Weekend oil and gas news round-up

The last few days have yet again been busy ones in the Middle East. In this oil and gas news round-up, Uganda asks Dubai to invest in their oil sector, Saudi Arabia will store crude oil in Japan, NIOC sign a contact for the development of six phases of the South Pars gas field and Iran has agreed to export gas to Pakistan.

Uganda asks Dubai to invest in their oil sector

Yoweri Museveni, the Ugandan president has asked Africa Middle East Resources, a Dubai firm formed by Emaar chief Mohammed Alabbar to submit a bid for the country's oil sector.

"Uganda has one of the most favorable investment environments with access to tax and quota free markets in the US, the European Union, India and China," President Museveni was quoted as saying.

Uganda's fledgling oil industry has attracted interest following the discovery of commercial oil reserves along the western border.

According to Uganda's finance and planning minister, investment in the country's oil sector has hit US$900 million since 2006.

The Ugandan government has said a further US$10 billion is needed to fully exploit the country's crude resources.

Saudi Arabia and Japan reach storage deal

Japan and Saudi Arabia have agreed on joint use of crude oil storage facilities in southern Japan in exchange for a preferential right to secure oil there in times of emergency, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

"The Agency for Natural Resources and Energy and Saudi Aramco agreed in principle on a project under which Saudi Aramco will utilise crude oil storage facilities in Okinawa," the ministry said in a press release.

Under the agreement, by the end of this year, Japan will begin storing 3.78 million barrels of Aramco's crude oil.

According to the ministry, Japan depends on Saudi for about 28 percent of crude oil imports.

NIOC invests in South Pars gas field

The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and domestic companies are set to sign contracts worth US$15 billion for the development of six phases of the South Pars gas field.

According to Iran's Fifth Five-Year Socio-Economic Development Plan (2010-2015), US$25 billion should be invested annually in the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry, the Mehr News Agency quoted NIOC Managing Director Ahmad Qalebani and Oil Minister Masoud Mirkazemi as saying.

The South Pars field is a gas condensate field located in the Persian Gulf. It is the world's largest gas field and is shared by Iran and Qatar. According to the International Energy Agency, the field holds an estimated 50.97 trillion cubic meters (1800 trillion cubic feet) of in-situ gas and some 50 billion barrels of condensates.

Iran holds has the world's second-largest reserves of natural gas and the third-largest reserves of oil.

Iran agrees to export gas to Pakistan

Within the next five years, Iran will start exploiting gas to Pakistan, The National has reported. The agreement involves the export of around 750 million cubic feet per day of gas from Iran to Pakistan through an international pipeline, which is currently under construction.

"After decades of negotiations, we are witnessing today the execution of the agreement," Iranian deputy oil minister Javad Oji said.

The Iran-Pakistan (IP) pipeline, which has been talked about for 17 years, will connect Iran's South Pars gas field with Pakistan's southern Balochistan and Sindh provinces and will be crucial in Pakistan's attempts to ease countrywide electricity shortages.

The pipeline will provide gas to the power sector to generate about 5,000 megawatts of electricity, Some analysts say it will not be possible for the government to provide the fuel to domestic consumers due to its high price, which was one reason behind India's withdrawal from the project.

 

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