Oil Reserves

Putin Prioritizes Oil Platforms, Tankers

Russian President Vladimir Putin prioritized the construction of oil platforms and tankers in the shipbuilding sector. Projects are being implemented for the construction of platforms for the development of oil and gas fields on the continental shelf, and a definite class of tankers, Putin said, opening a meeting devoted to shipbuilding industry issues. Russia, which holds the world's largest natural gas reserves and is among the top 10 countries in terms of oil reserves, is implementing huge oil and gas field projects, particularly the Shtokman deposit off the Arctic shelf, and Sakhalin I and Sakhalin II off the Pacific shelf, that have been the focus of the world's leading investors. Last month, energy giant Gazprom announced it will develop the Shtokman deposit on its own, a move that stunned Norway's Statoil and Norsk Hydro, France's Total, and U.S. giants Chevron and ConocoPhillips, all companies previously on a shortlist of contenders for the project. Russia also seems eager to limit foreign participation in the development of the Russian energy sector and to revise production-sharing agreements. Devised in the 1990s, when oil prices were much lower, PSAs offered investors major tax benefits, which provided a kind of risk bonus for investing in Russia. Source: RIA Nivosti

Pemex to Invest $470M in Oil Technology

Mexico plans to invest $470m in technological development to aid its oil and gas search over the next five years, state-owned energy company Pemex said recently according to a Reuters report. Pemex, which has proven oil reserves to last about nine years, will reportedly put up most of the money, along with funding from state universities and the country's Petroleum Institute. Much of Mexico's possible reserves that could yield decades more oil are deep beneath the Gulf of Mexico.

Iran Makes $100 B Oil Find, Major Companies Compete For Big Deals

Iran Makes $100 B Oil Find, Major Companies Compete For Big Deals Iran announced its biggest oil find in 30 years last week, a 26-billion barrel field discovered just as the country drives to revive exploration activities and foreign firms compete for big deals. Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said the oilfield in the prolific southwest Khuzestan province has the potential to produce up to 400,000 bpd. He said that development on the field, which is close to the Iraqi border

Petrobras Approves Contracts to Build 10 New Units

Petrobras said that it would contract to build 10 offshore oil production platforms in the coming eight years for a newly found pre-salt oil field. The 10 new units, to operate in ultra-deep waters, will tap the pre-salt oil reserves discovered recently off the country's southeastern coast. According to the company, the first two units will be chartered from third parties. Each will have a daily production capacity of 100,000 barrels of crude and 5 million cubic meters of natural gas.

Oil Discovery in Brazil

A huge offshore oil discovery could raise Brazil's petroleum reserves by a whopping 40 percent and boost this country into the ranks of the world's major exporters, officials said according to an AP report. The government-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, said the new "ultra-deep" Tupi field could hold as much as 8 billion barrels of recoverable light crude, sending Petrobras shares soaring and prompting predictions that Brazil could join the world's "top 10" oil

Barbados Sets Conditions for Offshore Drilling

Any oil company wishing to tap into the oil reserves off the coast of Barbados has to comply with some strict guidelines the Government is laying down. In introducing the draft National Energy Policy to the House of Assembly, Minister of Energy and the Environment, Elizabeth Thompson, stated that a number of oil companies, including the big multinationals, smaller operations and some newcomers, had expressed an interest in getting involved in Barbados' oil industry.

An Energy SuperPower

With Vast Natural Energy Resources     Russia is an energy superpower and the country has vast and rich natural resources. Besides gas and coal reserves (some of the largest in the world), Russia today is ranked as the world’s biggest oil producing nation accounting for well over 12% of the global output. Moreover, the country exports more than 70% of its oil to the world markets. That said, Russia’s output of oil amounts to a third of what collectively the

Keppel, Consortium Secure Jackup Contract

Keppel Kazakhstan LLP (Keppel Kazakhstan) and its consortium partner Ersai Caspian Contractor LLC, Kazakhstan (Ersai Caspian Contractor), have secured a contract from Teniz Burgylau LLP (Teniz Burgylau), an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of JSC NC "KazMunayGas" (KazMunayGas) of Kazakhstan, for a KFELS B Class jackup rig worth US$242 million. Scheduled for delivery in 1Q 2015, the jackup rig will be deployed in the Caspian Sea when completed

Will Oil Continue Heading Up?

"Due to increasing demand and reducing reserves, oil prices currently at $40 are likely to soon enter a period of sustained rises resulting in a need to massively develop natural gas and renewable energy resources" according to John Westwood of energy analysts Douglas-Westwood. "Oil reserves are depleting and demand growing. Recent increases in oil demand from China, for example, are likely to accelerate. The average American consumes 25 times as much oil as the average Chinese yet China

Changing Russian Export Patterns

Russia has the seventh largest oil reserves in the world (6% of total), after 5 Middle East Countries (totalling 63%) and Venezuela (7%). The other Former Soviet Union (FSU) republics Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan have together less than 2% of the total world reserves, estimated by BP to be some 1048 thousand million barrels. The Russian reserves are spread over a huge area: West Siberia, Volga-Urals, North Caucasus, the Caspian area, the Far East regions