Top 8 Oil Producers in Asia & Oceania, 2006-2010 -- EIA

by Aaron and David Rachovich

Production of Crude Oil including Lease Condensate (Thousand Barrels Per Day), 2006-2010

Rank	Country	Full Year 2010 Average	Full Year 2009 Average	Full Year 2008 Average	Full Year 2007 Average	Full Year 2006 Average
1.	China	4,076	3,799	3,790	3,729	3,673
2.	Indonesia	943	946	972	964	1,019
3.	India	752	680	694	698	689
4.	Malaysia	554	578	609	588	613
5.	Australia	436	475	477	465	429
6.	Vietnam	318	299	300	319	345
7.	Thailand	242	238	229	213	204
8.	Brunei	136	131	133	155	198
Top 8 countries		7,457	7,146	7,204	7,131	7,170
Asia & Oceania total		7,753	7,442	7,518	7,416	7,459
Africa total		9,997	9,757	9,989	9,949	9,641
All Countries (World)		74,043	72,259	73,655	72,986	73,428

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), International Energy Statistics, here.

(Figures above may be updated at any time by EIA. Also, please see Aaron and David Rachovich, "World's Top 22 Oil Producers, Full Year 2010 (including OPEC and plus 2009 production)," here. And our post "Top 25 World Oil Consumers, 2009-2010," here. -- D.R.)

Egyptian Gas Supply to Israel Almost Back to Normal: Sources

Platts, Jerusalem, Mar 22, 2011
Gas deliveries from Egypt to Israel have reached 90% of volumes prior to the cutoff on February 5 [please see my post, including remarks, here -- D.R.] and will continue to ramp up this week, Israeli energy industry sources said Tuesday.

Supplies resumed on March 15 after the export pipeline, which was damaged by an explosion, was fixed. Shipments also resumed to Jordan.

Meanwhile, Ampal-American Israel Corp [please see remarks below -- D.R.], a partner in the East Mediterranean Gas Company -- which exports the gas from Egypt to Israel -- said in its annual report Friday [sic] that the future policy of the Egyptian government may not coincide with that of EMG.

The statement said that there is no certainty that Egypt will meet its commitments regarding the supply of natural gas to Israel in the future.

EMG supplied Israel with 2.1 billion cubic meters of gas in 2010 and its contractual commitments are to increase this to 3 Bcm in 2011. EMG has signed commitments to supply 4.8 Bcm/year of gas starting in 2013 [sic].

The Ampal statement follows remarks last week by Egypt's new oil minister Abdallah Ghorab. He said that his ministry is re-examining the gas agreement with Israel, specifically the price at which gas is sold to Israel and other countries.

Ghorab said the agreements, signed under the auspices of the previous minister Sameh Fahmi, include a mechanism that permits amending the gas supply agreements. The minister said this would not be a complicated process.

Jordan is currently paying around $3/MMBtu [please see remarks below -- D.R.] while prices to Israel were raised by nearly 50% last year to around $4.50/MMBtu when the long-term supply agreement was renegotiated.

Israeli energy industry analysts have said the price of Egyptian gas sold to Israel could go as high as $6-6.50/MMBtu. [Full story]

(Also, Egypt wants to raise price of gas to Jordan. EMG is a joint company owned by Egyptian businessman Hussein Salem, Egypt Natural Gas Company, Thailand's PTT, Israel's Merhav Group, Ampal-American Israel Corp, American businessman Sam Zell and Israeli institutional investors. Ampal holds a 16.8% interest in EMG, with 8.2% held directly and 8.6% held through the joint venture with certain Israeli institutional investors, of which Ampal owns 50% and a 4.3% interest is attributable to the institutional investors. Excluding the institutional investors, Ampal has a 12.5% interest in EMG. -- D.R.)

'Top 100' Oil Rankings Heavy on Houston Firms

by Barrett Goldsmith, Houston Business Journal, Dec 3, 2010

The 2011 Energy Intelligence Top 100 rankings are heavy on Asian, Russian and Middle Eastern state-owned oil firms, but there is still no question about the nerve center of the global industry, as the Houston area is home to no fewer than 10 of the top 100 firms in the world.

The list, released ... by market research and news firm Energy Intelligence Group Inc., ranks companies in six categories including production and reserves of both oil and gas, as well as sales and refining capacity.

Houston companies on the list include No. 8 ConocoPhillips (NYSE: CPC); No. 32 Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO); No. 41 Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA); No. 46 Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC); No. 60 EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG); No. 74 Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL); No. 90 Southwestern Energy Co. (NYSE: SWN); No. 91 Newfield Exploration Co. (NYSE: NFX); No. 98 Ultra Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: UPL) and No. 100 El Paso Corp. (NYSE: EP).

Irving-based ExxonMobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) was the only non-government oil major to crack the top five, ranked at No. 3. State-owned Saudi Arabian oil behemoth Saudi Aramco topped the list, followed by the National Iranian Oil Co. at No. 2; with Petroleos de Venezuela at No. 4 and the Chinese National Petroleum Corp. at No. 5. [U.K.'s BP retained its spot as the No. 6. Rounding out the Top 10 are, in order, Royal Dutch Shell of the Netherlands/UK, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Total of France. -- According to the SPA. Actually, ConocoPhillips ties Chevron for No. 8 spot. Compare current--for 2009--Top 10 rankings to previous--for 2008--PIW's rankings here, including my remarks -- D.R.] Read full

