NEFTE Compass articles from January 2008

NEFTE Compass archives from January 2008

Gazprom LNG Swap Could Resolve Exxon's Sakhalikn-1 Conundrum.
January 9, 2008... Exxon Mobil could break the deadlock with Gazprom over the destination of natural gas from the Sakhalin-1 project if the Russian gas giant is receptive to a proposal to supply swap LNG volumes to the US major's Blue Ocean terminal in New...

Turkmenistan, Iran In Standoff Over Gas Prices.
January 9, 2008... Turkmenistan appeared to be heading for a standoff over natural gas supplies to Iran after Iranian Oil Minister Gholamreza Nozari said this week that his side would not discuss prices with its northern neighbor until it resumed deliveries cut...

Russian Aviation Sector Takes Off.
January 9, 2008... Flush with petrodollars, the Russian aviation sector is booming. Fuel quality issues, coping with future growth, and the need to upgrade infrastructure present challenges and opportunities. The government is increasingly looking for and...

Lukoil Should Keep Iraqi Field.
January 9, 2008... Lukoil should be able to keep its West Qurna project in Iraq, but it would have to participate in a new tender for the acreage, Iraqi diplomatic sources tell Nefte Compass. Recent statements by Iraqi officials -- including oil and foreign...

Gazprom Sounds Out Nigeria.
January 9, 2008... In a major new foray in Africa, Russia's Gazprom, the world's biggest natural gas producer, sent a delegation to Nigeria last month to assess exploration and development opportunities. But talks on a potential deal to develop Nigerian gas...

Moscow To Tighten Refining Standards.
January 9, 2008... In a bid to improve the quality of refined oil products, Russia is planning to implement starting Jan. 1, 2009, a new regulation that should force domestic refineries to produce Euro-3 gasoline and gas oil. According to media reports,...

Lukoil, Gazprom Neft Finally Sign JV Deal.
January 9, 2008... Russia's leading privately held producer, Lukoil, has finally signed a joint-venture deal with Gazprom Neft focusing on upstream acquisitions and development, and infrastructure and transport projects. Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of state gas...

New Deadlines Needed For East Siberian Pipe.
January 9, 2008... Russia's Industry and Energy Ministry sent a report to the government at the end of December officially recognizing the delays with the construction of the East Siberian Pacific Ocean (Espo) oil pipeline, sources claim. The document does...

Stroitransgas Eyes Iraq-Syria Pipeline.
January 9, 2008... Russian oil and gas construction firm Stroitransgas is in renewed negotiations with Baghdad to rehabilitate a pipeline linking Iraq's Kirkuk oil fields and the Syrian export terminal at Banias. The Russian company, the Iraqi oil ministry...

Surgut Spreads Its Wings Outside West Siberia.(Surgutneftegaz)(Brief article)
January 9, 2008... Kremlin-friendly Surgutneftegas has spent about $50 million buying licenses in East Siberia and the northern Nenets and Yamal-Nenets regions in recent auctions conducted by the Natural Resources Ministry, as it looks to expand beyond its...

Slavneft To Target East Siberian Greenfields.
January 9, 2008... Slavneft, which is jointly owned by Russian state-run Gazprom Neft and Russian-UK joint venture TNK-BP, plans to spend $2 billion on opening up new "green" fields in East Siberian between 2008 and 2012. The Russian company expects initial...

Gazprom Production Drops In 2007.
January 9, 2008... Gazprom saw its natural gas production drop by 1.4% in 2007 to 548 Bcm compared with the previous year due to lower demand both in domestic and foreign markets. In 2006 the company produced 556 Bcm. According to the state gas concern's...

Nord Stream Supplies To Be Delayed.
January 9, 2008... Gazprom has acknowledged that first gas will not be delivered through its planned Nord Stream pipeline until spring 2011, rather than 2010 as previously stated. "The project timeline contained in these applications foresees pipe-laying...

