NEFTE Compass articles from December 2008

NEFTE Compass archives from December 2008

Lukoil Gets Financing In Place For Repsol Buy.
December 3, 2008... Lukoil has been busy getting its financing into place for the purchase of a stake in Repsol YPF and could make an announcement on the deal by the end of this month or even next week. Although banks this week gave the Spanish major's...

Caspian Summit Rekindles European Gas Hopes.
December 3, 2008... The first summit between Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Turkey last weekend kept alive Western hopes for a trans-Caspian pipeline to supply gas to Europe. And it seems that the European Union may be gearing up to take a more proactive stance...

Russia Boosts Flows After Slow November.
December 3, 2008... Moscow is opening up the taps in December with a scheduled boost in seaborne crude oil exports of 98,000 b/d from November, when Russia's stinging export duties drove oil firms to cut flows significantly below their scheduled levels. Russian...

Russian Production Extends Decline.
December 3, 2008... Russia's crude oil and condensate production continued its decline in November, falling to 9.82 million b/d, down 0.3% from November 2007 and 0.4% from just the previous month, according to preliminary data from the energy ministry. ...

TNK-BP To Cut Downstream Spending.
December 3, 2008... TNK-BP will cut its investments next year in commercial and development projects in the downstream sector because of drooping oil prices and the global economic crisis, according to the Russian-UK joint venture's acting vice president for...

BPS-2 Pushes Ahead With Government Approval.(baltic Pipeline System)(Brief article)
December 3, 2008... National pipeline operator Transneft has won government approval for its plan to construct the Baltic Pipeline System-2 (BPS-2) from the Belarusian border to Russia's new Baltic port of Ust-Luga. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed a...

TNK-BP Cuts Staff As Management Shuffled.
December 3, 2008... TNK-BP will face the mounting economic crisis with a substantially reconstructed staff, as the company is preparing to fire 390 people from its central office and has already frozen hiring for around 200 vacant positions. The cuts, which will...

Ukraine's Gas Debt Repayment Falls Short.
December 3, 2008... Ukraine has begun to repay what it owes for Russian natural gas supplies. But Russian gas monopoly Gazprom has said the sum paid is less than previously agreed, despite strong warnings from Russia that further delays could derail...

CPC Shareholders Agree On Expansion Without BP.
December 3, 2008... BP has accelerated its withdrawal from Kazakhstan, saying it wants "complete and unrestricted rights" to sell its stake in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) pipeline, which runs from the giant Tengiz oil field in Kazakhstan to the Russian...

Gazprom Inks Deal With Schlumberger.
December 3, 2008... Gazprom and global oil-field services giant Schlumberger signed a framework agreement last week to further develop technological cooperation. The accord, signed by Gazprom Chief Executive Alexei Miller and Schlumberger head Andrew Gould,...

North Korea Stalls Russian Pipeline.
December 3, 2008... North Korea may stall the construction of a gas pipeline running from Vladivostok in Russia to South Korea, solidifying fears that the fate of the politically risky scheme is still in the air despite its approval by both Russia and South Korea....

Chinese Pounce On Kazakh Producer.
December 3, 2008... China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) is set to expand its upstream presence in Kazakhstan by acquiring a 49% stake in Mangistaumunaigas (MMG), the 100,000 b/d onshore producer that until recently was controlled by Rakhat Aliyev, the exiled...

Zarubezhneft Restarts Balkan Refinery.
December 3, 2008... Bosnia's sole oil refinery, Bosanski Brod, resumed production last week, following its reconstruction and modernization by its new owner, Russian state oil firm Zarubezhneft. The company has modernized the plant's first production line,...

Azerbaijan To Take Over BTC Pipeline In 20 Years.
December 3, 2008... Azerbaijan is aiming to take control of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) crude oil pipeline in the next 20 years, a senior Azeri oil official tells Nefte Compass. Elshad Nassirov, vice president for foreign investment at Azerbaijan's state...

Iran Joins Talks Over Azeri Gas Sales.
December 3, 2008... Azeri state oil and gas company Socar is involved in detailed negotiations on the sale of gas from the BP-operated Shah Deniz field, where production is due to more than double from current levels of around 8 Bcm/yr by 2012-13. Elshad...

Kazakh Producer Wins License Extension.(Zhaikmunai)(Brief article)
December 3, 2008... London-listed Zhaikmunai has won a three-year extension to its exploration license for the Chinarevskoye field in Kazakhstan after proving up new reserves. The license, which has been extended before, will now run until May 26, 2011. In...

