NEFTE Compass articles from July 2003

NEFTE Compass archives from July 2003

Putin On The Ritz: Putin Extends Russian Energy Dialogue To The UK.(Vladimir Putin )
July 2, 2003... President Vladimir Putin scored a double victory for Russia during his visit to the UK last week, winning pledges of support for a new route for gas exports to northern Europe, and witnessing the signing of a final contract for the...

Moving Majors: Sparring Majors Reshuffled In July Loading Programs.
July 2, 2003... Sparring between Russia's oil majors has kicked off a major reshuffle of crude export patterns in the July port loading schedules. Lukoil has been completely removed from the July loading schedules for Odessa and Gdansk -- both of which...

Fashion Victim: Tatneft Pledges To Improve Corporate Governance.
July 2, 2003... Improving one's corporate image is clearly in vogue among Russian oil companies, though some have been notoriously slow to get off the mark. Tatneft, a 490,000 b/d producer in the Russian autonomous republic of Tatarstan, has finally latched on...

Into Iran: Tatneft Closes In On Iranian Exploration Deal.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2003... Tatneft hopes by the end of the year to wind up two years of negotiations and sign a buy-back deal for the exploration of the Mogan acreage in Iran, says Rais Khisamov, Tatneft's chief geologist and a member of the board of directors. ...

Taking Off: Lukoil Launches Commercial Production Of Jet A1.(aviation fuel)
July 2, 2003... Lukoil has quietly sold its first-ever batch of jet A1 aviation fuel to BP, a 10,000 metric ton parcel for export through either the Baltic Sea ports of Riga or Tallinn. The fuel was produced from a recently launched jet A1 line at...

Swapsky: Lukoil Signs Long-Term Swap With Iran.(Naftiran Intertrade Co.)
July 2, 2003... Russia's Lukoil has signed a long-term swap contract with Iran's Naftiran Intertrade Co. (Nico) to supply Siberian Light crude to the Iranian Caspian port of Neka in exchange for Iranian crude made available at the Kharg Island export terminal....

Champion Stake: Abramovich Swaps Chukotka For Chelsea.(Roman Abramovich)
July 2, 2003... Oil billionaire Roman Abramovich is buying a controlling stake in top London soccer club Chelsea, just weeks after cashing in some of his stake in Sibneft by agreeing to a merger with Yukos to form the world's fourth-largest crude producer. ...

Red Mist: Gazprom And Turkey Battle Over Blue Stream.(Gazprom Russian Joint Stock Co.)(Botas Petroleum Pipeline Corp.)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2003... Although both parties still insist that they hope to resolve the issue through talks, and most analysts still expect an out-of-court settlement, Turkey and Gazprom have each started a countdown to legal action in the dispute over the volumes...

Up And Away: Russia Pumps Up The Volumes.(crude oil production and exports)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2003... Russian crude production in May reached 8.29 million b/d (35.05 million metric tons), 92,500 b/d higher than in the previous month and 11% up on a year ago (see p14-15). Output in the first five months of the year averaged 8.16 million b/d...

Share Raising: Rusia To Raise $20 Million For Kovykta.(Rusia Petroleum)
July 2, 2003... Shareholders of Rusia Petroleum decided at their Jun. 27 annual meeting to issue new shares in a bid to raise $20 million. The new shares will be placed within Rusia's ninth additional share issue in a closed subscription among Rusia's...

Into The Deep: Marathon Declares Interest In Murmansk.(Marathon Oil Corp.)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2003... US Marathon Oil Corp. is willing to participate in the Murmansk project to build an oil pipeline from West Siberia to the deepwater port on the Kola peninsula for long-haul deliveries to the US. "If we are allowed to take part in the...

Ven Diagram: Lukoil Eyes Venezuelan Prospects With Conoco.(ConocoPhillips)(joint venture)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2003... Lukoil says it is considering a proposal to team up with ConocoPhillips to jointly develop oil and gas resources in Venezuela. The move is in line with a trend for Russian partners to diversify their risks by expanding overseas, in the...

Borne Out: Moscow Oil And Gas Co. Comes Into Being.
July 2, 2003... UK-registered Sibir Energy has revived its old plan to form Moscow Oil and Gas Co. (MOGC), and joined its 50% stake in the Sibneft-Yugra joint venture with the core assets of the Moscow city government's 100% stake in the Central Fuel Co....

