Manama. The U.S. Navy said on Wednesday that the cause of an explosion aboard a Japanese supertanker passing through a strategic Gulf shipping lane was unknown. "Initial damage assessment from the ship's owner, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd, Japan, is that one life boat was blown off the ship and there is some damage to the starboard hatches," the U.S. Fifth Fleet, which is based in Bahrain, said in a statement.

Astana. GE Oil & Gas has signed a long-term technology transfer and license agreement with JSC ZKMK, the leading Kazak precision engineering plant operator, for the servicing of GE’s fleet of oil and gas turbomachinery equipment installed in the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Central Asia region.

Sanaa. Six Yemeni soldiers were killed on Sunday in an attack in Shabwa province, site of many of Yemen's oil installations, but there was no immediate report of any damage to the facilities, a local official said.

Brussels. Anti-Iran sanctions tighten their grip today with European measures to make business with the Opec member even harder, but no-one expects its oil trade to cease altogether as high profits and energy needs inspire ingenuity.

London. China is aggressively developing its own massive gas reserves, which will lead to imported gas requirements falling dramatically, a newspaper reported Monday. The country will need much less liquefied natural gas (LNG) from 2020 onwards than in the coming decade, said the Financial Times, citing a study by industry consultant Wood Mackenzie.

Doha. The world's biggest gas field is shared between Iran, which calls its share South Pars, and Qatar, owner of the North Field. Qatar has brought in international firms and used the field to become the world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas , whereas Iran's development of South Pars has been hampered by protracted delays, in part because of international sanctions.

Baku. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has today received French oil company TOTAL's President for Exploration and Production Yves-Louis Darricarrère and his accompanying delegation, the AzerTaj state news agency reported.

Hanoi. Salamander has plugged and abandoned the Tom Hum Xanh-1X ("31-THX-1X") exploration well in Block 31, in the Vinh Chau Graben system, offshore southern Vietnam. The 31-THX-1X well has been drilled to a total true vertical depth subsea of 2,103 meters without encountering significant hydrocarbons in the target reservoir sections by the PV Drilling I jackup.