NEFTE Compass articles from December 2006

NEFTE Compass archives from December 2006

Mind Games: Gloves Come Off In The Caucasus.
December 6, 2006... Russia's strong-arm tactics in the Caucasus could backfire after Azerbaijan said this week that it may halt pipeline shipments of crude oil from Baku to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. Such a move would deprive Russia of a lighter...

Warning Signs: Russian Prosecutor Sets Sights On Oil And Gas.
December 6, 2006... Dark memories of the attacks on Yukos were stirred this week when Russia's General Prosecutor's Office announced it was looking to step up its cooperation with the government, keeping a watchful eye on the country's oil and gas industry and its...

Rising Tide: Moscow Approves Gradual Gas Price Increase.
December 6, 2006... The Russian government has decided to back gradual increases in domestic natural gas and electricity prices, in a fresh attempt to liberalize the domestic energy market. The cabinet approved a plan at its meeting last week that would...

Winter Warmth: Seaborne Exports Lift On Gas Oil Surge.(Brief article)
December 6, 2006... Total seaborne exports of oil products from the former Soviet Union rose modestly in November, as a significant bump in exports of gas oil, particularly from the Black Sea, countered an unexpected small drop in total exports of fuel oil. Total...

Moving On Up: Pacific Rise Boosts Russian Crude Output.
December 6, 2006... Helped by rising output from the Pacific shelf, Russia's crude and condensate production reached 9.75 million b/d in November, up 32,900 b/d from October, according to preliminary data from Russia's Industry and Energy Ministry. November's...

Eastward Bound: Transneft Cracks On With Pacific Coast Terminal.(Brief article)
December 6, 2006... Russia's new oil export terminal at Kozmino Bay, near the port of Nakhodka on the Pacific coast, will have a 300,000 b/d capacity, state pipeline operator Transneft said at a meeting of the company's management board last week. Transneft...

Tariff Tips: State Approves Hike In Transneft Fees.
December 6, 2006... Russia's Federal Tariffs Service has approved an 8.7% increase in the shipping fees for state-run pipeline monopoly Transneft, which is looking to pay off the considerable costs of the planned pipeline from East Siberia to the Pacific Ocean....

Image Boost: TNK-BP Hires Former Deputy Minister To Raise Profile.
December 6, 2006... In a bid to improve its relations with the government, Russian-UK joint venture TNK-BP has hired Russia's former Deputy Finance Minister Mikhail Motorin to become the company's vice president for economics and finance. Motorin has also become...

Northern Lights: BP, Rosneft Target Arctic Assets.
December 6, 2006... Russian state-run Rosneft and UK major BP have signed a letter of intent to carry out joint studies of Russia's largely unexplored Arctic regions. "The main purpose of the document is to identify specific areas of mutual interest in the...

Grist: Rosneft Takeover Rumors Spark Surgut Stock Rally.
December 6, 2006... On the same day that Rosneft President Sergei Bogdanchikov was telling a UK newspaper that the state run oil company planned to invest $20 billion over the next five years, stock in Kremlin-friendly Surgutneftegas jumped 7%. A number of...

Winter Cheer: Chavez Victory Good News For Lukoil, Gazprom.
December 6, 2006... The reelection last weekend of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for another six-year term is good news for Russian majors Lukoil and Gazprom, which are both eager to expand into the South American country. Lukoil hopes to secure by the end...

Objection: Lukoil To Dispute Yukos Ruling.
December 6, 2006... Russia's No. 1 producer Lukoil said it plans to dispute the Moscow Arbitration Court's ruling that bankrupt Russian oil company Yukos remain a partner in the joint venture Caspian Oil. Lukoil had filed a suit contending that the bankrupt...

Kazakhstan: Nations Rejects Petrovietnam Bid For Karazhanbas.
December 6, 2006... A joint bid by Petrovietnam and Russia's Zarubezhneft for a 25% stake in the Karazhanbas oil field would not be acceptable, according to sources close to Karazhanbas owner Nations Energy, which is looking to sell all or nothing of its Kazakh...

