The report said that Uzbekistan almost doubled its gas exports in the first quarter of this year compared with same period last year - to nearly 35 million cubic meters per day. The country plans to maintain this trend for the whole of this year.

The growth in gas exports will be achieved through supplies to Russia, which accounts for about 90 percent of supplies, as well as to China.

In June 2010, Uzbekneftegaz and CNPC signed a framework agreement for the sale of natural gas of up to 10 billion cubic meters a year.

Natural gas will be transported via Central Asia - China gas pipeline.

The ministry has said that KOGAS is entitled to a maximum 117 million tons of gas.

The ministry said KOGAS in cooperation with other partners plan to conduct further exploration of the Area 4 sector, which could lead to additional gas deposit discoveries.

Trend news agency reports that the two countries will sign a memorandum on Monday.

KazMunayGas plans to continue to further attract foreign capital, technology and experience to develop oil and gas resources in Kazakhstan.

During Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev's visit to Indonesia in April, the heads of Kazakhstan and Indonesia reached an agreement on oil and gas cooperation.

Nobody knows the extent of the shale gas resource in Australia but the potential is big, perhaps big enough to reduce coal seam gas to a sideshow.

The federal agency Geoscience Australia set the theme of this week's annual Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association conference by estimating shale gas could double Australia's natural gas reserves, from 400 to 800 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas.

The US shale revolution, spurred by the advent of horizontal drilling and fracture stimulation (or fracking) technology, transformed world energy markets in five years. MORE

The Central Asian pipeline network, launched in 2009, spans about 2,000 km (1,250 miles) from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan before reaching China's northwestern Xinjiang province.

"We can start shipping our gas right now, but there are some legal issues which need to be settled," Tulagan Zhurayev, head of Uzbekistan's state-controlled gas transportation firm Uzbektransgas, said on the sidelines of the international Oil and Gas of Uzbekistan conference.

Currently, Turkmenistan is the only country supplies gas to China through the pipeline.

The China-bound pipeline had been originally expected to reach annual capacity of 30 bcm in 2012.

Preliminary log data indicated Davenport-1 had intersected thick shales and coals in the Toolachee Formation as well as the Roseneath, Epsilon and Murteree formations.

Over 110 metres of net coal was encountered including one seam with over 45 metres of net coal and two further seams with net coal thickness above 20 metres. Elevated gas shows were recorded across the target formations. Strike said a sidetrack well is currently being drilled to cut cores in the Patchawarra Formation.

Davenport-1 is the first well drilled in the centre of the Milpera Trough in PEL 94. It is aimed at demonstrating that the thick, hydrocarbon-rich Permian-aged coal and shale formations in the centre of Cooper Basin extend into the southern Cooper Basin.

Private domestic companies with a minimum registered capital of 300 million yuan ($47 million) will only be allowed to participate. Foreign companies still remain barred from participating in the auctions.

The ministry didn't say when the second round will be held or which fields will be offered.

Chinese government held its first shale gas auction in June 2010, with six state-owned companies bidding for exploration rights at four blocks. Sinopec and Henan Provincial Coal Seam Gas Development & Utilization Co. won the rights to explore one block each.

China has an estimated 25.08 trillion cubic meters of potentially recoverable shale gas reserves, according to the Ministry of Land and Resources.

Shell holds a 40-percent working interest, with KOGAS, Mitsubishi and PetroChina each holding a 20-percent working interest.

The proposed LNG Canada project will initially consist of two LNG processing units, each with the capacity to produce six million tons of LNG annually, with an option to expand the project to a total of four trains or 24 million tons per annum (mtpa).

The decision to move the project into development could be taken around the middle of the decade, with start up around the end of the decade, pending regulatory approvals and investment decisions.

The pipeline would originate from Turkmenistan's Galkynysh gas field to reach Fazilka in Punjab, via the Afghan cities of Herat and Kandahar and Quetta and Multan in Pakistan. The Galkynysh gas field is estimated to hold 16 trillion cubic metres of proven recoverable gas.

Although there has been no indication of price, media reports say that India is expected to pay a price of about $8 to $10 per million British thermal unit. Apart from the gas price, India will pay $0.50 per mmBtu (million metric British thermal unit) as a transit fee to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Price of delivered gas at Indian boarder will likely be $10-$12 per mmBtu compared with $4.20 per mmBtu price of domestic gas and $16 per mmBtu rate of gas imported in ships in liquid form.

