ASHGABAT, Nov 19 (Reuters) – Turkmenistan is ready to export up to a third of natural gas required to fill the EU-backed Nabucco pipeline as soon as it comes on stream, a Turkmen government source told Reuters on Thursday.

Europe, seeking to ease its dependence on Russian gas, has long courted the gas-rich former Soviet republic as an alternative source of new energy.

Turkmenistan has long expressed willingness to supply Nabucco but has yet to take any real steps towards joining it.

“Obviously, we are ready to supply gas for Nabucco when it reaches us,” said a Turkmen government official who asked not to be named. “As early as next year, 10 bcm can be exported from the Turkmen Caspian shelf where Petronas is working.”

Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas [PETRA.UL] is developing a Turkmen offshore block and analysts say its installations are well positioned to connect to Azeri offshore rigs, allowing for the shortest connection to Nabucco.

But neither the EU nor Turkmenistan have taken any concrete steps to start building the link, although European energy officials say they would like to see Turkmen gas in Nabucco.

“We hope Turkmenistan will become one of the major suppliers of Nabucco,” Nabucco executive Johann Gallistl told an energy conference in the Turkmen capital Ashgabat on Thursday.

Russia used to be the main buyer of Turkmen gas, purchasing about 50 billion cubic metres a year, until April when supplies were halted due to a pricing dispute.

The row with Russia’s Gazprom (GAZP.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) has pushed Turkmenistan towards the diversification of exports, analysts say, giving Ashgabat freedom to pursue routes that Moscow has in the past objected to.

Speaking at the same conference on Wednesday, Richard Jones, the deputy executive director of the International Energy Agency, said its members, most of which are Western European nations, were keen to secure Turkmen supplies.

“Gas from the Caspian region in general and Turkmenistan in particular… will be very much needed in Europe,” Jones said.

China National Petroleum Corp., CNPC, has signed agreements with Sudan to expand a refinery in Khartoum and swap oil production assets.

It took just the first piece of bad news on Toyota’s pullout from F1 for a handful of opportunities to emerge and much concerns Malaysia’s F1 hopeful Fairuz Fauzy.

As a result of Toyota’s move, it is imminent that Sauber, the victims of BMW’s pullout from F1 previously, will be back in keeping the projection of 13 teams to start next season.
For Lotus F1, this will mean the loss of a potential sponsor in national oil company Petronas, who remained tied to Sauber as a premium partner.

On the positive side, this will mean that both Toyota drivers Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock, confirmed by technical director Mike Gascoyne on Tuesday as having had detailed discussions with the team, are now available.

Gascoyne, himself, was previously technical director at Toyota.

Fairuz is likely to be part of the Lotus F1 Team either as a test driver with possibilities of him taking up a race seat as well. But Fairuz said he has yet to sign on the dotted lines.

This leaves the 27-year-old, who finished second in the Formula 3.5 World Series by Renault championship this season, suddenly with more than one option.

BMW had announced in July that they would end their F1 campaign at the end of the recently concluded season, leaving Sauber in the lurch.

But the outfit found a new lease of life in Switzerland-based Middle Eastern investment group Qadbak and their return as the 14th team was up to an agreement by the rest of the teams in F1.

That return now seems a certainty with Toyota out, but it could still turn out otherwise if the International Automobile Federation (FIA) decides to fall back on a similar approach to invite other teams initially rejected, to reapply as they did following BMW’s initial pullout.

British team Prodrive and Basque team Epsilon-Euskadi are two teams waiting to pounce on any vacancies for slots in F1 next season.

Without BMW, Petronas would act as the biggest sponsor for Sauber and this provides the company a firmer grip on team decisions.

Insiders claim it could now be payback time for Petronas, who has served as an obedient sponsor of Sauber since 1995, without a say in driver selections.

These claims indicate that there will be a strong push for Fairuz to drive for Sauber than before.

A reliable source said the decision makers at Petronas had been approached by Lotus F1 for sponsorship, but this depended on whether the Sauber deal was really due to end prematurely.

Lotus F1 team principal Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes confirmed that he had approached Petronas offering an attractive commercial package.

“As it is, it looks like an announcement will be made by Petronas in the coming days once it becomes clearer whether that vacancy left by Toyota becomes Sauber’s,” the source said.

“If Sauber are back in F1 for sure, and it looks a virtual certainty, then Petronas aren’t going anywhere.”

For example, it will leave a spot open for a 13th entry in the 2010 Formula One championship, the vacancy becoming the perfect opportunity for BMW Sauber to stay in the series for another season. If BMW’s Mario Theissen will convince the FIA members – and there’s no reason why he shouldn’t succeed – to grant the Swiss team with the vacant spot, Peter Sauber will most likely keep all his former sponsors for 2010 as well.

Here’s where things get complicated for Williams, as the British outfit was planning to “steal” BMW Sauber’s main sponsor Petronas, in case the Swiss team wouldn’t have made it to the 2010 grid. The Malaysian company admitted it wants to stay committed to the sport of Formula One and would seek another deal if that were to happen.