Gazprom To Finalize Serbian Purchase.
December 3, 2008... Serbia will finalize the sale of the controlling stake in state-owned refiner Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS) to Russia's Gazprom by the end of the year and will set up joint ventures to build infrastructure in 2009. Russia and Serbia last...

Exxon Takes The Plunge In The Black Sea.
December 3, 2008... US supermajor Exxon Mobil and Romania's Petrom have inked an agreement to explore the deepwater portion of the Neptun Block in the Black Sea off Romania. Petrom will operate an initial work program, including a 3-D seismic survey of the...

PKN Orlen Slashes Capex.
December 3, 2008... Polish refiner PKN Orlen will slash capital spending and sell assets as the credit crunch catches up with Central and Eastern European players. The company said in a strategy update for 2009-13 that capital spending will now average 2.5...

Rosneft Leans On State For Huge Loans.
December 3, 2008... Debt-laden Russian oil major Rosneft received almost $4.5 billion in short-term loans from state-controlled banks in October and November to help the company refinance its overwhelming foreign debt, the state-run oil firm said this week,...

Alliance Merger Pays Off For West Siberian.
December 3, 2008... Profits have surged almost sixfold at Russian independent West Siberian Resources (WSR) following its merger with Alliance Oil. Swedish-listed WSR said its net profit skyrocketed almost sixfold to $131.6 million in the third quarter of 2008...

Equities and Currencies.
December 3, 2008... Share Prices Closing On December 2, 2008

Prices Depressed By Inconclusive Opec.
December 3, 2008... Front-month ICE January Brent futures traded a $10.03 range during the eight-day reporting period, extended because of last week's early publishing date, between a $54.90 high on Nov. 28 and a $44.87 low on Dec. 3. Prices were depressed by an...

Gas Oil Facing Declining Demand.
December 3, 2008... Colder weather across Europe should support heating oil sales, except that with German and Swiss end-users already having filled their tanks, demand is trailing off. One result of this waning demand is that the ICE front-month traded below...

Azeri Oil Outage Persists As BP Fails To Plug The Leak.
December 10, 2008... A sharp drop in Azerbaijan's crude oil exports for January has raised fears that BP's struggle to resume full production from the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) field could turn into a long-term problem. Before a gas leak on Sep. 17 shut down...

TNK-BP Joins Chorus Of Concern Over Shipping.
December 10, 2008... With the ability to refine only 35% of its production in Russia -- the second-lowest among Russian majors, behind only Surgutneftegas -- TNK-BP has always been heavily dependent upon exports. While the company expects its exports to remain...

Gazprom Launches Massive Yamal Development.
December 10, 2008... Gazprom has announced the launch of a "megaproject" to develop the Bovanenkovo gas field on the Yamal Peninsula, spudding the first production well and beginning planning for a 1,100 km pipeline linking the field to Ukhta in the Komi republic....

ONGC-Imperial Deal Set To Proceed.(Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. to acquire Imperial Energy Corporation plc.)(Brief article)
December 10, 2008... The $2 billion acquisition of UK-listed Siberia specialist Imperial Energy by Indian Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) looks set to go through by year-end, despite some last minute wobbles. India's state-owned explorer asked the UK Takeover...

Gazprom Neft Outlines Expansion Plans.
December 10, 2008... Gazprom oil arm Gazprom Neft has cut its 2008 production forecasts for the second time in as many months and outlined plans for attracting foreign partners on upstream developments to help the company keep its long-term aspirations on track....

Lukoil Expands In Argentina.
December 10, 2008... Lukoil has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Argentina's state-controlled Energia Argentina (Enarsa) and private downstream group Pobater, expanding the Russian producer's position in Latin America in a deal widely seen as...

Sakhalin-2 To Resume Crude Exports.
December 10, 2008... The Gazprom-controlled Sakhalin-2 project on Russia's Pacific shelf is to resume oil exports on Dec. 12 after a break of nearly six weeks. The consortium, which also includes Royal Dutch Shell (27.5%) and Japan's Mitsui (12.5%) and...

Moscow Mulls Delay In Quality Standards Hike.(Brief article)
December 10, 2008... Moscow is likely to postpone a planned tightening of quality standards for refined products to bring Russia closer to European standards, reversing plans to stop producing Euro-2 standard gasoline from January 2009. The energy ministry has...

Shtokman Seeks Tax Breaks.
December 10, 2008... The Shtokman Development Co. (SDC) in charge of developing the giant Shtokman field in the Barents Sea has appealed to Russian lawmakers for tax breaks as a precondition for investment. At a roundtable in the Russian state Duma, or lower...

