NEFTE Compass articles from August 2003

NEFTE Compass archives from August 2003

Old Hand: Aliev Dynasty Takes Root In Azerbaijan.
August 6, 2003... The end of an era beckons in Azerbaijan. As ailing President Haidar Aliev gives up his hospital bed in Turkey for one in Cleveland, Ohio, the Azeri parliament has appointed his son Ilham as prime minister and paved the way for the first...

New Front: Yukos Faces New Attack Over Baltic Crude Exports.(YUKOS Oil Co.)
August 6, 2003... A new attack could be launched in the war against Yukos as Russia's Anti-Monopoly Ministry probes allegations that the oil company unfairly prevented rivals from exporting crude from the Baltic Sea port of Butinge that it controls in Lithuania....

Green Light: Ukraine Blesses TNK-BP Deal.
August 6, 2003... The joint venture between BP and Russia's Tyumen Oil Co. (TNK) has moved another step closer to launch, with Ukraine's regulatory authorities approving the deal. It has already secured the blessing of the European Union (NC Jul.31,p7). The...

Helping Hand: Russia To Transship Kazakh Gas Oil.
August 6, 2003... Russia is in talks with Kazakhstan to transship up to 300,000 tons/yr of gas oil from refineries in the former Soviet republic. Russia's Energy Ministry, Railways Ministry, Customs Committee, and state oil products pipeline operator...

Latin Romance: Venezuela Promotes Russian Investment.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2003... Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez met top Russian energy officials in Moscow to promote greater energy sector cooperation, including crude swap deals and gas sector investment. Ramirez met Alexander Ananenkov, the interim CEO of...

No Dice: CNPC And TNK Walk Away From Siberian Tender.(China National Petroleum Corp., Tyumen Oil Co.)(Brief Article)
August 6, 2003... China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) and Tyumen Oil Co. (TNK) have refused to submit final applications to bid in a tender for oil fields in the Tyumen region in West Siberia. While CNPC's reasons for walking away from the tender are not...

Warning Shot: Gazprom Bids For South Kovykta Deposit.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2003... In a shot over the bow of TNK-BP, Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom has submitted a bid for two license blocks located adjacent to the giant Kovykta field in Eastern Siberia. Gazprom submitted to the Irkutsk local administration on Jul....

Caspian Swap: Russian Companies Eye Iranian Swap Option.
August 6, 2003... As Iran prepares to unveil an expanded new pipeline running from its Caspian port of Neka to the Tehran and Tabriz refineries, Russian companies led by Lukoil are eyeing Iran as an attractive long-term export option. In June, Lukoil became...

Sledge Hammer: Odessa Threatened With Losing Kazakh Volumes.
August 6, 2003... The Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odessa is facing the threat of losing some of its crude transit volumes. The Russian Energy Ministry and national pipeline operator Transneft have proposed rerouting 2.2 million metric tons of Kazakh transit...

Lithuania: Yukos Unit Sees Losses Ahead After Good Start.(reports)(national oil company Mazeikiu Nafta)(Brief Article)
August 6, 2003... Lithuania's national oil company Mazeikiu Nafta (MN), which is controlled by Russia's Yukos, reported a net profit of over 74 million Lithuanian litas ($24 million) in the first half of 2003, in preliminary non-audited GAAP accounts. This...

Turkmenistan: Parker Drilling Signs Up For Three Years.(teams with Chalyk Energy for oil rigs in Korpedje Field with Turkmenneft )(Brief Article)
August 6, 2003... A campaign to attract international service companies to Turkmenistan is finally bearing fruit, with Houston-based Parker Drilling teaming up with Calik Enerji (Chalyk Energy) to sign a three-year contract for two land rigs with state oil...

Kazakhstan: Chevron Agrees To Sell Field To Chinese.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2003... ChevronTexaco and Saudi Arabia's Nimir Petroleum have agreed to sell their stakes in the North Buzachi field to China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) for around $210 million. But the deal is subject to due diligence and could still fall...

Ukraine: Black Sea Refinery Set For $190 Million Upgrade.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2003... The 65-year-old Kherson refinery on the Black Sea is to get a $190 million face-lift under a modernization plan developed by international engineering company ABB Lummus Global. Last year the refinery, which is controlled by Kazakh producer...