However, as this may not be the case – Peter Sauber’s forced withdrawal from the sport now seems unlikely – Petronas confirmed that they will stick with the Hinwil based organization next year. The condition, of course, would be that FIA allows the team to continue their F1 operations and the team would sign the Concorde Agreement (binding them to the sport until the end of 2012). That would insure both Sauber’s and Petronas’ future in the series for at least 3 years, basically a win-win situation everybody is looking forward to be in.

“As it is, it looks like an announcement will be made by Petronas in the coming days once it becomes clearer whether that vacancy left by Toyota becomes Sauber’s. If Sauber are back in F1 for sure, and it looks a virtual certainty, then Petronas aren’t going anywhere,” a source was quoted as saying to the Malaysian media on Wednesday.

Lotus F1 Team also seemed likely to approach Petronas for an F1 partnership – as the team is also Malaysian – but they will likely have other things to worry about in the next few months.

The scandal concerns Force India and its former employee Mike Gascoyne. According to a report shown by Switzerland’s Motorsport Aktuell – a magazine with a great deal of insight into F1 racing – it seems that the latest wind tunnel model presented by newly entrants Lotus F1 Team in October is a copy of Force India’s challenger for 2010.
After being sacked by Force India at the end of last year, Gascoyne looked for another commitment that would bring him back to Formula One. Cosnequently, he landed a job as technical manager for Lotus F1 Team, as the Malaysian outfit were granted the 13th entry in the 2010 championship by the FIA.

During his stay at Force India, however, the Silverstone based outfit was working with Italian company Aerolab for the building of their wind tunnel models. In the meantime, the Indian outfit’s debts towards Aerolab have grown consistently and caused Vijay Mallya’s team to cease all operations at the Fondtech facility in the UK. However, when that happened, they seem to have left one of their wind tunnel models behind.

Curiously enough, Aerolab is exactly the company Gascoyne chose to work with for his Lotus F1 project. Just as interesting is the fact that, from all the newly entrants, Lotus F1 Team have been the quickest in releasing the first pictures of the wind tunnel model for the 2010 season. And it happened less than a couple of months following the FIA’s official welcome of the team to the 2010 F1 season. None of the new teams have yet managed to do that, even if they were initially announced by the FIA for the 2010 season a lot sooner than Lotus F1.

Commenting on the matter, Gascoyne admitted there is some truth to the rumors, only he’s not part of the equation to begin with. “If at all, that is a legal problem between Fondtech and Force India,” said Gascoyne, according to the aforementioned source.

In a statement issued to Bernama Thursday, the national oil corporation said its participation and investment in Formula One – and in other sports – had always been based and was built on partnerships that provided direct support towards its business expansion, while complementing international branding efforts.

“This requires Petronas to constantly review, evaluate and explore its position and involvement in international motor sports,” it said.
“The final race of the 2009 season at Abu Dhabi marks a turning point for Petronas’ involvement in Formula One.

Petronas’ partnership with the BMW Sauber F1 Team, which is a progression of its earlier relationship with Sauber, has now come to an end following BMW’s decision to exit Formula One at the end of the season.”

Petronas also said that it was currently evaluating its future options based on similar commercial considerations, with the eventual decision hinging upon the ability of the new partnership in facilitating and generating sustainable business growth for Petronas, particularly in its global operations.

“Petronas’ past and current participation in international motor sports has not only built its global brand but has significantly contributed to the growth of its business, in particular, its lubricant and fluids business in several key markets across Asia and Europe.”

It has also paved the way for technological and knowledge acquisition relevant to the oil and gas industry, Petronas said.

OEOC Managing Director Hasan Mohammadi-Moqaddam added that the company has inked a $15-million deal with Lukoil to conduct 3D seismic operations in Uzbekistan’s Gissar oil block within 12 months, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting reported on Saturday.

“We also inked a $20-million contract with Petronas to implement similar operations in Surkhansi oil block within 53 weeks,” he added.

The OEOC will be responsible for analyzing the data from the exploration operations, the official further said.

Sudan Undersecretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr Mutrif Siddig Ali in making the call in a recent interview with Bernama here, said that currently the Malaysian national oil company was just maintaining its existing business there.

He said Petronas must be bold and make clear decisions to invest more, describing that such a move would also bring more profits to Malaysia’s national oil company.

“They (Petronas) are maintaining (existing operations)…but not expanding. They can double or triple profit if bold (enough) to expand their investment,” he said.

They can make profit…but must take some bold steps to expand their investment, he stressed.

Petronas’ biggest investment in Africa and the Middle East is in Sudan.

Malaysia is Sudan’s second most important economic partner after China and one of its major investors. Petronas, the national oil corporation, is the largest Malaysian company and a key player in Sudan’s oil and gas industry.

Siddig Ali said in the last 10 years Sudan had been recording a steady growth in gross domestic product (GDP) at between 10 and 13 per cent.

