Offshore oil exploration approved off Iceland

2012-12-17 - Iceland has OK'd offshore drilling licenses in its Dreki region, reports IceNews. Faroe Petroleum has been granted the licences to explore the Jan Mayen Ridge area off Iceland's northeast coast. The company already has exploration projects in the Norwegian Sea, the Norwegian Barents Sea and the Shetland Islands. "As with our Norwegian Barents Sea licences, this new Icelandic Jan Mayen Ridge licencse has significant hydrocarbon potential, and is located in ice-free waters," said Graham Stewart, Chief Executive of Faroe Petroleum, in a news release on December 4. "We look forward to working with the Icelandic Government and our partners, in progressing these important opportunities."

Three South Pars phases coming online in near future Read more: http://www.oilvoice.com/n/Three_South_Pars_phases_coming_online_in_near_future/6c52cf280649.aspx

2012-12-17 - Three phases of South Pars gas field will come online up to the end of current Iranian calendar year, 20 March 2013, Iranian minister of petroleum said. Speaking on the sidelines of a CNG conference here, Qasemi said the country produces 620 million cubic meters of gas per day, a figure that is planned to rise to 1.4 billion cubic meters per day at the end of fifth five year development plan, in 2015. Read more: http://www.oilvoice.com/n/Three_South_Pars_phases_coming_online_in_near_future/6c52cf280649.aspx#ixzz2FJFnQFkA

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Pakistan ‘determined’ to pursue Iran gas pipeline project

2012-12-16 - Pakistan on Thursday denied reports that it might pull out of the multi-billion-dollar gas pipeline project amidst allegedly renewed efforts by the United States to convince Islamabad to abandon the project. “It is a project which is in our national interest and we are determined to pursue it,” Foreign Office spokesperson Moazzam Ahmed Khan told a weekly press briefing. Khan’s reaction comes against the backdrop of recent speculation sparked by a delay in President Asif Zardari’s scheduled trip to Iran last week.

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Oryx Engineering chief bags business leader of the year award

2012-12-16 - Doha: Oryx Engineering Solutions Group’s Founder and Managing Director, Abdulla Mannai, has been selected as 2012’s Outstanding Business Leader of the Year by ITP’s Oil & Gas Middle East magazine. The award, which celebrates exemplary leadership in the region’s upstream industry, was presented at a celebration attended by more than 200 key international and regional decision-makers gathered at the Westin Hotel Ballroom in Dubai. In presenting the award, Oil & Gas Middle East recognises Mannai’s immense and creative contribution to the development in the region and in specific Qatar’s oil and gas sector. Over the last eight years, Mannai’s tireless efforts as an entrepreneur have been an example to others in the region.

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‘Russia would support Pak-Iran gas pipeline’

2012-12-16 - LAHORE: Russia would consider supporting the Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline project if Pakistan sought its help, a senior Russian diplomat said on Saturday. Talking to The Express Tribune on the sidelines of a conference organised by the Voice of Russia at the South Asian Free Media Association office here on Saturday, Russian Embassy Political Counselor Vladimir Shreter said Pakistan was a sovereign state and it should take decisions independently. He said ties between Pakistan and Russia would improve in the coming days. “Russian President Vladimir Putin didn’t cancel his visit to Pakistan, rather he just postponed it due to some engagements. He is eager to meet President Zardari at some other place,” he said.

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South Korea increases Iran crude oil imports

2012-12-16 - South Korea imports of Iranian crude oil have increased 2.9 percent in November compared to a month ago despite West’s unilateral embargoes against Iran's oil and financial sectors.

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Qatar Sees Future Economic Growth At 5%

2012-12-16 - The Gulf state posted real GDP growth of 14.1 per cent in 2011. Qatar, which is expected to post a real GDP growth rate of 6.3 per cent in 2012, will see its economy slowing further in the near future. “We expect in coming years that growth rates will be around five per cent,” Qatar’s finance minister Youssef Kamal said at a conference in Doha, reported Reuters. Growth in the Gulf state, which saw real GDP rise 14.1 per cent in 2011, has been driven by the gas and hydrocarbon sector. However, in a recent report, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said that it expects Qatar’s oil and gas sector to shrink to 5.7 per cent in 2012 and post zero growth from 2013.

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Successful drilling of lateral wells in minimum horizontal stress direction for optimal fracture placement

2012-12-14 - Zillur Rahim Adnan A. Al-Kanaan Hamoud A. Al-Anazi Mahbub S. Ahmed Saudi Aramco Dhahran Saudi Aramco is developing several gas fields in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia by drilling horizontal wells in the Khuff and pre-Khuff tight carbonate and sandstone formations. To date, many wells have been drilled in the maximum horizontal stress direction with virtually no wellbore instability occurring during the drilling operation. When these wells are hydraulically fractured, the fracture grows along the wellbore in the direction of well azimuth. To avoid overlapping of two adjacent induced fractures and thereby communication between stages, only two to three multistage fracture treatments ...