Kazakhstan: Karachaganak Partners Optimistic About Future.
August 6, 2003... Behind all the smiles and applause at the Aug. 1 inauguration of the $4 billion Phase 2 of the development of the Karachaganak field operated by ENI and BG, there were lingering differences with the government over a number of issues. The...

Ukraine: Iran Proposes Gas Sales, Upsream Cooperation.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2003... Iran is considering a proposal to supply Ukraine with 10 Bcm-15 Bcm/yr of gas, under accords signed in Kiev at the end of July by Ukrainian Energy Minister Sergei Yermilov and Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Mohammad Hadi Nejad Hosseinian. ...

Romania: Petrom Privatization Back On Track.
August 6, 2003... Romania has unveiled long-awaited plans for the privatization of its oil company, Petrom, offering trade buyers a possible majority stake if an additional investment is made. The Economy Ministry said in a statement that strategic investors...

Serbia: State Issues Tender For Crude Supplies.(Pancevo and Novi Sad refineries)
August 6, 2003... State oil group Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS) has announced a tender for the delivery of 500,000 metric tons of crude for its Pancevo and Novi Sad refineries up to the end of the year. Potential bidders have until the end of August to submit...

Cash Float: Gazprom Taps Attractive Source.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2003... Gazprom's executive board has approved a program of floating euro medium-term notes that could become one of its most attractive sources of unsecured funds, the gas giant said. The program is designed to diversify Gazprom's borrowing...

Top Dollar: Rosneft Closes Its Biggest Loan, Wins New Fans.(ABN Amro, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, KBC Bank, and Natexis Banques Populaires)(Brief Article)
August 6, 2003... State-owned oil company Rosneft has raised its profile in international capital markets by finalizing its biggest ever loan -- a $500 million pre-export financing facility. The lead arrangers were ABN Amro, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank,...

Equities And Currencies.
August 6, 2003... Share Prices Closing On August 5, 2003

Crude Oil: Steamy Futures, Firmer Differentials.
August 6, 2003... Cash values for crude have soared to levels last seen just before the war on Iran. Although Opec's relative production restraint and a pervasive perception of low stocks play a part, the main upward pressure comes from technical trading by...

Products: Med Gas Oil Firms Further.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2003... Russian gas oil differentials continued to firm in the Mediterranean, but remained flat in Northwest Europe. Gas oil shipments out of the Baltic Sea ports declined to 489,000 metric tons over the past week, from the previous week's 598,000...

Butting Heads: Lukoil, Mol Go Head-to-Head in Serb Auction.
August 13, 2003... Hungary's Mol and Russia's Lukoil are slogging it out in the latest battle for consolidation of the Balkan downstream -- the privatization of a 79.53% stake in Serbian oil company Beopetrol -- after two rivals dropped out of the competition....

Raising Hopes: Yukos Gets Good News On Pipelines.(YUKOS Oil Co)
August 13, 2003... A few shafts of light pierced the gloom surrounding Yukos this week. The first was when experts from Russia's Natural Resources Ministry expressed concern about the environmental impact of a proposed oil pipeline running from Angarsk in Eastern...

Laggard: Transneft Exports Fall Behind Production Growth.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2003... Official data on Russia's crude distribution has confirmed what many already knew, that the country's export pipeline system has not kept up with rising crude output. Russian crude output soared by just over 11% in the first seven months...

Reformation: Ministry Reform Targets Gas Industry.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2003... President Vladimir Putin's touted administrative reforms are sweeping into the Energy Ministry. The reform campaign for 2003-04 has set its sights on restructuring the Energy Ministry, putting greater emphasis on the gas sector. The...

Viva la Revolucion: Colombian Work Suspended Due To Rebel Attacks.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2003... Rosneft has suspended operations in Colombia due to bombing attacks by local guerillas. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) set fire to five oil wells in the south of the country. US experts arrived in Colombia to put out the...

Shelf Life: Russia Sets Up Outfit For Kurmangazy Development.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2003... Russian state-owned Rosneft has set up an outfit to handle the Russian government's share in the giant Kurmangazy field in the Caspian Shelf. The new subsidiary, called RN-Kazakhstan, was given this role in accordance with a new government...