Winning Formula: Sakhalin-2 Awards $250 Million Contract.(Sakhalin Energy)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2003... Sakhalin Energy, the operator of the Royal Dutch/Shell-led Sakhalin-2 consortium, has awarded a $250 million contract to construct the onshore processing facility (OPF) under Phase-2 of the project. The contract went to an international group...

Russian Crude Loading Programs For July 2003.
July 2, 2003... Novorossiysk Crude Loading Program For July 2003

Kazakhstan: Nelson Taps French For Upstream Loan.(BNP Paribas S.A.)(Nelson Resources Ltd.)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2003... Canadian independent Nelson Resources has secured a three-year $60 million loan from BNP Paribas on behalf of Kazakhoil-Aktobe (KOA), its 50-50 joint venture with state oil company Kazmunaigaz to develop the onshore Alibekmola and Kozhasai oil...

Georgia: Greens To Start Legal Action Against BTC Pipeline.
July 2, 2003... A Georgian environmental group, Green Alternative, has been granted the right to start a legal action in Georgia against the BP-led Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline on the grounds that the country's laws on the protection of the...

Azerbaijan: Vitol Snaps Up Socar Volumes.(cargoes contract)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2003... Swiss trader Vitol has won the latest tender by Azeri state oil company Socar to buy two Urals cargoes in June. Vitol will purchase two cargoes of 80,000 metric tons (58,600 bbl) each out of the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. The...

Kazakhstan: PetroKazakhstan Signs CPC Deal With Lukoil.(Caspian Pipeline Consortium)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2003... PetroKazakhstan, the Canadian company formerly known as Hurricane Hydrocarbons, has opened another export outlet for its production in Kazakstan, announcing last week the signature of a memorandum of understanding with Russia's Lukoil giving it...

Ukraine: JKX Seeks Out More Asset Acquisitions.(JKX Oil and Gas PLC)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2003... UK independent explorer JKX is planning a joint venture with Benam Holdings to acquire further assets in Ukraine, including a stake in gas trader Eural Trans Gas Kft, which operates in Ukraine, Turkmenistan and Western Europe. JKX said it...

Ukraine: State Company Clinches Low-Cost Credit.(Naftogas Ukrainy )(Brief Article)
July 2, 2003... State oil company Naftogas Ukrainy is tapping further into the corporate borrowing market, reaching preliminary agreement with Germany's Westdeutsche Landesbank (West LB) on a $45 million loan. The one-year loan, which is designed to help...

Hungary: Mol Mops Up Biggest Loan Deal.(MOL Rt)(finance)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2003... Hungarian oil and gas concern Mol has signed a C600 million ($686 million) multi-currency revolving loan -- the largest credit ever extended to a Hungarian company or to an oil and gas company in Central and Eastern Europe. The commercial...

Gazbond: Gazprom Sets Out Bond Program.(Gazprom Finance B.V.)
July 2, 2003... Gazprom's board of directors decided this week to launch bonds worth 10 billion rubles ($329.16 million) on the domestic market to help fund its investment programs and refinance its short-term debt. The three-year securities will be placed...

Equities And Currencies.
July 2, 2003... Share Prices Closing On July 1, 2003

Crude Oil: Futures And Differentials Firm.(prices and exports)
July 2, 2003... Crude oil futures continued on their upward path culminating in a Jun. 30 $1 rally on the back of a politically motivated general strike in Nigeria. The strike so far has had no direct impact on production, but union leaders now threaten to...

Products: Gas Oil Rises In The North, Dips Down South.
July 2, 2003... European differentials for Russian gas oil soared with strong buying into Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Antwerp and tight local supply. But differentials in the Mediterranean plunged as demand crashed and prompt availability remained high....

Jailhouse Rock: Attack On Yukos Polarizes Russian Elite.(Yukos Oil Co.)
July 9, 2003... A wide-ranging attack by state law enforcement bodies on Yukos has sent the Russian business community reeling, polarizing the country's political and financial elites ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections. A slew of arrests...

Rolling Zones: Investment Targets Shift In Caspian Exploration.
July 9, 2003... Another failed exploration project in Azerbaijan has intensified the upstream focus on Kazakh and Russian waters in the northern Caspian Sea. But the tough line that Kazakhstan is taking with its biggest investors could backfire and temper...

