NEFTE Compass articles from August 2004

NEFTE Compass archives from August 2004

Showdown: Exxon Heads For Showdown Over Sakhalin Cost Overrun.(Exxon Mobil Corp.)
August 4, 2004... Exxon Mobil has confirmed that its costs on the Sakhalin-1 project are running over budget, setting the scene for a showdown with the Russian authorities when it presents a significantly bigger spending program for the oil and gas development...

Hardball: Gazprom Gets Tough Over Turkmen Gas Trade.(Gazprom Russian Joint Stock Co., RosUkrEnergo)
August 4, 2004... Gazprom is seizing control of the trade in natural gas shipments from Turkmenistan to Ukraine and on to European markets. The Russian gas giant has teamed up with Austria's Raiffeisen Zentralbank (RZB) to set up a new joint venture,...

The Abyss: Yukos Slapped With More Taxes But Operations Continue.(YUKOS Oil Co.)
August 4, 2004... The outlook for Yukos continued to deteriorate over the past week as tax bills mounted, pushing the company further toward bankruptcy. But for the time being the government does not appear to be looking to disrupt the company's everyday...

Breakdance: Saratov Refinery Launches Visbreaker.(Brief Article)
August 4, 2004... In a bid to improve the quality of its oil products, TNK-BP's Saratov refinery has brought on stream a visbreaking unit. The $28 million project has been in the works for almost two years under the supervision of France's Technip, TNK-BP's...

Broken Record: Record Export Tariffs For Record High Oil Prices.(Brief Article)
August 4, 2004... Fears on international oil markets of supply disruptions from Yukos have added to an already boiling cauldron of political tensions that have pushed oil prices to new record levels. Oil traders hit the panic buttons this week as worries...

No Dice: PetroChina Terminates West-East Pipeline Venture.
August 4, 2004... China has terminated a joint venture agreement with Royal Dutch/Shell, Exxon Mobil and Russia's Gazprom to build the 4,200 km West-East gas pipeline. Gazprom said it had received a termination letter from state PetroChina, adding that it...

Suspense: Surgut Wins Reprieve in Harvard Court Case.(Brief Article)
August 4, 2004... Russian oil major Surgutneftegas has won a reprieve from minority shareholders, who are suing it for not paying enough dividends. The New York Supreme Court has suspended a court case against Surgut filed by Harvard University, which sued...

Dipper: FSU Products Exports Edge Downwards.(Brief Article)
August 4, 2004... Products exports from the former Soviet Union were about flat in July from the previous month. A small 2% decrease in products exports on a daily basis in July from June was caused by a 249,000 metric ton decline in fuel oil exports through St....

The Prez: Conoco President Casts Light On Talks With Putin.(James Mulva, ConocoPhillips)
August 4, 2004... James Mulva, president and chief executive of ConocoPhillips, has cast some light on his recent meeting with President Vladimir Putin and Lukoil president Vagit Alekperov, which caused widespread speculation that the Houston-based major was...

Consolidation: Gazprom Restructures Gas Distribution Operations.(Brief Article)
August 4, 2004... As part of its restructuring program, gas giant Gazprom is setting up a gas distribution holding company. The company's board of directors decided to set up the new company, Mezhregiongasholding, to consolidate Gazprom-affiliated gas...

Persian Excursion: Tatneft Sets Up Iran Venture.(Mostazafan and Janbazan Foundation)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2004... Tatneft is expanding its activities in Iran. The Tatar oil major has struck a deal to set up a joint venture in Iran with the Mostazafan and Janbazan Foundation. The venture will most likely be set up on a par basis and will be registered in...

African Pipe: Stroitransgas To Build Pipeline In Sudan.(Brief Article)
August 4, 2004... Russia's biggest pipeline contractor Stroitransgas is pushing ahead with its overseas expansion, winning a contract in Sudan. The company, in partnership with its engineering subsidiary STG-International, has won a tender to build a 366-km...

Kazakhstan: Canadians Mix Up Western And Kazakh Cocktail.
August 4, 2004... Kazakhstan, with its three huge projects at Karachaganak, Tengiz and Kashagan, is still very much the domain of international oil majors such as ChevronTexaco, Total and Eni, which are all desperate to raise their production profiles and add...

