China will exclude foreign companies from bidding in its second tender for shale gas blocks, according to an announcement by the country’s Ministry of Land and Resources on Thursday. Only domestically registered companies with registered capital of more than 300 million yuan ($47.4 million) will be allowed to bid, despite a lack of proven expertise on developing shale gas resources within China.

South Africa’s energy minister Dipuo Peters has said she supports the use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) techniques in the country, provided that they are undertaken safely, according to local reports on Thursday. Last year, the government imposed a moratorium on shale projects as it studied the environmental impact of fracking operations. Shell has a licence to explore the western Karoo region, while other foreign companies hoping to tap South Africa’s unconventional resources include Chesapeake Energy, Statoil, Falcon Oil and Bundu Oil and Gas.

Construction of the 8.4 mtpa Ichthys LNG project was officially launched by Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard at Blaydin Point in Darwin, in Australia's Northern Territory on Friday. A final investment decision (FID) on the $34 billion, 8.4 mtpa LNG project was reached in January, before a construction date for the project - located in the Browse Basin offshore Western Australia - was set for Q2 2012.

Uzbekistan will start pipeline exports to China this year, hoping to supply China with 4 Bcm by the end of the year, according to reports on Thursday. “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, was quoted as saying.

India's government on Thursday approved the signing of a gas purchase agreement with Turkmenistan's national oil firm, which will supply gas to state-run GAIL India, according to a government statement. Gas will flow via the planned Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) multi-national pipeline, with the capacity to carry 90 MMcm/d of gas for a 30-year period. TAPI is scheduled to be operational in 2018.

The UK government announced on Wednesday that at least 16 companies, including Shell, National Grid and Centrica, are interested in participating in Britain’s £1 billion ($1.6 billion) competition to fund one or more Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) projects.

E.ON confirmed on Wednesday that it has selected a consortium led by Macquarie as the buyer for Open Grid Europe, its gas transmission network in Germany. E.ON said the deal, worth €3.2 billion ($4 billion) brings it a step closer to “its goal of generating roughly €15 billion through divestments by the end of 2013”.

Total confirmed on Wednesday that its well intervention operation had stopped the G4 well leak on the Elgin complex, in the North Sea 240 km from Aberdeen. Total said the operation, which started on Tuesday, involved pumping heavy mud into the leaking well, and that the leak was stopped 12 hours later. The leak, which was first reported by Total on March 25, has cost the company 50,000 boe/d in production and approximately $1.5 million/d ($50 million so far) in net operating income.