Mengulas kenyataan perdana menteri untuk menyerahkan wang ehsan kepada Kelantan, Datuk Husam Musa berkata isu membatalkan perjanjian itu akan dikaji oleh panel peguam yang dilantik kerajaan negeri.

Keputusan tersebut dicapai dalam mesyuarat exco kerajaan negeri hari ini sebagai reaksi segera Kelantan terhadap pengumuman Datuk Seri Najib Razak di Parlimen pagi ini.Dalam satu kenyataannya, Husam turut mempertikaikan penggunaan istilah “wang ehsan” sebagai bentuk bayaran kepada Kelantan, sedangkan “bayaran royalti” digunakan untuk bayaran di Terengganu, Sabah dan Sarawak.

“Nyata asas yang disebut oleh perdana menteri mengenai (kedudukan lokasi cari gali di luar pesisiran pantai sejauh) 3 batu nautikal adalah tidak berasas bagi kes-kes Sabah, Sarawak dan Terengganu,” katanya lagi.

“Ia sengaja digunakan untuk mendiskriminasikan kerajaan dan rakyat Kelantan.”

Sehubungan itu, kata Husam, kerajaan negeri mahu wang ehsan dibayar terus kepada Kelantan dan sebuah badan penyelaras ditubuhkan yang turut dianggotai wakil kerajaan pusat untuk memantau penggunaan wang tersebut.

“Sekali lagi kami berharap perdana menteri berfikir semula dan mengambil kira tuntutan ini atas prinsip kesaksamaan, kedaulatan wilayah dan semangat federalisme yang utuh serta penghormatan perjanjian yang termaktub demi kesejahteraan dan keharmonian negara malaysia,” katanya.

Mengenai penubuhan panel guaman tersebut, Husam berkata, antara isu yang dicadang dipertimbangkan oleh panel guaman ini ialah:

1. Kemungkinan mengambil tindakan mahkamah membatalkan perjanjian penyerahan hak kepada Petronas untuk mencari gali dan mengeluarkan sumber petroleum dan lautan negeri Kelantan 1975 jika sekiranya tuntutan royalti minyak tidak dipatuhi.

2. Kemungkinan untuk kerajaan negeri mengambil tindakan mahkamah di luar negara termasuk perintah injunksi menghentikan pengeluaran di JDA (Kawasan Pembangunan Bersama Malaysia-Thailand) dan CAA (Kawasan Pengurusan Komersial Malaysia-Vietnam) yang melibatkan entiti dan syarikat antabangsa.

“Walau bagaimanapun, keputusan muktamad akan ditentukan kemudian selepas pandangan daripada panel guaman tersebut,” kata Husam lagi.

Dalam kenyataan itu juga, beliau turut mempersoalkan mengapa wang ehsan harus diurus oleh kerajaan pusat

“Pengumuman perdana menteri bahawa Kelantan hanya layak menerima ‘wang ehsan’ dan bukannya royalti dan wang ini pula akan diuruskan oleh kerajaan pusat, adalah satu keputusan politik.

“Ia membelakangkan semangat federalisme, kedaulatan undang-undang dan penghormatan terhadap perjanjian dan menekankan kepentingan politik semata-mata,” katanya.

Di samping itu, tambahnya, keberkesanan pengurusan oleh kerajaan pusat juga boleh dipertikaikan.

“Sebagai bukti, dengan jumlah royalti yang besar untuk Terengganu bagi tempoh 20 tahun lalu, masih gagal membanteras kadar kemiskinan yang kekal tinggi di Terengganu,” kata Husam.

Sementara itu, ketika bercakap kepada pemberita selepas mesyuarat exco di Kota Bharu, Husam berkata kerajaan negeri mengambil langkah proaktif itu untuk memastikan tuntutan wang royalti itu berjaya.

“Kerajaan negeri tidak (dapat) menerima bayaran wang ehsan yang diumumkan hari ini bagi menggantikan bayaran wang royalti minyak kepada Kelantan,” katanya dalam laporan Bernama.

Bagaimanapun, tambahnya, kerajaan negeri menganggap pemberian wang ehsan itu satu langkah pertama hasil inisiatifnya dalam tuntutan royalti minyak.

Menurutnya, kerajaan negeri akan terus mengadakan rundingan dengan kerajaan pusat berhubung tuntutan royalti itu.

Kelantan sebelum ini telah mengemukakan surat rasmi kepada kerajaan pusat bagi menuntut bayaran royalti minyak berjumlah RM1 bilion sejak 2004 berdasarkan laporan Jabatan Statistik.

The projects are secured by FBM from Danieli & C Officine Meccantiche SpA, for reactor vessels for the Gulf steel plant project in Egypt; KNMPS from Technip Itally SpA for shop assembled columns for the Jubail export refinery project in Saudi Arabia; and Borsig from EdeA V.O.F., for the engineering, supply and installation of steam boilers at Chemelot Industrial Estate in Geleen, Netherlands.

“The above orders are expected to contribute positively to the KNM Group’s earnings for the financial years ending December 31 2009 and December 31 2010,” the company told Bursa Malaysia Bhd.