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Kirkuk, Iraq (UPI) Jul 22, 2010 Whether the EU-backed Nabucco pipeline can be realized depends also on whether the Europeans can secure natural gas supplies from northern Iraq. Nabucco, a proposed 2,500-mile pipeline stretching from Azerbaijan to Austria via Turkey, is aimed at breaking the Russian domination of gas import routes to Europe. Moscow's answer was the creation of South Stream, a competing pipeline launched by the Kremlin to torpedo the European project. Nabucco would be designed to carry 1.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas per year to Europe but from where that gas will come remains unclear. Azerbaijan recently signed a memorandum of understanding on natural gas with Turkey, technically opening the way for Azeri gas exports to Europe -- but there have been no firm commitments forthcoming. Neighboring Kazakhstan, which also owns significant reserves of gas, recently spoke hesitantly about Nabucco. "Kazakhstan has never been against Nabucco, the issue is that in Europe there is a lot of talk about Nabucco ... but in practice little is being done," Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev was quoted as saying this past weekend by Russia's state-run news agency RIA Novosti. That leaves northern Iraq's Kurdish province as a potential supplier of Nabucco. Kurdish Prime Minister Barham Salih told CNN's Marketplace Middle East during a London economic summit that his government was making moves to participate in Nabucco. "We want to be part of the system," he said. As much as 520 billion cubic feet of natural gas per year could be made available for Nabucco, Kurdish officials have said. Kurdish-governed northern Iraq is much more stable than the rest of the country, enabling investments and business deals to go through in an easier manner. But completing a deal with the Kurds won't be easy as Baghdad will be trying to prevent such a unilateral energy policy move. In planning for almost a decade, Brussels this year allocated some $270 million to finally jump start Nabucco. While EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said a decision on the construction of the pipeline should be made this year, it's clear that the original completion date -- 2014 -- can't be realized. Moreover, financing isn't secured, nor has any country signed a contract for supplying the European pipeline with gas. Its competitor South Stream, intended to move 63 billion cubic meters of gas per year from Russia under the Black Sea to Bulgaria and then on to Western Europe, gets gas from Russia and is backed by Italian company Eni. The Russians are eager to complete the $27 billion project by 2015, in a bid to beat Nabucco and at the same time bypass transit countries Belarus and Ukraine.
earlier related report State-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said in a statement that the Bayelsa refinery is one of three to be built across the country with a total installed capacity of 750,000 barrels per day. The three 'Greenfield Refineries' will be located in Bayelsa, the commercial capital Lagos and central Kogi state, the statement said. "An estimated 7,000 job opportunities would be up for grabs courtesy of the planned construction and operation of a Greenfield Refinery in Bayelsa State by the NNPC, in partnership with the China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC)," the statement said. The lack of employment is often cited as one of the main causes of armed militancy in the oil-rich Niger Delta. Two months ago, the NNPC signed an agreement with CSCEC to jointly seek debt financing from Chinese banks for the funding and construction of the three refineries and one petrochemical plant at a cost of 23 billion dollars in one of Africa's biggest tie-ups with China.. The Bayelsa refinery is expected to produce about 500,000 metric tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas per annum, NNPC director Billy Agha said. During a meeting with NPPC and Chinese investors, Bayelsa Governor Timipre Sylva urged NNPC to establish the refinery in Oloibiri, the community where commercial crude oil exploration and production first began 53 years ago, the statement said. The Lagos refinery alone will cost eight billion dollars. The sprawling city of some 15 million people experiences regular power and fuel crises. Officials said the refinery will have the capacity to refine 300,000 barrels of oil per day and 500,000 metric tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas per year. The Chinese state firm will contribute 80 percent of the capital while the NNPC will take care of the remaining 20 percent, they said.
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Faced with oil spill, Gulf residents fight mental painBuras, Louisiana (AFP) July 21, 2010 With the Gulf oil spill destroying livelihoods across southern Louisiana, anxiety over an uncertain future is prompting a desperate rise in depression, health officials and residents warn. "This whole area is gonna die," cried fifth-generation fisherwoman Darla Brooks in an interview Wednesday with AFP, in the small fishing-based town of Buras. "Down here, we have oil and we have fishing ... read more |
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