Russian Diamond Firm Gets Angolan Oil License.
January 9, 2008... A consortium including Russian state-run diamond monopoly Alrosa has received oil and gas exploration licenses from the Angolan oil ministry to explore the Lower Congo and Upper Kwanza provinces, between the Etosha, Okavango and Kassanje...

Ukraine Puts Off Gas Showdown With Russia.
January 9, 2008... Russia and Ukraine appear to have averted a fresh new-year crisis that could have led to cuts in natural gas supplies to Europe after the new government in Kiev presented a revised budget for 2008 that upholds terms already agreed with Moscow....

Gazprom Courts Serbia As Key Pipeline Partner.
January 9, 2008... Russian state-run gas monopoly Gazprom appears poised to choose Serbia as a key transit nation in the South Stream pipeline project. Gazprom and Italian partner Eni have thus far agreed only that the pipe would run from Russia under the Black...

Kashagan Partners Move To Resolve Dispute.
January 9, 2008... In a sign that a breakthrough on the Kashagan field dispute with Kazakhstan could be near, the heads of the international companies in the Agip KCO operating consortium have been called for a key meeting in Astana. Sources said the meeting had...

Abu Dhabi Eyes Kazakh Petchem Plant.
January 9, 2008... Abu Dhabi's state-owned International Petroleum Investment Co. (Ipic) and Kazakh state oil and gas company Kazmunaigas have signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate in building a petrochemical complex in western Kazakhstan. A source...

Korea Lines Up Kazakh Field.
January 9, 2008... A South Korean consortium led by Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) plans to sign a contract with Kazakh state oil and gas firm Kazmunaigas (KMG) for the offshore Zhambyl Block in the northern Caspian Sea in the first half of 2008, nearly a year...

Georgia Elects Saakashvili For Second Term.(Mikhail Saakashvili)(Brief article)
January 9, 2008... Mikhail Saakashvili was reelected Jan. 6 as president of Georgia, a key hub for Caspian oil exports. Saakashvili, who has leaned increasingly toward Europe and the US, decided in November to bring the country's presidential election...

Itera Seeks To Expand In Turkmenistan.
January 9, 2008... Florida-registered Russian gas independent Itera, which has already been fairly active in Turkmenistan, is seeking new opportunities to expand its presence in the Caspian country. According to a company statement, Itera's participation in...

Slovenia, Lukoil Drop Plans To Pool Retail Assets.
January 9, 2008... The planned joint venture between Lukoil and Slovenian fuel trader Petrol has fallen through after the partners failed to agree on value of their contributions to the company that was supposed to manage the biggest retail network in the...

Gazprom Approves Record 2008 Budget.
January 9, 2008... Gazprom will increase capital investment by 43% in 2008 to a record level of almost $20 billion as it speeds up development of Arctic, East Siberian and Russian Far East fields, as well as construction of new pipelines and underground storage....

Rosneft Outlines 2008 Growth Plans.
January 9, 2008... Rosneft aims to hike oil and condensate production in 2008 by 10.9% to almost 111.93 million metric tons (2.24 million b/d), up from 100.935 million tons (2.03 million b/d), according to a business plan approved by the company's board at the...

Equities and Currencies.
January 9, 2008... Share Prices Closing On January 9, 2008

Refining Margins Hammered By Higher Crude Prices.
January 9, 2008... Brent crude oil futures traded a slightly less volatile $8.75 range in the Dec. 19 to Jan. 9 time frame, from an $89.75 low on Dec. 19 to a $98.50 high on Jan. 3, the day a single contract trade in New York pushed Nymex light, sweet crude...

Warm Weather Cools Prices.
January 9, 2008... Between Dec. 20 and Jan. 9 front-month ICE gas oil futures traded a $51.25/ton range between an $811.25 low on Dec. 20 and an $862.50 high on Jan. 2, the first trading day of the year. At press time, the contract was trading around $842.50/ton....

