NEFTE Compass articles from February 2007

NEFTE Compass archives from February 2007

Russia To Raise Products Exports, Cut Crude Sales.
February 7, 2007... Russia's oil export structure could change significantly in the next eight years after President Vladimir Putin called this week for a reduction in the country's dependence on raw material exports and for companies to produce more value added...

Defiant Ukraine Could Undermine Warmer Russian Ties.
February 7, 2007... Ukraine's former Orange Revolution allies roared back with a vengeance this week, promptly snuffing out alleged discussions over ceding partial control of the country's natural gas pipeline network to Gazprom. While the move poses no immediate...

Independents To Grow Amid Political Maneuvering.
February 7, 2007... The start of 2007 has seen smaller, publicly traded independent crude players making strides in developing Russian production. But their further expansion will rely on careful political maneuvering and the purchase of reserves, given that...

Russia's Support Critical For Gas-Opec Proposal.(Industry overview)
February 7, 2007... Iran's bold plan for forming a "gas Opec" with Russia and other key exporters, broached last week by the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has gained some momentum since, but it still appears to lack firm traction among a number...

Russian Crude Production Rises 4% On Sakhalin Inputs.
February 7, 2007... Russian crude production rose 4.3% to 9.848 million b/d (41.649 million metric tons) in January, compared with a year ago, according to preliminary data from Russia's Industry and Energy Ministry. Output in January was already slightly...

Belarus Bypass To Be Built In 18 Months.
February 7, 2007... A new oil pipeline to the Russian Baltic Sea port of Primorsk from the Druzhba pipeline on its side of the border with Belarus will be built in 18 months, Sergei Grigoryev, vice president of Russia's national pipeline operator Transneft, told...

Belarus Hikes Oil Transportation Tariff.
February 7, 2007... Belarus has decided to hike pipeline transportation fees for Russian crude crossing its territory by more than 30% from Feb. 15, raising the stakes in its energy dispute with Russia. Following a decision by the Belarus Economy Ministry, the...

State Brings New Charges Against Yukos Founders.
February 7, 2007... The Russian general prosecutors' office in the East Siberian city of Chita has brought new charges against Mikhail Korodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev, founders of bankrupt Russian oil company Yukos, accusing them of laundering over $20 billion in...

Sakhalin-2 Contractor Gets Licenses Back.
February 7, 2007... Russia's Natural Resources Ministry has reportedly reinstated the licenses of Starstroi, the contractor that was the main focus of Moscow's environmental pressure on the Sakhalin-2 project, which was formerly led by Royal Dutch Shell. ...

Gazprom Eyes Dutch Expansion.
February 7, 2007... State gas giant Gazprom is reportedly looking to cooperate with Dutch state gas grid operator Gasunie on the creation of underground gas storage facilities in the Netherlands in a bid to optimize the Russian company's gas supplies to Europe....

Danes Sign Second Russian Gas Swap.
February 7, 2007... Denmark's main gas group has signed its second long-term gas swap involving Russian gas. Danish state-run Dong this week signed a 13-year gas swap with Wingas, the 65-35 joint venture of Germany's BASF and Russian gas giant Gazprom,...

Baku Cuts Products Exports After Russian Gas Spat.(Brief article)
February 7, 2007... Azerbaijan's exports of oil products dropped sharply in January as the republic kept more fuel supplies at home to replace Russian gas that it had stopped buying after Moscow doubled the price. State oil company Socar said products exports fell...

Kazakhstan Weighs Ukraine Refining Options.
February 7, 2007... Kazakhstan is looking at stepping up its refining operations in Ukraine, following a recent visit to Ukraine by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Nazarbayev discussed plans with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko to build a 60,000...

Wintershall Eyes Abandoned Azeri Block.
February 7, 2007... Germany's Wintershall is to take a look at the offshore Ashrafi Block, nearly 10 years after it was abandoned by a consortium led by Amoco, which was later taken over by BP. The German company, a 100% subsidiary of BASF, said it had signed...

Soyuzneftegas Resolves Dispute With Uzbekistan.
February 7, 2007... Russia's Soyuzneftegas and the Uzbek government have ended a long-running dispute by signing a new production sharing agreement (PSA) for the exploration and development of oil and gas fields held by Soyuzneftegas subsidiary Uzpec, industry...

Gazprom Takes Control Of Uzbek Zeromax.
February 7, 2007... In a move to strengthen its position in Central Asia, Russia's gas giant Gazprom has reached an agreement to buy a controlling stake in the Uzbek oil and gas assets held by Swiss-registered Zeromax. Zeromax, which is reported to be...