(‘Energy Intelligence Top 100: Ranking the World’s Oil Companies,’ incorporates the Petroleum Intelligence Weekly (PIW) Top 50. Asia’s government-controlled national oil companies (NOCs) are increasingly dominant. ‘Energy Intelligence Top 100’ is the only oil company ranking that measures Asian and other government-controlled national oil companies (NOCs) side by side with privately controlled international oil companies (IOCs). This year 41 NOCs and 59 IOCs made the list. Malaysia’s Petronas (17), China’s CNOOC (38) and Thailand’s PTT (53) have been among the fastest rising companies in recent years. Korea’s National Oil Corp. (KNOC) made it back onto the list in this edition, landing at 77 following its acquisition of Canadian assets. Yet even more dramatic was the ascent of India’s Reliance Industries, which jumped a remarkable 26 spots to land at 40. Its success is the result of significant increases in both gas production and distillation capacity. The Top 100 control 87% of the world's oil reserves and 72% of its gas reserves. Rankings are based on operating metrics rather than more traditional measurements such as market capitalization or revenues. PIW's current ranking is based on operational data for 2009. Also, it is worth noting that an astonishing 48 companies appearing in the 1997 Top 100 have disappeared from the rankings due almost entirely to M&A. Read more >> Business Wire. On October 22, 2009, KNOC signed the contract to acquire Calgary-based Harvest Energy Corp. for US$3.95 billion, which has about 200 million barrels of oil and gas production fields, oil sands property, and concluded the deal on December 22, 2009. Petróleo Brasileiro/Petrobras retained its spot as the No. 15, in the 2011 PIW's ranking for 2009. Update: also, please see PIW's Dec 2011 company rankings for 2010, here.  -- D.R.) 

WoodMac: Strong Upstream M&A Activity Forecast in 2011

by Paula Dittrick, OGJ, Jan 26, 2011
Keen interest in shale plays is expected to propel strong upstream merger and acquisition activity this year, said Wood Mackenzie Ltd. analysts.

Restructuring among international oil companies and aggressive spending by Asian national oil companies (NOCs) also is expected to drive active M&A levels.

WoodMac’s report “2010 in Review and the Outlook for 2011” showed $183 billion was spent on upstream M&A deals last year. US shale gas transactions reached $39 billion, or 21% of global activity, said the independent research firm of Edinburgh.

“The M&A market returned to peak levels in 2010, and the healthy deal activity at the end of the year bodes well for 2011,” said Luke Parker, manager of WoodMac’s M&A research.

Unconventional oil and gas asset deals primarily drove 2010 M&A activity, Parker said.

Twenty transactions in the $1-5 billion range underpinned the M&A market during 2010, marking a contrast with 2009 when upstream transactions spiked on two corporate deals: the mergers of ExxonMobil Corp. with XTO Inc. and Suncor Energy with Petro-Canada.

Parker said weakness of US gas prices caused investors to increasingly shift their focus towards liquids-rich shale gas plays.

For instance, industry ended 2010 with a flurry of shale oil transactions involving the Bakken play in North Dakota, where transactions are expected this year.

“In the last 2 months of 2010, there were four $1 billion-plus Bakken deals announced, pushing cumulative M&A spend in North American tight oil beyond $15 billion,” Parker said.

He noted some 2010 M&A trends by peer group.

“At a global level, the NOCs were net buyers, and the IOCs were net sellers in 2010,” Parker said. “The NOCs were almost exclusively acquisitive.”

Chinese NOCs, together with the Korean National Oil Co. and PTTEP [the Thai NOC], invested $35 billion on overseas acquisitions.

“This pushed total NOC cross-border spend as a proportion of global M&A to 19%, marking the sixth successive year in which the NOCs have increased their share of the market,” WoodMac said.

Among the IOCs, Chevron Corp., Royal Dutch Shell PLC, and Total SA made a notable return to acquisitions in 2010, while Statoil and ConocoPhillips were notable sellers, Parker said. [Full story]

(US supermajor ExxonMobil completed its deal to buy US unconventional player XTO Energy in mid-2010---the deal was approved by XTO's shareholders on June 25, 2010 -- D.R. Wood Mackenzie's report---press release---is also available on its website here -- D.R.)

EMG, Israel Corp in Deal on 1.4 Bcm-2.9 Bcm/year Gas Supplies

by Platts, December 13, 2010
[Egypt's] East Mediterranean Gas Supply Corp has signed agreements to supply 1.4 billion cubic meters of natural gas to three companies controlled by the Israel Corp., according to a statement Monday by Ampal-American Israel Corp.

The statement said that the agreements are for a total of 1.4 Bcm a year for 20 years with an option to increase the total to 2.9 Bcm/year. The total value of the five contracts with Oil Refineries Ltd, Israel Chemicals and OPC Rotem was put at $5 billion-$10 billion.

Gas supplies are scheduled to commence in the second quarter of 2011. The agreement was seen as a setback for the Tamar consortium which was hoping to clinch the entire deal. The Tamar consortium comprises Noble Energy Inc., Delek Drilling, Avner Oil and Gas, Isramco and Dor Gas. A source close to the Israel Corp said that it had left open the remaining 1.5 Bcm of purchases. Israeli energy industry sources said that this could eventually go to the Tamar consortium. Israeli energy industry sources said Monday's announcement could have a detrimental impact on the development of the Tamar field which was scheduled to begin commercial deliveries in 2013. ...

(EMG is a joint company owned by Egyptian businessman Hussein Salem, Egypt Natural Gas Company, Thailand's PTT, Israel's Merhav Group, Ampal-American Israel Corp, American businessman Sam Zell and Israeli institutional investors. -- D.R.)