Opec stands firm against calls for more oil

UK-listed Gulf Keystone Petroleum reported a net loss of $30 million for the 12 months ending in December compared to a profit of $46.3 million in 2006.

Iran's Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari said it would be possible to see a price of $200 per barrel for crude if existing conditions in the market continued, an Iranian news agency reported today.

United Arab Emirates-based Lamprell has confirmed that during April and March it has bagged eight jack-up upgrade and refurbishment projects, with a combined initial contract value of $25.8 million and a final account value forecast between $50 million and $55 million.

Kuwait is still hoping to finalise a deal with US supermajor ExxonMobil on a planned heavy oil production contract by July but has not yet concluded a deal.

Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari said today that Iran did issue an ultimatum to Total and Shell over the South Pars gas field.

UK-based engineering and project management player ODE has tied up work on an eight-month, £6 million ($11.8 million) front-end engineering and design job at the Ebla gas development in Syria for operator Petro-Canada.

Malaysia’s Petronas is optimistic it will find commercially viable reserves of oil and gas after four years drilling off the Moroccan coast, the company said yesterday.

The international oil and gas industry will need to satisfy the ever-increasing demand for hydrocarbons by having the right people in the right jobs, according to Abe Palaz, director of educational, research and development partnership for Halliburton.

Natural gas from Egypt began flowing to Israel through a pipeline for the first time today, state-owned utility Israel Electric Corporation said.

Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) posted a more than six-fold rise in first-quarter profit after adding petroleum business revenue from its C$5 billion (US$4.94 billion) buyout of Canada's Prime West Energy Trust.

A new US government report expects Iraq's oil revenue for the year to top $70 billion, it emerged today.

The United Arab Emirates will sign a contract to develop sour gas reserves at the Shah field within a week, an official at state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) said today.

Iran has stopped carrying out oil transactions in US dollars in a concerted attempt to reduce reliance on Washington at a time of tension over Tehran's nuclear programme and suspected involvement in Iraq, an official said today.

Australia’s Oilex said the Alyanbou-1 wildcat which is the third and final well of the phase three well exploration campaign in Oman’s Block 56 has been spudded to test the north eastern part of the block.

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal met his Norwegian counterpart Jonas Gahr Store today, with plans to co-operate in a bid to stabilise oil markets high on the agenda.

Iran and Pakistan are ready to sign a deal for a $7.6 billion gas pipeline which will carry Iranian gas to Pakistan and India, following President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Islamabad today.

Nigerian drilling company SeaWolf Oilfield Services is on schedule to take delivery this December of a second new jack-up being built in the Middle East by United Arab Emirates-based Maritime Industrial Services (MIS).

Guerrillas blew up two gas-pipelines in Pakistan’s south-western Baluchistan province, shutting in supplies to industrial clients in the Punjab region.

Representatives from natural gas producing countries meeting this week will discuss forming an Opec-style grouping said an Iranian official, a move opposed by the US and the EU.

Canadian independent Tethys Oil said that a preliminary reserves study suggests an increase in estimated condensate of almost 34% at the Naith ‘A’ reservoir in Oman.

Turkmenistan resumed its natural gas exports to neighbouring Iran today, according to Iranian media reports.

Norwegian producer DNO said its first quarter working interest share of production from its assets in Yemen and the Kurdish region of Iraq was an average 17,452 barrels of oil per day, up 11% from the previous quarter.

Representatives of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan signed a framework deal in Islamabad yesterday to buy natural gas from Turkmenistan, Pakistani media reported.

Soaring international crude prices are driven by a range of factors including speculation and depreciation of the US dollar, not mainly by China demand, Saudi Aramco regional vice president Mohammed al-Mahdi said today.