Serbian Refiner Falls To Russian Buyer.
February 7, 2007... The Bosnian Serb government has sold a controlling interest in a motor oil refinery in Modrica to Russian state oil firm Zarubezhneft for C121.1 million ($157.7 million), according to Milorad Dodic, prime minister of the Bosnian Serb region in...

Japan Stays In Touch On Sakhalin Loans.
February 7, 2007... The state Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) is likely to continue with planned funding for Russia's troubled Sakhalin-2 project to ensure the LNG scheme takes off, according to a JBIC official. The European Bank for...

Equities and Currencies.
February 7, 2007... Share Prices Closing On February 6, 2007

Crude Oil -- High Stocks Balance Out Cold Weather.
February 7, 2007... Brent futures traded a $4.33 range between a $55.16 low on Jan. 31 and a $59.46 high on Feb. 7. Prices continued to be supported by increasingly cold weather both in the US Northeast -- where heating oil demand was supposed to increase by...

Products -- Cold Weather Heats Gas Oil.(Brief article)(Market overview)
February 7, 2007... International middle distillate product prices gained strength across the board over the past week as colder temperatures began playing a role supporting prices. An abundance of Russian gas oil has dampened prices in Northwest Europe,...

Lukoil Comes Up Trumps In Saudi Arabia.
February 14, 2007... Russia's Lukoil has beaten world majors Royal Dutch Shell and Total to become the first international oil and gas company to make a discovery in Saudi Arabia since the industry was nationalized in the kingdom nearly 30 years ago. In...

Kashagan Start-up Delayed To 2011-12.
February 14, 2007... First oil production from the supergiant Kashagan oil and gas field offshore Kazakhstan is likely to come on stream in 2011-12, at least two years later than the revised start-up date of end-2008 and more than six years after the original...

Transneft Puts Belarus Bypass On The Fast Track.
February 14, 2007... Russia's pipeline operator Transneft could build the 1 million b/d pipeline spur from the Belarus border to the Russian Baltic Sea port of Primorsk in less than 18 months -- much faster than previously expected, the company's president, Semyon...

Gazprom Profits Rise On Prices And Acquisitions.
February 14, 2007... Russian gas giant Gazprom rode higher gas prices and the inclusion into the books of oil subsidiary Gazprom Neft to post a 90% gain in net profits by International Accounting Standards (IAS) over the first nine months of 2006, according to a...

Belarus Agrees New Pipeline Tariffs For Russian Oil.
February 14, 2007... Russia's national pipeline operator Transneft has agreed to new transportation tariffs for Russian crude crossing Belarus on the way to world markets. "We believe that the new tarrifs through Belarus' territory are justified," Transneft...

Volgotanker Seeks To Relaunch After Long Freeze.
February 14, 2007... Europe's top inland shipper, Volgotanker, may be preparing to launch its operations in Russia in the forthcoming summer navigation season, after its huge fleet was unable to operate last year because of an account freeze by Russian officials....

Lukoil Takes Up Storage At Latvian Port.
February 14, 2007... Lukoil has arranged a one-year deal giving the top Russian oil producer sole access to the fuel oil storage units of Ventbunkers, which is engaged in oil products transshipments in the Latvian port of Ventspils, trading sources say. ...

Regulators Step Up Pressure On TNK-BP Field.
February 14, 2007... Russian regulators have given TNK-BP subsidiary Rusia Petroleum three months to fix violations at the Kovykta natural gas field or potentially face losing the licenses to the massive East Siberian field. A subsidiary of Russia's Natural...

Integra IPO Takes Shape.
February 14, 2007... Russian oil field services company Integra hopes to raise about $500 million through an initial public offering of 15% to 20% of its shares on the London Alternative Investment Market this month, according to sources close to the issue (NC...

High Margins Boost Refinery Crude Intake.
February 14, 2007... Russian oil companies increased crude deliveries to the country's refineries via the state Transneft pipeline system by 6.4% to 53.44 million metric tons (4.26 million b/d) in the fourth quarter of 2006, compared with the same period last year...

Moscow Refinery Faces Fresh Legal Battles.
February 14, 2007... The Moscow Oil and Gas Co. (MOGC)-led Moscow Refinery continues to operate as normal despite reports of a brief shutdown. However, its epic legal entanglements continue with a Moscow court now ruling that it must pay US-registered Joy Lud...

Ministry Decision Expected On Sakhalin-3 This Year.
February 14, 2007... The Russian Natural Resources Ministry could move on licensing the exploration and development of the remaining Sakhalin-3 block acreages this year, the governor of Sakhalin said this week. "I've asked [Russian Resources Minister Yuri]...

Sakhalin-2 Sells Out First Two LNG Trains.
February 14, 2007... Analysts speculate that Russia's Sakhalin-2 offshore Pacific project will look to expand its LNG capacity after a recent deal with Japanese utility Osaka Gas that effectively sold out the entire 9.6 million metric ton capacity of the project's...

India Signs Alliance With Gazprom.
February 14, 2007... India's state Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) -- the country's flagship producer -- has teamed up with Russian gas giant Gazprom in a wide-ranging cooperation agreement, according to statements by the two companies last week. The pact...

Russia Blames Kazakhs Over China Pipeline Failure.
February 14, 2007... Russia's national pipeline operator Transneft has blamed Kazakhstan for the failure to establish tariffs for Russian crude shipments to China via the Atasu-Alashankou pipeline. This is the main reason why a schedule for Russian crude supplies...

New Turkmen Leader Has Fires To Fight.(Gurbanguly Mukhammedov)
February 14, 2007... A fire still raging at a blowout on a new giant gas field in Turkmenistan sums up the huge size of the task facing the new leadership in Ashkhabad following the Feb. 11 election of Gurbanguly Mukhammedov as president. Industry sources say...

China Takes Control At Kazakh Producer.
February 14, 2007... Yang Zaiyan, a 48-year-old geologist, has been appointed as president of Karazhanbasmunai, following the Kazakh producer's takeover by China's Citic Group. He started his career with China National Petroleum Corp. before moving to...

Mol's Profits Fall Sharply.(MOL Rt)(Brief article)
February 14, 2007... Hungary's Mol said this week that its net profits fell to 24.5 billion forints ($121 million) in the final quarter of 2006, a drop of nearly 80% from the third quarter and down over 53% from 52.3 billion forints ($247 million) in the fourth...

EIB Backs Away From Nord Stream Funding.
February 14, 2007... The European Investment Bank (EIB) is unlikely to take part in funding Gazprom's planned Nord Stream natural gas pipeline, which is slated to bring roughly 27.5 billion cubic meters of gas direct from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea,...

Equities and Currencies.
February 14, 2007... Share Prices Closing On February 13, 2007

Opec Suggestions Pressure Crude.
February 14, 2007... Front-month Brent futures traded in a $3.53 range between a $59.63 high on Feb. 9 and a $56.10 low on Feb. 13 as the March contract headed for expiry at $57.03. Prices came off after Opec officials indicated that, given a healthier and more...

Gas Oil Weakens In Volatile Market.(Brief article)
February 14, 2007... European middle distillate prices weakened over the seven-day reporting period after experiencing an up-and-down week on the back of fluctuating international crude prices. March ICE gas oil futures prices at press time stood at $507/metric...

TNK-BP's Tony Considine Outlines Company's View.(Interview)
February 20, 2007... TNK-BP's executive vice president for downstream, Tony Considine, in an interview with Energy Intelligence Moscow Bureau Chief Nelli Sharushkina in London last week, outlined the company's views on a number of issues related to Russian oil...

Sakhalin-1 Reaches Peak Production.
February 20, 2007... Exxon Mobil announced last week that Phase 1 of its Sakhalin-1 development offshore eastern Russia has reached its targeted peak production of 250,000 b/d. Exxon started exports of sweet Sokol crude from the project's new De Kastri...

Moscow To Boost Belarus Bypass Pipe Capacity.
February 20, 2007... Moscow plans to expand the capacity of its proposed pipeline spur from the Belarus border to the Baltic port of Primorsk to as much as 75 million metric tons/yr (1.5 million b/d) in a second phase, from an initial 50 million tons/yr (1 million...

Neste Suffers Another Tanker Accident.
February 20, 2007... A vessel chartered by Finland's Neste Oil collided with another vessel in the Gulf of Finland Tuesday, marking the second accident involving a Neste ship in Russian territorial waters this month, although neither accident resulted in a spill....

Moscow Court Opens Tax Assault On Bashkir.
February 20, 2007... The Russian state appears to be tightening its noose around Russian producer Bashneft and the Bashkir refining assets, with the Russian General Prosecutor's Office opening criminal proceedings against their major shareholder. The legal...

Optimistic TNK-BP Faces License Threats.
February 20, 2007... Russia's environmental crusader has reportedly fired a fresh volley at BP's joint venture in the country, TNK-BP, threatening to revoke the licenses of two subsidiary companies operating in West Siberia over alleged license violations. ...

Gazprom Fleshes Out Investment Plans.
February 20, 2007... Gazprom's main investment projects in 2008 will be the development of the giant Shtokman gas field in the Barents Sea and the South Tambei and Bovanenkovskoye gas fields on the Yamal Peninsula, the company's deputy chief executive, Vladimir...

India's Omel Bids For Oman's CPC Stake.
February 20, 2007... ONGC-Mittal Energy Ltd. (Omel), the joint venture between Indian-owned global steel company Arcelor Mittal and Indian state Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC), has bid for Oman Oil's main assets in Kazakhstan. Omel has submitted a nonbinding...

Shah Deniz Second Well Starts Flowing.
February 20, 2007... Azeri state Socar reported first flows Feb. 20 of gas from a second well at the BP-led Caspian Sea Shah Deniz gas field at a rate of 5.6 MMcm/d. However, BP does not expect commercial production from the well to begin until March. The...

Russia And Turkmenistan Discuss Gas Cooperation.(Brief article)
February 20, 2007... Russia and Turkmenistan last week confirmed their obligations under bilateral energy cooperation agreements, Russia's prime minister, Mikhail Fradkov, told journalists after holding talks with Turkmenistan's newly elected president, Gurbanguly...

Transneft Set To Regulate Bosporus Bypass Pipe.
February 20, 2007... Russia's national pipeline operator Transneft will be in charge of the export schedule and crude flows via the planned Bourgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline, according to a draft of an intergovernmental agreement to be signed next month. The text of...

Kazmunaigas May Up Nursultan Reserves.
February 20, 2007... Kazakhstan has put off a decision on awarding exploration rights for the Nursultan Block in the Caspian Sea as it assesses claims by state oil company Kazmunaigas that the reserves at the structure are much higher than the government's official...

Belarus Looks To Diversify Supply.(Brief article)
February 20, 2007... Lithuania has proposed supplying crude to Belarus via its Klaipeda oil terminal on the Baltic Sea, to ease Minsk's dependence on Russian crude supplies via Russian national pipeline operator Transneft's network. The scheme, however, is regarded...

Gazprom Signs French Gas Supply Deal.
February 20, 2007... Russia's Gazprom has strengthened its position in European end-consumer energy markets, having signed a contract with Norwegian fertilizer producer Yara for direct natural gas supplies to its ammonia and urea plant in Le Havre, France. ...

Mazeikiu Nafta Starts Backup Unit.
February 20, 2007... Lithuanian refiner Mazeikiu Nafta (MN) has restarted a long-idle vacuum distillation tower that will cut the plant's demand for vacuum gas oil (VGO) and bring its overall output closer to the level seen before a devastating fire at MN's primary...

Lukoil Downplays Management Share Buy.
February 20, 2007... Lukoil Vice President Leonid Fedun reportedly said on Monday that the major purchases of Lukoil shares made recently by the Russian oil firm's top management and their families was part of a company share incentive scheme, dousing some concerns...

Dutch Court Freezes Rosneft Funds.
February 20, 2007... The Dutch court that's handling the distribution of funds from bankrupt oil company Yukos' $1.49 billion sale of a 53.7% stake in the Lithuanian Mazeikiu Nafta (MN) refining and shipping complex ruled in December to freeze some $490 million...

Equities and Currencies.
February 20, 2007... Share Prices Closing On Feb. 20, 2007

Urals Slightly Firmer In Thin Trade.
February 20, 2007... Front-month Brent futures traded in a $2.83 range between a $56.20 low on Feb. 15 and a $59.03 high on Feb. 16. Prices initially came off on persistent reports about Opec's inclination to leave current production rates intact in a recovering...

Lacking Firm Direction.(oil futures)(Brief article)
February 20, 2007... Europe's gas oil futures market lacked firm direction but ended the reporting period in the upper half of its trading range, while fuel oil prices experienced a steady slide despite arbitrage opportunities and scheduled refinery turnarounds....

Foreign Players Circle Around Yukos Asset Sale.
February 22, 2007... While there is little doubt that the last morsels of bankrupt Yukos will be gobbled up by Rosneft and Gazprom, the sale of the assets later this month will be closely watched to see who emerges as the chosen partners of the two Russian...

Addax Stakes Out Caspian Oil Trade.
February 22, 2007... Geneva-based independent Addax has secured a downstream niche in the Caspian by buying a chunk of the Batumi oil terminal on Georgia's Black Sea coast which last year handled close to 12 million metric tons (240,000 barrels per day) of crude...

Muted Demand Boosts Product Exports.
February 22, 2007... Muted domestic demand for refined products saw Russian exports of fuel oil continue to soar in January despite a slight dip in processing at the country's refineries (see table). Fuel oil exports rose to 3.354 million metric tons in...

