Bloomberg reported that obstacles such as a lack of drilling equipment and increased labor and infrastructure costs could mean that Australian shale explorers will not reach large-scale oil and gas production for another ten years.
Bloomberg reported that South Africa's Energy Minister is considering allowing the country's shale gas reserves to be tapped, a process that has been banned in France and Bulgaria.
Reuters reported that this year, once legal issues are settled, Uzbekistan plans to begin pumping gas to China using a pipeline that crosses three Central Asian states. Turkmenistan is currently the only supplier using the pipeline.
Reuters reported that shares in Total SA (NYSE:TOT) rose more than two percent on the news that the company had plugged a well at its North Sea Elgin platform that had been leaking for seven weeks.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Ukraine Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said that over the next three years the country plans to increase its natural gas production by up to 20 percent in an attempt to mitigate dependence on Russia.
Bloomberg reported that yesterday Total SA (NYSE:TOT) stopped a gas leak in Nigeria and this week expects to halt a leak in the North Sea that began on March 25. There is not yet a date for when operations in Nigeria will restart.
Bloomberg reported that Bulgaria and Greece are planning to complete construction of a pipeline that will cost $258 million and will connect the countries' natural gas grids by 2015.
Bloomberg reported that Cuadrilla Resources Ltd., a UK-based shale gas explorer, expects to be able to begin work this year and start gas production in 2014 following a delay caused by minor earthquakes.
Reuters reported that large state companies in China have been buying local gas distributors as a result of good prospects for expansion.
Reuters reported that the Sampaguita natural gas prospect in the South China Sea may be developed by Philippines-based Philex Petroleum Corp. and Chinese offshore oil producer CNOOC.
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