Eni To Share Operator Duties Under Kashagan Settlement.
January 16, 2008... After months of haggling, Kazakhstan has struck a deal with the foreign companies developing the giant Kashagan field that will allow the project to proceed, albeit with some key alterations, notably concerning the operatorship of Eni. The...

Transneft Failings At East Siberian Pipeline Come Under Scrutiny.
January 16, 2008... The knives are out for the former head of Russia's national pipeline operator Transneft, Semyon Vainshtok, as the monopoly's new management is trying to uncover wrongdoings by the previous team in an effort to avoid shouldering the blame for...

West Siberian Goes Vertical With Alliance Merger.
January 16, 2008... Another integrated oil company looks set to emerge in Russia following Stockholm-listed West Siberian Resources' announcement that it has reached an understanding with midsized Russian player Alliance Oil to pool their assets. The deal points...

Big Energy Projects Push Record Investment.
January 16, 2008... With spending booming on major energy projects, direct foreign investment in Russia reportedly jumped by more than 70% to a new high of roughly $48.9 billion in 2007, according to estimates from the UN Conference on Trade and Development. ...

Russian Crude Exports Dip, Head North.
January 16, 2008... Russian oil firms cut crude export flows in December while rerouting oil away from Russia's Black Sea port of Novorossiysk and the Druzhba pipeline in favor of the Baltic port of Primorsk. Total Russian crude exports amounted to 3.834 million...

Russian Production Shows Growth In 2007.
January 16, 2008... Russian crude and condensate production rose 2.3% in 2007 to 9.87 million b/d (491.48 million metric tons), according to preliminary data from the Industry and Energy Ministry. That put it ahead of Saudi Arabia, which, according to Energy...

Lukoil Outlines Plans For Future.
January 16, 2008... Lukoil plans to boost its overall oil and gas production by 5%-7% in 2008, when the company expects to invest some $11 billion and launch several new fields both domestically and outside of Russia, according to company President Vagit...

Lukoil's Representative In Libya Soon To Be Free.
January 16, 2008... Lukoil's imprisoned representative in Libya, Alexander Tsygankov, will soon be released from custody in Tripoli, Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, told Nefte Compass. Lavrov confirmed that Tsygankov was detained in relation to a...

Lukoil Expands Cooperation With Gazprom.
January 16, 2008... Lukoil has offered Gazprom a stake in its St. Petersburg aviation refueling business in the latest step in Lukoil's drive to expand its strategic alliance with the gas giant. Under the agreement reached between the two companies, Lukoil is...

Chevron Presses Forward In Russia.
January 16, 2008... US major Chevron apparently is continuing to press for a greater presence in Russia, challenging the positions held by more established western players, such as Royal Dutch Shell. State-run Rosneft has not ruled out holding talks with...

Bashkir Nationalization Plan Hits Snag.
January 16, 2008... Russia's attempts to renationalize energy assets in the Bashkortostan region appear to have run into problems, after an appeals court judge in Moscow surprisingly ruled against transferring the shares of the Bashkir assets from holding company...

Private Gas Trades Again Fetch High Prices.
January 16, 2008... Russian companies continue to trade gas volumes at prices well above the prices set for the domestic market. Russian companies traded 665.5 MMcm of gas during the January trading session at prices over $90/Mcm, according to exchange manager...

Tymoshenko Moves Against Gas Traders.
January 16, 2008... New Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko appears to be pressing forward with a promise to eliminate gas trading intermediaries RosUkrEnergo and UkrGazEnergo, in a move that has rekindled concerns of a possible rerun of the cutoff in...

Belarus Threatens To Switch To Euros.
January 16, 2008... President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus has threatened to halt the use of the US dollar in all transactions in the country and begin pricing oil in euros as a response to the new sanctions against Belneftekhim imposed by the US Treasury...

Belarus Moves On In Iran, Venezuela.
January 16, 2008... In a bid to ease dependence on Russia, Belarus is trying to expand in Iran and Venezuela. State-run Belorusneft said last week it plans to start producing oil this year from the Jofeir field in southwest Iran. The field is being developed...

