Editor's Letter

Record Numbers Attend SPE Russian Oil&Gas to Learn the Latest in Technologies

Pat Davis Szymczak

   I really enjoyed the 2010 SPE Russian Oil&Gas Exploration and Production Technical Conference and Exhibition this year. And not just because...

Rosneft, BP Form Strategic Alliance for Kara Sea

The Russian and British oil majors have agreed to explore and develop three license blocks in an area in the southern Kara Sea, roughly equivalent in size and prospectivity to the British sector of the North Sea. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told RIA Novosti on Friday that the government intends to create most favourable tax and administrative regime to development of the project.

Tethys Petroleum Limited: Kazakhstan Oil Production Project Approved

Tethys Petroleum Limited (TSX: TPL) has received approval for the Doris oil pilot production project and also provided an update on its operations and forward drilling plans in Kazakhstan, the company reported today. TethysAralGaz ("TAG"), the company's wholly owned Kazakh subsidiary, has received State approval from The Ministry of Oil and Gas ("MOG") for the Pilot production project for the Doris oil discovery on the Akkulka field.

Efficient and Safe Fire Protection for Oil and Gas Facilities

   The design of a safe and efficient fire-extinguishing system has for a long time been a difficult and almost unsolvable task. Water in use for that purpose for a long time cannot be applied at many sites of the oil and gas industry due to availability of sophisticated and expensive electronic equipment, flammable liquids, etc.

Minsk Sets Course for Energy Independence from Russia

   Energy independence has became a core political goal for most CIS countries. Belarus perhaps is the most successful among them in achieving energy independence. Currently, the country is seeking alternative crude suppliers – not long ago, Russia was Belarus’ sole supplier of crude. In the wake of a number of disagreements with Moscow (“gas wars”, Russia's introduction of export duties on crude and oil products), Belarus is trying to line up more suppliers.

TNK-BP Optimizes HR Policy

   Despite the lack of highly skilled specialists in the market, the aging industry and an overall drop in quality of practical skills obtained by students at college, TNK-BP has managed to continue hiring the crème of industry pros, reduce the average age of its staff and attract the best young engineers Russian academia can offer.

Technology for Forming and Construction of a modular structure used in cells (cabinets) of a typical standard product line of standard switchgear assemblies

   Variety of offshore drilling platforms and berth-connected ships, taking into account both the scope of tasks fulfilled and the purposes intended, and design versions by simultaneously variable range of the processing equipment determine the necessity of adaptation to conditions and fields of application with regard to switchgear assemblies used within the power supply system of offshore facilities in question.

Different Paces of After-crisis Oilfield Services Market

   The global oilfield services market is slowly picking up to pre-crisis levels. Interestingly, the pace of recovery in Russia is slightly higher than the international average. After plummeting last year, the costs of R&D projects are set to grow 19 percent globally in 2010, Polina Galova, a partner with Ernst & Young, said in her presentation at the “Oilfield Services in Russia”  conference in October.

Insides of Management Systems Why Some Management Systems Work and Others Don’t?

   During my 16 years of hands-on consulting experience in working with organizations on four continents and ranging from five people up to 17,000 employees, I hear constantly two opposing points of view expressed, strangely enough, by the same group of professionals – the organizations’ Top Management.

ROSING Assists Oil Companies in Cuttings Disposal

   When people learned the value of oil they began to respect its worth by calling it “black gold”. Oil is now traded at exchanges and is of paramount importance in many international agreements. In contrast, drilling cuttings (sediment composed of soil particles, clay, sand, metal oxides, water and oil) hold a less enviable position and are simply known as “sludge”.

Double Acting Tanker Set for Pechora Sea Debut The first of two new Arctic double acting shuttle tankers for the Prirazlomnoye project has entered service

   The result of a unique collaboration involving an overseas designer and a Russian shipbuilder, the 70,000 dwt Mikhail Ulyanov (IMO Number: 9333670, photo) was delivered to Sovcomflot by Admiralty Shipyard at the end of February. The-state-of-the-art vessel, designed by Aker Arctic Technology, is currently undertaking general duties in the spot market, but her destiny lies in plying one of the harshest of trades, shuttling oil from the Prirazlomnoye oil field development in the Pechora Sea to a Floating Storage and Offloading (FSO) unit moored off Murmansk.

New Doors Open to Foreign Firms As Government Prepares Deal to Get Yamal Gas on Stream

   Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has made a tradition out of visiting Russia’s northern gas production regions. A year ago in Salekhard (the Yamal Nenets Autonomous District, YANAO), Putin arranged a meeting of the leaders of major international oil and gas companies and encouraged them generously to develop the endless – both in terms of the area and subsoil resources – Yamal Peninsula, which has been like a stashed-away treasure for the Russian gas industry.

Germany's E.ON Sells Gazprom Stake For 3.4 Billion Euros

German energy concern E.ON said Wednesday it had sold its 3.5-percent stake in Russian gas giant Gazprom for a total of 3.4 billion euros ($4.4 billion). EON's purchase of a stake in Gazprom was seen as being part of closer economic ties between Russia and Germany under former chancellor Gerhard Schröder, but relations between Moscow his successor Angela Merkel are seen as less cosy.

East Siberia-Pacific Ocean Crude: A Boon for Japan

Japan is the world's third largest consumer of oil, following the United States and China. The average daily consumption of oil in Japan in 2009 was 4,400 barrels per day, or about 219 million tons for the entire year. Japan imports roughly 90 percent of this amount.

Indian Prime Minister "Delighted" With Indo-Russian Oil, Gas Pact

Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Tuesday expressed his delight and satisfaction over India and Russia concluding an inter-governmental agreement on cooperation in the oil and gas sector following the hard work put in by both the sides.

Russia Adds Record 5.5 Billion Barrels to Prospected Oil Reserves in 2010

Russia added a record 750 million tons (5.5 billion barrels) of oil to its prospected crude reserves in 2010, Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev said on Saturday, citing preliminary geological prospecting data.

Happy holidays from the team at OGE!

Happy holidays from the Oil&Gas Eurasia team! We hope you and yours enjoy some quality time together over this festive holiday season.

We look forward to another exciting year on the Russian and Eurasian petroleum scene and keeping you up-to-date on all the happenings from across the former Soviet Union.

Sino-Russian Oil Pipeline Officially Begins Operations

The oil pipeline linking the Chinese city of Daqing with the Russian city of Skovorodino officially began operating over the weekend with roughly 46,000 tons of crude oil flowing into China since Saturday, an official source told Xinhua news agency.