Kazakhstan: PetroKazakhstan Boosts Earnings.( Kazgermunai and Turgai Petroleum)
August 4, 2004... Second-quarter net income rose 78% at PetroKazakhstan as the Calgary-based company reaped the rewards from higher crude oil production and prices. PetroKazakhstan said it earned US$122 million, up from US$68.4 million in the year-earlier...

Azerbaijan: Petrofarm Wins Socar Tender.(Brief Article)
August 4, 2004... Singapore trader Petrofarm has won the latest tender from Azeri state oil company Socar to lift 130,000 tons (953,000 bbl) of Urals crude out of Novorossiysk. Petrofarm, which won a similar tender last autumn, is affiliated to Dubai-based...

Central Europe: Threat To Yukos Forces Buyers To Weigh Options.(YUKOS Oil Co.)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2004... The threat of Yukos' exports getting cut off has struck fear into international crude markets, forcing its regular Central European buyers to look at alternative suppliers. Hungary's Mol and Poland's PKN Orlen, Central Europe's leading...

Poland: Lukoil And Conoco Make Sense Of Synergy.
August 4, 2004... A planned strategic alliance between Lukoil and ConocoPhillips could have a powerful synergy in Poland, where the two are viewed as candidates to buy the state's stakes in the country's two main oil groups -- PKN Orlen and Lotos Group. The...

Ukraine: Russian Oil Transit Protocol In Limbo.(Brief Article)
August 4, 2004... The fate of a 15-year protocol on Russian crude transit across Ukraine remains unclear, after Russia's Industry and Energy Minister failed to include concrete numbers into the draft, which it was to prepare by Aug. 2. The presented draft...

Mr. Nice Guy: Sibneft Promises To Pay More Taxes.(Brief Article)
August 4, 2004... Sibneft appears to have put an end to tax minimization schemes after it announced a sharp increase in unconsolidated profits for the first half of 2004, amid government pressure on the country's big businesses to abide by the statutory 24%...

Lithe Spirit: Mazeikiu Nafta Reports Record Results.(Brief Article)
August 4, 2004... Lithuania's Mazeikiu Nafta (MN), which is controlled and operated by besieged Russian major Yukos, has posted record half-year profits. MN reported net profits of 232.2 million litas ($82 million) in the first six months of 2004 in...

Equities And Currencies.
August 4, 2004... Share Prices Closing On August 3, 2004

Products: Gas Oil Futures Soar.
August 4, 2004... International Petroleum Exchange gas oil futures continue to soar, pulled up by crude futures that are trading new record highs. Fuel oil outright prices have been outpaced by crude's price rise, as strong sweet crude refining margins have...

Out The Door: Lukoil Shown The Door In Iraq.(West Qurna project)
August 10, 2004... Lukoil's prospects for holding on to its West Qurna project in Iraq are looking dimmer by the day. Diplomatic sources say the Russian major has been shown the door in Iraq, after new people took over at the Iraqi Oil Ministry following the...

In The Know: Yukos Newsflow Raises Suspicions Of Insider Dealing.
August 10, 2004... A series of contradictory actions by courts and law enforcement agencies in the case against Yukos has sent the company's stock price on a wild roller coaster ride. The alternating positive and negative newsflow has stoked suspicions of insider...

Tender Moments: New Subsoil Amendments Clear Way For Tenders.
August 10, 2004... Amendments to the acting law on subsoil usage have been approved by both houses of Russia's parliament, opening the way for new auctions that have been on hold for the last four years. The new changes have streamlined the license issuing...

Summersault: Russian Crude Exports Dip In July.
August 10, 2004... Moscow has approved additional exports of 108,000 b/d (900,000 metric tons) out of Primorsk in August and September. The Industry and Energy Ministry has approved a supplemental third quarter export schedule for the Baltic Sea port, which...

Get Rich Quick: TNK-BP To Raise Funds.(Brief Article)
August 10, 2004... Russia's TNK-BP joint venture is negotiating a $600 million export-backed loan to fund its corporate activities and refinance more expensive debts. Banks Citigroup, ING and Societe Generale are set to be the lead arrangers of the loan,...

Big Puddle: Salym Venture Strikes Oil.(Upper Salym)(Vadelyp)(Brief Article)
August 10, 2004... Salym Petroleum Development (SPD), a Royal Dutch/Shell joint venture with Sibir Energy controlled Evikhon, has struck oil at an exploration well in the Upper Salym oil field in Western Siberia. The discovery should allow the venture to boost...

