Energy & Power

WORLD WATCH

Cairn Enters Race for Lankan Blocks

Cairn India has bid on oil exploration Blocks 001 and 002 in Sri Lanka under the ongoing Sri Lankan licensing round and said it will undertake exploratory drilling in new areas in Rajasthan.

Block 001 in Sri Lanka is spread over 3,338 sq km, while Block 002 encompasses 3,572 sq km. The latter is near the Cauvery basin in India, where oil and gas already has been discovered, and it therefore is attracting bids from other international oil exploration companies as well.

"The chances of striking oil there are higher, as the geological features of the blocks are similar," said a Cairn India source.

Pakistan Awards PSAs

Pakistan executed petroleum exploration licenses with Government Holdings (Pvt.) Ltd. (GHPL) and production-sharing agreements with GHPL and Niko Resources Ltd. of Canada over four blocks in the Arabian Sea.

Those blocks included: Offshore Indus North (No. 2466-7), covering 2,466 sq km, Offshore Indus X (No. 2465-3), 2,483 sq km; Offshore Indus Y (No. 2465-4), 2,482 sq km; and Offshore Indus Z (No. 2466-6), 2,489 sq km.

The minimum financial commitment for these blocks is $32.8 million. The companies, however, plan to invest more than $200 million subject to availability of viable structures after conducting seismic survey.

Niko has had considerable success in the subcontinent. It formed a joint venture with Reliance Industries that made India's biggest gas finds off the Vizag coast and is expected to commence production of 2 bcfd in 2008. Niko has 10% working interest in the 1.9 million acre Vizag field (KG-DWN-98/3, Block D6). The block was awarded under India's New Exploration and Licensing Policy-I (NELP-I) bidding, with Reliance as the operating partner.

Separately Niko discovered major reserves of gas and oil in an offshore block near Surat, Gujarat, in 2002. It has major interests in the state of Gujarat where it works with Gujarat State Petroleum Corp.

ExxonMobil Reveals $125B Spending Plans

ExxonMobil Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rex Tillerson revealed the major's plans to invest more than $125 billion in capital spending over the next 5 years.

"We will invest record amounts to develop new technology, bring on new upstream projects, increase our base refining capacity, and grow our chemical business," Tillerson told analysts at the New York Stock Exchange.

Tillerson said ExxonMobil's industry-leading portfolio of 119 projects is expected to support development of more than 24 billion oil-equivalent barrels of energy.

During 2008-10 alone, Tillerson said the company expects to participate in the start up of 19 new projects which, at peak, would collectively add more than 725,000 oil-equivalent b/d to ExxonMobil's production.

Over the next 3 years ExxonMobil expects to startup multiple projects across the full value chain of the LNG business, including production, transportation, and distribution. ExxonMobil will commission four of the world's largest liquefaction facilities and new LNG ships, which can carry 80% more natural gas than conventional ships.

"We will almost double our production of LNG over the next 3 years, providing greater supplies of this clean-burning energy source for power generation and for industrial and domestic use," said Tillerson.

Rs 600 Trillion Thar Coal Needs to be Exploited: PPP

The political economy of Thar coal, valuing over Rs 600 trillion, needs to be exploited for the economic development of the country, said Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) leader Mazhar ul Haq.

"To meet the chronic shortage of energy and support future economic growth, we must immediately initiate infrastructure development for mining the available assets of coal in Thar valuing more than Rs 600 trillion which is equivalent to 100 years of GDP of Pakistan at the present value," he said.

The PPP leader claimed that the power policy given by the government of Benazir Bhutto had saved the country from complete darkness and collapse of economy. "The biggest challenge for people's government is the existing gap between supply and demand of energy coming in the way of desired promotion of economy," he said.

Starting has career as a journalist, a sub-editor, in Sindh daily of Hyderabad, Mazhar switched over to politics and has continuously won from Dadu.

China to Install 405 MW Project in Pakistan

China has conveyed to Pakistan that it wanted to install 405 MW integrated coal mining-cum-power project at Sinda-Jerruk area at the cost of 600 million dollars.

A five-member delegation headed by Vice-President of China National Machinery Import & Export Corporation (CMC) Qin Ruijan conveyed the desire to set up the power project in a top level meeting in Pakistan.

The CMC is the 10th largest state-owned corporation of China and is the largest foreign trade enterprise engaged in import and export of machinery products having an aggregate trade size of over 73 billion dollars and has a substantial experience in the development of coal-mines and coal-based power projects.

Important IPI Issues under Discussion: India

Indian Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister, Murli Deora has said that important issues concerning implementation of Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) transitional gas pipeline are under discussion among the participating countries.

On safety and security of the pipeline, he said: "All responsibility of the pipeline within Iran will vest with Iran. Safety and security of pipeline and gas within Pakistan will be provided by Pakistan government for which a transit fee would be levied."

"Discussions regarding security package by Pakistan government and transit fee are continuing," Deora told the Lok Sabha.

He said suitable provisions would be included in contract with Pakistan for safety and security of pipeline. "It has been agreed that pipeline proposed to be laid in Iran, Pakistan and India will be constructed as per international standards, incorporating all safety features.”

“It is envisaged to provide round-the-clock communication and supervisory control system all along pipeline," Deora said. He felt such multilateral projects involve protracted discussions, as all aspects have to be carefully examined and deliberated upon to satisfaction of participating countries to protect each country's interests and avoid any problem in future in successful operation of the project.

"No official communication has been received regarding China joining Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project," he added.