TPT September 2008

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Oil & Gas News
September 2008 162 ›
the transfer into the private sector of the majority stake held by
the state in Gaz de France, which produces and sells natural
gas in France, its main market, and around the world.
Shareholders of Gaz de France and Suez approved the
merger almost two and a half years after it was announced by
the government. As reported by Bloomberg News, the merger
was scheduled to take effect July 22 when GDF Suez and
Suez Environnement were to begin publicly trading. Some 65
per cent of Suez Environnement is being spun off to the Suez
shareholders who own the unit.
■ BP on July 18 said that it had agreed to buy 90,000 acres of
natural gas properties in Oklahoma from Chesapeake Energy
Corp (Oklahoma City) for $1.75 billion. The properties produce
about 50 million cubic feet of natural gas equivalent a day. BP
said the purchase had the potential to double production from
its Arkoma Basin operations, currently yielding more than 200
million cubic ft of natural gas equivalent per day. London-based
BP, the world’s third-largest energy company, is the latest to
spend heavily on prospects for hot shale, a formation which
traps oil and natural gas in layers of rock. Record energy prices
and advanced technology, such as horizontal drilling, have
increased the profitability of capturing hydrocarbons from shale.
In a similar move, Royal Dutch Shell on 14 July agreed to
acquire Canada’s Duvernay Oil Corp for about $5.9 billion to
increase its own production from natural gas deposits. Duvernay
commands 450,000 acres of land in two Canadian provinces,
notably in the prized Montney region in the northeast of British
Columbia and in Alberta’s Deep Basin. The areas would add to
Shell’s position in “tight gas,” which until up to now has been
considered too costly and difficult to extract.
■ Interfax reported on July 11 that Russia may acquire a stake in the
Caspian Pipeline Consortium held by Oman. The Russian news
service cited Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, who spoke to the
press in the northern city of Arkhangelsk, as saying the govern-
ment of President Dmitry Medvedev was “discussing the issue”.
In other Russian news, President Dmitry Medvedev on 17 July
signed a law empowering the Kremlin to choose the developers
for the vast oil reserves believed to exist in the Russian Arctic.
Deputy Prime Minister Sechin said that only state-controlled
energy companies with a minimum of five years’ experience of
working on the continental shelf would be eligible to participate
in the projects. This would, effectively, confine the selection to
Gazprom and Rosneft. Some analysts believe that even the
oil majors would face a challenge in mustering the technology
and financing necessary to lead major offshore projects without
significant foreign participation.
■ Eni announced on 12 June that it had signed new gas and oil
contracts with Libya that will secure the Italian company’s
position in North Africa for up to 40 years. The six exploration
and production sharing-contracts with Libya’s state-owned
National Oil Co will mean greater energy security for Italy at the
same time that they foster an increase in Eni’s Libyan production.
The new oil contract expires in 2042 and the new gas contract in
2047, the company said in a statement issued in Milan.