ...

New frontier acreage identified as biggest opportunity Access to reserves is currently the biggest risk for oil and gas companies, said Ernst & Young in its annual report on the top 10 risks for the global oil and gas sector. This is up one place from the 2010 report, replacing uncertain energy policy, which moved to number two."While limits on access are not new, a combination of factors has pushed this to number one: political unrest in North Africa and the Middle East; high oil prices and the growth of new government-backed rivals." said Dale Nijoka, Global Oil & Gas Leader for Ernst & Young, in a press statement.Meanwhile, energy policy is in a continued state of flux in many key geographies and the impact of last year's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico still felt in the ongoing debate over new deepwater rules and regulations, Ernst & Young added.For the first time this year, health, safety and environmental risks made the list, at number five. This risk reflects companies focus on a more sustainable and robust operating model, more complex operational challenges and the rising power of local community stakeholders.Also for the first time this year, the report ...