Local Muscle: Shell Joins Russian Lobbying Structure.(Royal Dutch/Shell)
August 13, 2003... Royal Dutch/Shell has thrown its chips in with Russia's oil barons, by joining the country's main lobbying group for big business. Shell's local affiliate has joined the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RUIE), a move seen...

Spreading Out: Transnefteproduct Eyes East Europe.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2003... National oil products pipeline operator Transnefteproduct is looking at expanding its tentacles into East Europe. The company is mulling over transport schemes into Poland and Slovakia as well as increasing the volume of shipments to Hungary....

Sour Taste: Baltic Expansion Projects Promise To Shake Up European Sour Markets.
August 13, 2003... The growing importance of the Baltic Sea as an outlet for Russian crude exports is promising to shake up the dynamics of European sour markets. Expansion projects focus overwhelmingly on the Baltic Sea ports as Russia struggles to provide...

Idle In Iraq: Russian Contractor Carries The Flag In Iraq.
August 13, 2003... Oil and gas contractor Stroitransgas, which gained a strong foothold in prewar Iraq, is spearheading a new Russian campaign to win business in the reconstruction of Iraq, already starting talks with US engineering giants Fluor and Bechtel about...

Stroi Of Arabia: Stroitransgas Makes Breakthrough In Oman.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2003... Stroitransgas has become the first Russian company to bid for work in the Middle Eastern sultanate of Oman. The company has been prequalified and shortlisted by state Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) to bid for a 270 km gas pipeline from...

Georgia: Energy Minister Resigns Over Russian Deals.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2003... Under heavy fire by political opponents, beleaguered Fuel and Energy Minister David Mirtskhulava has turned in his walking papers to President Eduard Shevardnadze. Opposition politicians labeled Mirtskhulava a traitor for allowing Russia's...

Lithuania: Yukos Begins Railing Crude To MN.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2003... Russian oil giant Yukos has started using the rail system to ship crude oil to the Mazeikiu refinery in Lithuania. The crude is pumped through the Druzhba pipeline from Russia to Belarus, and then reloaded into rail cars at Rechitsa in the...

Ukraine: Naftogas Ukrainy Repays $30 Million Loan.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2003... State oil and gas concern Naftogas Ukrainy has completely paid off a $30 million export-backed credit from Germany's Westdeutsche Landesbank (West LB). The settlement paves the way for the Ukrainian monopoly to sign a new one-year, $45...

Loan Sharks: Lukoil Raises $500 Million Loan.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2003... Lukoil is on the verge of sealing up a $500 million syndicated loan from a group of Western banks. The loan will be lead-managed by ABN Amro and Citigroup, and will be secured by Lukoil's crude oil export volumes. Credit Lyonnais will...

Flatheads: Transneft Reports Flat First Half Earnings.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2003... State pipeline operator Transneft has reported flat first-half 2003 earnings compared to the same period last year, despite rising revenues. The company's first-half net profit was 6.287 billion rubles ($207.5 million) in non-consolidated...

Equities And Currencies.
August 13, 2003... Share Prices Closing On August 12, 2003

Crude Oil: High Values Remain High.
August 13, 2003... Cash values for crude remain at the high end of recent ranges with September Brent futures regularly having traded above $30/bbl. The October contract, which takes over as front month at the close of business on Aug. 14, looks set to inherit...

Products: Gas Oil Differentials Under Pressure.
August 13, 2003... Russian gas oil differentials collapsed in Northwest Europe and the Mediterranean, while fuel oil prices held about steady. The market got a respite from the heavier volumes of the previous week, with gas oil shipments out of the Baltic Sea...

Power: Oil Majors Stamp Their Mark On Exports.
August 20, 2003... Russia's oil majors have taken a big step toward their long-targeted goal of having a direct say over their country's oil export policy. The governmental commission on access to export pipelines is set to approve a statute defining the...

Money: Yukos Raises $1 Billion Pre-Finance Loan.(YUKOS Oil Co.)
August 20, 2003... Yukos has issued a tender for a $1 billion five-year loan backed by exports of crude oil to cover its acquisition of industry rival Sibneft, banking sources tell Nefte Compass. The mega merger deal to set up the 2.3 million barrel per day...

