March 4th, 2007:

Monday, March 5, 2007. Issue 3608. Page 9.
Reuters

The Natural Resources Ministry’s environmental agency said Saturday that environmental violations at Orenburgneft, a subsidiary of British-Russian oil firm TNK-BP, had caused an oil pipeline leak Feb. 28 that threatened water supplies.

“The problem is a pipeline accident at Orenburgneft’s Krasnoyarskoye oil field, which led to oil leaking into Bolshoi Kinel River,” Oleg Mitvol, deputy head of the agency, was quoted by Interfax as saying. read more

Nick Fletcher
Tuesday February 27, 2007

A new burst of bid speculation and some reasonable trading news helped the London market make a bright start to the week yesterday.

Oil giant BP added 10p to 545p on vague talk of a possible bid from rival Chevron, with one trader commenting: “The BP rise can’t just be down to an increase in the oil price.”

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http://business.guardian.co.uk/marketforces/story/0,,2022257,00.html

Published: Sunday, 4 March, 2007, 10:02 AM Doha Time
 
MOSCOW: Russia’s environmental agency said yesterday that environmental violations at Orenburgneft, a subsidiary of Anglo-Russian oil firm TNK-BP, had caused an oil pipeline leak on Wednesday which threatened water supplies.

“The problem is a pipeline accident at Orenburgneft’s Krasnoyarskoye oilfield, which led to oil leaking into Bolshoi Kinel river,” Oleg Mitvol, deputy head of the agency, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying. Mitvol said pipeline traffic had been stopped and the agency was trying to estimate the environmental damage. read more

Oil majors are laying the foundations for potentially lucrative energy deals in Iran, despite the risks, as they face tougher investment prospects in some of the world’s other top energy producing countries.

In a signal to Washington that they won’t bow to U.S. pressure to isolate the Islamic republic, many energy giants desperate to boost their flagging energy reserves are eyeing multibillion dollar Iranian projects that could give them access to some of the world’s largest oil and gas fields. read more

The Foreign Office took pains to help UK oil giants influence Iraq’s laws, writes Heather Stewart

Sunday March 4, 2007

Iraq’s huge oil reserves sparked a rush for black gold among foreign powers almost as soon as they were discovered a century ago. Today, nearly four years after the tanks rolled into Baghdad, the question of who should control Iraq’s resources is at the heart of efforts to stabilise the country.

Oil production is running at about 2m barrels per day – lower than under the strict oil-for-food regime before 2003. Britain has greeted the country’s new oil law, agreed by the Iraqi cabinet after furious debate, as a step toward unifying Iraq and kick-starting its economy. But the law’s references to long-term contracts of close to 40 years with oil companies have provoked anger among campaigners and Iraqi trade unions, who argue it will effectively hand control of the country’s oil to powerful multinationals. read more

Oliver Morgan, industrial editor
Sunday March 4, 2007

The government has warned the energy group Centrica not to approach Iran in its attempt to secure future supplies of gas for its 16m UK customers.

Centrica, led by Sam Laidlaw, believes that the country, which has the world’s third largest reserves, will be one of three critical sources of gas as the UK becomes dependent on imports for up to 90 per cent of its supply by 2020.

However, Jake Ulrich, managing director of Centrica Energy, the exploration and production arm of the group, says it has been advised against seeking a long-term supply deal with the Iranian National Oil Company. read more

Published: Sunday, 4 March, 2007, 10:02 AM Doha Time
 
LONDON: Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s largest oil company by market value, offers a better investment opportunity than BP Plc through 2020 because Shell has more “unconventional” projects, Sanford C Bernstein analysts said.

Shell’s portfolio is less contingent on production decline rates at conventional oil and gas fields because it has a higher proportion of liquefied natural gas, gas-to-liquids, oil sands and hard-to-access “tight” gas projects, which tend to be long- lasting, Bernstein analysts Neil McMahon and Oswald Clint said. read more