The signing of the mandate letter by the three International Financial Institutions (IFIs) marks the start of the appraisal process of the Nabucco project, a required step towards a potential financing package of up to EUR 4 billion. The Nabucco gas pipeline project is the flagship project for meeting future EU gas demand and will diversify Europe’s pool of supplier countries.

The potential financing package will consist of up to EUR 2 billion from the EIB, up to EUR 1.2 billion from the EBRD (up to EUR 600 million for EBRD’s account and up to EUR 600 million to be syndicated to commercial banks) and up to around EUR 800 million from IFC (up to EUR 400 million for IFC’s account and up to EUR 400 million to be syndicated to commercial banks).

The mandate letter formalises the conditions under which the three IFIs will conduct their appraisal of the Nabucco project, and provides an indication of the potential level of financing. It sets out the work that will be required before a final financing decision can be taken.

The involvement of the three IFIs is a demonstration of global and European support for the project and represents an important milestone in ensuring the overall financing of Nabucco. The early involvement of the IFIs will support Nabucco in meeting the highest standards in environmental and social risk evaluation and procurement. The appraisal of the project will include a thorough assessment of commercial, social and environmental aspects.

The Nabucco gas pipeline project addresses the EU’s priority goal of achieving energy security via the diversification of gas routes and gas supplies. It will deliver additional volumes of gas from different sources through a new supply route to the EU member states and their neighbours. Nabucco provides a strategic solution by enabling the transport of gas from both the Caspian Region and the Middle East.

Following the successful conclusion of the appraisal, the financing will need to be approved by the relevant governing bodies of each IFI. Export credit agencies and international banks are expected to commence their appraisal of the Nabucco project soon after the IFIs. Commitments from potential lenders are expected to be sought in 2011.

In London, Brent crude oil futures for October 2010 delivery was trading at $76.60, 08.00 GMT on the ICE Futures Exchange and Brent oil futures are trading almost $3 a barrel higher than it’s US counterpart, WTI oil on the NYMEX.

ICE Dollar Index Trades Higher

The ICE Dollar Index, which tracks the US dollar against a trade weighted basket of currencies, was up by 0.4 percent at 82.39.

Meanwhile, the UK stock market is expected to open lower this morning, with the FTSE 100 projected to drop 0.3% in early trade. Stock markets in Asia were also flat, or little changed in trading.

Brent oil prices have recently been following the lead of stock markets around the globe, together with changes in the value of the US dollar.

The exhibition sheds light on the statements belonging to the prehistoric period to highlight the archaeological and historical value of these discoveries, which includes simple household tools made of flint stones used by the first man to secure the necessary daily requirements.

Dr Riyadh Naasan Agha Minister of Culture, said that the Syrian civilization gave the world amazing discoveries every day makes it more adherent to the role of Syria civilization noting French Syrian cooperation in discovery, which dates back to about seventy years.

In his turn, French Ambassador in Damascus, Eric Chevalier appreciated the efforts that have been made for this exhibition, explaining that there are plenty of reasons and results that make us do all of those efforts in this area and said that this exhibition has a very symbolic and very important because it is a form of cooperation between the two governments, which began Twenty years ago, and gave the results as clear as it is a scientific, knowledge and qualification of the site.

The French ambassador added that cultural cooperation between the two countries deals with several aspects such as heritage and discoveries and research pointing to the existence of a scientific cooperation common to do with statements archeological to highlight the importance and value of the heritage of the Syrian advance thanks to Total E&P Syrie because it is considered to the social side and developed cooperation in various areas through its presence in Syria.

bilateral cooperation, which began twenty years ago between Syria and France in the site or the hills to pointing out that the findings have no peer in the Middle East, pointing out that the mission has turned to the Institute through which qualifying students from Syria and the Arab countries and neighboring countries.

Boeda thanks Total E&P Syrie on substantial assistance for a special mission to secure the material exploration, conservation and helping to disseminate scientific findings in addition to material assistance, which contributed to improved working conditions.

Total Exploration and Production in Syria during the past years provided activities in the realm of sustainable development by supporting projects in the field of human resources development, environment, health, education and skills-building and local development and cultural heritage.

Total Exploration and Production in Syria is working as a partner in these areas and through the participation to the implementation of a number of projects in Syria, particularly in the area of Deir Al-Zour, and to ensure the sustainability of these projects have been planned and implemented with several points, including local authorities and communities, international organizations working in Syria the area of sustainable development.

Total Exploration and Production in Syria finds that the partnership between the supporters of these projects is an essential for its efforts in the scope of responsibility towards society and to ensure benefit for all partners.