Balancing Act: Fuel Oil Exports Face Capacity Constraints.(Brief Article)
August 20, 2003... Russian fuel oil exports are beginning to face the same kind of capacity restraints as crude, because the country's infrastructure cannot cope with rising output. Fuel oil exports sank 9% in the first seven months of 2003, compared to the...

Zorba The Greek: Gazprom And Ruhrgas Vie For Depa Stake.(Gazprom Russian Joint Stock Co.)(Brief Article)
August 20, 2003... A consortium of natural gas giants Gazprom and Germany's Ruhrgas is set to square off against Spain's Gas Natural (GN) in the privatization of a 35% stake in Greek gas monopoly Depa. Gazprom says it is currently carrying out due diligence...

Metal Heads: Rosneft Teams Up With Norilsk Nickel In North.(Brief Article)
August 20, 2003... Advancing further with its plan to develop an oil export scheme in northern Russia, state-owned Rosneft has signed a cooperation agreement with Russian metals producer Norilsk Nickel. The two parties agreed to expand the northern seaport of...

Temp Workers: FEC Approves Temporary Tariff Hikes.(United States. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission)(Brief Article)
August 20, 2003... National pipeline operator Transneft is finally making progress in its scheme to get oil companies to pay for upgrading its pipeline network through temporary tariff hikes. The Federal Energy Commission (FEC) last week approved a contract...

Desert Rose: Russia And Saudis Improve Ties.(Brief Article)
August 20, 2003... Saudi Arabia has approved a cooperation agreement with Russia, paving the way for greater ties between the world's two biggest oil producers. The Saudi Arabian cabinet gave its approval after its weekly meeting last week, according to...

Conservatory: Surgutneftegas Profits Up 19%.(Surgutneftegaz Industrial Association)(Brief Article)
August 20, 2003... Russia's most conservative oil major, Surgutneftegas, has managed to boost its net profit by 19% in first half 2003 figures. Surgut reported a first-half net profit of $23.74 billion rubles ($783 million) in unconsolidated accounts prepared...

The Replacements: Russian Urals Supplants Kirkuk In US.(Brief Article)
August 20, 2003... Russia sent an armada of Urals crude to the US in June, confirming market rumors that it was on the way. Russia provided a record 424,000 b/d in June to a wide range of buyers and became the sixth-largest oil supplier to the US, according...

Ride Around Sally: Sibur Promotes LPG To Motorists.(Brief Article)
August 20, 2003... Russian gas processor and petrochemical producer Sibur has decided to embark on a new scheme to convince the country's motorists to switch over to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). The company has approved a program to develop a domestic...

Waiting Room: TNK-BP Deal Faces Ministry Delays.(British Petroleum Company PLC)(Tyumenneft)
August 20, 2003... The approval of the $6.15 billion joint venture between BP and Tyumen Oil Co. (TNK) is facing delays by Russia's Anti-Monopoly Ministry due to technical reasons. Under normal circumstances, the Anti-Monopoly Ministry should have presented...

Pipe Cleaners: Gazprom Agrees To Modernize Pipelines.(Gazprom Russian Joint Stock Co.)(Brief Article)
August 20, 2003... Russian gas monopoly Gazprom is pushing for closer cooperation with Ashgabat, in a bid to secure supplies of relatively cheap gas to help fulfill its domestic and export obligations. Gazprom and two state Turkmen companies, Turkmenneftegas...

Little Feat: Gazprom Promises Modest Output Boost.(Gazprom Russian Joint Stock Co.)(Brief Article)
August 20, 2003... Natural gas monopoly Gazprom is planning to modestly boost output over the upcoming winter heating season. Gas production is set to rise by a little less than one percent to 287.3 Bcm over the six-month period from September 2003 to March 2004,...

Kazakhstan: Turgai Petroleum Gets $75 Million Loan.(Brief Article)
August 20, 2003... Turgai Petroleum, a 50-50 joint venture between Lukoil and Canadian PetroKazakhstan, has announced that it secured a $75 million loan from two Western European banks. The loan will be extended for a period of four years and will be secured...

