ENERGY WATCH
By Krishnadev Calamur Report: Producers to set up gas cartel
Earthtimes.org
News Category : Energy (Environment)
March 19 2007
Major gas producer, including Russia, Iran and Venezuela, have agreed
to set up an OPEC-like cartel for gas exports, Russia’s Kommersant
reported Monday.
A deal was expected to be signed April 9 in Qatar, the newspaper
reported. It quoted "sources in Arab diplomatic circles" as saying
Russia, Iran, Qatar, Venezuela and Algeria would be part the cartel
modeled on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
"Russia’s Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko
will attend the forum, where he will express Russia’s position
regarding the issue," a Russian spokeswoman told Platts, the global
energy-information provider. Last month, during a visit to the Middle
East, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said even if a gas cartel
was not former, producers should coordinate their policies.
The West fears that an OPEC-like cartel would lead to high gas prices
and on Monday in a statement, the U.S. Energy Department said a cartel
would hurt the gas business in the long term.
"The Department believes that an open and transparent marketplace is
best situated to determine price for natural gas," it said.
"Activities that seek to control the flow of energy supplies to
the market and circumvent the role of the market to set prices are
contrary to the long-term interests of both producers and consumers."
CEO: Pemex is in ‘critical’ condition
The head of Mexico’s state-owned oil firm Pemex has said the company
is in "critical" condition. "The situation of Petroleos Mexicanos is
critical and merits immediate attention," Chief Executive Jesus Reyes
Heroles said Sunday. The company, once a source of pride for Mexico’s
energy industry has clearly seen better days. Its daily output fell
last year by 2.3 percent to about 3.2 million barrels per day.
Production at Cantarell, the country’s No. 1 oil field, fell almost
12 percent last year.
While much of the world’s oil monopolies have raked in the profits
because of high oil prices through much of last year, the story at
Pemex is the opposite. It sends more than 80 percent of its profits
to the government, leaving little to reinvest in the company’s
infrastructure.
"We have to invest, and invest seriously, in exploration and turn
this situation around," Mexican President Felipe Calderon said.
Iran-Armenia gas pipeline opens
The Iran-Armenia pipeline began pumping gas from Iran to Armenia
Monday.
Presidents Robert Kocharyan of Armenia and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of
Iran attended the inauguration ceremony in Agarak, on the border
between the two countries.
Twenty-five miles of the 90-mile pipeline have been built. In the
first stage, 300 million to 400 million cubic meters of gas will be
transported. Eventually, the pipeline will be able to pump about 2.5
billion cu.m. of gas, the report said.
Work on the $30 million pipeline will end in mid-2008.
Initially, Armenia will receive 1.08 million cu.m. per year from
Iran, a figure that is expected to double by 2019, according to the
U.S. Energy Information Administration, the Department of Energy’s
data arm. In exchange, Armenia will provide Iran with 3 kilowatts of
electricity per cubic meter of gas.
The pipeline allows Armenia to access Iran’s and Turkmenistan’s gas
exports without having to use Caspian Sea export routes, the EIA says.