Shell & Petronas Preparing Award for Iraq Oil Wells

Shell and Petronas are in the process of awarding a deal to drill new oil wells at Iraq's super giant Majnoon oil field which will include engineering, procurement and construction deal to build various production installations at the field.

Potential firms in the bidding lists are reportedly Halliburton, Weatherford International, and Petrofac which will be responsible to develop Majnoon to175,000 barrels a day by 2012.

The oil field is owned by Shell of 45%, Petronas 30%, and Iraq's state-run Missan Oil holding 25%.

Singapore Building Facility for LNG Import from Qatar

Singapore is building new import facility for liquified natural gas on Jurong Island which will receive LNG from Qatar in the country's plans to diversify its gas supply. The facility costs $1.5 billion is due to be completed in 2013 to store more than six million tonnes per annum.

Singapore currently depends on the piped LNG from Malaysia and Indonesia.

Singapore's Prime Minister is replying in response to Indonesian announcement of increasing the supply price.

The partnership with Qatar, the world's biggest natural gas producer is expected after Qatar Petroleum International bought into Petrochemical Corporation of Singapore last November.

ExxonMobil Enters Oil Recovery Enhancement Project with Petronas Malaysia

ExxonMobil has reportedly entering a joint venture project with Petronas Malaysia for a recovery of an oil field, Tapis expected to begin in 2013.

The project which is estimated at $1 billion is considered by many timely in concordance with Petronas's recent announcement of re-shifting its focus backs towards domestic exploration and production and away from its wide-reaching international portfolio. It will look at reviving the 1980s Tapis which is regarded as one of the best API grades in the world and was used extensively in the Asia-Pacific benchmark.

New LNG Plant in Australia's Queensland

Australia's recent four mega-projects involving LNG plants have seen second approval under the environmental prior to signing of the official project.

BG Group PLC's proposed liquefied natural gas project in Queensland is the second project to after Santos Ltd. (STO.AU) and Malaysia's Petroliam Nasional Bhd or Petronas, received the Queensland government approval last month.

Australia's new Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who was swarn in Thursday, extended an olive branch to furious resources companies by offering to negotiate a compromise on the tax, but there's no certainty she'll give much ground.

The third project is a joint venture between ConocoPhillips and Origin Energy Ltd. with the last one a standalone venture by Royal Dutch Shell PLC.

All projects are now waiting for tax reforms from the Australian federal governments.

Australia to have 100% Renewable Energy by 2020

Australia is on a path to rely on 100% on renewable energy sources by 2020. It was based on the research by Melbourne University’s Energy Research Institute through its Evironmental group Beyond Zero Emissions which was presented to the Australian Parliament.

The Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy report claims at a price of A$37bn ($32.4bn) a year Australia can totally replace fossil fuel baseload electricity using renewable energy technology that is already available today.

Technically, the strategy aims at a mix of 60% of energy from solar thermal with molten salt storage and 40% from wind power with possibility of advanced solar photovoltaic (PV) to hit grid parity between 2015-20.

US Energy Company Raising Money for First US Oil Sands Project

Earth Energy Resources Inc., a Canadian company has been granted a government's approval to launch the very first US oil sands project in a 62 acre pit in Uintah County, Utah.

The project would be able to produce 2,000 barrels of oil a day by extracting oil out of sands using a proprietary solvent. Earth Energy requires $35 million to fund the project.

Iran to Receive Gasoline from Reliance

Reliance is reportedly transporting gasoline into Iran through Petronas. This becomes a dispute as the Indian refiner has previously instructed traders not to transport its gasoline into Iran following President Barack Obama new push toward international sanctions against Iran.

Reliance has been seen to be prepared not to become a prime target for US legislators which may result into potential punitive measures by the United States.

Petronas would be the second firm after Kuwait’s fuel supplier IPG making deliveries into Iran. It is possible that Petronas through its subsidiary Petronas Trading Corporation (Petco) is selling Reliance gasoline cargo through another trader which may have excluded the additional clause.