Lithuania: Gazprom Ups Its Bid For Gas Utility.(Gazprom Russian Joint Stock Co.)(Brief Article)
August 20, 2003... Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom has agreed to increase its bid for a 34% stake in the local gas utility Lietuvos Dujos (LD). Gazprom submitted a final offer of 100 million litas ($32.8 million) to the Lithuanian government last week,...

Azerbaijan: Sempra Bags Socar Volumes.(Brief Article)
August 20, 2003... US trader Sempra has won the latest tender from Azeri state oil company Socar, to lift 140,000 tons of Urals crude out of Novorossiysk. The cargo, which is scheduled to load out of the Russian Black Sea port on Sep. 28-29, will be the...

Azerbaijan: BTC Partners Agree To Carry Socar.(Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Co.)(Socar of Ohio Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 20, 2003... After three partners in the BP-led Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline project refused to help Azerbaijan's state oil company Socar cover its investment obligations in the project, the remaining shareholders have agreed to stump up the funds...

Hungary: Mol Weathers Rough Second Quarter.(MOL Rt)
August 20, 2003... National champion Mol weathered a rough second quarter, hit hard by larger-than-expected losses in its natural gas business and exchange rate losses. Mol disappointed analysts by reporting a net loss of $47.6 million for the second quarter...

Croatia: OMV Faces Greater Challenge In Adriatic.
August 20, 2003... Austria's OMV faces a greater challenge in the Adriatic campaign of the battle for Central European downstream consolidation, after losing out to Hungarian competitor Mol in the competition for Croatian oil firm Ina, according to OMV's Chief...

Bandwidth: Russia Prepares Draft Budget With Urals $20-$22 Price Band.(Brief Article)
August 20, 2003... The government has approved the draft budget for 2004, which envisages a surplus of 83 billion rubles ($2.7 billion), or about .5% of gross domestic product. The Finance Ministry based its budget revenues forecast on an average Urals crude...

Still Going: Sibneft Will Not Cancel Dividend Payment.(Sibneft Oil)(Brief Article)
August 20, 2003... Sibneft is pressing ahead with making a massive dividend payment despite racking up losses in the first half of the year. The Russian oil company will pay an interim dividend of over $1 billion, even though it reported a first half net loss...

Equities And Currencies.
August 20, 2003... Share Prices Closing On August 19, 2003

Crude Oil: Profit Takers Defy Iraqi Chaos.(Brief Article)
August 20, 2003... Iraq started pumping Kirkuk crude through the pipeline to the export terminal at Ceyhan on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey on Aug. 13 -- and stopped two days later as a result of sabotage. The authorities have now blacked out all news about...

Products: Russian Exports Flood Market.
August 20, 2003... Rising exports and paralyzed trade for German barges has pushed Northwest Europe's gas oil market into contango, with prompt cargoes selling at a discount to future supplies. Robust export volumes and lackluster demand have caused fuel oil...

Turkish Delight: New Consortium Champions Bosporus Bypass.
August 27, 2003... A consortium representing Turkish, US, and Kazakh interests is promoting an ambitious scheme to build a 200-kilometer pipeline across a strip of Turkish territory that would bypass the congested Bosporus and Dardanelles Straits and have the...

Balkan Victory: Lukoil Comes Up Trumps In Serbian Sell-Off.
August 27, 2003... After several setbacks to its expansion in Eastern Europe, Lukoil has come up trumps in the privatization of 79.5% of Serbian oil company Beopetrol, outbidding Hungary's Mol for one of the last remaining pieces up for grabs in the consolidation...

Odessa Saga: Russia Diverts Crude To Yuzhny As Odessa Spat Heats Up.
August 27, 2003... The bitter ownership struggle for the port of Odessa in Ukraine is heating up, as it moves into the Swiss courts. The Odessa oil terminal, meanwhile, is getting its crude supplies cut back as Russia diverts the flow of Kazakh oil to the nearby...

Record Spin: Crude Production Approaches New Milestone.(Brief Article)
August 27, 2003... Russia's crude and condensate production reached a record 8.56 million b/d (36.21 million metric tons) in July, 131,200 b/d higher than in the previous month and 11% up on a year ago (see p10). Output in the first seven months of the year...