Thrill Is Gone: Total Gets Cautious on Russia.(Brief Article)
August 10, 2004... French major Total looks to be the latest international oil player whose love affair with Russia is on the wane. Total's Chief Financial Officer Robert Castaigne said last week that the oil major would be very cautious about corporate deals...

Head Honchos: Putin Meets Gazprom CEO To Discuss Operations.
August 10, 2004... Russian President Vladimir Putin and Gazprom Chief Executive Alexei Miller met last week to discuss the gas giant's operations and development prospects. Last year was the most successful in Gazprom's history, with record results in both...

Water Sports: Sakhalin-2 Starts Water Injection.(Sakhalin-2)(water injection )
August 10, 2004... Sakhalin Energy, the Royal Dutch/Shell-led operator of the Sakhalin-2 project off Russia's Pacific coast, has started injecting water into a new extended reach well at its oil producing Molikpaq platform, to boost production. Sakhalin...

Kazakhstan: CNPC Crude Arrested Again By Court.(China National Petroleum Corp.)(Brief Article)
August 10, 2004... For the second time in less than five months, a significant volume of Kazakh crude belonging to China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) has been arrested as part of a long-running dispute between the company's fully-owned subsidiary...

Kazakhstan: Kazakhstan Ramps Up Production Despite Tengiz Maintenance.(Brief Article)
August 10, 2004... Kazakhstan ramped up its crude oil and condensate production to 1.216 million b/d in July, up 3% from the previous month. The country's exporters have benefited from strong demand for light oil products like naphtha, which has boosted prices of...

Georgia: BP Restarts Work On BTC Pipe.(Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan)(BP)(Brief Article)
August 10, 2004... BP said late last week that work had restarted on a stretch of the 1 million b/d Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, after a stoppage of more than two weeks because of environmental concerns in the former Soviet republic of Georgia (NC...

Lithuania: Mazeikiu Nafta Probed Over Domestic Prices.(Lithuania's Competition Council )(Brief Article)
August 10, 2004... Vilnius has launched a probe into Mazeikiu Nafta (MN) over high domestic oil prices. The refiner and terminal operator is controlled and operated by embattled Russian major Yukos. Representatives of Lithuania's Competition Council last week...

Uzbekistan: Gazprom Starts Producing At Shakhpakhty Field.(Shakhpakhty)(Brief Article)
August 10, 2004... In an effort to secure more Central Asian gas flows, Russian gas monopoly Gazprom has launched production at the Shakhpakhty gas and condensate field in Uzbekistan. An official at Uzbek state Uzbekneftegas announced that production under a...

Fire Exit: Yukos Mess Spurs Capital Flight.(Brief Article)
August 10, 2004... Russia's economic head honcho said late last week that capital flight from the country has shot up this year. German Gref, Russia's minister for economic development and trade, said that capital flight is expected to triple in 2004 to $8...

Techies: Novatek Profits Up Fivefold On High Prices.(Novatek)(Brief Article)(Company Profile)
August 10, 2004... Russia's biggest independent gas producer has reported a record increase in its 2003 net profit, up more than fivefold from the previous year on the back of higher output and strong international prices. The company reported a 2003 net...

Equities And Currencies.
August 10, 2004... Share Prices Closing On August 10, 2004

Crude Oil: More Records.
August 10, 2004... Most appropriately for a week that sees the start of the 2004 Olympic Games, crude oil futures again notched up new all-time record highs with Brent hitting $41.70 and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) reaching $45.05. The trigger this time was the...

Products: What Goes Up Must Come Down.(Brief Article)
August 10, 2004... International Petroleum Exchange (IPE) gas oil futures surged to new record highs at the beginning of the week led by rising crude and market fears that Yukos' exports could decrease. Futures then came off as concern about Yukos subsided, and...

Steamroller: Ukraine Pipeline Upgrade Gains Steam.(RosUkrEnergo venture)
August 18, 2004... Efforts to upgrade Ukraine's gas pipeline network are gaining momentum. Following recent agreements between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Leonid Kuchma, Gazprom and Ukraine's state company Naftogas Ukrainy last...

Forklift: St. Petersburg, Inc. Eyes Yugansk Takeover.
August 18, 2004... Yukos' shocking fall from grace has coincided with the rising star of St. Petersburg, Inc., a clique of businessmen and ex-security officials with ties to President Vladimir Putin. The upcoming sale of Yukos' core producer Yuganskneftegas was...

