Energy

The Iraqi Ministry of Oil has signed a joint venture agreement with Shell, the South Gas Company and Mitsubishi Corporation on an initiative to capture natural gas in southern Iraq.

The South Gas Company (SGC), an affiliate of the Ministry of Oil, will take 51 per cent in the joint venture, the Basrah Gas Company (BGC). Shell will take 44 per cent and Mitsubishi will take five per cent.

Bridge Energy’s balanced portfolio of exploration and production oil and gas projects across the North Sea makes it an attractive investment as it sets out to list in London as well as Oslo.

Otto Energy has been producing oil from its assets in the Philippines for the last three years, and has fantastic prospects going forward: it is all about balance, say its senior executives.

Statoil Canada has announced it is investing $1 million into research expertise in reservoir engineering.

The investment is to be matched by the Research & Development Corporation (RDC), and will create the Statoil Chair and Statoil Associate Chair in Reservoir Engineering at Memorial University, Newfoundland, fostering the development of a new Petroleum Engineering research program in the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science.

Statoil Canada and RDC will each contribute a total of $1 million over the next five years.

The UK’s Weir Group has agreed to acquire US-based Seaboard Holdings for $675 million (£431 million).

Based in Houston, Texas, Seaboard manufactures engineered wellhead and pressure control equipment for the oil & natural gas exploration and production industries. The company also provides a range of field and support services, including equipment rental for the onshore oil & gas drilling, completion and production markets.

Norway’s AGR Group has agreed to sell its field operations business, AGR FO, to the Norwegian subsidiary of Oceaneering International.

Headquartered in Bergen, Norway, AGR FO is a provider of inspection, maintenance, subsea engineering and field operations services, principally to the oil and gas industry.

Centrica, the parent company of British Gas, and Norway’s Statoil have signed a strategic agreement for the supply of 50 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas to the UK.

The 10-year, NBP-linked gas supply contract begins in 2015 and secures sufficient gas to meet around five per cent of the UK’s total annual demand—enough for 3.5 million homes.

The UK currently imports around 50 per cent of its gas requirements.

Talisman Energy (UK) has awarded Wood Group PSN £500 million of North Sea contracts, it has been announced.

Under the terms of a new five-year contract, which includes an option to extend for a further five years, Wood Group PSN will provide operations and maintenance services on all 11 of Talisman's UK offshore assets and at the Flotta Oil Terminal on Orkney. The contract will be worth £90 million per annum and will begin today.

SunPower Corp., together with NRG Energy and community leaders, have officially marked the start of construction at the 250 MW California Valley Solar Ranch.

Situated in San Luis Obispo, California, the plant is one of the first and largest central station solar power plants in the world.

The utility-scale solar project is creating 350 construction jobs, driving $315 million into the local economy and generating clean, renewable electricity to PG&E for 100,000 homes.

The first 25 MW is expected to go online in the spring of 2012.

The $7 billion (£4 billion) sale of BP’s 60 per cent interest in Pan American Energy to Bridas Corporation has collapsed, the company has announced.

The deal had been delayed because the Argentine anti-trust and Chinese regulatory approvals required to complete the transaction had not been obtained by Bridas, BP said.