World's Energy

03-12-2009 -Bloomberg by Dinakar Sethuraman - Qatar, the world’s biggest producer of liquefied natural gas, may combine two gas areas into a single block to draw foreign explorers, the International Oil Daily said without citing anybody. Explorers didn’t show interest in Qatar’s offer of a deep water gas area called Block A last year, prompting Qatar Petroleum to merge Block B and Block C, the report said. The areas lie near shallow water fields Bul Hanine and Maydan Mazhan. Companies interested in Qatar including Total SA, AP Moeller Maersk A/S, Wintershall AG, Eni SpA and GDF Suez SA didn’t bid for Block A, the energy news daily said. The companies found investing risky because Qatar offered a low price for the gas discovered and there were fewer possibilities for finding associated liquids, sales of which typically enable gas explorers to make profits, the newsletter said. Bids for Block B and Block C are due by April 20 and Block A may be awarded within weeks, the report said. The country has stopped awarding new areas in the North Field, part of the world’s biggest gas area it shares with Iran, to assess reserves by 2012. The new deep water areas are outside the North Field.