NEFTE Compass articles from July 2007

NEFTE Compass archives from July 2007

Rosneft Chairman Sechin Looks To Bolster Image.
July 2, 2007... Ultra-secretive Igor Sechin, the deputy head of Vladimir Putin's presidential administration and widely considered the "Grey Cardinal" of the Kremlin, made his first public appearance in front of international media at the weekend. He was...

Gazprom Eyes Power Business.
July 2, 2007... Gazprom has confirmed plans to become a bigger participant in the electricity business in line with the company's strategy to become a world-scale energy company. "Gazprom would like to become a player on the world electric power market,"...

Lukoil Eyes Opportunities In Venezuela And Mideast Gulf.
July 2, 2007... Lukoil President Vagit Alekperov was busy last week. He had meetings with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Petroleum and Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez, as well as Qatar's Oil Minster Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, who were in Moscow....

Eni Seeks Change In License Terms For Fields.(EniNeftegas)(Brief article)
July 2, 2007... The Russian Natural Resource Ministry's environmental oversight board, Rosprirodnadzor, plans a probe of licenses held by EniNeftegas -- a joint venture between Eni (60%) and Italian utility Enel (40%) -- in the first quarter of 2008, the...

Shtokman C1 Reserves May Be Revised Up.
July 2, 2007... Gazprom may soon upgrade Russian classified C1 reserves of 3.66 Tcm at the massive offshore Barents Sea Shtokman gas fields by up to 400 Bcm of gas, according to Rudolph Ter-Sarkisov, first deputy general director of Gazprom subsidiary...

Bashkir Energy Complex May Return To State.
July 2, 2007... A Moscow Arbitration Court ruling may return Russia's Bashkir energy complex to state control, with state Rosneft waiting in the wings. The court has ruled that Bashkir Capital illegally transferred its stakes of around 60% in crude...

Lukoil Posts Weaker First-Quarter Profits.(Financial report)
July 2, 2007... Lukoil has posted a 23% year-on-year decline in first-quarter net profits, to just under $1.3 billion in US GAAP results. Lukoil attributed the decline to lower oil prices in the three-month period, higher export duties, increased...

Rosneft, Sibur Join Up In Gas Processing Venture.
July 2, 2007... Rosneft and Gazprom's gas processing subsidiary, Sibur, have signed an agreement to set up a joint venture to process 3 Bcm/yr of the state-run oil firm's gas output. Under a memorandum of understanding signed by Rosneft President Sergei...

OMV Ceyhan Refinery Project Approved.
July 2, 2007... Turkey's energy market regulatory authority, EPDK, last week gave the go-ahead to fuel retailer Petrol Ofisi, which is 34% owned by Austria's OMV, to build a refinery at the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. OMV said approval of the...

Hungarian Regulator Slams OMV Mol Bid.
July 2, 2007... Any merger of Austria's OMV and Hungary's Mol would create a regional monopoly and as such would not obtain regulatory approval from the Hungarian competition authority, GVH, according to an official. "If this merger went ahead, Central...

Gazprom Posts Record Earnings For 2006.(Financial report)
July 2, 2007... Gazprom saw consolidated net profits reach a record $24.6 billion (636.46 billion rubles) in 2006, more than double the $11.7 billion in 2005, according to results out last week. The results, audited to international accounting standards, were...

Tatneft Profits Rise As Less Crude Goes Abroad.(Financial report)
July 2, 2007... Tatneft has announced that its net profits rose to 29.77 billion rubles ($1.13 billion) in 2006 from $981 million in 2005, according to US GAAP standards. The results topped market expectations for the 520,000 b/d company. The rise in...

Equities and Currencies.
July 2, 2007... Share Prices Closing On July 2, 2007

Rosneft Signs Strategic Agreement With Shell.
July 9, 2007... Rosneft this week signed a strategic agreement with Royal Dutch Shell, its second with an international supermajor in the past three months, as the debt-ridden, Russian, state-controlled company begins courting in earnest potential foreign...

Mol Reluctance Distracts From Merger Potential.(merging with OMV)
July 9, 2007... Austrian OMV's bid to merge with Hungary's Mol appears stuck at first base, facing rejection from both senior management at the Hungarian group and from high-ranking politicians in Budapest. But the case for a merged group remains strong....

Sakhalin-2 Enjoys Mixed Fortunes.
July 9, 2007... The Sakhalin-2 LNG and crude project offshore Russia's Pacific coast has again come under fire from regional Russian legal authorities over alleged environmental violations, suggesting that Gazprom, too, had better watch its step on the island....