Polish Investor Expands In Kazakhstan.(stake acquired in Occidental Resources, Capital Energy Corp.)
January 16, 2008... Petrolinvest, an investment vehicle of Poland's richest man, Ryszard Krauze, says it is taking over three oil companies working in Kazakhstan for a total of more than $500 million. The Polish company said that the "buyouts" will entail the...

Lukoil, Mittal Discuss Kazakh Offshore Projects.
January 16, 2008... Russian private oil major Lukoil and India's Mittal Investments are holding talks with the Kazakh government on receiving the rights for joint exploration in the Caspian Sea, Lukoil's president, Vagit Alekperov, revealed last week. Alekperov...

Azerbaijan To Go It Alone In New Offshore Block.
January 16, 2008... Azerbaijan's state oil company, Socar, has decided to explore independently an offshore block abandoned by Western interests several years ago when oil and gas prices were too low to make the structure commercially attractive. Socar plans...

Acquisitions, High Prices Bolster Rosneft Profits.
January 16, 2008... Rosneft announced this week that net profits reached $1.89 billion in the third quarter of 2007, up 80% from July-September 2006 on the back of higher crude prices and the company's aggressive acquisitions. The state oil company's revenues...

Citigroup Sale Slams Rosneft Shares.
January 16, 2008... News that US bank Citigroup is selling its $1 billion shareholding in state-run Rosneft at a discount to the market price has knocked back Rosneft shares, which closed Tuesday down by 4.7% on the week. The sale comes at an inopportune time for...

Equities and Currencies.
January 16, 2008... Share Prices Closing On Jan. 15, 2008

Futures Weaken On Economic Slowdown Fears.
January 16, 2008... Front-month February Brent crude oil futures traded a $7.99 range over the seven-day reporting period, from a $96.70 high on Jan. 9 to an $88.71 low on Jan. 16. Prices were pulled down by increasing fears of a global economic slowdown, as well...

Gas Oil Slides With Crude.
January 16, 2008... Between Jan. 10 and Jan. 16, ICE February front-month gas oil futures traded in an $18/ton range, closing with a high of $808.50/ton Jan. 14, before hitching a ride with sliding crude futures. At press time on Jan. 16 the contract was trading...

Russian Exports To Ring The Changes In 2008.
January 23, 2008... Key changes are in the pipeline for Russian crude oil exports this year but not everything is going to plan, especially with the use of bigger Baltimax tankers at the Baltic Sea port of Primorsk and with shipments to China via the Kazakh...

Gazprom Gets Its Claws Into The Balkans.
January 23, 2008... Russia's Gazprom is set to strengthen its position in the Balkans by clinching a deal with Serbia to acquire a majority stake in state-owned oil and gas company Naftna Industrija Srbija (NIS) and build a stretch of the planned 30 billion cubic...

Environmental Watchdog Set For Major Shakeup.
January 23, 2008... Change is in the air at the government's environmental watchdog, Rosprirodnadzor, which under its deputy head, Oleg Mitvol, has targeted oil and gas companies with devastating consequences for industry leaders Royal Dutch Shell and TNK-BP. ...

Imperial Releases New Output Forecasts.
January 23, 2008... Tomsk-focused independent producer Imperial Energy said this week that it expects to produce 80,000 b/d in 2011, the first estimates that the company has given for that year. While Imperial's target output of 60,000 b/d by 2010 is roughly in...

Gas Showdown With Ukraine Looms.
January 23, 2008... Little more than a month has passed since Yulia Tymoshenko replaced Kremlin-friendly Viktor Yanukovich as Ukraine's prime minister, and already another showdown over gas supply is brewing. True to her tough election rhetoric, Tymoshenko looks...

Lukoil Reveals Caspian Production Details.
January 23, 2008... Lukoil will produce 1.5 million metric tons of oil (30,000 b/d) from the northern Caspian Sea when it starts production in 2009, Lukoil head Vagit Alekperov revealed in a recent meeting with President Vladimir Putin. "The overall...