Elastic Line: Transneft Commissions BPS Expansion.(Baltic Pipeline System)
July 9, 2003... In an effort to ease a domestic crude surplus due to rising output and transportation bottlenecks, Russia's national pipeline operator Transneft commissioned on Jul. 4 the first expansion of the Baltic Pipeline System (BPS) linking oil fields...

Roundabout: Lukoil To Boost Refining To Bypass Export Limits.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... Lukoil has said it will ramp up runs at its refineries and plans to export larger volumes of refined products, as it struggles with limitations in the country's pipeline export infrastructure. Export pipeline bottlenecks are forcing Russian...

Chinese Gambit: CNPC Eyes Licenses For Tyumen Fields.(China National Petroleum Corp.)(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) has submitted an application to bid in a tender for oil fields in Western Siberia. Tyumen regional authorities intend to auction 11 fields in the Aromashevsky, Vikulovsky, and Sorokonsky districts in...

Perfect Pair: Yukos To Restructure Mazeikiu Debts.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... Russian major Yukos has struck a deal with the Lithuanian government to make life easier for Mazeikiu Nafta (MN), by making its debt cheaper to service. Moscow-based investment bank Renaissance Capital has said that the debt restructuring...

Loose Ends: Yukos Surprises With Buyback Plan.
July 9, 2003... Yukos has caught the market on the wrong foot by appointing Moscow-based investment bank Trust Bank to buy back up to 10% of its outstanding shares for $16.66 per share, a premium of at least $2/share on recent prices. The buyback...

Desert Oasis: Saudis Eye Russian Cooperation Opportunities.
July 9, 2003... Saudi Arabia wants to be Russia's leading partner in the Middle East, a Saudi business representative said on a visit to Moscow. Russia is "a friend of ours, and we shall build strategic partnership with it," said Abdurahman al-Jureisi,...

Gazatollah: Gazprom Seeks Upstream Alliance In Iran.(Mostazafan and Janbazan Foundation)
July 9, 2003... Russian gas giant Gazprom is looking to set up an upstream alliance with the Mostazafan and Janbazan Foundation (MJF), Iran's largest and most powerful religious bonyad, which is under the ultimate control of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei....

Platform Seals: Shell Signs For Sakhalin-2 Structures.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... Sakhalin Energy, the operator of the Royal Dutch/Shell-led Sakhalin-2 consortium, has signed two more contracts worth a total of $250 million for engineering and construction of two offshore platform substructures. One contract went to...

Noteworthy: Gazprom To Raise $4 Billion In Euronotes.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... In a bid to diversify its borrowing instruments and lower its refinancing risks, natural gas monopoly Gazprom has decided to switch to new financing mechanisms. The gas behemoth is mulling issuing three or four-year euronotes to attract $4...

Barging In: Barge Shipments Supplant Rail Volumes.
July 9, 2003... As Russia's rising crude production knocks up against the bottlenecked pipeline system, oil companies are boosting crude exports outside the Transneft system. Rail shipments, however, took a drop in June from the previous month as some oil...

Russia Ripe For Investment -- Conference.
July 9, 2003... Russia is ripe for oil and gas investment, with plenty of room for growth in production and exports, and a lower degree of political risk than at any time in the past decade, speakers told a conference in London this week. "It's the most...

Kazakhstan: CPC Signs Up First Government-Nominated Shippers.(Caspian Pipeline Consortium)
July 9, 2003... The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) has signed its first agreements with exporters who have been nominated by the governments of Russia and Kazakhstan, which have stakes of 24% and 19% respectively in the pipeline. Kalmtek, a crude...

Estonia: Fortum Sells Terminal At Muuga.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... Finnish Fortum has signed a protocol of intent to sell its terminal in the Estonian port of Muuga on the Southern shore of the Gulf of Finland. The buyers are Pakterminal and Oiltanking, which own neighboring terminals at the port. The...

Kazakhstan: Crude Production Hits New High.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... Kazakh crude oil and condensate production rose to a record 1.032 million b/d in June, up just 1.6% from May but a hefty 12% higher than in June 2002 (NC Jul.11,p9). The biggest gainers were two Canadian operators -- PetroKazakhstan, which...