Slowpokes: Moscow Predicts Export Slowdown.
August 18, 2004... The Russian government is predicting a slowdown in the country's export growth, according to a new official forecast. Russian crude exports are set to climb by 10% over the next three-year period, according to the report by the Economic...

Neighbors: Gazprom Gets Acreage Next To Kovykta.(Ministry of Natural Resources)
August 18, 2004... Through two recent moves, the Russian government looks to be nudging TNK-BP to come to some accommodation with state Gazprom that will advance the long nascent East Siberian Kovykta gas export project. First, the Ministry of Natural...

Fair Warning: Former Minister Warns On Investing In Russia.(Brief Article)
August 18, 2004... Before investing in Russia, you should know exactly who your local partners are and had better stay away from those who were involved in the notorious "loan-for-shares" schemes. Such was the advice of Yuri Shafranik, chairman of the Russian...

Last Breath: Bank Tapped To Value Yugansk For Selloff.
August 18, 2004... Russia's Justice Ministry has hired investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein to value Yukos' main production unit, Yuganskneftegas, easing fears that authorities will sell the asset at a knockdown price. Court bailiffs seized the...

Confusion: Lukoil Denies Texas Gas Deal.(Brief Article)
August 18, 2004... Lukoil found itself in a rather confusing situation. Dallas-based Angus Energy announced late last week that it had signed an agreement with Lukoil subsidiary Kogalymneftegas to provide $15 million in additional financing for the development of...

High Times: Crude Output Soars To New Post-Soviet High.(Russian Energy Agency)(Brief Article)
August 18, 2004... Even as worries about possible supply disruptions helped send international oil prices to unprecedented heights, Russian crude and condensate production soared to a new post-Soviet record of 9.33 million b/d (39.45 million metric tons) in July,...

Little Feat: Second Quarter Crude Deliveries Up Slightly.(Brief Article)
August 18, 2004... Crude deliveries to Russian refineries via the Transneft national pipeline system in the second quarter of 2004 climbed by 1.4% to 52.188 million tons (4.2 million b/d) from 51.461 million tons (4.14 million b/d) in the same period of 2003. ...

Free Willy: Shell Promises To Save The Whales.(Brief Article)
August 18, 2004... Sakhalin Energy, operator of the Royal Dutch/Shell-led Sakhalin-2 project in the Russian Pacific shelf, said funding for the region's gray whale research program would exceed $2 million this year. The funding is provided jointly with other...

Hungary: Mol To Sell Off Gas Assets.
August 18, 2004... Hungarian oil and gas company Mol is considering selling its 50% stake in gas trader Panrusgas by the end of August in an open tender. Panrusgas, a joint venture between Mol and Russia's Gazprom, was set up to sell Russian gas imported to...

Pipe Cleaners: ABN Amro To Study Mideast-Europe Gas Line.(Nabucco venture)(Brief Article)
August 18, 2004... The Nabucco venture, which is studying the feasibility of a natural gas pipeline from the Middle East and Caspian regions to Europe, has appointed Dutch bank ABN Amro as financial adviser. The venture, formally known as Nabucco Co. Pipeline...

Poland: PKN Fires CEO As State Gains Influence.
August 18, 2004... The supervisory board of PKN Orlen, Poland's largest oil refiner, has voted unanimously to fire its recently appointed CEO Jacek Walczykowski, as Warsaw takes greater control of the company. Janusz Wisniewski, a management board vice...

Azerbaijan: Total And OMV Win Socar Tenders.(Brief Article)
August 18, 2004... France's Total has won a tender from Azeri state oil company Socar for a 130,000 ton (953,000 bbl) cargo to load out of the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk on Sep. 15-16. Socar awarded another tender to Austria's OMV for a 135,000 ton (1 million...

Uzbekistan: Tashkent Eyes Chinese Cash.(Brief Article)
August 18, 2004... Uzbekistan's state oil and gas company, Uzbekneftegas, is hoping to attract financing from China to develop its gas sector. The Uzbek company hopes to attract loans worth a total of $385 million from 2005-07 from China Eximbank to finance...