Gazprom Opens Door To Shtokman.
July 9, 2007... Gazprom has begun to reveal details of a model of cooperation that would allow foreign partners to take stakes in an operating company developing the massive offshore Barents Sea Shtokman gas field. This represents a step back from previous...

Ivanov Boosts Primorsk Expansion.(Sergei Ivanov)
July 9, 2007... In a rare address covering Russian energy issues, First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov threw his weight behind the significant expansion of Russia's Baltic port of Primorsk during a recent visit to the port, which is slated to be the...

Olympic Win Needs Major Investment.
July 9, 2007... In a victory for President Vladimir Putin, Russia's Black Sea resort town of Sochi won its bid to host the Winter Olympic Games in 2014, beating out rival bits from South Korea and Austria. Now Russia must open up its oil-fattened coffers to...

Rosneft, Sinopec Near Deal On Railway Supplies.
July 9, 2007... Russian state Rosneft and China's Sinopec are close to a deal that would see Russian crude exported to China by rail through Mongolia as early as August, although the two sides have yet to reach an agreement with the operator of the stretch of...

Khristenko Pushes China Gas Negotiations.
July 9, 2007... Commercial talks over natural gas sales from Russia to China should be finished within the next two years or major plans for gas pipelines linking the countries risk being derailed, Russian Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko...

Uneven Russian Product Flows Hit Tallinn Terminals.(Brief article)
July 9, 2007... Although Russian Railways has reopened the country's railway ties to Estonia, trading sources say that several oil product terminals in the port of Tallinn remain underutilized since the cutoff of deliveries in early May. Trading sources...

Surgutneftegas And Gazprom Win Yamal Blocks.
July 9, 2007... Kremlin-friendly Surgutneftegas and state-controlled Gazprom have continued their expansion into the Siberian Yamal Nenets Autonomous District, with both winning rights to further acreage in another licensing auction (NC May31,p6). Surgut...

Russian Standoff With CPC Continues.
July 9, 2007... State pipeline monopoly Transneft, which manages Russia's 24% stake in the US Chevron-led Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) was unable to increase transportation fees from current rates of $3.40/bbl or to reduce interest rates on outstanding...

Tatneft Invests In Production Outside Of Tatarstan.
July 9, 2007... Tatneft has invested $77.8 million in the first six months of 2007 in developing its resource base outside of Tatarstan, the company said in a statement, without detailing the expenditure. The Tatar government-controlled company has begun...

Russian Diamond Monopoly Explores For Oil In Angola.
July 9, 2007... Russian state diamond monopoly Alrosa has moved forward with its ambitious plans to expand in Angola, signing a deal this week with two Angolan companies to develop oil and gas fields there. Alrosa signed an agreement with Angolan national...

Russian State Pressure Eases On PwC.
July 9, 2007... A recent decision by international accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to withdraw its entire audit series for bankrupt Russian oil company Yukos appears to have struck the proper chord with Russian authorities, as a Moscow Arbitration...

Gazprom Buys Small UK Gas Retailer.
July 9, 2007... Gazprom is pressing ahead with its ambitious plans to boost its presence overseas, finalizing a new acquisition deal in the UK. Gazprom's UK affiliate, Gazprom Marketing and Trading (GMT), said last week that it had completed the...

Rosneft Signs Cooperation Deal With Aeroflot.
July 9, 2007... Rosneft and Russian flagship airline Aeroflot have signed a general strategic partnership and cooperation agreement, according a joint statement by the companies. Under the accord between the state-controlled firms, Rosneft will supply oil...

Lukoil Eyes October Opening Of Odessa Plant.
July 9, 2007... Lukoil expects to reopen its 72,000 b/d Odessa refinery by October, after shutting the plant in for more than two years to improve its refining depth and yield of light products. A Lukoil representative said the plant, which has been closed...

PKN Orlen Warms To Merger With Lotos.
July 9, 2007... Poland's state-controlled refiner PKN Orlen is interested in merging with smaller state player Grupa Lotos, whose principle asset is the Baltic refinery of Gdansk. In two separate interviews this week with Polish newspapers, PKN Chief Executive...

Kazakhs Mull Croatia Expansion.
July 9, 2007... Kazakhstan would like to take a stake in Croatia's state oil and gas company, Ina, and has begun talks with the company's senior management, according to a statement last week from the Kazakh Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry. The...

Moscow Tightens Grip On Central Asian Gas.
July 9, 2007... Russia is trying to consolidate its grip on Central Asian gas by firming up proposals for a pipeline to run along the Caspian shore from Turkmenistan north through Kazakhstan to Russia, and inviting Uzbekistan to join the project. A...