Azerbaijan: French Win Shah Deniz Contract.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... BP and its partners in the Shah Deniz gas field off Azerbaijan have awarded France's Technip-Coflexip a $300 million contract for the Stage 1 development of the field. The contract includes the design, engineering, procurement, assembly,...

Hungary: Mol And Yukos Ink Long-Term Crude Deal.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... Hungarian oil and gas group Mol has signed a 10-year supply agreement with Russia's Yukos. The deal guarantees that the Hungarian company will receive 7.2 million metric tons/yr (145,000 b/d) of Russian crude. Mol Chief Executive Zsolt...

Special Forces: High Prices Boost Lukoil Profits.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... Lukoil's net profit in the first quarter of 2003 rose to $820 million in US GAAP accounts, a more than threefold increase from the corresponding period of 2002 when the company earned $243 million. The company's revenues shot 78% higher to $5.1...

Up And Down: Rosneft Reports Higher Earnings, Lower Profits.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... Rosneft has announced a non-consolidated net profit of 8.9 billion rubles ($280 million) for 2002, in accounts prepared to Russian accounting standards. This represented a decrease of nearly 1 billion rubles from the previous year. The...

Equities And Currencies.
July 9, 2003... Share Prices Closing On July 8, 2003

Crude Oil: Futures Move to Nigerian Beat.
July 9, 2003... Crude oil futures marched up the hill then down again to the beat of Nigerian drums before ending up broadly where they started seven days ago. A general strike in Nigeria threatening 2 million b/d of exports pushed Brent futures to a Jul. 3...

Products: Gas Oil Gets Lackluster German Welcome.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2003... In Northwest Europe (NWE), Russian gas oil has met lackluster buying interest, particularly in the key German market. A touch-and-go arbitrage into the US has put a bit of a floor under the market, but differentials have dropped from last...

Bull's-Eye: Hungarians Claim Croatian Prize In Battle With OMV.
July 16, 2003... Hungary's Mol has claimed a new scalp in its ongoing battle with Austria's OMV to win dominance in the oil and gas industry of central and Eastern Europe. Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan has confirmed that Mol will beat OMV in the...

Spearhead: Russia Bids For Iraqi Reconstruction Business.(Strotransgas)(Fluor and Bechtel)
July 16, 2003... Signaling that Moscow has no intention of giving up on Iraq, oil and gas contractor Stroitransgas is spearheading a new Russian campaign to win business in the postwar reconstruction of Iraq. Strotransgas, which has already started talks...

Virgin Soldiers: TNK-BP Offers Few Clues From BVI Base.(British Virgin Islands)
July 16, 2003... By the end of this summer, BP and its Russian partners Alfa-Access-Renova (AAR), the owners of Tyumen Oil Co. (TNK), will have finalized a new structure for TNK-BP, the 50-50 joint venture that in terms of production and reserves ranks among...

Bombardment: Khodorkovsky Returns To Face The Flak.(Mikhail Khodorkovsky scrutinised)
July 16, 2003... Attacks on Yukos by state law enforcement agencies are growing by the day. The company's offices have been raided and searched, new investigations have been launched, the general prosecutor's office has mandated Russia's Tax Ministry to...

Jury Out: Sibneft Seeks Charter Change For Yukos Deal.(Sibneft Oil)(YUKOS Oil Co.)(Brief Article)
July 16, 2003... The board of Russia's Sibneft has asked shareholders to forgo a requirement that Yukos offer a cash buyout to Sibneft's minority shareholders, as part of the two companies' merger plans. The proposed change in Sibneft's charter would give...

Gumshoe: Gazprom Comes Under Scrutiny.(Gazprom Russian Joint Stock Co.)
July 16, 2003... Russian gas monopoly Gazprom is facing another probe by the Audit Chamber, Russia's parliamentary financial watchdog. This time, according to a Chamber official, the watchdog plans to investigate Gazprom's financial and operational...

Business Class: Lukoil And Aeroflot To Step Up Cooperation.(Brief Article)
July 16, 2003... After recently producing its first-ever batch of jet A1 aviation fuel, Lukoil is stepping up its efforts to market the product. It has agreed with Russian flag carrier Aeroflot to possibly increase the amount of jet fuel it supplies the...