Romania: OMV Steels Itself For Petrom Deal.(Brief Article)
August 18, 2004... Austria's OMV faces a major operational challenge in handling the integration of Romania's Petrom, following the recent acquisition of a controlling 51% stake in the state-owned oil and gas group. The deal will double the company's...

Downer: Gazprom Reports Profits Drop.(Brief Article)
August 18, 2004... Russia's Gazprom reported a 30% drop in its net profits for the first six months of 2004 due to higher gas purchase prices from outside producers, increased transportation expenses and changes in gas export sales accounting. The state...

Spin Doctors: Lukoil Spins Off Financial Unit.(IFD Kapital )(Brief Article)
August 18, 2004... In a bid to streamline its business by shedding non-core assets, Russian oil giant Lukoil announced it has spun off non-oil businesses into a new $3 billion financial group. Lukoil has set up IFD Kapital, which will take over its banking,...

Equities And Currencies.
August 18, 2004... Share Prices Closing On August 17, 2004

Crude: More Records.
August 18, 2004... Crude oil futures again set new all-time record highs with Brent going through $44/bbl and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) topping $47. Prices eased off a little following Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez' defeat of a referendum calling for his...

Products: Gas Oil Flies, Fuel Stays Grounded.(Brief Article)
August 18, 2004... International Petroleum Exchange (IPE) gas oil futures continue to hover around all time highs, supported by the high price of crude oil and lower Russian exports. Activity in Russian gas oil is low as buyers wait for prices to drop. Stock...

Choppy Waters: BG Mulls Hanging On To Kashagan Stake.
August 25, 2004... As the deadlock continues over who has the legal right to buy BG's 16.67% interest in Kazakhstan's supergiant Kashagan field, the UK company is considering a new option to resolve the dispute: keeping the stake for itself. Kazakh industry...

Jitterbug: China, US Nervous About Russian Crude Supplies.
August 25, 2004... With oil prices heading toward $50 per barrel, Russia is being courted by nervous consumers on both sides of the globe. US President George Bush called President Vladimir Putin this week to discuss Russian oil supplies to world markets, and the...

Fill 'er Up: Moscow Seeks To Dampen Domestic Gasoline Prices.(Moscow Fuel Association)(Economic Development and Trade)
August 25, 2004... Russia's Industry and Energy Ministry has recommended changing legislation to dampen the price of gasoline on the country's domestic market. The ministry sent a letter to Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov proposing to cut the mineral extraction...

Come Together: Moscow And Kiev Strike Gas Compromise.(Brief Article)
August 25, 2004... Gazprom will guarantee the supply of an additional 5 Bcm of natural gas for transit via Ukraine next year, rising to 19 Bcm in 2010, according to a long-term intergovernmental agreement signed last week. The accord aims to increase Russian gas...

Slasher: Yukos Cuts Production Target.(Brief Article)
August 25, 2004... Yukos has cut its production target for 2004, after reducing its capital expenditure program to help pay a massive tax bill. Yukos now projects that it will produce 86 million metric tons (1.72 million b/d) of oil in 2004. This is 4 million...

Sweet Promises: Putin Promises Chechnya Control Over Its Oil.(Brief Article)
August 25, 2004... On the eve of Chechnya's Aug. 29 presidential election, President Vladimir Putin promised that the republic would receive the full proceeds from its oil sales to rebuild the war-torn region. Putin discussed the issue at the meeting earlier...

Further Afield: State-Backed Consortium Eyes Sakhalin.(Brief Article)
August 25, 2004... A state-sponsored consortium of three Russian oil and gas heavyweights set up last year to develop untapped Eastern Siberian reserves is now turning its sights on offshore Sakhalin. The issue was discussed last week at a meeting between...

Breaking Up: Sibneft Calls Meeting To Speed Demerger.(Brief Article)
August 25, 2004... Sibneft has called a shareholders meeting an Aug. 31 to speed up the annulment of the oil company's ill-fated merger with Yukos. Sibneft looks set to reclaim most of the shares it handed over to Yukos, in line with the two companies' agreement...

Bidding War: Conoco Faces Rival Bid For Lukoil Stake.(Dabir International)(Guggenheim family)(Brief Article)
August 25, 2004... US major ConocoPhillips faces a rival bid in its expected bid for a stake in Russia's Lukoil, from a member of the wealthy Guggenheim family. David Guggenheim, chairman of the board of New York-based Dabir International, has revealed his...

