Posted on 12/07/2005 5:03:49 AM PST by nuconvert
UPDATE 1-Norway's Norsk Hydro confirms big oil find in Iran
Wednesday 7 December 2005
By John Acher
OSLO, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Norwegian energy and aluminium group Norsk Hydro (NHY.OL: Quote, Profile, Research) has made an oil discovery in western Iran, near the border with Iraq, that could be one of the most significant finds of recent years, Hydro said on Wednesday.
Norsk Hydro made the Anaran discovery in April in an exploration partnership with Russia's Lukoil (LKOH.MO: Quote, Profile, Research), the company said. Hydro owns 75 percent of the exploration licence and Lukoil 25 percent.
Hydro's head of oil and energy business Tore Torvund told an oil conference in Teheran on Monday that the discovery could be one of the biggest in recent years, a Hydro spokeswoman said.
Giant oil discoveries have been rare in recent years.
The company said in August that the Anaran discovery could be developed into a field that could produce 100,000 barrels per day, which would correspond to a medium-sized oilfield on the Norwegian continental shelf.
Dagens Naerinsliv, a Norwegian business daily newspaper, reported on Wednesday that the volumes could be even bigger.
"We are not saying anything about the volumes now, except that it has earlier been said that it could be 100,000 barrels a day," Norsk Hydro's spokeswoman for international operations Kama Holte Strand said.
Norsk Hydro shares opened up 1.9 percent at 738 Norwegian crowns, outperforming a 1 percent rise in the Oslo benchmark index and a flat DJ Stoxx oil and gas index of its peers.
Norsk Hydro on Saturday filed a business plan on the field with the National Iranian Oil Company and now has an exclusive right to negotiate a development plan, Holte Strand said.
Hydro hopes NIOC will consider that plan by the Iranian new year in March, Holte Strand said.
"We can be head of the development, but we have to negotiate that first," she said.
"We have had an extensive testing programme since the discovery for the 'commerciality' plan," she said, but declined to give details of the tests. The company drilled to a total depth of 4,762 metres (15,623 feet), she said.
Hydro has been working on Anaran since it made an agreement on exploration in 2000, but it first had to carry out time-consuming landmine clearance before drilling could start.
Norsk Hydro, Norway's second biggest oil producer after Statoil (STL.OL: Quote, Profile, Research), also has a licence to explore in the neighbouring Khorramabad prospect in Iran.
The company's oil and gas operations are mainly in offshore fields, but it works onshore also in Libya and Russia.
What do they do if there is a big vein of oil which crosses a country's borders? Or does oil simply not do this?
Could both countries set up pumping stations right at the border and try to out-pump their neighbor?
Looks like the blood for oil strategy is working.
Ever heard of "Slant Drilling"?
Slant drilling under the border was one of the claims Iraq used as justification for invading Kuwait. It's not only possible but I suspect it happens frequently.
You can drill within your borders.
Now we need some of those clever Texas slant drillers over there to tap it for Iraq.
Kuwait pi##ed off Sadam by slant drilling into his (?) oil.
With more oil, they now have more to lose when it runs out, thus the need to develop Nuclear power NOW so they don't need to pump it and run out of it...
quick build another nuke reactor
Could both countries set up pumping stations right at the border and try to out-pump their neighbor?
If I remember correctly, this was one of the pretexts for Iraq's invasion of Kuwait - that Kuwait was stealing Iraq's oil by such means.
I doubt if that is what is meant by slant drilling.
I wonder how long it takes the Iranians to nationalize this discovery and leave Hydro with nothing?
Wooo, hooo! Another uptick for the Big Blue Vikings!
This probably eliminates any chance of a "unified" European response to Iran's nuclear weapons program. We might as well start planning our (US) course of action, if we haven't already.
FReeper DoctorZin's blog, "Regime change Iran" has been nominated for Best Middle East blog on the web.
Please cast your vote here.........(you can vote once every 24hrs)
http://weblogawards.org/2005/12/best_middle_east_or_africa_blo.php
Happens all the time, it's called slant-drilling. Can lead to some great bust-ups on borders.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.