Andrew Swiger News

Ukrainian plans for expanding Black Sea natural gas output have been thrown into doubt by Russia's seizure of Crimea, a region linked to most of Ukraine's offshore developments. Past price disputes between Russia and Ukraine have led to the Russians cutting off supply, prompting Kiev to spur development of its own resources including onshore shale gas and Black Sea fields. Ukraine failed to pay Russian gas company Gazprom $440 million by a deadline on Friday, sparking fresh concerns Gazprom could switch off supplies like it did in 2009. Ukraine's Black Sea push has attracted energy majors as investors, including Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell , ENI and OMV. Promising developments include the Odessa gas field where plans call for output of more than a billion cubic metres of gas by 2015.

Reuters - Exxon Mobil Corp said its pursuit of the Ukraine Skifska block in the Black Sea has been stalled due to the unrest in that country. Andrew Swiger, senior vice president at Exxon, told investors the company's activity offshore Ukraine was "on hold due to current circumstances." Swiger's comments, broadcast on the internet, were made during a presentation to investors about the company's long-term exploration and production prospects.

RasGas Company Limited (RasGas), the Qatar based premium LNG exporter, continues to grow its fleet to meet global demand. RasGas, Teekay Nakilat and J5 name seven Q-Flex LNG carriers that will enter long-term RasGas charters in ceremonies at both the Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) shipyards in South Korea. These ships bring the RasGas LNG fleet to a total 20 ships ranging from 138,000 cu.m through to 217,000 cu.m. On the February 20, in the first of two naming ceremonies, the first four Q-Flex ships with a cargo carrying capacity of 217,000 m3, approximately 50 per cent larger than conventional ships and the largest ships currently chartered by RasGas were formally named by VIP sponsors.