Oil minister holds talks with U.S. oil giants [Archives:2007/1032/Local News]
Raidan Al-Saqqaf
alsaqqaf@gmail.com
LOS ANGELES, March 10 ) Yemeni Minister of Oil and Minerals Khalid Mahfoud Bahah currently is visiting the United States for talks with oil industry representatives, as well as to participate in the March 13-14 Yemen LNG meeting in Houston, Texas.
“This visit is also an opportunity to present to U.S. firms several investment opportunities in Yemen's oil, gas and minerals sector for 2007,” he noted.
On the sidelines of the visit, Bahah is to discuss international energy demands and open prospects for cooperating with U.S. industry leaders in Yemen's oil and gas sector.
Bahah most recently held talks with Occidental Petroleum Vice President Nigel Hopkinson and other representatives at the company's Los Angeles headquarters, wherein they discussed the firm's operations in Yemen and how the Yemeni government can further extend its support and facilitate the oil firm even further.
They also discussed topics related to international oil demands, innovation in oil production and exploration technologies, as well as the economics and volatility of oil prices on the international market, emphasizing the importance of expanding existing oil exploration and production facilities in order to meet the increasing demand and maintain an acceptable price for crude oil.
After the meeting, Bahah toured Occidental's offshore oil production plants in Long Beach, Calif., which are constructed on four man-made islands along the West coast. He indicated that he was quite impressed with the company's technological sophistication, specifically its offshore oil exploration and production capabilities. He noted that Yemen still has untapped oil reserves in several offshore blocks, according to geological surveys.
The Yemeni oil minister invited Occidental Petroleum and other U.S. oil giants to participate in the fourth international round of bidding sometime in mid-2007, which will include several offshore Yemeni blocks with substantial oil and gas reserves.
Bahah expressed Yemen's interest in partnering with renowned oil firms like Occidental Petroleum to further develop Yemen's oil industry and increase its crude oil production. He noted that a unique and historical relationship exists between Yemen and Occidental and that it's important to strengthen this relationship further through additional investment and cooperation in the oil sector.
He further assured the U.S. oil firm that his ministry will go to great lengths to continue providing the company full support and cooperation.
Occidental Petroleum is one of the largest U.S. oil companies, operating in several countries around the world and producing more than 600,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Occidental also is one of the first international oil firms to expand into Yemen in a joint venture with a Canadian firm.
They subsequently have partnered with other companies, including Canadian Nexen and Total E&P of France, to operate four of Yemen's main oil-producing blocks, including a 38 percent interest in the 900 million-barrel Masila field in Block 14. One of the world's largest oil discoveries in the 1990s, Masila field supplies more than half of Yemen's total crude oil production.
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