Energy Sector

Kuwait scraps 15 billion dollars refinery project

Kuwait National Petroleum CompanyNicosia, Mar 30: The state-run Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) confirmed press reports that it had scrapped plans to built a fourth refinery at Al Zour, at an estimated cost of 15 billion dollars and has informed accordingly the companies involved.

This is the second multi-billion project which has been abandoned by a Kuwati state-run company in the past three months.

ROUNDUP: Lightning sparks massive black-out on Tenerife

Lightning sparks massive black-out on Tenerife Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain  - The Spanish holiday island of Tenerife suffered a massive black-out on Thursday, local media reported.

The electricity company Unelco tentatively attributed the power cut to a flash of lightning which may have hit a power plant in Las Caletillas in the east of the Canary Island in stormy weather.

The black-out affected almost the entire island of 900,000 residents, causing people to get stuck in lifts and traffic lights to go off.

Russia voices displeasure with EU over Ukraine gas talks

Russia voices displeasure with EU over Ukraine gas talks Moscow  - Russia views the European Union's pledge to invest in the modernization of Ukraine gas pipeline system as "an unfriendly act" against Moscow, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

"What happened in Brussels at the forum, we see as an unfriendly act in relation to Russia by both the European Union and Ukraine," foreign ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko told journalists.

Nigerian oil workers call off planned strike

Nigerian oil workers call off planned strike Nairobi/Abuja  - Nigerian oil workers called off a strike planned for Wednesday after union leaders met government officials, union leaders said.

The unions were planning to strike in protest at worsening security in the oil-producing Niger Delta and also at plans to deregulate the downstream sector.

Both Nigerian and foreign oil workers have been the targets of kidnappings by criminal groups and militants who claim they are fighting for a share of oil wealth.

The attacks have cut oil production by up to a fifth.

Suncor, Petro-Canada merger to create Canada's biggest energy firm

Suncor, Petro-Canada merger to create Canada's biggest energy firm New York  - Canadian oil companies Suncor Energy Inc and Petro-Canada Monday announced a merger worth about 15.4 billion US dollars that would create the country's largest energy company and provide protection against any foreign buyouts.

Suncor is the world's second-largest oil-sands producer, and Petro-Canada is the country's second-largest refiner. The steep decline in global oil prices last year made the merger inevitable.

Suncor reported its first quarterly loss in its history in January.

IOC seeks 50:50 partnership in RIL's petrol pumps

Indian Oil CorporationState-run Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has proposed a 50:50 partnership to operate 1432 closed petrol pumps of Reliance Industries (RIL), having 15 per cent fuel market share by the closing date of March 2008.

Other firms including Royal Dutch Shell, Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) have also shown interest in partnership with Reliance.

The private firm suffered huge losses in early 2008 due to difference in retail price of petrol and diesel sold by public sector oil companies and other private firms leading to closure of RIL's petrol pumps.

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