Saipem Wins New Kashagan Contract.
July 9, 2007... Italian engineering company Saipem, which is 43% owned by Eni, says it has been awarded a contract for offshore work on the Kashagan field. Agip KCO, the Eni-led consortium developing the giant Kashagan field in the Caspian Sea off...

Market Tests Highs As Energy Stocks Strengthen.
July 9, 2007... After floundering for months, Russia's benchmark stock index RTS once again broke through the 2,000 mark this week, although profit taking caused the market to subsequently dip slightly below this level. Oil and gas stocks -- which account...

Bank Hopes To Sell Tomskneft Stake Soon.
July 9, 2007... Russian state bank Vnesheconombank is reportedly ready to sell the 50% stake in Tomskneft that it bought last week from Rosneft for $3.4 billion, which likely means the entry of Gazprom oil subsidiary Gazprom Neft into the Siberian producer....

Equities and Currencies.
July 9, 2007... Share Prices Closing On Jul. 10, 2007

Urals Crude Zooms on Better Margins.
July 9, 2007... Front-month Brent crude oil futures traded in a $4.31/bbl range from a Jul. 3 low of $72.13 to a Jul. 11 high of $76.44. Prices rallied on an influx of speculative capital, in part triggered by a very bullish medium-term report from the...

Gas Oil Firms In Six Successive Sessions.
July 9, 2007... Front-month July ICE gas oil futures -- which expire on Jul. 12 -- traded in a $26/metric ton range from a $631 low on Jul. 4, rising in six successive trading sessions, to a $657 high on Jul. 11 -- largely tracking crude oil futures. The rally...

Total Gets Shtokman With Help From Paris.
July 18, 2007... In France's new president, Nicolas Sarkozy, Moscow appears to have found a partner that is as willing to wield his political might in the corporate energy game as Russia's president, Vladimir Putin. In a phone call to Sarkozy last week, Putin...

Baltic Pipeline System-2 Construction Start Delayed.
July 18, 2007... The construction start-up for the 1 million barrel per day Baltic Pipeline System-2 (BPS-2) remains delayed due to the absence of a final decision on the endpoint of the new line, amid competition between the ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga....

Shelf Tax Breaks Deemed Needless.
July 18, 2007... Russia's Natural Resources Ministry doesn't see any need for the introduction of tax allowances to develop the country's most difficult oil and gas reserves, including offshore projects. Tax privileges for such developments were proposed...

Tallinn Exports Back In Crosshairs.
July 18, 2007... Russia's state railway monopoly has ordered the country's top producers of refined oil products and other resources to cut their deliveries through the port of Tallinn in half, in what appears to be a revival of the showdown between Moscow and...

Rosneft Debt Plan Falters.
July 18, 2007... Rosneft's plan to refinance the large sums of short-term debt it used to purchase assets from bankrupt Russian oil company Yukos has hit its first obstacle. This comes as two more lots, including one containing Yukos' disputed assets abroad,...

Ministry Urges Earlier Kovykta Development.
July 18, 2007... Russia's Natural Resources Ministry has not agreed to starting the development of the giant East Siberian Kovykta gas field in 2017, the date stipulated by the new unified gas development plan for East Siberia and Russia's Far East. "The...

Rosneft Guarantees Crude For Pacific Pipe.
July 18, 2007... State-controlled Rosneft is ready to provide 25 million metric tons/yr (500,000 b/d) of oil from the Vankor group of fields in East Siberia to nearly fill the first phase of the East Siberia Pacific Ocean (Espo) oil pipeline, which national...

No Deadline For Sakhalin-1 Gas Sales.
July 18, 2007... Exxon Mobil does not have any deadlines for selling its gas from the Sakhalin-1 project on the Russian Pacific shelf, Ben Haynes, president of Exxon Mobil in Russia told reporters this week, dousing concerns that the lack of a sales contract...

Gazprom Neft In Talks With Statoil On Sakhalin.
July 18, 2007... Gazprom oil subsidiary Gazprom Neft has begun talks with Norwegian Statoil on the opportunity to develop the Russian state company's Lopukhovsky Block located on the offshore Pacific Sakhalin shelf. Gazprom Neft has been searching for a...

Trader Petrovit Loses Primorsk Volumes.
July 18, 2007... Little-known trader Petrovit, registered in the British Virgin Islands just two years ago, has been ousted from the Baltic port of Primorsk, where it was a major lifter of crude from independent producers (see p11). Petrovit has had a...

Baltic Floating Storage Moving Slowly.
July 18, 2007... Despite expectations that the Baltic port of St. Petersburg would receive a boost from the brief shutoff of fuel oil flows to Tallinn in May, trading sources say that shipments through the floating storage system remain quite light. ...