Syria Oil

Otri toured with Eng. Sufian Allaw oil Minster on the Institue Department .
The Institute is located at al-Taim field in Deir Ezzor at a SYP 19 million cost. It comprises 10 labs and 5 teaching halls accommodating 48 students, 11 administrative halls, in addition to 17 specialized rooms for students’ residence.

100 students are to be admitted to the Institute in 2010-2011, 50 of them from the eastern region in various specializations.

On the sidelines of the visit, Ministry of Higher Education and Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources signed a memo of understanding in the field of offering expertise for future planning to achieve sustainable development an all levels.

Syria-oil

Therefore, Syria’s imports have fallen from Egyptian natural gas to 1.2 million cubic meters per day.
Ministry of Oil and Gas signed a supply agreement to Syria in the seventh month in 2007, where the flow of Egyptian gas through the Arab oil pipeline to Syria for the first time.

That imply the sale of Egyptian gas to Syria and providing Syria with limited quantities of natural gas ranging from 2.5 million cubic meters a day to reach 6 million cubic meters per day in 2013.

sources said that the Egyptian step is may be due to the shortage of electric power generation and increased demand that Egypt is suffering of which has led to reducing the amount of Egyptian gas to Syria.

Syria’s production of gas, has reached more than 28 million cubic meters per day are supplied with the Ministry of Electricity to 20 million cubic meters, for use in power plants, which contributes to the reduction of import of fuel.

A source of the Egyptian oil official denied recent press reports, according to Health Government’s intention to reduce the amounts of exporting Egyptian gas to the outside in order to meet the needs of the lack of the internal market, and face the crisis of power outages.

The source pointed out that the reduction of time and increase the quantities of gas exported under the program is provided in the contracts, and that Egypt is committed to the implementation of those contracts.

It should be noted that Egypt has the third largest reserves of natural gas in Africa after Algeria and Nigeria, which is estimated at 1.89 trillion cubic meters.

Egypt is suffering frequent power outages caused damage to economic sectors.

Oil producers and oilfield services companies, including Halliburton peer Schlumberger Ltd, are ramping up operations in Iraq, which is hoping to use its vast oil resources to rebuild the country.

Halliburton did not give financial details on the deal, citing a confidentiality clause. It described the job as a “multimillion dollar” contract involving “rigless” services such as wire-line logging, perforating and acidizing used to increase production at existing wells.

Work on the contract has already begun and the company’s base is fully operational, Halliburton said in an email.

Eni sealed the final contract with Iraq on Jan. 22 for the 4 billion-barrel Zubair oilfield. Eni and its partners, U.S.-based Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY.N: Quote) and state-run Korea Gas Corp (KOGAS), set an output target of 1.2 million bpd. The consortium planned to invest more than $20 billion and accepted a remuneration fee of $2 a barrel.

The group agreed with Iraq to set the baseline production level at 183,000 bpd.
Halliburton has made a strategic investment in our Iraqi infrastructure and the award of this contract, coupled with the recent letter of intent awarded by Shell and its partners, demonstrates that we have the technology and people in place to deliver in Iraq,” Halliburton Chairman and CEO David Lesar said in a statement.

The company, which has headquarters in Dubai and Houston, said earlier this month it had been awarded a letter of intent to work with a Shell-led (RDSa.L: Quote) consortium developing the Majnoon oil field in southern Iraq, one of the world’s largest.

Shares of Halliburton fell 19 cents to $28.30 in morning New York Stock Exchange trading. That decline was in line with a slight drop in the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Index of oilfield services companies.

Eng Sufian Allaw Minister of Oil and Mineral Resources announced recently the accomplishment of all construction and Reconstructive work for al-Furat Oil and Gas Technological Institute located within the field of Tim in Deir Ez-Zor, stressing that it will be the completion of the furnishing and equipping of laboratories for early next month to receive students studying it with the beginning of the new school year.

Allaw briefed on the work carried out at the institute and meeting with the charge of it was allocated 50 percent of the number of students for the people of the eastern region as there will be a trade-off in general to accept 50 percent of the students, while the section would be left to the children of the areas, noting that the Institute has 17 rooms dedicated to the establishment of students studying outside the Deir ez Zor and countryside near also includes 10 laboratories and 5 rooms for teaching that can hold room for 48 students and 11 administrative division in addition to gardens and excellent facilities, pointing out that it will be given a monthly salary amounting to 600 for. as each student in the Institute to help him complete his studies.

The Minister clarified that 100 students will be accepted, almost through the next academic year, distributed in terms of reference for mechanical machinery and rotary instrumentation and control, while will be added to specialists new in the school year followed by a number of students studying in the institute to between 200 to 250 students, pointing out that the graduates appointed a provision in the oil companies immediately after graduation.