Kazakhstan: Eni Downplays Probe Of Kashagan Costs.(Brief article)
December 6, 2006... Eni Chief Executive Paolo Scaroni has played down the severity of problems at Kazakhstan's giant Kashagan field, following reports that the Kazakh government planned to call in external auditors to assess the project's rapidly rising...

Azerbaijan: Turkey And Socar Plan Ceyhan Refinery.
December 6, 2006... Turkish Turcas Petrol and the Azeri state oil company Socar have created a joint venture aimed at building an oil refinery at the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. The plans envision a 200,000 b/d refinery at the port, which acts as...

Kazakhstan: Gas Transit Tariffs For Russia Could Rise.
December 6, 2006... Kazakhstan is in talks with Russian gas giant Gazprom to raise transit tariffs for Central Asian gas pumped via Kazakh territory to Russia and beyond. Astana wants to raise its gas transit price to $1.60/Mcm per 100 km, from $1.10 charged...

Belarus: Gas Talks Move Forward On ABN Amro Valuation.
December 6, 2006... After months of tension over the future of Russian gas supplies to neighboring Belarus, talks moved a step forward last week with the submission of Dutch bank ABN Amro's appraisal of Belarus' state gas pipeline operator Beltransgas. The...

Hungary: Mol Bids For Russian Producer.(MOL Rt)(Brief article)
December 6, 2006... Hungarian Mol has made a binding bid for the 100% purchase of an unspecified Russian production asset, the company reported. The asset has over 60 million bbl of proven and probable reserves, according to a Mol reserve audit, and currently...

Leaving Party: Bashkir Energy Hikes Dividend.
December 6, 2006... The board of directors of Russia's Bashkir energy companies, including oil producer Bashneft and three refineries, has proposed a huge increase in payouts on an interim dividend, fueling speculation that the much-forecast sale of the assets by...

Prosperous Plan: Prosperity To Block Lukoil's Ritek Merger.
December 6, 2006... Russian investment fund Prosperity Capital has purchased enough shares in Lukoil affiliate Ritek to block Lukoil's plan to merge its West Siberian subsidiary Nazymgeodobycha (NGD) with Ritek. Prosperity Capital, which represents Ritek's...

Equities and Currencies.
December 6, 2006... Share Prices Closing On December 5, 2006

Crude Oil: Prices Blowing In The Wind.
December 6, 2006... January Brent futures traded a $2.31 range between a Dec. 1 high of $64.92 and a Dec. 5 low of $62.61. The high was achieved on predictions of colder weather, the low in reactions to later forecasts that a brief cold snap would give way to a...

Products: Mild Weather Plays On The Market.(Brief article)
December 6, 2006... European middle distillate prices were mixed through the week, tracking crude futures while also responding to winter weather forecasts in the US and Europe. Varying weather forecasts for the winter have jerked around prices for gas oil....

Washed Up: Shell Bites The Bullet Over Sakhalin.
December 13, 2006... Royal Dutch Shell's future in Russia was looking bleak this week after it caved in to pressure to hand Gazprom a controlling stake in the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project and lawyers acting for the state's environmental watchdog said they would...

Sliding Back: Gazprom Atlantic LNG Plans Slip Back On Shtokman.
December 13, 2006... Gazprom may be getting its way at Sakhalin-2, but its Atlantic LNG ambitions look to be in tatters. Development of Russia's proposed Baltic LNG plant is likely to be delayed beyond 2010, potentially putting the project in jeopardy, as confusion...

Peter The Great: How To Get On In The Russian Oil And Gas Business.
December 13, 2006... To get ahead in the Russian oil and gas industry these days, it certainly helps to have a similar resume as President Vladimir Putin, a former KGB officer stationed in Dresden who returned to his native St. Petersburg in the early 1990s to...

