Investigations conducted by environmentalists in Bahrain revealed that the spill might have been caused by an Iraqi oil tanker, which could have been smuggled out of the Persian Gulf. Investigations also revealed that the oil could have not originated from any offshore oil fields, pipelines or shore-based facilities, and that a tanker caused the pollution.

A joint cooperation of the Marine Emergency Mutual Aid Center, volunteers and environmentalists launched a cleanup campaign to contain the oil spill. Under the 1992 Fund Convention, Bahrain will be compensated for clean-up costs and damage to fisheries.

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Russian authorities confiscated some 8 million tons of illegally produced oil as part of the "Chechen Oil" operation in southern Russia, according to Timofei Kurayev, deputy head of the Interior Ministry's Main Department for Combating Economic Crimes. Authorities discovered almost 6,500 illegal oil and petroleum products activities. Police opened 176 criminal cases and 6,201 people now face administrative penalties; authorities also eliminated 119 illegal branch joints on trunk pipelines, and discovered approximately 800 underground mini-plants involved in illegal production, storage, and refining of oil. Law-enforcement agents detained some 220 fuel trucks carrying fake oil and petroleum products. Kurayev said: "The Chechen Oil operation is conducted each year, and yields a good economic effect."

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Tajiki Energy Minister Jurabek Nurmahmadov announced that the completion of the Roghun hydroelectric power station will give Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan access to cheap electricity. Nurmahmadov also denounced any possible friction between the two countries over the construction of the power station. Nurmahmadov said: "Uzbekistan's power engineering is mostly based on thermal power stations, and it has pipelines running to Russia and further to the West. We have already proposed selling fuel - fuel oil and gas - to them, and in exchange, buying electricity from Tajikistan. The cost price of the electricity being generated in Uzbekistan is three cents per one kilowatt hour, and we are ready to offer it for two cents. Moreover, fuel is a limited resource and may run out some day."

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Russia's Minister of Natural Resources Yuri Trutnev informed President Vladimir Putin on Feb. 1 that the country has developed a state strategy for prospecting and developing offshore deposits. Trutnev stressed that the law on mineral resources took six years of work to prepare. Trutnev said: "The sea shelf on the whole yields 16 billion tons of fuel. If the strategy of the shelf development is pursued, this will provide a substantial increase in the output and resources." Trutnev added that oil production could increase 30 million tons by 2010 and 95 million tons by 2020; gas production could increase approximately 118 billion cubic yards by 2010 and some 301 billion cubic yards by 2020.

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China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) Ltd. announced on Feb. 2 that the company's 2005 net budget for oil production volume for offshore China is expected to be approximately 141-146 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE), a 19 percent increase over the budget of 118-123 million BOE in 2004. CNOOC expects the company's Indonesian unit to report a net entitlement volume of some 19 million BOE. CNOOC also anticipates 16 new development projects to come on stream between 2005 and 2006. CNOOC's development capital expenditure is budgeted at approximately $2.2 billion, a 33 percent increase from 2004; the exploration budget is expected to remain at $260 million from 2004.

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While in Slovenia at the invitation of the country's Finance Minister Andrej Bajuk, Roknoddin Javadi, managing director of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), met with the country's Gas Ministry officials. Bajuk and Javadi intend to export Iran's liquefied natural gas to European markets, including Slovenia.

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Closing oil prices, Feb. 3, 3 p.m. London

Brent crude oil: $43.58

West Texas intermediate crude oil: $46.17

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