Putin Takes Responsibility For High Domestic Prices.
December 10, 2008... Prime Minister Vladimir Putin admitted last week that high domestic gasoline prices are the result of state policy, but promised they will drop as the government eases oil companies' tax burden. It is the first time Moscow has blamed itself for...

Gas Flaring Requirements Delayed.(Brief article)
December 10, 2008... The Russian ministries of natural resources and energy have agreed to postpone the deadline for increasing use of associated gas to over 95% by two years until 2014, Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev said last week. He added that the...

Gazprom Inks Netherlands Storage Deal.
December 10, 2008... In a further sign of cooperation between state-owned energy players, Gazprom last week signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. (Taqa) over development of the Bergermeer gas storage facility in the...

Sibir Rocked By Real Estate Revelations.
December 10, 2008... In a move that could further undermine investor confidence in Russia, London-listed independent Sibir Energy is set to bail out its major Russian shareholder, Shalva Chigirinsky, by buying the businessman's property holdings in Russia for some...

New Hurdles Loom For Russneft Buyout.
December 10, 2008... Aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska could face new hurdles as he tries to complete the purchase of independent producer Russneft, even though major legal obstacles have been removed and Russian officials have hinted that they may approve the deal....

BG Seeks To Expand In Kazakhstan.
December 10, 2008... With one eye on Caspian Sea acreage, BG has signed a potentially far-reaching agreement to cooperate with two Kazakh national companies on identifying upstream opportunities in Kazakhstan and overseas. The deal with state oil and gas giant...

Kazakh Producer Buckles Under Heavy Taxes.
December 10, 2008... Highlighting the growing problems facing oil producers in Kazakhstan, UK-based independent Arawak Energy has announced that it has cut output because of heavy taxation and falling prices. The company, which is the subject of a takeover bid...

Russian Trader Forms Kazakh Upstream Alliance.(Tethys Energy Inc. signed a deal with Inter RAO UES)(Brief article)
December 10, 2008... Toronto-listed independent Tethys Petroleum has signed an agreement to cooperate with Russian energy company Inter RAO UES in Kazakhstan and other parts of Central Asia. The agreement covers the sale of Tethys gas to Inter RAO UES and...

PKN Orlen Seeks Yukos Money For Mazeikiu.
December 10, 2008... Polish refiner PKN Orlen revealed last week that it is seeking $250 million from the international arm of now-defunct Russian oil major Yukos for the damage caused to the Mazeikiu Nafta (MN) refinery in Lithuania after the Polish company agreed...

Gazprom Plans Record Spending In 2009.
December 10, 2008... Gazprom's investments in 2009 will total a record-high 920.44 billion rubles ($32.77 billion), according to a draft spending program approved by the executive board last week. The state gas giant said capital expenditure will total almost...

Russian Firms Seek Bigger Tax Breaks.
December 10, 2008... Russian oil companies have presented the government with a stark choice: offer more tax breaks or see output plummet over the next few years. With lower oil prices already forcing Russian firms to export at a loss, the country's top...

Equities and Currencies.
December 10, 2008... Share Prices Closing On December 9, 2008

Futures Dragged Down By Bad News.
December 10, 2008... Crude oil futures have plunged to four-year lows this week, buffeted by bad economic news. Front-month ICE January Brent futures traded a $6.33/bbl range, peaking at $45.68/bbl on Dec. 4 before toppling to $39.35/bbl the next day as US...

Gas Oil Slips Lower As Support Fades.(Brief article)
December 10, 2008... The ICE gas oil crack hit its lowest level in more than two years on Dec. 10, as any support for heating oil has slid away. Gas oil refining margins are at their lowest level since February, at less than $16/bbl, compared with a high of around...

Russia Keeps Its Options Open Over Opec.
December 16, 2008... Contradictory statements by Russian officials about Russia's intentions of cooperating with Opec are not only confusing the markets but also suggest that Moscow is again playing a game with the producer group. Only last week, Russian...

Caspian Pipeline Expansion Agreed As Russia Sees The Light.
December 16, 2008... After six years of heated discussions, shareholders of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) on Dec. 17 signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the expansion of the crude oil pipeline, which runs from the giant Tengiz oil field in...

Nord Stream To Sound Out Financiers.
December 16, 2008... The Gazprom-led Nord Stream pipeline project expects to advance early in 2009 on the launch of a formal "market sounding" of potential financiers, after more than two years of informal talks with more than 20 banks. "We have an excellent...