Mounting Up: Crude Export Contraints Boost Refinery Intakes.(capacity)
July 16, 2003... Russia's rising crude production is combining with its limited export capacity to press companies to increase crude deliveries to refineries, from where they can rail some of the surplus volumes to export markets. Crude deliveries to...

Railing On: Russia Strikes A Rough Balance.(YUKOS Oil Co.)(Brief Article)
July 16, 2003... Yukos' production is to go up by about 140,000 b/d, while Tyumen Oil Co. (TNK) and Surgutneftegas are each seen up about 60,000 b/d and Sibneft up by about 50,000 b/d. The growth could be even stronger, the IEA notes, as it is limited by...

Sever Ready: Fortum-Lukoil Venture To Launch Oil Production.(SeverTek)(Brief Article)
July 16, 2003... Severtek, a 50-50 joint venture between Lukoil and Finland's Fortum, plans by the end of July to start commercial production from the South Shapkino (Yuzhno-Shapkinskoye) oil field in the northern Nenets autonomous district of Russia. In...

Blue Line: Gazprom Fails To Resolve Turkey Gas Dispute.(Gazprom Russian Joint Stock Co.)
July 16, 2003... Russian gas monopoly Gazprom has failed once again to resolve a price and volume dispute with Ankara, which has halted gas imports since March into Turkey via the $3.4 billion Blue Stream gas pipeline system extending under the Black Sea. ...

Deep Down: Exxon Starts Drilling On Sakhalin-1.(Brief Article)
July 16, 2003... Exxon Neftegas, the operator of the Sakhalin-1 project on the Russian Pacific shelf, announced on Jul. 12 that it had begun drilling the first production well at the Chaivo field. Drilling is carried out from the shore using the...

Kazakhstan: BG And ENI Produce First Karachaganak Oil For CPC.(Caspian Pipeline Consortium)
July 16, 2003... A new milestone has been reached at Kazakhstan's giant Karachaganak gas condensate field with the announcement that the first liquids have been produced for export via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC). "First sales of oil exported...

Kazakhstan: Paribas And Vitol Offshoot Lend For Upstream.
July 16, 2003... Kazakhstan's state oil and gas company Kazmunaigas (KMG) says it is has chosen BNP Paribas and Euromin SA, an affiliate of Swiss trading house Vitol, to arrange a $200 million loan to fund upstream work in the Caspian over the next three years....

Poland: PKN/Rotch Bid For Gdansk Refinery Rejected.
July 16, 2003... Poland's privatization authorities have turned down a joint bid by the country's largest downstream concern, PKN Orlen, and UK-based Rotch Energy for a 75% stake in the Gdansk refinery, now called Grupa Lotos. Instead, Lotos will remain...

Net Buster: Low Gas Prices Hit Gazprom Profits.(Brief Article)
July 16, 2003... Russian gas monopoly Gazprom posted net profits of 28.96 billion rubles ($954 million) for 2002, in consolidated accounts prepared according to international accounting standards (IAS), a 119% hike from year-on-year figures in ruble terms. ...

Summer Rose: Rosneft Reports Higher GAAP Profits.(Brief Article)
July 16, 2003... Net profits at Russia's state-owned Rosneft increased 64% in 2002 to $323.7 million, according to newly released accounts prepared to US GAAP accounting standards. The sharp rise in profits was fueled by higher export prices, increased...

Equities And Currencies.
July 16, 2003... Share Prices Closing On July 15, 2003

Crude Oil: Hurricane Takes Hold Of Futures Markets.
July 16, 2003... A hurricane in the US Gulf took over as the main price supporting factor in crude oil futures markets when industrial action in Nigeria was called off and August Brent traded to a $29.40 high early in the reporting period before heading into...

Products: Med Buyers Build Up Gas Oil Differentials.(Brief Article)
July 16, 2003... Russian gas oil differentials declined in Northwest Europe (NWE), but firmed in the Mediterranean as buyers started building inventories. Gas oil exports from the Baltic Sea ports totaled 508,000 metric tons, of which Ventspils accounted...