Baron Nights: Moscow Asks Greece To Extradite Gusinsky.(Brief Article)
August 27, 2003... Former Russian media baron Vladimir Gusinsky appeared before Greek prosecutors this week, after being detained in Athens on a three-year-old international arrest warrant that seeks his extradition to Russia. The arrest is part of a Russian...

Thumbs Up: TNK-BP Clears Another Hurdle.
August 27, 2003... Russia's Anti-Monopoly Ministry has approved the $6.15 billion joint venture between BP and Tyumen Oil Co. (TNK), clearing the way for the company to go live next month. In a statement, the ministry said it agreed on Aug. 25 to the...

Poached Eggs: Yukos Hires Two ConocoPhillips Executives.(Brief Article)
August 27, 2003... Yukos has announced that it will hire two executives from US-based ConocoPhillips, one as chief operating officer (COO) and the other as head of information technologies. Steven Michael Theede, Conoco's former president for oil exploration...

Igor Farkhutdinov: Sakhalin Governor Dies In Helicopter Crash.(Brief Article)
August 27, 2003... The governor of the eastern Russian region of Sakhalin, Igor Farkhutdinov, has been found dead along with the other passengers and crew of the helicopter that was taking them to the Kurile Islands in the Pacific. Experts say the helicopter...

Hit For Six: State To Hike Gas Export Duty Sixfold.(Brief Article)
August 27, 2003... The Russian government plans to hike the gas export duty sixfold on exports to countries outside Russia's Customs Union next year. Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov has signed an order to raise the gas export duty to 30% of its customs value,...

Firm Friends: Russia And Ukraine To Expand Gas Transit.
August 27, 2003... Russia and Ukraine this week laid to rest years of disputes over gas exports and agreed to build a new pipeline that would allow an increase of over 25% in Russian gas shipments to Europe. The landmark agreement signals how relations...

Breakthrough: Gazprom Taps Into Belgian Market.(Brief Article)
August 27, 2003... Gazprom is breaking into a new European market, with its Germany-based gas marketing affiliate Wingas announcing this week that it has already signed contracts for 2005 for over 1 Bcm of gas for supply into Belgium. Until recently no...

Russian Crude Loading Programs For September 2003.
August 27, 2003... Novorossiysk Crude Loading Program For September 2003

Lithuania: US Managers Accused Of Squandering State Assets.
August 27, 2003... The General Prosecutor's office has accused two executives of US company Williams, as well as two Lithuanian ex-ministers and one deputy minister, of squandering state property on national oil champion Mazeikiu Nafta (MN). President...

Baltics: Gazprom Spreads Its Tentacles In The Baltic States.(Brief Article)
August 27, 2003... Russian gas monopoly Gazprom is spreading its tentacles further into the Baltics, having signed a long-term agreement with Latvian gas utility Latvijas Gaze (LG) to supply gas to Latvia through 2015. The accord extended through 2005 a...

Kazakhstan: Shymkent Refinery Comes Back Strongly.(Brief Article)
August 27, 2003... Crude processing at Kazakhstan's three refineries in July edged up a notch to total 143,300 b/d, after June's steep 24% drop (NC Jul.17,p10). The July total was up nearly 4% from July 2002. A sharp recovery in June from the PetroKazakhstan...

Comeback Tour: Gutseriev Comes Back With A Vengeance.(Brief Article)
August 27, 2003... Mikhail Gutseriev has taken another step toward regaining prominence in the Russian oil patch, after he was booted out as president of Slavneft last year before the company's privatization. His company Russneft, which he set up about a year...

Seventh Heaven: Gazprom First-Half Profit Soars Sevenfold.(Brief Article)
August 27, 2003... Strong international gas prices have sent natural gas monopoly Gazprom's first-half 2003 net profit soaring nearly sevenfold from the same period last year. Gazprom reported a first-half net profit of 110.45 billion rubles ($3.63 billion)...

Equities And Currencies.
August 27, 2003... Share Prices Closing On August 26, 2003

Crude Oil: Sours Fall Out Of Favor.
August 27, 2003... Strong US gasoline demand has spoiled European refiners' appetite for distillate-rich Russian Urals. On Aug. 27, an incremental barrel of Urals scraped less than a 10o profit in a simple Mediterranean refinery, down from a 75o profit the week...