Gazprom Won't Begin Libya Talks Until There Is 'Legitimate' Regime

- Gazprom Won't Begin Libya Talks Until There Is 'Legitimate' Regime

Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
MOSCOW
by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen

Gazprom won't begin talks on restarting its projects in Libya until a "legitimate" regime is in place in the North African country, the company said Tuesday.

Gazprom halted work at oil concessions C96 and C97--a joint project with Wintershall, a unit of German chemical giant, producing 100,000 barrel a day when unrest broke out in the country in February. One of the projects is in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya's coast, while the second is Block 64 located in the Gadames oil province, .

"We would like to return to Libya as soon as possible," a Gazprom spokesman said.

"But until Libya has a legitimate government in place, we won't start negotiations," he said.

Wintershall said Monday that production at the C96 and C97 concessions could be restarted within several weeks, depending "on the state of the export infrastructure as well as a stable security situation in the country."

Plans by Gazprom's oil unit Gazprom Neft to acquire a 33% stake in ENI's Elephant field in Libya were also delayed due to the unrest in the country. The company said in April the deal would be finalized when the situation stabilizes in Libya, but declined to comment Tuesday.

Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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China Says Won't Use Force in South China Sea

- China Says Won't Use Force in South China Sea

Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
BEIJING

China said Tuesday it wouldn't resort to the use of force in the tense South China Sea, after its neighbors expressed concern about its more assertive maritime posture.

"We will not resort to the use of force or the threat of force," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters.

"We hope relevant countries will do more for peace and stability in the region," Hong said.

Vietnam on Monday staged live-fire exercises following recent confrontations at sea with China, which reignited a long-standing dispute over the sovereignty of two potentially oil-rich archipelagos--the Paracels and Spratlys.

Hong insisted Vietnam was to blame for the recent flare-up, sparked by a confrontation between Chinese surveillance vessels and a Vietnamese oil survey ship.

"Some country took unilateral actions to impair China's sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, and released groundless and irresponsible remarks with the attempt to expand and complicate the issue of the South China Seas," Hong said, in a thinly veiled reference to Hanoi. "This is where the problem lies."

He said China was willing to hold direct negotiations with the other nations embroiled in territorial disputes in the South China Sea within the framework of a code of conduct agreed to in 2002.

Tensions have also risen this year between China and the Philippines, another claimant to the Spratlys, which on Monday said it would from now on refer to the South China Sea as the "West Philippine Sea".

Taiwan at the weekend reiterated its claim to the Spratlys, and said missile boats and tanks could be deployed to disputed territory.

Brunei and Malaysia have also staked claims in the area.

Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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Drilling Impact Fee Won't Go To Those Who Ban It

- Drilling Impact Fee Won't Go To Those Who Ban It

Thursday, May 19, 2011
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
by Brad Bumsted, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Local governments that want to share revenue from a proposed impact fee on natural gas drilling cannot adopt more stringent zoning regulations than a statewide "model ordinance" called for in a Senate bill.

The provision is aimed at Pittsburgh, which banned drilling, and any other municipalities that would do the same, said Andrew Crompton, chief counsel for Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson County, the bill's author.

"It's mainly to make sure the city of Pittsburgh and any others that have explicitly zoned out shale are not getting rewarded by getting a share of the (drilling) fee," Crompton said.

The way the bill is structured Pittsburgh wouldn't be eligible for the local share of the money, which goes to communities in or near drilling sites, but it would otherwise be eligible for statewide revenue the bill provides, Crompton said.

Ben Price, project director for the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, which drafted Pittsburgh's no-drilling ordinance, called the revenue "blood money" that requires municipalities to abrogate their authority to protect communities in order to get state revenue. He claimed the gas industry drafted the Scarnati bill, which Crompton denied.

The Public Utility Commission would develop the model zoning ordinance, which would permit drilling "by right" in all but residentially zoned areas.

Crompton said he suspects the commission would rely on a model zoning proposal used by the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors.

"We put a model ordinance out to members so they can properly plan for (drilling)," said Elam Herr, an official with the supervisors association. The group is still reviewing Scarnati's bill, Herr said, but has no problem with preventing revenue from going to municipalities that ban drilling.

Scarnati on Monday introduced the bill, which would impose a $10,000-per-well fee on deep gas sites, with potential revenue much higher depending on the price of gas and volume produced by the well.

The legislation would bring in $121.2 million in revenue by March 1, 2012. The first $7.5 million would go to conservation districts. The split after that would be 60 percent to counties and municipalities and 40 percent for statewide grants on projects such as roads, stormwater and sewer systems and protecting open space.

But the bill faces hurdles: Gov. Tom Corbett has said he would consider an impact fee, but the money must remain local and not come to Harrisburg. The Republican-controlled House has shown no appetite for a statewide fee or tax. There are six other tax or fee proposals on Marcellus shale drilling.

Copyright (c) 2011, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

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