Iraq is known more for its oil reserves (the world’s third largest) than its gas fields. But at least one major oil company is betting that the way to Iraq’s oil may well be through the gas fields in the country’s disputed, but slightly less violent northern region. That company is Royal Dutch Shell, which has been focusing increasingly on exploiting gas deposits around the world as opportunities in oil have dwindled. The story first broke on wires reporting from Iraq before Shell reluctantly confirmed it was in preliminary discussions (with Iraqi officials and the Turkish companies, including state-controlled TPAO). But Shell said Iraq needed a more peaceful existence before it could send its people to the country and a viable hydrocarbon law before it could finalise any deal. Peace was nowhere in sight yesterday when a bomb killed eight people inside its parliamentary building, the very place in which the hydrocarbon law will need to be passed.

The worldwide revival of nuclear power has helped to push the price of uranium above $100 per pound, and the radioactive metal is currently quoted at $113 per pound, compared to $75 in February and $20 in 2004. The booming uranium price has triggered a wave of consolidation in the uranium mining sector; earlier this week UrAsia Energy approved a $2.9bn reverse takeover by fellow Canadian SXR Uranium One, and in Australia Paladin Resources on Thursday upped its hostile offer for Summit Resources by 20 per cent to $975m. Minesite.com  is running a good overview of this colourful battle, including the recent intervention of Areva of France, a possible white knight for Summit.

ConocoPhillips has become the first major US oil company to announce it wants Washington to enact a federal global warming emissions cap, several US papers, including the Houston Chronicle and the Wall Street Journal (subscription required), report. Other companies have talked of the need for a mandatory federal system to tackle emissions, but ConocoPhillips is the first to throw its weight behind a specific proposal after having joined the US Climate Action Partnership. The move is not altruistic - except perhaps in terms of the company’s shareholders - but a way for the company to influence policy and minimise the impact on its bottom line. Executives from other US oil companies have told the FT they are also concerned about the prospect of multiple state requirements that would be difficult and costly to follow if the federal government did no enact US-wide legislation.

BP executives will again be open to grilling by US lawyers about their gung-ho PR tactics, a Galveston, Texas judge has ruled. Last October the energy group sent out 7,000 flyers to local residents about its efforts to improve safety following the fatal explosion at its Texas City refinery in March 2005, the Houston Chronicle reports today. In November, BP owned up to sending out 900 flyers in what a district judge called a stunt that could influence jury selection. That case was settled in November. The revelation comes just days before Thursday’s AGM where some BP investors are expected to oppose the remuneration package of Lord Browne, the company’s outgoing chief executive, because they say it does not adequately reflect BP’s safety lapses.

Texas could be the centre of the nuclear power revival in the US, according to today’s Wall Street Journal (subscription required). Energy group TXU, currently the subject of a $45bn takeover bid by private equity group KKR, is planning to build up to five new nuclear reactors in the state, says the paper, with the first reactor on line by 2015. Interestingly, TXU is set to buy its reactor technology from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Japan rather than market leaders GE and Westinghouse. Mitsubishi’s reactor design has yet to be certified for use in the US, unlike reactors from GE and Westinghouse, which is now owned by a consortium led by Toshiba of Japan.

Hani Abdulaziz Hussain, chief executive of Kuwait Petroleum, the state-owned oil company, will leave his post four months before his term was due to end, the Kuwaiti press reports. Mr Hussain met with Sheik Ali Jarah al-Sabah, the Gulf state’s oil minister, earlier this week to tell him that he wanted to resign, Al-Qabas newspaper reported. The minister accepted the resignation, the paper said, adding that he quit over of "lack of harmony" at the company. Kuwait, an Opec member, produces about 2.4m barrels of oil a day. In the past months there have been disagreements within Kuwait’s oil establishment over the size of the country’s remaining reserves as well as over whether to allow international oil companies to help Kuwait Petroleum stem the declining production of its northern oil fields.

Mexico’s giant Cantarell oil field has been in the international news and on blogs a lot lately. The Mexican press has been especially vocal about the fate of the world’s second largest field that generates much of the country’s income. The latest story in the WSJ (subscription required) gives a detailed account of its history and its struggles to maintain its vast production. 

Royal Dutch Shell says it should be able to resume full oil production from Nigeria within 5-6 months after coming to an agreement with the Niger Delta rebel group that has been sabotaging its operations for more than a year, the New York Times reports from Lagos. Adding 500,000 barrels of oil a day is good news for Shell as well as consumers, but it will mean the Opec oil cartel may have to compensate with further cuts to ensure prices stay around $60 a barrel. That is, of course, if Shell’s optimism is proved well placed in one of the most unpredictable countries in the world.

Opec last month bet the diplomatic tensions over Iran would eventually be resolved, or so it seems by its actions. The oil cartel in March cut a further 200,000 barrels a day of its production to try to ensure that prices did not drop too far below $60 a barrel. The group’s active members, which are beholden to its quota system, now produce 26.31m barrels a day, according to a study by Bloomberg. Opec tracks its own production on a monthly basis, but exact data are difficult to come by because of the secretive nature  of some countries and the poor managerial capabilities of others. (World oil demand stands at about 85m b/d.)

Christophe de Margerie, chief executive of the French oil company Total, has been summoned by the US authorities to be quizzed over the company’s activities in Iran, according to La Tribune, the French newspaper.

Last month, he was brought in to a French police station for 36 hours of questioning over Total’s involvement in alleged bribery in Iran, and placed under formal investigation by a judge. Now, as La Tribune puts it, Total’s troubles have taken on an international dimension.

Both Total and Mr de Margerie deny any wrongdoing, and the company insists there is no question of him resigning.

And as my colleague Peggy Hollinger pointed out last week, investors seem to be taking a pretty relaxed view of this inquiry.

UPDATE The FT has confirmed that the US authorities want to interview Mr de Margerie over Total’s activities in Iran and Iraq, but are requesting an informal meeting, rather than issuing a subpoena.