Dead Duck: Moscow Again Pushes Rebco To No Avail.(Russian Export Blend Crude Oil)
December 13, 2006... The Russian government has again thrown its support behind the new Rebco (Russian Export Blend Crude Oil) futures contract, but again failed to win support from local oil companies. In a recent meeting reportedly lasting into the early...

Something For Nothing: Railways Monopoly Eyes Free Stake In Novorossiysk.
December 13, 2006... Russia's state-owned railways monopoly has set its sights on a 25% stake in the country's flagship Black Sea port of Novorossiysk in what observers believe is another attempt by Moscow to further consolidate control over the country's energy...

Slow Going: Russia Postpones East Siberia Gas Plan.
December 13, 2006... Russia looks set to again postpone the announcement of its long-term plan to develop the country's vast East Siberian gas reserves, in part because of the continuing lack of clarity surrounding the future of the Royal Dutch Shell-led Sakhalin-2...

Break Point: Moscow To Hit Belarus With Crude Export Tax.
December 13, 2006... In a further sign of Moscow's growing displeasure with Belarus, the government has decided to begin charging Russia's onerous export duties on crude deliveries to the neighboring country, breaking the special economic alliance between the...

Frozen Turf: Sintez Risks Losing Offshore Licenses.(Sintez Group )
December 13, 2006... Even as Russian interest in the Arctic Sea shelf begins to pick up, with a raft of joint ventures recently being signed by Russian majors, Sintez Group is in danger of being on the way out of the largely unexplored offshore region because of...

Kazakhstan: Vitol Affiliate Acquires New Block.(Arawak Energy)(Brief article)
December 13, 2006... Toronto-listed Arawak Energy, whose largest shareholder is Swiss trader Vitol, has acquired the East Zharkamys III exploration block in the Aktyubinsk oblast of western Kazakhstan. Arawak, based in Anguilla, British West Indies, bought...

Azerbaijan: Turkey Agrees To Share Azeri Gas.(Brief article)
December 13, 2006... Turkey has agreed to share part of its contracted gas volumes from the BP-operated Shah Deniz field with Azerbaijan and neighboring Georgia, which will help the former Soviet republics make up for shortfalls from Russia. The issue was on the...

Kazakhstan: Lukoil Sets Date For Tyub Karagan Drilling.
December 13, 2006... Russia's Lukoil is conducting further exploration and seismic on the offshore Caspian Sea Tyub Karagan Block -- where 2005 exploratory drilling failed to reveal commercial quantities of hydrocarbons -- with the intention of conducting further...

Uzbekistan: Gazprom Agrees Basic PSA Terms, New Gas Price.
December 13, 2006... Russian gas giant Gazprom said it has agreed on the basic economic and technical terms of a production sharing agreement (PSA) with the Uzbek government and state Uzbekneftegas for the development of gas fields in the Ustyurt region of...

Retail Therapy: Lukoil Agrees To Buy European Retail Chain.
December 13, 2006... Russian Lukoil announced this week that it had agreed to buy a chain of European filling stations from its strategic partner, US major ConocoPhillips. Lukoil will acquire Conoco's Jet network, which consists of 376 retail stations,...

Foiled: Prosperity's Bid To Block Lukoil Merger Falls Short.
December 13, 2006... Russian investment fund Prosperity Capital's bid to block Russia's No. 1 producer Lukoil from allegedly diluting minority shareholders' stakes in its West Siberian subsidiary Ritek looks in doubt as Prosperity failed to muster sufficient votes...

Equities and Currencies.
December 13, 2006... aShare Prices Closing On December 12, 2006

Crude Oil: Futures Dip Ahead Of Opec Meeting.
December 13, 2006... January Brent futures traded a $3 range between a Dec. 8 high of $63.65 and a Dec. 12 low of $60.65 with prices declining steadily each day as some Opec ministers appeared to indicate that a decision at their Dec. 14 meeting in Nigeria to cut...

