Japan-Brazil oil field development

Japan and Brazil  to cooperate in developing a deep-sea oil field off the Brazilian coast.A project is underway to explore for oil at a depth of over 2,000 meters in the Atlantic Ocean. Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras is investing more than 120 billion dollars in the 5-year project.Brazil is asking Japan to provide shipbuilding and marine development technologies for exploration and drilling work.Japanese government hopes to help domestic businesses win contracts in the project. Japan wants to accumulate know-how for the development of its own marine resources. Brazil and Japan the two countries are expected to exchange a written agreement in Tokyo next week.

 Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras on January 21, 2008, announced the discovery of Jupiter, a huge oil field which could equal the Tupi oil field. It is located 37 km (23 mi) from Tupi, 5,100 m (16,730 ft) below the Atlantic Ocean, 290 km (180 mi) from Rio de Janeiro. April 14, 2008, a second massive oil field was announced in the same region as the Tupi oil field with reserves estimated at 33 billion barrels (5.2×10⁹ m³) of oil.
On May 21, 2008, Petrobras announced the discovery of a third megafield, located on the coast of the State of São Paulo.Petrobras doubled its daily production of oil and natural gas, surpassing the mark of 2 million barrels (320,000 m³), Brazilian company started production on the P-50 oil platform, in the Albacora East Field at Campos Basin, which gave Brazil self-sufficiency in oil production. A project Located in the hydrocarbon-prolific Northern Campos Basin, 

Frade is a fast-track project in the ultra-deepwaters of Brazil.  
Brazil, Chevron serves as the operator with 51.7% interest in the field. Partners include Brazilian NOC Petrobras with 30% and Frade Japao Limitada, a Japanese partnership led by Inpex, with 18.26%.

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Turkmenistan signs gas sale pact with India, Pakistan

Kicking-off work on the long discussed US-backed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, India and its new energy partners on Wednesday signed agreements that will pave way for laying of the 1,680-km line.

Turkmenistan which holds more than 4 per cent of the world's natural gas reserves  signed agreements to sell gas to India and Pakistan through the USD 7.6 billion pipeline at the Caspian Sea resort of Avaza.

Describing signing of the Gas Sales and Purchase Agreement (GSPA) as "no-ordinary event", Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy said the signing was "a triumph of multilateralism, regional cooperation and economic integration".

The 1,680-km TAPI pipeline will have a capacity to carry 90 million cubic metres a day (mmcmd) gas for a 30-year period and will be operational in 2018.

India and Pakistan would get 38 mmcmd each, while the remaining 14 mcmd will be supplied to Afghanistan.Besides Reddy, the GSPA, signed by national oil companies of the four nations, was witnessed by Turkmenistan Oil Minister B Nedirov, Pakistan's Petroleum Minister Asim Hussain and Afghanistan's Minister of Mines Wahidullah Shahrani.

"Without a doubt, the economic benefits of the TAPI gas pipeline will be immense for our energy-starved economies. The flow of natural gas will bring in industrial and economic development in our countries," Reddy said.Stating that in and inter-connected and globalising world, economics shapes politics, he said: "It is our belief that the TAPI gas pipeline will transform the politics of this region".

"Hopefully, the spin-off benefits of this pipeline will encourage us to emphasis trade and investment issues over contentious political issues and enable us to build trust and confidence among ourselves as neighbours and partners in progress," he said in apparent reference to the frosty ties India has had with its neighbour Pakistan.

Butola:If government orders us for rollback we will

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) today said that the decision to hike the petrol prices was tough but there was no option left to tackle the impact of rising crude prices. Chairman IOC RS Butola further said,"If government orders us for rollback we will certainly do that but had not received any intimation to roll back The petrol price hike needed as we had exhausted all options. Oil price might cool down in the near future. Oil marketing companies has lost 2400 crore in the last two months or so. Oil companies are losing Rs 50 crores daily for keeping the prices low," he said.

No EU Deal with Ukraine

  European Union is not considering an association agreement with Ukraine over what it regards as political persecution in the country, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said on Thursday.
“The human rights situation in Ukraine, in particular political trials, arouses serious concern within the EU. Clearly, the signing of an EU-Ukraine association agreement is not being considered in this situation,” he said.
The bilateral deal aims to establish political association and economic integration between the EU and Ukraine, but European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said in December the agreement is unlikely to be signed before Ukrainian parliamentary elections due in October.

The trial and subsequent seven-year jail term of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, which Europe sees as politically motivated, also became a hurdle.Tymoshenko was jailed for pushing through a 2009 gas deal with Russia that Ukrainian authorities say has caused multi-billion-dollar losses to the national economy and deny accusations by Western powers and Russia that the trial was politically motivated.European parliament will vote on Thursday on a resolution calling for free and fair elections and the release of political prisoners in Ukraine.
According to a statement released by the European Parliament, EU lawmakers will discuss on Thursday the situation in Ukraine, and in particularly the treatment of jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko.
Vladimir Makiyenko, a pro-Europe Ukrainian lawmaker told Russian newspaper, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, on Wednesday that the EU had the mechanisms and capacity to introduce sanctions against Ukraine.
“There can be made uncomfortable, and even humiliating for ordinary people, decisions as well as ones financially dangerous for Ukrainian businessmen who are close to the ruling authorities…But nothing will happen before the Ukrainian parliamentary elections,” The Nezavisimaya Gazeta quoted Makiyenko as saying.
The members of the European Parliament will also consider issues relating to the signing of an Association Agreement with Ukraine, a bilateral deal aimed at establishing political association and economic integration between the European Union and Ukraine.
At the EU-Ukraine summit, held in Kiev in December 2011, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said the agreement is unlikely to be signed before the Ukrainian parliamentary elections due in October. The trial and subsequent seven-year jail term for Tymoshenko, which Europe sees as politically motivated, has also became a hurdle for signing the document.
Tymoshenko was jailed for seven years for pushing through a 2009 gas deal with Russia. Authorities in Ukraine say the deal has caused multi-billion-dollar losses to the country’s economy and deny accusations by Western powers and Russia that the trial was politically motivated.
A recent appeal hearing involving Tymoshenko was delayed due to health issues surrounding the former Ukraine Prime Minister.  European leaders have called on Ukraine to ensure that she has access to effective medical care.
“The Ukrainian authorities and the parliament have agreed that medical experts will be sent to Ukraine to treat Ms Tymoshenko,” the European Parliament said in its statement.