Indonesia short on LNG commitments

Indonesia said it may need to buy 54 spot cargoes of LNG between 2005-2007 to meet its overseas sales commitments. Indonesia is the world’s top exporter of LNG, but has been struggling to meet its contractual commitments for the super-cooled, compressed gas as output has declined and supplies have been diverted to the domestic market, mainly to fertiliser plants.

Oil and natural gas pump new life into Sakhalin Island

Although the former Soviet Union has pumped crude for years, only recently has Russia emerged as the world’s second-biggest oil exporter and — if the Bush administration has its way — a potentially important new supplier of both oil and gas to the United States. Russia’s crude oil production rivals that of Saudi Arabia, and analysts say its reserves could provide the output answer for the United States, China, South Korea and Japan, which have grown increasingly wary of their dependence on producers in the Middle East.