Rosneft Still In Talks Over Chinese Loan.
December 16, 2008... State-controlled Rosneft is still in the talks with China on a $15 billion loan secured by long-term crude supplies that should be finalized by March 2009, according to the memorandum of understanding signed by the sides earlier this year. "The...

Rosneft Remains Optimistic For 2009.
December 16, 2008... Despite plummeting oil prices, Rosneft remains optimistic about its 2009 outlook and expects to have suitable access to new funding to help it continue expanding production. Although the board of directors must still approve Rosneft's 2009...

TNK-BP Approves Slimmer Investment Plan.
December 16, 2008... TNK-BP has become the latest Russian major to slash its capital spending plans for 2009 amid crashing oil prices. Meeting in Paris, the board agreed to cut planned expenditure for 2009 to $3.3 billion, 27% below the expected level. Despite...

Lukoil-Repsol Purchase Talks Stalled.
December 16, 2008... Lukoil's negotiations on the purchase of a stake in Spain's Repsol YPF have stalled because the sides cannot agree on a sale price, sources claim, adding that no progress is expected before the middle of January. Lukoil's president, Vagit...

Refinery Supplies Dip In October.
December 16, 2008... Despite the often bruising losses from exports, crude deliveries to Russian refineries via the Transneft pipeline system in October fell a modest 0.6% from the previous month to 18.241 million tons (4.313 million b/d), although the level is...

Urals Energy Lands Under Buyout Spotlight.(Imperial Energy)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... Russian independent producer Urals Energy may become the latest London-listed firm to be sold to a foreign company, as China's Sinopec is reportedly in talks with Urals shareholders about buying the firm for $133 million, or more than five...

Sibir Mulls Sale Of Some Oil Assets.(Sibir Energy )(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... UK-listed independent Sibir Energy is reportedly in talks to sell its blocking stake in a chain of BP-branded filling stations in Moscow, even as it looks to buy similar assets to bail out top Sibir shareholder Shalva Chigirinsky. Sibir...

Algerian Win Boosts Gazprom Expansion.
December 16, 2008... Gazprom has emerged victorious from the latest licensing round in Algeria, giving the Russian natural gas giant another foothold in Africa and furthering its global expansion plans. Gazprom became the first Russian major to receive licenses...

Gazprom Rethinks Kovykta Deal.
December 16, 2008... Gazprom reportedly could cut its offer for TNK-BP's controlling stake in the giant Kovykta gas and condensate field in East Siberia because of the global financial crisis and falling energy prices. The license to the 3 Tcm Kovykta field is...

Tatneft Postpones Kalmykia Plans.
December 16, 2008... A request from Russian regional producer Tatneft to be allowed to delay some of its license obligations will test Russian officials' claims that they are willing to let firms revise development plans to help them weather the global financial...

Azeri input for Opec lead.
December 16, 2008... Azerbaijan, which was attending an Opec meeting for the first time as an observer but has ruled out joining as a member, said it may cut its oil production to support the organization. Oil Minister Natik Aliyev was quoted as saying that...

Tengiz Fall Wipes Out Kazakh Gas Increase.(Tengizchevroil)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... Kazakh natural gas production dipped 3.6% to 2.54 Bcm in November from the previous month as a major increase in output at the Karachaganak field operated jointly by BG and Eni was canceled out by a huge fall at Chevron-operated Tengizchevroil...

Gazprom Wrings Concessions From Ukraine.
December 16, 2008... Russia may limit gas price increases to Ukraine in 2009 if Kiev allows Gazprom to boost direct gas sales. The Ukrainian media reported this week that discussions in Moscow focus on letting the Russian state gas giant supply Ukrainian industrial...

Eni Seeks End To Turkmen Visa Ban.(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... In a sign that Turkmenistan could soon lift a visa ban on employees of Eni that has been in place for almost a year, a high-level delegation from the Italian oil major led by Chief Executive Paolo Scaroni was due to visit the Central Asian...

Azerbaijan Eyes More Free Gas From BP Field.
December 16, 2008... Azerbaijan is proposing to increase its intake of associated gas from BP's offshore Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) field, where oil production has been curtailed since a gas leak detected on Sep.17 shut down one of five platforms (NC Dec.11,p1)....

Belarus Halts Fuel Oil Exports.
December 16, 2008... Belarus has banned firms from exporting fuel oil produced at its two major refineries for fear Minsk will be unable to afford Russian gas next year. Oil firms processing crude at the Mozyr and Naftan refineries are being forced to sell...