Products: Gas Oil Tracks Futures Downwards.(Brief article)
December 13, 2006... European gas oil prices slid through midweek, tracking crude futures, which moved downward despite jitters over an upcoming Opec meeting and reports of a small dip in global stockpiles. Fuel oil prices remain steady despite mild weather leading...

Hangover: Russian Oil Exports Left Hanging In The Air Over Political Wrangling.
December 20, 2006... Russian crude oil exporters could suffer a lot of headaches next year because of Moscow's policy of shutting off the taps to neighboring countries over political wrangling. Having lost the opportunity to export more than 300,000 barrels per day...

Season Of Illwill: Gas Users Scramble To Avert New Year Crisis.
December 20, 2006... Last-minute maneuverings are under way to avoid a repeat of Russia's New Year bust-ups with neighboring gas consumers, with Belarus high on the hit list and Azerbaijan and Georgia scrabbling around to cover their shortfalls. The harsh reality...

Secret Of Success: TNK-BP Knows How To Succeed In Russia.
December 20, 2006... Once Gazprom joins the Royal Dutch Shell-led Sakhalin-2 project on the Russian Pacific shelf as a major shareholder, TNK-BP will be the only company in which foreign interests own a 50% stake equal to the holding of its Russian partner. The...

Direct Action: Gazprom Muscles Into French Market.
December 20, 2006... Russia's Gazprom has made another step in securing access to consumers in Europe, signing a new contract with Gaz de France. Starting October 2007, Gazprom will gain rights to supply up to 1.5 Bcm/yr of gas directly to end-users in France....

Seven-Year Hitch: Duma Revives Issue Of Private Pipeline Ownership.
December 20, 2006... After a seven-year hiatus, the energy committee of the Russian State Duma, the lower house of parliament, has revived proposed amendments to the draft law on trunk pipelines that would allow for private ownership in Russia's pipeline system, as...

Real Deal: Gazprom, Shell Sketch Out Sakhalin-2 Agreement.
December 20, 2006... An agreement on Russian Gazprom's entry to the Royal Dutch Shell-led Sakhalin-2 project on the Russian Pacific shelf should be reached by the end of this week, according to sources in the Russian Industry and Energy Ministry. This week's...

Asian Invasion: Rosneft Sets Out Asian Vision.
December 20, 2006... Rosneft is working on a strategy to penetrate the Asian downstream market, the company's President Sergei Bogdanchikov said this week. He said the Russian major is considering several options, including the acquisition of refining...

Up And Away: Oil Production To Rise 2.2% In Q1 2007.
December 20, 2006... The Russian Ministry of Energy and Industry has forecasted crude production of 9.7 million b/d (119 million metric tons) for the first quarter of 2007, a number that would represent a 2.2% increase against the same period in 2006 when harsh...

Blue Fuel: Gas Exchange Works Prices Higher.
December 20, 2006... The Russian independent gas exchange held its second trading session on Dec. 15 as it continued to trade volumes at prices above those set for Russian domestic markets. Russian gas companies traded around 400,000 cubic meters of gas during...

Lithuania: PKN Orlen Seals Deal For Mazeikiu Nafta.
December 20, 2006... Poland's PKN Orlen has completed the purchase of Lithuanian refinery Mazeikiu Nafta (MN) as planned, despite lingering concerns that the lack of a Russian investor will doom the Baltic refiner. PKN Chief Executive Igor Chalupec said the...

Kazakhstan: Share Jump Could Hold Clue To Karazhanbas Sale.(Brief article)
December 20, 2006... A 3.9% jump in the share price of Kazmunaigas Exploration & Production has sparked speculation that the government is planning to launch a bid to take over oil producer Karazhanbasmunai. Trading sources say that state-owned Kazmunaigas is...

Bulgaria: Gazprom Agrees New Transit Terms.(OAO Gazprom)(Brief article)
December 20, 2006... Gazprom has negotiated a new gas supply deal with Bulgaria, an important transit hub for Russian gas supplies to Greece, Turkey and Macedonia. The contract signed with Bulgargas stipulates new terms for Russian transit supplies of 17.8 Bcm...