Major Target: Chinese Set Their Sights On Kazakhstan.
July 22, 2003... Despite being rejected by the Kashagan consortium, China is redoubling its efforts to build up a presence in its neighbor Kazakhstan, spurred on by the need to slake its growing thirst for energy. China last year leapfrogged Japan to...

Private Function: Yukos Furore Could Dent Privatization Plans.
July 22, 2003... With less than perfect timing, Russia last week unveiled an ambitious privatization program against a background of deteriorating investor confidence, with politically motivated attacks on Yukos driving the stock market down by more than 14%....

Super Model: Germany Sets The Standard In Gas Cooperation.
July 22, 2003... Hailed as a model for foreign cooperation in Russia, a joint venture has been set up by Germany's Wintershall and Russian gas monopoly Gazprom to produce natural gas in Western Siberia from the Achimovsk deep geological layer of the massive...

Going Dutch: Gazprom Gets Going On China Pipeline.(Brief Article)
July 22, 2003... Gazprom is setting up a wholly owned, Netherlands-registered subsidiary to take part in China's West-East gas pipeline. The subsidiary, West-East Pipeline Project Investment BV, was approved by the gas monopoly's board of directors on Jul....

Home Grown: Export Constraints Underpin Domestic Market.(Brief Article)
July 22, 2003... Russia's domestic consumption of oil products is growing faster than exports, although this has more to do with capacity constraints on export infrastructure than growing local demand. Local deliveries of fuel oil soared 18% in the first...

American Pie: Yukos Sends More Crude To US.(Brief Article)
July 22, 2003... Russian oil major Yukos is sending more crude to the US. It has booked the very large crude carrier (VLCC), the Crown City, to make the trans-Atlantic voyage to the US Gulf in late August. Yukos will load three crude tankers out of the...

Asian Persuasian: Russia, China, And Korea Review Kovykta.
July 22, 2003... Officials from Russia, China, and South Korea met on Jul. 22-23 in Beijing to review the $12 billion Kovykta gas project to export gas from East Siberia to China and South Korea. The working groups involved representatives of TNK-BP-led...

Georgia In Mind: Gazprom, Georgia Strike Long-Term Gas Deal.
July 22, 2003... Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom has signed a 25-year strategic cooperation agreement with Georgia on the country's gas sector. Gazprom CEO Miller and Georgian Minister of Fuel and Energy David Mirtskhulava signed the document on Jul....

Room And Board: Rosneft Board Approves Swap Deal With Lukoil.(Brief Article)
July 22, 2003... Rosneft's board of directors has finally approved the company's asset swap deal with Lukoil, which will greatly increase the presence of the state-owned champion in Russia's north. Rosneft is clearly getting the better end of the bargain....

Stop Sign: Authorities Order Sibir To Halt Work.(Brief Article)
July 22, 2003... UK-registered Sibir Energy has been ordered to halt work at the Upper Salym oil field in Western Siberia. The State Inspector for Geological Monitoring has threatened to nullify the oil field license held by Sibir-affiliate Evikhon,...

Russian Crude Loading Programs For August 2003.
July 22, 2003... Novorossiysk Crude Loading Program For August 2003

Ukraine: Russia Holds Out Over Odessa-Brody Pipeline.(Brief Article)
July 22, 2003... Russia has refused to sign a long-term crude transit protocol with Ukraine because of Kiev's failure to come to a final decision on the fate of its Odessa-Brody pipeline, which has mostly lain idle since it was built two years ago. The...

Novo BTC: Moscow Considers Joining BTC Pipeline.(Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan)(Brief Article)
July 22, 2003... After years of less than whole-hearted support for rival schemes to export Caspian crude, Moscow is considering a proposal to join the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline being built by a BP-led consortium. Russia's Energy Ministry has...

Azerbaijan: Vitol And Taurus Win Socar Tenders.(Brief Article)
July 22, 2003... Swiss traders Vitol and Taurus have come trumps up in tenders held by Socar for August crude shipments. Taurus won a tender for a 140,000 metric ton cargo of Urals crude loading out of the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk on Aug....

Kazakhstan: Kaztransgas Ups Loan After Oversubscription.(Brief Article)
July 22, 2003... Kazakhstan's state oil and gas company Kazmunaigas has dipped into the international capital markets for the second time this month, with the announcement that the company's gas pipeline arm, Kaztransgas (KTG), has raised a $150 million loan...