October 13th, 2007
Energy Daily recently reported on the impact that potential new European and U.N. sanctions may have upon Iran’s efforts to develop its liquefied natural gas potential in the massive South Pars fields, noting in particular that “…France’s recent turn to harsher rhetoric toward Tehran may signal a tipping point in Iran’s oil and gas exploration and modernization.”
The power of the French connection is not mere exaggeration for the sake of press: Total, as the article notes, has long been invested in Iran’s massive South Pars natural gas field, which is estimated to contain between 280 trillion cubic feet and 500 tcf of gas. In 2006, Total took out about 2 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day from two sections of the South Pars field it has developed since 2004. Total has also been seeking to develop another section, Block 11, of the South Pars field in order to feed a liquid natural gas processing plant it hopes to build in Iran, which would eventually process 15 million tons a year of natural gas.
Focusing primarily on The New Seven Sisters - the largely state owned petroleum companies from the emerging world that have become key players in the oil & gas industry as identified by Carola Hoyos, Chief Energy Correspondent for The Financial Times - but spanning other nascent opportunities around the globe that may hold potential in the years ahead, Wildcats & Black Sheep is a place for the adventurous to contemplate & evaluate the emerging markets of tomorrow.