The World National Oil Companies Congress has been a relatively diplomatic affair so far, save for one very frank paper, submitted by Helmut Langanger, executive vp of exploration and production for OMV. Mr Langanger said what international oil company executives rarely admit: "IOCs will more and more change from operator to a service provider with pre-agreed reimbursement figures hereby substantially diminishing rates of return. Reduced profitability will lead to IOCs not delivering on major performance indicators, such as annual production growth, 100 per cent reserve replacement rates and moderate finding and development costs. " In fact Mr Langanger has no soothing words for investors in OMV or any other IOC. Perhaps that is why he submitted a paper and then nonetheless ended up sending a rather charming deputy who gave a far more humorous, less pessimistic point of view at the panel discussion.

Total, the French oil group, today published its quarterly market indicators, a table of numbers that show the general price environment in which the company, and indeed the industry, operated from January until March 2007. Earlier this month, BP did the same, using slightly different benchmarks. Oil and gas prices dropped, while European refining margins rose, Total showed. But, in contrast to its peers, Total is expected to impress with its volume growth when it announces its quarterly earningson May 4, analysts at Citigroup said in a note today. That is good news for Total, which has been in the news recently mainly because of investigations into its alleged corruption in Iran and Iraq. Another bit of good news for the company today was Iran’s announcement that it had extended the company’s deadline to decide whether it to embark on the multi-billion-dollar South Pars gas project. The managing director of Iran’s national oil company told wires in Dubai that Total is likely to make up its mind within 3-4 months. 

Health campaigners and politicians are in a flap over the ambitions of Gazprom, Russia’s gas monopoly, to supply the National Health Service, one of the UK’s largest gas consumers, the Times, of London, writes. Rather than worrying about the NHS keeping its bills down by choosing the cheapest supplier, the naysayers are concerned about Russia’s reliability. Meanwhile, Russia itself is having trouble supplying energy to some of its own more remote regions. At least that is the explanation its officials are giving as the country this weekend began construction on the first of six floating nuclear stations, Russian news agencies reported. To allay safety concerns they are reassuringly citing the the sinking of the Kursk submarine in 2000. The vessel may have failed, but the nuclear reactor could be switched right back on as soon as the sub was raised. Phew.

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.

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.

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.)