Energy Blast, Jan. 29, 2008

The 6th Russian-Norwegian oil and gas conference on issues of the two countries’ partnership in developing the shelf will begin its work in Kaliningrad this week. The prime minister of Ukraine, Yulia Tymoshenko, has demanded that Gazprom deal directly with RosUkrEnergo, the Ukrainian state oil and gas company rather than through an intermediary as it does now. Tymoshenko linked yesterday’s arrest of suspected crime boss Semyon Mogilevich to the need to rid the gas trade between the two countries of questionable middlemen. Gazprom is seeking to extend its business relations with Turkey, with plans to launch new projects to enlarge its delivery area in the Middle East and Israel via Turkey in particular. A new agreement between Gazprom and OMV means that Gazprom will receive a 50% stake in the Central European Gas Hub (CEGH) located at Baumgarten which is currently wholly owned by OMV Gas International.

World EnergyChevron Corp said its affiliate Tengizchevroil has launched the first phase of expansion at the Tengiz oilfield in Kazakhstan.Record high coal prices could still rise almost 50% to as much as $150 a tonne due to a supply squeeze, according to a spokesman at Indonesia’s largest coal miner, PT Bumi Resources.Norwegian drilling group Northern Offshore has won a three-year drilling contract worth $257 million from India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp.