NEFTE Compass articles from January 2003

NEFTE Compass archives from January 2003

Roundup: Japan Cultivates Energy Ties With Russia.
January 2, 2003... Eager to reduce its uncomfortable oil dependence on the volatile Middle East, Japan is finally turning to nearby Russia as a long-term energy partner. A top Japanese government spokesman has confirmed that his country's government was...

Bullpen: Export Constraints Could Crimp Russian Production Goals.(crude export)
January 2, 2003... Russia has grand plans to boost production this year. After hitting a 10-year record of 379.632 million metric tons (7.62 million barrels per day) last year -- itself 9% up in 2001 -- the goal is to produce 10% more again in 2003. But the...

Gloves Off: Rosneft Disputes Slavneft Privatization.(Brief Article)
January 2, 2003... Rosneft is going to dispute the results of the Slavneft privatization and sue the Russian Federal Property Fund, which sold the state's 74.95% stake in Slavneft for $1.86 billion to an alliance of Sibneft and Tyumen Oil Co. (TNK) (NC...

Polar Bears: Lukoil And Rosneft In Arctic Dispute.
January 2, 2003... Lukoil and Rosneft have locked horns over licenses to the Prirazlomnoye oil field and Shtokmanovskoye gas deposit in the Russian Arctic shelf. Rosneft managed to get licenses to both fields transferred last year to Sevmorneftegas, its...

Ejector Seat: Iraqi Oil Minister Removed.(Amer Rashid )(Brief Article)
January 2, 2003... In a surprise move, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein removed on Jan. 7 long-standing Oil Minister Amer Rashid on the grounds that he had reached retirement age, and appointed a close ally, Samir Abdul Aziz al-Najm, as acting minister. It was...

Island Outing: Rosneft Seeks Expansion in Sakhalin.(Natural Resources Ministry )(Brief Article)
January 2, 2003... Rosneft has applied to the Natural Resources Ministry for an exploration license to the southern blocks of the Sakhalin-6 offshore zone in the Russian Pacific shelf. The company also hopes to finalize this month its negotiations with Alfa...

First Strike: Soyuzneftegas Strikes Gas In Algeria.(Brief Article)
January 2, 2003... Russian financial investment group Soyuzneftegas is wrapping up drilling its first well in Algeria and has already struck gas, says company chairman Yuri Shafranik. Some 4,180 meters had been drilled by the end of December, out of a total...

Governor: TNK Sets Out 2003 Business Targets.(Tyumenneft)(Brief Article)
January 2, 2003... Tyumen Oil Co.AEs (TNKAEs) corporate governance policies, a business plan for 2003, and financial results for the third quarter have been discussed at a second meeting of the companyAEs 11-member advisory council, chaired by Sir Peter Walters,...

Latin Hit: Rosneft Strikes Oil In Columbia.(Brief Article)
January 2, 2003... Russian state-owned Rosneft has struck oil in Columbia. The Colombia Energy consortium, which includes Rosneft (45%), Petrotesting Colombia (27.5%), and Holsan Chemicals (27.5%), has started pumping crude from the Suroriente deposit in southern...

New Year's Hangover: December Products Exports Slump.(gas and fuel oil)(Brief Article)
January 2, 2003... Russian oil products exports slumped slightly in December from the previous month. Stormy weather hampered loadings, particularly in the Black Sea, where hurricane winds forced Novorossiysk to close for much of December. Gas oil exports...

Blue Moon: Gazprom Eyes UK Spot Market In 2003.
January 2, 2003... Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom has signaled its aim to step up long-term and spot sales to Western Europe in 2003. Rather than opt for breakneck volume expansion, thought, the company's strategy remains one of cautious growth, dictated...

High Flier: Yukos Swaps Gas Stakes With Gazprom.(YUKOS Oil Co.)(Brief Article)
January 2, 2003... Yukos has made another step toward realizing its ambitious plan to become Russia's number two gas producer by 2005. The oil company, which is challenging Lukoil for the title of RussiaAEs biggest oil company, says it has become the 100%...

Watershed: Baku-Ceyhan Pipeline Faces Key Challenges.
January 2, 2003... The year of 2003 is set to provide another watershed in the history of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline project which, shepherded by its largest shareholder BP, now looks almost certain to come into operation in 2005-06 with an...

Second Place: Russian Market Takes Silver in 2002.(Russia Trading System, oil industry)
January 2, 2003... The Russian stock market climbed 40% in 2002 and maintained its position as one of the best performing markets in the world. The Russia Trading System (RTS) started the year at 262.03 and climbed to 359.07 by the ring of the closing bell on...

Equities And Currencies.
January 2, 2003... Share Prices Closing On January 5, 2003

Crude: What goes up....
January 2, 2003... Crude oil was as uncertain and volatile as ever, with Brent futures trading a whopping $3/bbl range fuelled by a combustible mixture of war fever, Venezuelan industrial action, Opec promises, and unexpectedly bearish US inventory figures. ...

Products: Gas Oil Down With Crude.(Brief Article)
January 2, 2003... Russian gas oil differentials weakened in the Mediterranean and in Northwest Europe on the back of crude. Demand for M-100 straight run fuel oil as a feedstock improved in Northwest Europe, with M-100 straight run c.i.f. barrels selling at a...

On Ice: Frozen Ports Pose Challenge For Russian Export Policy.
January 15, 2003... Freezing weather is causing logjams at Russia's major ports and putting anxious oil exporters on a collision course with the government, which is bent on keeping a tight grip over Russia's export policy. Deputy Prime Minister Viktor...

Cool Hand: Russians Fly To Iraq To Sign Oil Field Contract.
January 15, 2003... Reflecting a growing belief in Moscow that the threat of a US-led war with Iraq is receding, a high-profile delegation of Russian officials and company executives flew to Baghdad on Jan. 15 to sign a contract for the exploration and development...

Demoted: Mezhregiongas Stripped Of Sole Marketer Role.(Brief Article)
January 15, 2003... Natural gas monopoly Gazprom is pressing ahead with plans to tighten control over its domestic gas sales. It has announced that it will strip subsidiary Mezhregiongas of its privileged status as sole domestic gas marketer. Gazprom CEO...

Blowout: Russia Cranks Up Fuel Oil Exports In 2002.
January 15, 2003... Russia ramped up seaborne products exports in 2002, boosted by another year of increased crude output and refinery runs. Product shipments abroad increased 16.5% last year to 77.77 million metric tons from 2001 levels of 66.73 million tons. ...

Panning Out: TNK Wins Rospan Management Role.(Brief Article)
January 15, 2003... A lingering feud between Yukos and Tyumen Oil Co. (TNK) over Siberian gas producer Rospan International has been brought to a peaceful conclusion after TNK won a tender in late December for the right to manage Rospan for seven years. The...

New Breed: Lukoil Reshuffles Downstream Management.(Brief Article)
January 15, 2003... Lukoil is reshuffling its downstream management following the retirement at age 64 of Vladislav Bashenov, its veteran vice president in charge of refining and petrochemicals. Vagit Sharifov, another long-serving Lukoil executive who used to...

Bombed: Kasyanov Torpedos Murmansk Export Project.
January 15, 2003... Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov has dealt a double blow to oil companies' plans to build a privately owned pipeline to export Russian crude from the ice-free, deepwater port of Murmansk, in the Barents Sea. During a visit to Murmansk,...

Refined Taste: Russian Refiners Buck International Trend.
January 15, 2003... Unlike their Western counterparts, Russian oil majors have increased their interest in refining activities. Poor returns in the West because of high crude prices and volatile refining margins have dissipated interest in refining activities. The...

Turkmenistan: Cash Shortage Forces Dragon To Suspend Drilling.(Dragon Oil PLC)(Brief Article)
January 15, 2003... After successfully testing its fifth well in its offshore Cheleken license area, Dubai-based Dragon Oil has delayed further drilling until late 2003 because of a lack of funds. "It is unfortunate that having come so far and achieved so...

Kazakhstan: Oil Production Skyrockets 18% in 2002.(Brief Article)
January 15, 2003... Crude oil and condensate production in Kazakhstan shot up by 18.1% to 948,300 b/d in 2002, compared with 2001's 802,700 b/d, which was itself up nearly 20% on the previous year (NC Jan.10,p9). Tengizchevroil, the joint venture operated by...

2002 Kazakh Crude Oil And Condensate Production.
January 15, 2003... 2002 Kazakh Crude Oil And Condensate Production

Early Bird: BP Offloads Remaining Lukoil Stake.(Brief Article)
January 15, 2003... BP is offloading the last remaining shares in Lukoil that it inherited when it took over Arco three years ago. But they are not parting company completely: BP and Lukoil remain linked through their LukArco joint venture that holds stakes in...

Get On Up: Lukoil Guns for Growth But Reins In Spending.(Brief Article)
January 15, 2003... Lukoil's board has approved plans to raise production in 2003 to 80 million metric tons (1.61 million b/d) of crude and 5.7 Bcm of gas. It also agreed to keep its investment program this year flat on 2002 levels, with planned outlays of $2.4...

Equities And Currencies.
January 15, 2003... Share Prices Closing On January 14, 2003

Crude Oil: Opec Increases Fail To Cool Prices.(Spot Crude Oil Prices )
January 15, 2003... Opec decided to increase production by 1.5 million b/d as of Feb. 1 to cool overheated prices. So far, it hasn't worked. In fact, crude oil futures on Jan. 14 set new two-year highs with February Brent soaring to $31.25/bbl on more war talk...

Products: Port Logjams Help To Firm Up Prices.
January 15, 2003... Russian products firmed with the development of shipping problems in the Baltics (see page 1). Gas oil prices in Northwest Europe were bid up by Rotterdam and Hamburg buyers, while the Med strengthened on improved Greek demand. Northwest...

Second Thoughts: Lukoil Loses Out As Russians Reap Rewards In Baghdad.
January 22, 2003... Russian oil companies were handsomely rewarded during a visit to Baghdad last week. But Lukoil's attempts to reverse Iraq's decision to cancel its contract for the giant West Qurna field appear to have failed. Oil and gas construction firm...

First Class: Lukoil Pioneers First Russian Crude Swap With Iran.
January 22, 2003... RussiaAEs Lukoil has opened up a new trading route in the Caspian by shipping Russian Siberian Light crude from the Russian outlet of Astrakhan to Neka in northern Tehran. The deliveries, which kicked off in November 2002, are now running as...

Cold Turkey: Heating Crisis Brings Reforms To The Boil.(Russia)
January 22, 2003... Freezing temperatures have plunged Russia into a nationwide heating crisis. Heating system failures have left more than 28,000 people shivering in icy apartments, according to the Emergency Situations Ministry. And as the mercury plunges,...

Plant Life: Rosneft Launches Tuapse Upgrade.(Brief Article)
January 22, 2003... State-owned Rosneft has launched a $750 million upgrade program of its 78,000 b/d Tuapse refinery. The project foresees building deep crude processing facilities and a catalytic reforming unit at the plant, which processes Siberian Light crude....

U-Turn: Gazprom Reverses Output Slide.(Gazprom Russian Joint Stock Co.)
January 22, 2003... Natural gas monopoly Gazprom has reversed a steady decline in gas production, by hiking output just over 2% last year to 523.79 Bcm. The gas giant, which accounts for over 90% of Russian gas output, launched the second development phase of...

D-Day: Majors Pile Into German Market.
January 22, 2003... A growing list of companies have joined Tyumen Oil Co. (TNK) in selling crude pumped down the Druzhba pipeline directly to buyers in Germany, bypassing Sunimex, the local importer of Russian crude in that country (NC Nov.7,p3). Sibneft...

Northern Sale: Lukoil On Guard As Vavilov Sells Northern Oil.(Severnaya Neft)
January 22, 2003... Controversial senator and former deputy finance minister Andrei Vavilov has sold his oil company, Northern Oil (Severnaya Neft), although he is refusing to name the buyer. The sale of the 30,000 b/d producer in the northern Timan-Pechora...

Kicked Out: Gazprom Sacks Jordan As Head Of Media Holding.(Gazprom Media)(Brief Article)
January 22, 2003... Gazprom has dismissed Boris Jordan from his post as CEO of its media holding and as general director of television channel NTV. The crown jewel in Gazprom's media holding, NTV is one of the three main television stations in Russia. Jordan,...

Ace Ventura: Sibneft Teams Up With Sibur In New Gas Venture.(Brief Article)
January 22, 2003... Sibneft is riding the wave of Russian oil majors getting into the gas business, having teamed up with petrochemicals complex Sibur to process and sell associated and non-associated natural gas. The two companies signed on Jan. 14 a...

Q4 Offtakers Of Seaborne Crude Exports ('000 metric tons).
January 22, 2003... Octoberaaaaaaaaaaa Novemberaaaaaaa December  

Running Wild: Russia Cranks Up Crude Delivers To Ukraine.(Petroleum Industry)
January 22, 2003... Russia ramped up crude deliveries to Ukrainian refineries by nearly one-third in the fourth quarter of 2002 to 4.861 million metric tons (387,000 b/d) from the previous three months' average of 301,000 b/d (see page 9). The Kremenchug and...

Lithuania: New President Sees Key Role For Russian Investors.
January 22, 2003... A new president in Lithuania this year is unlikely to have much impact on the Russian oil and gas companies that are taking part in the Baltic republic's privatization process. The country's right-wing president-elect, Rolandas Paksas,...

Belarus: Russia Rekindles Ties With Gas Pipeline Pact.(Brief Article)
January 22, 2003... Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarus counterpart Alexander Lukashenko have announced plans to set up a joint venture to transport Russian natural gas to Europe via Belarus. The two presidents signed a decree in Minsk to launch the...

Croatia: Three Bidders In The Hunt For Ina.(Brief Article)
January 22, 2003... The Croatian government is to ask all three of the companies that submitted bids in the auction for a 25% stake in national oil firm Ina to increase their offers. The Economics Ministry on Jan. 17 opened the bids, which contained the...

Romania: Gazprom Expands Pipe Routes To Southern Europe.(Gazprom Russian Joint Stock Co.)(Brief Article)
January 22, 2003... Romania looks set to benefit as Russian gas monopoly Gazprom presses ahead with plans to upgrade gas transportation facilities to meet its obligations on exports to Europe. Gazprom's pipeline contractor Stroitransgas will build a $50...

Confused? BP Denies Reports Over Sidanco Purchase.(British Petroleum Company PLC)(Brief Article)
January 22, 2003... Despite BP's insistence that it has finalized its $375 million purchase of a 15.01% stake in Sidanco from shareholders of TNK International, the parent company of Tyumen Oil Co. (TNK), there are persistent reports in Moscow that the deal has...

Bonds Away: Gazprom Approves New Bond Issue.(Gazprom Russian Joint Stock Co.)(Brief Article)
January 22, 2003... Gazprom's board of directors has approved a further 10-year eurobond placement, worth between $750 million-$1 billion. The issue, due to take place early this year, would reportedly be lead managed by investment banks Morgan Stanley and...

Equities And Currencies.
January 22, 2003... Share Prices Closing On January 21, 2003

Crude Oil: Futures Soar, Med Differentials Crash.(Mediterranean)
January 22, 2003... Crude oil futures prices set new two-year highs on fears the US has made up its mind to invade Iraq, and despite the appearance of the first faint cracks in the Venezuelan strike. On Jan. 21, March Brent climbed to $31.21 per barrel, in part...

Products: US Demand Feeds Differentials.(Brief Article)
January 22, 2003... As the Baltic Sea ice begins to thaw, Russian exports have resumed, and good demand in the US is supporting gas oil prices. Fuel oil prices have climbed on the back of crude and demand for feedstock remains strong. Russian gas oil...

Southern Comfort: Caspian Oil Gets A Confidence Boost From Tengiz Deal.
January 28, 2003... The agreement at the end of last week to resume work on a $3 billion expansion of the ChevronTexaco-operated Tengiz oil field is a huge confidence boost for Kazakhstan and the Caspian oil industry. The two-month suspension of the project...

Northern Star: Rosneft Meets Resistance Over Northern Expansion.
January 28, 2003... Rosneft, Russia's state-owned oil champion, is marking out its territory in the strategic areas of Russia's future oil and gas production. Already a key player in Sakhalin, and a rising star in the Caspian Sea and the Arctic shelf, Rosneft is...

Peek A Boo: Stroitransgas Reveals Details Of Iraqi Deal.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2003... Russian oil and gas construction company Stroitransgas has revealed some details about its contract to explore and develop Block 4 in Iraq's Western Desert. The contract is for 10 years, of which five are for geological exploration. The...

Friendly Axis: Sibneft Sells Diesel To North Korea.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2003... Demonstrating that it is still has some friends, North Korea has signed a deal to buy 30,000 metric tons of diesel fuel from Sibneft. The fuel will be supplied by Sibneft's refinery in Omsk, where the deal was signed during a visit by a North...

Turnaround: Reserve Replacement Outpaces Production.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2003... Russia is aiming to replace its reserves in 2003 with 800 million metric tons (5.7 billion barrels) of crude and 800 Bcm of gas. New oil discoveries in Russia amounted to 380 million tons (2.9 billion bbl) last year, nearly as much as the...

Russian Chance: Yukos Could Bid In Mongolian Privatization.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2003... The Mongolian government has announced a tender to sell its 80% stake in NIC, the country's largest importer and distributor of oil products. Since the company imports 90% of its oil products from Russia, Russian oil companies look like...

Gas Ring: Gazprom Resumes Talks On New Sales To Italy.
January 28, 2003... West European gas companies are continuing to beat a path to Gazprom's door in search of direct sales, aware that supplies from independent producers in Russia are unlikely to be available to them in the near future. But Gazprom has a fine...

Waiting Room: Majors Lobby Premier Over Murmansk Export Project.
January 28, 2003... Russian oil companies are stepping up their lobbying efforts for the Murmansk pipeline and export project, which would create a new deepwater terminal for long-haul exports. Earlier this month, Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov torpedoed the...

Filling Up: Gasoline Excise Tax Increase Raises Pump Prices.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2003... Despite a glut of crude oil on the domestic market, the prices at the pumps of filling stations in Russia have begun to climb in line with a 45% increase in the excise tax on gasoline. At the turn of the year, the excise tax rose to 3,000...

Logjam: Russia Schedules Bigger Loadings Despite Delays.
January 28, 2003... Russia has started shipping out a backlog of oil, as the Baltic ice melts that had wrought havoc on January crude loadings. It now looks like Russia wants to make up for lost time, by penciling in a nearly 50,000 b/d boost in seaborne crude...

Russian Crude Loading Programs For February 2003.
January 28, 2003... Novorossiysk Crude Loading Program For February 2003

American Pie: Pentagon Scours Central Asia To Fuel US Military.
January 28, 2003... As the US Pentagon builds up jet fuel stocks in preparation for a possible war against Iraq, it is still having problems securing supplies for its planes flying in and out of Afghanistan under Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). And, as this...

Ukraine: Russians Reverse Into Odessa-Brody Pipeline.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2003... Eager to find export outlets for rising crude production, Russian oil companies have started using a new Ukrainian sea terminal and pipeline stretch. Ukrainian state pipeline operator Ukrtransnafta will next week start pumping oil to the...

Poland: Moscow Agrees To Compromise On Gas Supplies.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2003... In a bid to meet its obligations for gas exports to West European consumers and to finalize construction of the first stage of the Yamal-Europe pipeline, Russia has signed a compromise deal that involves reducing supply volumes to Poland by...

Lithuania: Gazprom To Make Final Offer For Gas Utility.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2003... Lithuania is pressing ahead with a privatization program that it hopes will rake in 180 million lits ($52 million) in the first half of 2003 compared with 273 million lits ($80.2 million) in the same period of 2002. Finance Minister Dalia...

Azerbaijan: Chinese Gobble Up A Piece Of Gobustan.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2003... State-owned China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) has expanded its upstream presence in the Caspian by purchasing a 31.41% stake in Commonwealth Gobustan, a company that holds an 80% stake in the development of AzerbaijanAEs onshore southwest...

Done Deal: Sibneft And TNK Cough Up For Slavneft.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2003... Sibneft and Tyumen Oil Co. (TNK) have paid up for the 74.95% stake in Slavneft that they won in a privatization tender at the end of last year. An investment vehicle representing the two companies, Invest Oil, has transferred $1.86 billion to...

Falling Down: Tatneft Reports 38% Profit Drop.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2003... Tatneft reported a 38% drop in its 2002 net profit from the previous year, in preliminary accounts prepared according to Russian accounting standards. The company said it expects its 2002 pretax profit to fall to 11.90 billion rubles...

Equities And Currencies.
January 28, 2003... Share Prices Closing On January 28, 2003

Crude Oil: Getting Soggy.
January 28, 2003... It was another volatile and uncertain week in the futures markets, but with a growing awareness of amply supplied physical markets. Brent futures traded down to $29.61/bbl before recovering to hit $30.88 on Jan. 29. However, the recovery was...

Products: Med Gas Oil Soars, NWE Market Melts.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2003... Russian gas oil differentials in the Mediterranean have soared to record highs on the back of solid local demand, a dearth of Black Sea loadings, and scant tanker availabilities in the region. In Northwest Europe, differentials went in the...