Thirteen IOC's qualify to bid in Iraq's gas auction

Iraq has said that 13 international oil companies have qualified to bid in next week's gas filed auction for the Akkas field, in the western desert, the Mansuriyah field near the Iranian border in the Diyala province and Siba field near Basra. The three oil fields together have estimated reserves of around 11.23 trillion cf of gas.

"Thirteen companies will take part in the gas auction and no more firms will be allowed," said Head Iraq's Oil Ministry's Licensing and Contracting Office Abdul-Mahdy al-Ameedi.

The 13 companies that have qualified to bid include Edison, Eni, Total, Korean Gas Corporation (Kogas), Mitsubishi, TPAO, Itochu, KazMunaiGaz, TNK-BP, Statoil, India's Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Jogmec and Kuwait Energy.

Source: Upstream

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TNK-BP and PetroVietnam sign blend oil supply agreement

TNK-BP has signed a long term co-operation agreement with PetroVietnam to supply Russian ESPO crude oil to Vietnam. The first shipment of 100,000 tonnes is expected to reach Hanoi in November 2010.

The ESPO oil blend will be supplied via the East Siberia – Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline and loaded for export in the port of Kozmino, the oil comes from the Verkhnechonskoe field in the Irkutsk region. The agreement with PetroVietnam is part of TNK-BP's plan to develop and expand its trading operations on an international scale.

“The signing of this contract to supply oil to Vietnam is a first and important step towards broad-based cooperation between TNK-BP and PetroVietnam. We are committed to establishing a long-term presence in Vietnam and to pursuing joint projects in the upstream and refining sectors”, said TNK-BP's deputy chairman Maxim Barsky.

To find out more about TNK-BP please visit TNK-BP's web site, which you can find here.

For more news and expert analysis about Vietnam, please see Vietnam Focus.

© 2010 Menas Associates

PetroVietnam and TNK-BP sign oil and gas MoU

PetroVietnam has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on oil and gas co-operation with Russia's TNK-BP. The pact will enable the two countries to set up an exploration and production venture in Russia.

TNK-BP is expected to develop plans to expand Vietnam's Dung Quat oil refinery. The country's national press has said that Deputy Prime Minister, Hoang Trung Hai, has approved plans to raise the refinery's capacity to 10 million tonnes of crude oil a year, or 200,800 b/d, from the current of 6.5 million tonnes.

TNK-BP is also expected to supply crude oil to PetroVietnam, or its trading arm, PV Oil, once the two countries start co-operation.

Source: Dow Jones

For more news and expert analysis about Vietnam, please see Vietnam Focus.