Vietnam Coup: Zarubezhneft Gets New Muscle From Vietnam JV.
December 20, 2006... Zarubezhneft, the Russian overseas operator headed by a cohort of President Vladimir Putin, has been given a boost through a newly defined role in Vietnam. The Russian government has approved a decision to transfer its stake in...

Pied Piper: Transneft Rolls Out Profit Increase.(Brief article)
December 20, 2006... Russian crude pipeline operator Transneft forecasts a slight decrease in its 2006 net profit to 55.2 billion rubles ($2.09 billion) from 56.56 billion rubles in 2005, under consolidated accounts prepared according to Russian accounting...

Equities and Currencies.
December 20, 2006... Share Prices Closing On December 19, 2006

Crude Oil: Up The Hill And Down Again.
December 20, 2006... January Brent futures traded a $2.16 range between a Dec. 14 low of $61.43 and a Dec. 20 high of $63.59. The initial recovery was sparked by Opec's decision to cut production by an additional 500,000 b/d, albeit only from Feb. 1, 2007. However,...

Products: High Supply Runs Into Low Demand.(crude oil )(Brief article)
December 20, 2006... Middle distillates had a mixed week being tugged in different directions by exceptionally mild winter weather across Europe and crude oil futures prices which by Dec. 20 looked to have recovered to last week's position after the Opec production...

Firing Line: After Gazprom Takes Control Of Sakhalin-2, Who Is Next?
December 25, 2006... Any doubts that the assault on the Royal Dutch Shell-led giant Sakhalin-2 project on the Russian Pacific shelf was organized from the very top should have been brushed aside when President Vladimir Putin personally blessed the deal of Gazprom's...

Chosen One: Former Dentist Emerges As Turkmen Frontrunner.
December 25, 2006... A struggle for power has started in Turkmenistan following the sudden death of President Saparmurad Niyazov, and already one frontrunner appears to be emerging from inside the existing hierarchy. Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, a deputy prime...

Fired Up: Russian Power Needs Massive Investment.
December 25, 2006... Investors looking to grab a slice of Russia's power industry will have plenty of opportunities over the coming year, as the sector's reform process enters a decisive phase (NC Sep.21,p6). Following the successful sale at the start of...

Eleventh Hour: Gazprom Warns Belarus Over Gas Cuts.
December 25, 2006... Russia and Belarus appear to have failed in a fresh attempt to iron out the terms of a cooperation agreement covering oil and gas, following a meeting in Moscow this week between Gazprom Chief Executive Alexei Miller and Belarusian Deputy Prime...

Taxman Cometh: Tax Service Sues PwC Over Yukos Audit.
December 25, 2006... Russia's Federal Tax Service has served international accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) with a lawsuit claiming it helped bankrupt oil company Yukos to evade taxes in 2002. The suit, to be heard in Russian courts, could result in the...

Asian Expansion: Rosneft Aims To Increase Crude Supplies To China.
December 25, 2006... To advance its planned expansion into Asia, Rosneft intends to boost its crude supplies to China and is holding talks on a deal to supply up to 60,000 b/d for China's Sinopec via Mongolia. The contract would materialize only if Russian...

Up And Down: Production Edges Up While Exports Slip.
December 25, 2006... Russian crude oil exports fell in November against October while overall Russian crude production again edged higher as steep export taxes and a drop in global crude prices kept more crude inside Russia (NC Nov.2,p7). Overall Russian...

Calm Down: Kalmykia To Send Crude Via CPC.
December 25, 2006... Rosneft, which handles the Russian Federation's quota for space in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) line, has agreed to allow the Russian autonomous republic of Kalmykia to ship up to 300,000 metric tons (6,000 b/d) of crude via CPC next...