Gazprom To Consolidate Crude Exports.
February 22, 2007... Gazprom's plan to consolidate oil subsidiary Gazprom Neft's crude exports under the umbrella of gas trading subsidiary Gazprom Export may signal the beginning of the end of Gazprom Neft as a publicly traded company and the rise of Swiss-based...

Crude Exports Down A Whisker.
February 22, 2007... Russian March seaborne crude exports are scheduled to fall by an insignificant 35,000 b/d to 2.969 million b/d (12.553 million metric tons), compared with February, according to loading programs released his week. Exports from the...

Lukoil Wants Reimbursement For Kharyaga Wells.
February 22, 2007... Lukoil says it has still to decide whether to exercise its option for a 20% stake in the Total-operated Kharyaga project in the northern Timan-Pechora oil province, for which the Russian government has launched a tender among domestic...

Belarus Bypass Pipeline Resolution Rejected.
February 22, 2007... The Russian government has rejected a draft resolution for the construction of the Baltic Pipeline System-2 (BPS-2) prepared by the Industry and Energy Ministry, according to insiders. The document, which was sent to the cabinet at the...

TNK-BP Gas Producer Faces Capacity Constraints.
February 22, 2007... TNK-BP's gas subsidiary Rospan International will be forced to cut its gas output by one-third in 2007 due to limited access to gas monopoly Gazprom's pipeline network. Gazprom has decided to allocate Rospan a transportation quota of only 1.7...

Gazprom Strengthens South America Ties.
February 22, 2007... Gazprom has strengthened its ties with South America, signing two accords late last week in Brazil and Bolivia. The Russian company said it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Brazil's state-controlled oil company...

Group Menatep Takes Equity In Israeli Refinery.
February 22, 2007... Group Menatep, formerly a major shareholder in bankrupt Russian oil company Yukos, has become a minority shareholder in Israel's recently privatized refiner Oil Refineries, after a subsidiary of Israeli Mogdal Holding in which Menatep holds a...

Russian, Japanese Ministers Hold Energy Talks.
February 22, 2007... In a move to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the oil and gas sector, Russia and Japan have been holding talks this week in Tokyo. Russian Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko offered Japanese companies the chance to participate in the...

Yukos European Court Claims Moves Forward.
February 22, 2007... The European Court of Human Rights in February filed its last set of questions to the Russian state over numerous claims from Bankrupt Russian oil major Yukos, in a process that has been ongoing since 2004, according to a Yukos spokesperson....

New Turkmen Leader: A Chip Off The Old Block, Or Force For Change?(Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov)
February 22, 2007... Under new leadership, Turkmenistan is opening up for business. The country's newly elected president, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, has pledged to encourage foreign investment and give new impetus to developing private enterprise. But...

Eni Keeps Faith With Kashagan Despite Revisions.
February 22, 2007... Italy's Eni has almost doubled its cost estimate for the first phase of production from the giant Kashagan oil field in Kazakhstan -- to $19 billion from an initial $10 billion -- but still sees it as a "transforming project" with a larger...

Belarus Puts Refineries Up For Privatization.
February 22, 2007... Belarus has announced plans to privatize a number of state-owned companies in 2007 in an effort to boost the state budget, according to media reports, citing state officials. But analysts say that even though several of the country's biggest...

Gazprom Digs Deeper Into Armenia.
February 22, 2007... In line with its strategy to expand control over assets in countries that consume its gas, Russian gas giant Gazprom last week announced its plan to further increase its ownership in Armenia's gas utility. The Russian company plans to...

Integra IPO At Top Of Range.
February 22, 2007... Shares in Russian oil field services company Integra started unconditional trading on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) on Feb. 27, raising at least $500 million for the company in an initial public offering (IPO) which valued the...

Transneft Places $1.3 Billion Eurobond.
February 22, 2007... Russian crude pipeline monopoly Transneft has placed a $1.3 billion eurobond to finance the construction of the East Siberian Pacific Ocean (Espo) pipeline, according to Transneft Vice President Sergey Grigoriev. The eurobonds, placed...

Equities and Currencies.
February 22, 2007... Share Prices Closing On Feb. 27, 2007

Heading Higher Despite Economic Jitters.
February 22, 2007... April Brent futures traded in a $4.96 range between a $57.22 low on Feb. 21 and a $62.18 high on Feb. 27. Futures traded higher on jitters about US refinery glitches and pipeline outages, combined with rising geopolitical tensions, but then...

Futures Gain Despite Strong Supplies.
February 22, 2007... Gas oil continues to flow out of Russia in large volumes, with some of it heading for New York but most of it traveling to the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp area, which remains well supplied, according to one trader. March ICE gas oil...