Russia Upgrades Railway Link To China.
January 23, 2008... State monopoly Russian Railways (RZD) invested more than 2.3 billion rubles ($94 million) in 2007 on upgrading the infrastructure for oil deliveries to China, the company announced recently. RZD said it has spent around 13 billion rubles ($530...

Lukoil Boosts Vysotsk Exports.
January 23, 2008... Lukoil used its Vysotsk terminal on the Baltic Sea to full capacity last year, exporting 11.709 million metric tons of oil products via the outlet, or nearly 26% more than in 2006. Exports of fuel oil jumped by more than 2.5 times to 3.471...

Gazprom, Sibir Ink Peace Pact.
January 23, 2008... Gazprom Neft and the Moscow Oil and Gas Co. (MOGC) have buried the hatchet and settled their dispute over the 240,000 b/d Moscow refinery, clearing the way for a needed comprehensive upgrade of the plant and possible further cooperation between...

Shtokman Company Creeps Ahead.
January 23, 2008... A special-purpose company to oversee the first phase of the giant Shtokman project in the Barents Sea will be registered at the start of February, Gazprom Deputy Chief Executive Alexander Medvedev reportedly said. The members of the project...

Russia Must Join Queue For Azeri Gas.
January 23, 2008... Russia's Gazprom will have to join the queue if it wants to buy gas from Azerbaijan's BP-operated Shah Deniz field, according to Azeri state Socar. "The Russian market is not excluded," a senior Socar official told Nefte Compass. But he...

Iran Needs Turkmenistan More Than Vice Versa.(Brief article)
January 23, 2008... Turkmenistan's relations with Iran have nosedived after officials in Tehran accused Ashkhabad of being "immoral" and "unpleasant" for cutting off gas supplies abruptly during the cold winter months. "They should not have disturbed people...

Acquisition Strategy Pays Off For Kazmunaigas.(Brief article)
January 23, 2008... Two key acquisitions were behind an 11.6% rise in oil production by Kazakhstan's Kazmunaigas Exploration Production (KMG EP) to nearly 217,000 b/d in 2007 compared with the previous year. The state-controlled company said the increase was...

Ukraine Snaps Up Iraqi Crude Cargo.
January 23, 2008... Russia's refusal to deliver crude oil by pipeline to Ukraine's Kremenchug refinery has forced the plant's owner, Ukrtatnafta, to import non-Russian crude via the Black Sea port of Odessa. Shipping sources say a cargo of 630,000 bbl of Iraqi...

Shell Names New Boss In Kazakhstan.
January 23, 2008... Just days after a new deal on Kashagan was announced, a key consortium member, Royal Dutch Shell, named a new boss to head Shell Kazakhstan, which is moving its head office from Almaty to Astana. Campbell Keir, who formerly headed the...

Turkmenistan Celebrates Huge Gas Find.
January 23, 2008... Exploration drilling has confirmed massive new natural gas reserves at the South Yolotan field, according to an official Turkmen announcement. "A new gas pool explored at well 102 occurs above the previously explored huge area," which has...

Global Woes Slam Russian Equities.
January 23, 2008... Russia's stock market took a nosedive with most of the global markets this week, partially undermining claims that the country's oil-based stock market is a safe haven from the current global financial woes. In what analysts called the...

Pipeline Firms Merge But Keep Independence.
January 23, 2008... Russian crude oil pipeline operator Transneft said last week it completed the placement of the additional shares issued to acquire 100% of state oil product transportation company Transnefteproduct. That effectively completes the two firms'...

Equities and Currencies.
January 23, 2008... Share Prices Closing On Jan. 22, 2008

Differentials Firm But In Thin Activity.
January 23, 2008... Front-month March Brent futures continued on its downward path, its decline fueled by increasing fears that the credit and housing crisis in the US will trigger a full recession that might be echoed around the world and undermine energy demand....