Third Train: Gazprom May Boost Sakhalin-2 LNG Capacity.
December 25, 2006... Russian gas giant Gazprom's entry into the Royal Dutch Shell-led Sakhalin-2 Pacific offshore project may result in increasing the scope of the project's LNG ambitions. Sakhalin-2 shareholders and Gazprom will enter into an agreement to...

Colombian Strike: Lukoil Finds Oil In Colombia, Sells Caspian Rig.
December 25, 2006... Lukoil has successfully completed drilling a deep exploration well at the Condor Block in Colombia where it has made a commercial discovery of more than 50 million bbl of crude. Lukoil's international arm Lukoil Overseas is in charge of the...

Winners: Russians Dominate Tough Bid Round in Libya.
December 25, 2006... Tatneft and Gazprom emerged as the big winners in Libya's third Epsa-4 bidding round last week with a significant share of the licenses, according to results announced by state National Oil Corp. (NOC). Tatneft picked up three license...

Second Shot: Abramovich Tries Again To Quit Chukotka.
December 25, 2006... Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, the former owner of Sibneft (now Gazprom Neft), has again attempted to hand in his resignation as governor of Russia's Far East region of Chukotka. Abramovich is reported as saying that he had...

Russia's Oil Products Balance, November 2006.
December 25, 2006... Russia's Oil Products Balance, November 2006

Russia's Crude Distribution, November 2006.
December 25, 2006... Russia's Crude Distribution, November 2006

Russian Crude Oil And Condensate Production/Exports, November 2006.
December 25, 2006... Russian Crude Oil And Condensate Production/Exports, November 2006

Caucasus: Georgia Signs For Russian Gas, Azeris Hold Back.
December 25, 2006... Azeri state oil company Socar is negotiating with Iran for the delivery of 1.8 Bcm of gas for 2007 at a yet to be named price, after Russian gas giant Gazprom more than doubled the price of supplies and Azerbaijan's own supplies have been...

Georgia: Kazakhs Establish Presence In Batumi.
December 25, 2006... Kazakh state oil and gas company Kazmunaigas has become a 50% shareholder in the Batumi oil terminal on the Georgian Black Sea, signaling Kazakhstan's eagerness to consolidate multiple export routes for its rising crude oil production. The...

American Beauty: Mystery Mol Acquisition Target Revealed.
December 25, 2006... The mystery Russian oil company that Hungarian Mol had announced it was in the process of buying has turned out to be an American-owned company -- Baitex -- which operates in Russia's Orenburg region (NC Dec.7,p9). Mol had reported that it...

Czech Republic: RWE And Gazprom Beef Up Gas Contract.
December 25, 2006... Germany's RWE has announced the extension of a gas supply contract with Russia's Gazprom providing natural gas volumes to the Czech Republic while also explaining measures toward diversifying its supplies away from Russia. RWE has extended...

Giant Leap: Gazprom Posts Strong Results.
December 25, 2006... Russian gas giant Gazprom said that its net profit more than doubled in the first half of 2006 on the back of stronger international and domestic gas prices. The state-controlled company reported a net profit of 332.24 billion rubles...

Bosnian Buy: Zarubezhneft To Acquire Serbian Refineries.
December 25, 2006... The Serbian parliament has given the green light to the sale of majority stakes in Bosnia's oil refinery Nafte Bosanski Brod, motor oil refinery Rafinerija Ulja Modrica and fuel retailer Petrol to the Russian state-owned oil firm Zarubezhneft,...

Equities and Currencies.
December 25, 2006... Share Prices Closing On Dec. 26, 2006

Crude Oil: Futures Prices End The Year On A Level Note.
December 25, 2006... Futures prices look like ending the year pretty much where they started, at around $61 for February Brent. However, between the beginning of January and early August the front-month contract managed to climb an astonishing $17, or 28%,...

Products: Mild Winter Dents Demand.(Brief article)
December 25, 2006... The Christmas holidays brought weakness to the European middle distillate market across the board from mild weather and ample supplies. Gas oil in Northwest Europe and the Mediterranean recovered slightly from a sharp slide on Dec. 26....