The rally is set to continue, with Singapore-based traders saying strong demand and production outages are likely to push LNG spot prices in Asia to a record high this summer. MORE (Registration required)

This will allow a wider range of Chinese companies to participate in the auctions and provides greater flexibility in designing the contractual and fiscal terms. The second auction due to take place this summer may offer as many as 20 blocks. Although only Chinese companies may participate, the range of enterprises is likely to be much larger than in the first auction. Coal mining and electrical power companies and a range of other enterprises are likely to form consortia in addition to the three major national oil companies, PetroChina, Sinopec and CNOOC.

The main focus of activity so far has been the Sichuan Basin in the south-west of the country, which stretches across Sichuan Province into parts of Yunnan, Guizhou, Chongqing and Hunan. Potential exists in Shaanxi in the north, in Jiangsu and Anhui in the east, and in the Tarim Basin in the far north-west of the country. Other areas are also being assessed. Shell, BP and Chevron are already involved, and other foreign companies will be lining up to form joint ventures with the winning Chinese companies after the upcoming auction.

The production of coal-bed methane and other sources of gas is also set to rise dramatically. This massive growth of domestic supply of gas would greatly enhance China's security of energy supply in the medium term, as it is doing in the USA. It might also reduce the total emissions of greenhouse gases, provided the additional supply of gas was used to replace coal in the energy mix rather than just supporting the unconstrained growth of energy consumption, and provided the leakage of gas from the fractured shale was constrained.

Despite this aggressive and optimistic strategy, many uncertainties and risks remain: geological, technical, economic, managerial, safety, environmental and social.

The first and most important of the uncertainties is geological. The geology of the potential shale gas basins in China appears to be much more complicated and less attractive than in the USA. As a consequence, recoverable reserves may not be as great as hoped, delays may occur as companies seek the right combination of technologies, and extraction costs may rise. Even if the geology is favorable, a range of challenges lie ahead to ensure that the technologies and skills are available in the quantity required to support the anticipated rapid growth of production. Contractual regimes for the extraction of shale gas must be stable and secure. New infrastructure will need to be built to deliver the gas to where it will be used and the industrial and commercial energy users will need new appliances to burn this gas. Gas prices, whether set by government or by the market, will have to be at levels which provide suitable incentives for both producers and users.

In this context it should be remembered that China first began systematic assessment of coal-bed methane resources in the early 1990s. Nearly twenty years later, annual production amounts to barely 10 billion cubic meters. Even conventional gas supply projects have revealed risks which were not anticipated by key actors. The gas pipeline from the Ordos basin in north China reached Beijing before the city gas company had prepared its infrastructure to receive the gas. The first stage of the west-to-east gas pipeline resulted in power companies building gas-fired power stations but receiving no gas. More recently, PetroChina lost US $ 2 billion in 2011 on its new import pipeline from Turkmenistan on account of the low level of government-controlled gas prices in China. In the absence of a coherent policy framework and of clear incentives, the rapid expansion of China's shale gas production is full of risks for investors.

Yet more challenging will be the need to manage the safety, environmental and social aspects of shale gas extraction. The safety record of Chinese oil companies in gas production may have improved since the disastrous accident in Sichuan in 2003 which killed 243 people, but the recent experience of the high-speed rail network in China highlights the difficulty of maintaining safety standards in a rapidly expanding sector.

The greatest unknowns facing shale gas extraction anywhere in the world are the environmental impacts, particularly the depletion and contamination of ground water and the triggering of earthquakes. Both the USA and Europe have seen wide range of social and political reactions to these threats which range from indifference to outright bans on shale gas extraction. Not only is China very prone to earthquakes, it also has a range of water problems. The southern and eastern regions of China (including the Sichuan Basin) may be relatively well supplied with water in most years, but they are susceptible to drought and are densely populated in both urban and rural areas. They are also host intensive agriculture. Poor safety and environmental management could easily create strong local resistance to shale gas extraction. Northern and north-west China may be less densely populated, but they already have severe water shortages.

China's enthusiasm for shale gas provides commercial opportunities for international oil companies and service companies, at least in the short-term whilst China masters the technologies. It also underpins the government's continuing reluctance to reach a deal over future pipeline imports of gas from Russia.

With thanks to Transatlantic Academy

Business Line has reported that the cabinet is likely to discuss price for gas purchase and transportation cost. India's share from this project stands at 41.173 billion cubic meters (BCM). It aims to transport 27.5 mmscmd in the first year, 35 mmscmd in the second and 38 mmscmd in the third year.

The Gas Sale and Purchase agreement (GSPA) for this project has not been signed yet.

This agreement contains all the contractual terms and conditions, including the price/pricing formula of Turkmenistan gas. The import of gas is scheduled to commence after five years of the signing of GSPA.

Bankok Post has reported that Thailand is also in talks with Qatar a long-term purchase contract of 2 million tonnes of LNG a year. PTTEP is seeking to buy another 500,000 tonnes to meet LNG demand in Thailand.