Refinery Cuts Supportive, But Arbitrage Imports Add Pressure.
January 23, 2008... The ICE gas oil futures February contract was influenced by the volatility in the crude markets, plunging from the high of $800/ton on Jan. 17 down to a $753.25/ton low on Jan. 22. At press time, the contract was trading at $769/ton. ...

Gazprom Targets Hungary For Final Leg Of South Stream.
January 30, 2008... Hungary appears to be shaping up as the final piece in the transit puzzle for Gazprom in the proposed South Stream pipeline project, and Gazprom is already knocking on the door. A Gazprom delegation led by Deputy Chief Executive Alexander...

Kazakhstan Gets Tough With Investors.
January 30, 2008... Kazakhstan's oil and gas industry has gotten off to a bumpy start in 2008. Although the Kashagan dispute has been settled for the time being, a number of other oil producers could find themselves in the firing line: New export taxes are...

Moscow Refinery Modernization In The Works.
January 30, 2008... Gazprom oil arm Gazprom Neft and Russian independent Sibir Energy, which is partially owned by the city of Moscow, appear to be wasting no time moving ahead with plans to modernize the Moscow Refinery, where the two have recently settled a...

Gazprom Neft Gets Into European Downstream.
January 30, 2008... Gazprom Neft is to follow Lukoil and become the second Russian company with refining capacity in Europe following a recent agreement outlining the acquisition of a 51% stake in Serbian state oil company Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS). The...

Rise In Export Tax Slams Seaborne Shipments.
January 30, 2008... The latest hike in Russia's crude oil export taxes looks set to take its toll in February, as seaborne exports of crude oil are slated to plunge to their lowest levels in two years next month. Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft has penciled in...

Exxon Fights On For Sakhalin-1 Gas Export.
January 30, 2008... Exxon Mobil is not going to give up hopes of exporting the gas produced at the Sakhalin-1 project on Russia's Pacific shelf without a fight. The US supermajor is undertaking an independent study on local demand to see how much gas Gazprom...

Rosneft Refuses To Extend Sinopec Supply Deal.
January 30, 2008... Rosneft did not ship crude to China's Sinopec last year under a deal signed by the two companies in the summer of 2007, as other export options turned out to be more attractive for the Russian state major, Rosneft said. For the same reason, the...

Bankruptcy Closes In On Russneft.
January 30, 2008... Russneft could be on the brink of bankruptcy, as tax authorities may soon begin claiming the money in the company's accounts following a Jan. 25 ruling by the Moscow Federal Arbitration Court confirming the company's tax arrears. The...

Fate Of Siberian Light Exports Still In The Air.(Brief article)
January 30, 2008... Russia's Industry and Energy Ministry has failed to take a decision on redirecting all crude volumes of Siberian Light that away from exports through the Black Sea port of Tuapse and toward Rosneft's nearby refinery. Instead, the ministry has...

Gazprom To Take Decision On Baltic LNG.
January 30, 2008... International companies lined up to partner with Gazprom in the Baltic LNG project are looking toward a Feb. 7 Gazprom board meeting, when the Russian gas giant is expected to make a decision on the long-stalled project. Industry observers...

TNK-BP Wants More For Kovykta Stake.
January 30, 2008... TNK-BP wants $1 billion for its 62.9% stake in the giant Kovykta gas field in East Siberia, up from the original $700 million-$900 million, according to the Russian-UK venture's co-owner, Viktor Vekselberg. Disagreement on price is the...

Rospan Gets Access To Gazprom Pipes.
January 30, 2008... TNK-BP gas subsidiary Rospan International may finally be able to boost its gas production following an agreement with Gazprom allowing the venture full access to the state monopoly's pipeline network. Gazprom reportedly agreed to take 3.4...

Yuzhny Crude Loading Program For February 2008.
January 30, 2008... Yuzhny Crude Loading Program For February 2008