Allaw said that future plan includes the building of an integrated system of study and training oil for the Eastern Region In addition to al-Furat Institute updated there a similar institute in Rumelan Institute mainly in Homs has been instructed to study the establishment of secondary vocational oil at the site of field Tim also agrees with the Holders of a certificate of basic education will be Setup and take action to start the reception of students during the academic year 2011-2012, thus obtaining an integrated system in the province include secondary institutes oil and the College of Engineering petrochemical and training centers first in the field of roses, a global center coaching staff petroleum engineers, technicians, and second place in the gas plant cobblestone pointing he is working to bring the National Center for Training in the area Alfrqls in the province of Homs and to train technical personnel as needed.

Syria Oil

“The export of crude oil, gas and their derivatives are exclusively under the authority of the Oil Ministry of the central government in Baghdad and State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO),” oil ministry spokesman Asim Jihad said, reading a statement from the ministry.

“Any contracts signed outside of that legal framework are considered void and illegal.”

On Friday, Germany’s RWE said it had signed a gas cooperation agreement with Iraq’s Kurdish regional government. The deal envisaged RWE helping develop and design domestic and export gas transport infrastructure and create a route to market for Iraqi Kurdistan’s gas.

The RWE statement quoted Iraqi Kurdistan’s natural resources minister Ashti Hawrami as saying that up to 20 billion cubic metres of gas a year could be fed into the Nabucco pipe to bring gas to Turkey and Europe.

The Nabucco project aims to transport up to 31 billion cubic metres of gas a year from the Caspian region to reduce Europe’s dependence on Russia, which supplies Western Europe with about a quarter of its natural gas.

Iraq needs to develop its gas sector and open it to foreign investment.
But unilateral oil and gas deals negotiated by the Kurdish authorities are opposed by the Arab-led government in Baghdad in a long-running row over energy resources and revenue sharing.

Baghdad’s opposition to oil deals the semi-autonomous Kurds have signed independently with foreign firms has halted oil exports from Kurdish oilfields.

Exporting gas is also controversial in Iraq due to inadequate public electricity supplies 7-1/2 years after the US-led invasion.

The oil ministry has pledged that domestic gas needs will first have to be covered, in particular the future needs of gas turbine powered electricity plants, before any gas is exported. - Reuters

Hussain al-Shahristani said there is no rush to discuss quotas with other members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries while Iraq’s production level — currently at 2.5 million barrels a day — remains bellow the country’s potential.

“The current production 2.5 million barrels is no match to our potential,” al-Shahristani said in an interview with The Associated Press. “Nobody is really in a rush to discuss (quotas) yet, but once we pass 3.5 or even 4 million barrels a day in two to three years time, we should enter into a very constructive discussion about new market shares.”

Iraq is home to the world’s third largest proven reserves of crude. Oil exports account for more than 90 percent of its state revenue.

The country has been struggling to rebuild its oil infrastructure after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Years of international sanctions ravaged Iraq’s oil industry. Looting, sabotage and perennial security woes during the war battered the sector even more and stunted investor interest.

Last year, Iraq held two bidding rounds and awarded 12 contracts to develop 14 oil fields — all but two located in the south of the country.

Al-Shahristani said Iraq hopes to boost its production capacity to 12 million barrels per day by 2017 with the new contracts — a level that would put it just shy of OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia’s current production capacity.

Al-Shahristani also said the price of oil, currently hovering between $70 and $75 a barrel, is fair.

“For the current market conditions, the price seems to be fair to both consumers and producers,” al-Shahristani said. He dismissed concerns over Iraq’s ability to significantly raise output and hammer oil prices.

“Our policy is not to maximize our production, but to maximize our revenues,” al-Shahristani said. “We are not going to produce more oil than the market can absorb and therefore force the price of oil down.”

The 84-kilometer pipeline running from the Russian town of Skovorodino to the Chinese border is part of a loan-for-oil deal signed last year between the two countries.

Under the deal that was negotiated for almost a decade, China is providing Russia’s state-owned oil producer OAO Rosneft (ROSN.RS) and pipeline operator Transneft (TRNFP.RS) with $25 billion in long-term loans.

In exchange, Russia will export 15 million tons of crude to China annually over 20 years staring from 2011 through the new pipeline, equivalent to 300,000 barrels a day.

“Test operations will begin this weekend. It will take three to four days to fill the pipeline,” a Transneft spokesman said.

China’s state-owned CNPC is constructing the pipeline, which will extend another 1,000-kilometers to the Chinese oil production and refining hub of Daqing in the country’s northeast.