To Probe Or Not: Gazprom Reassures Over Share Probe.(Gazprom Russian Joint Stock Co.)(Brief Article)
August 25, 2004... The Russian government and Gazprom have reacted coolly to a request to investigate schemes that allow foreigners to circumvent rules banning them from holding the company's local shares. Gazprom said it "treats negatively" any speculation...

Strike One: Rosneft Strikes Oil At Vankor Field.(Brief Article)
August 25, 2004... Rosneft said it had struck oil at its Vankorskoye acreage in Eastern Siberia. According to local officials, oil flowed at about 1,000 b/d from an exploration well that the company started drilling earlier this year. After the exploration...

Critical Blast: UN Warns Of.(United Nations)(Brief Article)
August 25, 2004... As the volume of oil production and transportation in the Barents Sea rapidly increases, major oil spills have now become "inevitable," warns a UN Environment Program (UNEP) report. It criticizes the short-term outlook of the Russian oil...

Cook Book: Tatneft Delays Releasing GAAP Results.(Brief Article)
August 25, 2004... In a bid to clean up its accounts, Russia's Tatneft has delayed until early or mid-November the release of its US GAAP financial results for 2003. The company, meanwhile, expects its pretax profit under Russian Accounting Standards to...

Queen Vic: UK Minnow Buys Siberian Field.(Victoria Oil & Gas)(Brief Article)
August 25, 2004... UK minnow Victoria Oil & Gas has paid $11 million for a 74.6% interest in Russian closed stockholding society Severgas-Invest (SGI). SGI has oil and gas exploration and production rights over a 1,224 sq km area at the West Medvezhye field in...

Kazakhstan: China Looks At Gas Pipeline Plan.(Brief Article)
August 25, 2004... China and Kazakhstan are reviewing the possibility of building a natural gas pipeline from western Kazakhstan to Xinjiang in the west of China, according to press reports from Beijing. The pipeline will connect with China's 4,000 km...

Azerbaijan: Taurus Wins Socar Tender.(Brief Article)
August 25, 2004... State oil company Socar has awarded a tender for a 1 million bbl cargo to Swiss-based trader Taurus. The parcel of Urals crude oil will load out of the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk on Sep. 27-28. The tender closed on Aug. 25. The...

Kazakhstan: CNPC Crude Locked In CPC Pipeline.(China National Petroleum Corp.)(Caspian Pipeline Consortium)(Brief Article)
August 25, 2004... The rights to significant volumes of Kazakh crude belonging to China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) have been transferred to a company in the name of Kempster Select registered in the British Virgin Islands. It will be tricky, however, for the...

Ukraine: Russian Crude Transit Protocol Boosts Odessa-Brody.(TNK-BP)(Brief Article)
August 25, 2004... TNK-BP's plan to export its growing oil output via the reversed Odessa-Brody pipeline got a big boost last week when Russia and Ukraine signed a 15-year oil transit protocol. The document was inked in the presence of Russian President...

Kazakhstan: Sinopec Farm-In Deal Cancelled.(China Petroleum and Chemical Corp.)(Brief Article)
August 25, 2004... Calgary-based China Energy Ventures says it has cancelled a farm-out agreement with an affiliate of China's Sinopec for upstream interests in Kazakhstan, and has now entered into a letter of intent for a deal with local construction company BT...

Romania: Gaz de France Beats Gazprom In Privatization.(Gazprom Russian Joint Stock Co.)(Brief Article)
August 25, 2004... Russian gas giant Gazprom failed last week to acquire a share in one of Romania's biggest gas distributors, Distrigaz Sud, after the country's government selected Gaz de France (GdF) to negotiate for the controlling 51% stake. Germany's...

Exit Stage Left: Banks Walk Away From TNK-BP Loan.(Brief Article)
August 25, 2004... Russia's TNK-BP says it will still be able to attract $600 million in financing from a consortium of investment banks led by Citigroup, after two lenders pulled out of the deal. The Financial Times reported that ING Bank and Societe...

Payola: Rosneft Ordered To Pay Social Programs.(Northern Oil Co.)(Brief Article)
August 25, 2004... Rosneft has been ordered to pay $20.65 million into the local budget of the Nenets autonomous district in social payments, under a Moscow Arbitration Court ruling. The lawsuit was filed by the Nenets district authorities earlier this year...