Lithuania Approves Refinery Sale.
December 16, 2008... The Lithuanian government has approved the sale of the state's remaining 10% stake in the Mazeikiu Nafta refinery to Poland's PKN Orlen and hopes to begin negotiations on the deal immediately. The sale, which will raise nearly $285 million...

Kazakhstan Invited To Join Gas Club.
December 16, 2008... Russian has invited Kazakhstan to join a club of gas exporting countries by participating in the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) ministerial conference in Moscow scheduled for Dec. 23. "We would be glad to see you among the...

Lukoil Records Best-Ever Results.
December 16, 2008... In what Lukoil has called its "best-ever financial results," Russia's biggest private major posted a net profit of $10.765 billion in the first nine months of 2009, a 70.9% jump from 2007. Sales revenues grew 56.3% to $89.265 billion. ...

Gazprom Neft Profts Fall Short.
December 16, 2008... Gazprom oil arm Gazprom Neft disappointed investors this week when it revealed that profits rose to $1.59 billion in the third quarter of the year from $957 million in July-September 2007, nearly $100 million below reported consensus forecasts....

Equities and Currencies.
December 16, 2008... Share Prices Closing On December 16, 2008

Opec Cuts Fail To Excite.
December 16, 2008... Crude oil futures bounced as the market held its breath to see how deep the expected Opec cuts would go, but a record 2.2 million b/d cut did not cause much of a surge. The market had expected a reduction of 2 million b/d, so this news was...

Strikes Lend Support To Futures.
December 16, 2008... Gas oil has gained some support this week from industrial unrest in France. Port authority employees at the Fos-Lavera oil terminal in southern France were on strike for 12 days, only to be joined by refinery workers at some of Total's French...

Gas Exporters Organization Moves Forward.
December 23, 2008... Gas consumers from around the globe kept a close eye on proceedings Tuesday when ministers from the world's top gas-exporting countries met in Moscow to found a formal gas producers' group, with its own charter and headquarters in Doha, the...

Russneft's Fate Still In The Air, Restructuring Looms.
December 23, 2008... The fate of one of Russia's largest independent oil producers, Russneft, is still in the air: While international commodity trader Glencore and aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska are developing a new scheme for Russneft's ownership, the company is...

Gazprom Braces For Leaner Times In Crisis.
December 23, 2008... For years, questions have abounded about Russian state Gazprom's ability to meet an anticipated surge in European gas demand. Cue the global financial crisis, and the tables have turned nearly completely, with concern for at least the immediate...

Transportation Tariffs Poised To Rise.
December 23, 2008... Russian oil pipeline monopoly Transneft and rail monopoly Russian Railways are seeking significant tariff increases to help finance their massive infrastructure developments. Transneft requested that the Federal Tariffs Service approve a...

Ministry Forecasts Modest Oil Decline Next Year.(Brief article)
December 23, 2008... Russia's economic development ministry has forecast that crude oil exports will fall by 170,000 b/d in 2009, suggesting that there is little consensus over recent pledges that Russia could support Opec's production cut by reducing oil supplies...

Sibir Postpones Property Purchase.
December 23, 2008... UK-listed Sibir Energy has postponed the planned purchase of properties from top shareholder Shalva Chigirinsky after it said its "major Russian shareholders" needed more time to consider whether to put forward the resolutions on the purchases....

Russian Minnows Threaten Production Freeze.(Brief article)
December 23, 2008... Russia's small oil producers are threatening to cut or even halt output unless they get more government help. Assoneft, a body representing about 40 of Russia's independent producers, intends to ask the finance ministry and tax officials to let...

Lukoil Approves Pessimistic Investment Plan.
December 23, 2008... Lukoil's executive board meeting has approved the company's investment plan for the first quarter of 2009 based on an average oil price of $50/bbl, the most pessimistic of three alternative investment scenarios that the company set out. ...

GDF Suez Eyes Nord Stream Participation.
December 23, 2008... Russian state Gazprom may invite France's GDF Suez to join the Nord Stream pipeline, planned to pump Russian gas under the Baltic Sea to Germany. The possibility was discussed Dec. 22 at a meeting between Gazprom Chief Executive Alexei Miller...

Lukoil, Rosneft Face Big Fines.
December 23, 2008... Russia's two biggest oil producers, state-controlled Rosneft and private producer Lukoil, are facing heavy fines after being found guilty of abusing their dominant market position by setting artificially high products prices. Preliminary fines...

TNK-BP Selects Completely New Board.
December 23, 2008... TNK-BP has nearly completed a major corporate overhaul, after the company's shareholders appointed a completely new board of directors and approved significant amendments to the company charter. But the Russian-UK venture has yet to name a new...