Country's Energy Policy and Planning Office last month projected gas demand to grow by 7.4 % this year to 4.51 billion cubic feet per day from 4.1 billion cfpd a year ago.

The demand will come from the power and industrial sectors and compressed natural gas users.

PTT is designing the $400-million second phase of the LNG receiving terminal in its oil and chemical complex in Map Ta Phut. When completed, annual capacity will be doubled to 10 million tonnes or 1.4 billion cfpd. The second phase is scheduled to become operational in 2016.

ONGC Videsh has planned to bid for for two oil and gas blocks up for offer in the Falkland Islands.

The company had got a farm-in offer from Falkland Oil and Gas Limited (FOGL) through its advisor Stellar Energy for divestment of up to 35 per cent participating interest in two of its exploration acreages located in the deep water Falkland.

These blocks are estimated to hold nearly 7 bbl to 13 bbl of oil (for oil case) or 46-57 trillion cubic feet (tcf) for gas case.

Indian authorities have advised the company against pursuing interests in the region due to the territorial claims and disputes between Britain and Argentina, the Hindu said.

It was also felt that OVL was seeking assets in virtually other end of the world while its recently acquired Imperial Energy in Russia had turned out to be a not so good opportunity.

ONGC is studying data for shale- gas deposits and awaiting a government policy on commercial drilling, Sudhir Vasudeva, chairman of the state-run company, said in an interview to Bloomberg.

“We're studying data, but it's still early days and may be four to five years before commercial drilling starts,” Vasudeva said.

India's shale gas reserves were downgraded significantly recently by the U.S. Geological Survey to 6.1 trillion cubic feet from 63 trillion cubic feet.

“The U.S. estimates are just estimates, and we'll have to survey the geology and deposits and drill wells before we know how much shale gas we have,” Vasudeva said. “What we do know is that India does have shale-gas reserves.”

In a report, KPMG said that significant production of shale gas is a decade away in Australia. The country will face challenges especially in terms of cost of extraction, which is three time higher than what it is in the US.

Another hurdle cited in the report is the growing opposition to fracking in the country.

“Concerns over fracking are already being raised in the context of coal seam gas, and so it is likely there would be similar concerns with shale gas,” KPMG said.

Competition from coal seam gas industry is another significant hurdle for the shale gas industry.

The report said that while coal seam gas deposits are close to large east coast population centres, the shale deposits are far away and require transportation.

However, the report said that if conditions improve, the country is well positioned to develop export markets in countries such as Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan, Korea and China, especially as some of these countries seek to diversify their energy sources.

Proposed introduction of carbon pricing mechanism in 2012 could ultimately create more demand for shale gas.

“In short, if an Australian company were to find a big enough reserve in the right place to extract it and distribute it to market, then economies of scale could make shale gas production viable,” KPMG said.

Along Mitsubishi Corp., Nippon Yusen KK and Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp., TEPCO now plans to acquire a 10 percent interest in the development and an 8 percent stake in the liquefied natural gas project, reports said.

The total cost to the purchase will reportedly be about $4.35 billion.

TEPCO has inked a deal to buy 3.1 million tonne of LNG out of the 8.9 million tonne that the project will produce. The first supply of gas is expected to start in 2016. The planned acquisition of interests in the gas field will allow TEPCO to expand its annual LNG procurement to 4.2 million tonne.

Sydney Morning Herald reported Knox as saying that the new drilling rigs that would tap shale and deep conventional gas reserves were already coming into Australia in anticipation of the rise in gas prices from 2015, as the Queensland coal seam gas-to-liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects come on stream.

''North America is a different market to us, but it's a really fine example of what could, over the longer term, happen in Australia,'' the newspaper quoted him as saying.

The federal government this week released estimates that Australia had 390 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves and shale gas could double that resource.

Meanwhile Santos' eastern Australia vice-president James Baulderstone said he believed sentiment against the coal seam gas industry has reached a peak.

"We've gone through a bit of a peak in the sentiment, but I'm very much encouraged by the conversations I've had with farmers' groups and communities and government," Baulderstone said.

The two countries have agreed to build a pipeline that stretches for 170 kilometres in Iran and 190 kilometres in Iraq. The project is expected to cost about $450 million.

Managing Director of Iran's Gas Engineering and Development Company Ali Reza Qaribi said that building the pipeline will begin as soon as a new gas deal is signed between Iran and Iraq.

Fars news agency reported that a final agreement on Iran's gas supply to Iraq is expected to be signed soon. A per the agreement Iran will supply about 20-25 million cubic meters of natural gas to Iraq per day through Western province of Ilam.