Gazprom Expands In The Caspian Sea.
July 18, 2007... Seeking expansion on the Caspian shelf, Gazprom has signed an agreement with Sweden's Lundin Petroleum on acquiring a 50% plus one share stake in the Lagansky Block in the Russian sector of the Caspian Sea. The license to Lagansky belongs...

Minister To Issue Opinion On Imperial Reserves.(Russian Ministry of Natural Resources)(Brief article)
July 18, 2007... The Russian Ministry of Natural Resources will issue an opinion to the ministry oversight board in the next several days on the ongoing dispute regarding drastic differences in reserves reporting between Russian classification reserves and...

Rosneft Export Department Gets New Director.
July 18, 2007... Rosneft's export team has been strengthened by a new member, Sergei Andronov, who was introduced this week as a new director of the crude and oil product sales department. Andronov comes from Yukos' refining and marketing division. Prior...

European Unbundling Pains Gazprom.
July 18, 2007... The EU moved a step closer to forcing the separation of gas and power transmission networks from production and supply businesses last week when the European Parliament adopted a motion supporting so-called "ownership unbundling." Gazprom,...

Budapest Vows To Fight OMV Bid.
July 18, 2007... The Hungarian government will use all available regulatory and political measures to block a takeover of domestic energy group Mol by Austria's OMV, Hungary's economy minister, Janos Koka, was quoted as saying Jul. 17 (NC Jul. 12,p1). In...

Mol Offers Investors Growth In OMV Battle.
July 18, 2007... In more moves aimed at fighting off a takeover by Austria's OMV, Hungary's Mol has told investors to expect average annual earnings growth of 6.5% over the next four years -- without any acquisitions -- as well as capital expenditure of $5.3...

Iran-Turkey Gas MOU Seen Linked To Nabucco.
July 18, 2007... Iran and Turkey have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) aimed at paving the way for the transportation of gas from Iran and Turkmenistan via Turkey to Europe. The MOU appears to be designed to shore up additional supply, beyond...

China's CNPC Secures Turkmen Gas Deal.
July 18, 2007... State China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) signed a production sharing contract (PSC) and a gas import deal with Turkmenistan this week, as the Central Asian country continues to make moves to reduce its economic reliance on Russia. The...

Lukoil Protects Kazakh Oil Price Premium.
July 18, 2007... Kazakh oil producer Karakudukmunai, which is operated by Russia's Lukoil Overseas, has opened a $15 million rail loading facility that will protect its price premium, Lukoil said Jul. 12. "The new railroad oil-loading rack will provide the...

Poland's Petrolinvest Hits Home Run With IPO.
July 18, 2007... Shares of Polish firm Petrolinvest made their market debut with a bang this week, more than doubling in value on predictions that the company will strike it rich in Kazakhstan. Petrolinvest's stock skyrocketed to 570 zlotys/share...

Belarus Wins Venezuela Oil Field Deal.
July 18, 2007... Belarus has signed two contracts with Petroleos de Venezuela (PDV) to develop Venezuelan oil fields, according to a statement released by PDV at the weekend. Signed in Caracas by PDV Director Eulogio del Pino and Belarus' first deputy...

Russia's Top Investor Moves Out Of Town.(Hermitage Capital Management)(Brief article)
July 18, 2007... Hermitage Capital Management, the largest investment fund dedicated to the Russian market, has reportedly pulled its management team from Moscow amid growing concerns that Russian prosecutors could target the company. The $4 billion public...

Gazprom To Place $1 Billion Eurobond.
July 18, 2007... Gazprom's forthcoming US dollar-denominated eurobond issue may top $1 billion, according to banking sources. The company is preparing to start a road show for the issue by the end of this week. The gas giant is reportedly planning to sell...

Equities and Currencies.
July 18, 2007... Share Prices Closing On Jul. 17, 2007

Urals Pressured.
July 18, 2007... August Brent crude oil futures got within 26cents of breaking last year's $78.65 record high when the contract traded to a $78.40 high early in its Jul. 16 expiry day. A subsequent downward correction the following day, in part triggered by a...

A Mixed Week.
July 18, 2007... European middle distillate prices had a mixed week as an increase in gas oil imports from Asia spurred a slide in prices from highs at the beginning of the week. ICE gas oil August futures contracts traded in a $19.75/metric ton range from...

Chevron Eyes Disputed Caspian Field.
July 24, 2007... Chevron is poised to start negotiations with Turkmenistan next week over the development of the disputed Kyapaz-Serdar oil and gas field, one of the last great prizes in that area of the Caspian Sea. The US major has also been sounding out...

Kremlin Gets Its Man In At Russneft.
July 24, 2007... Bowing to pressure from Russian law enforcement and tax authorities, Mikhail Gutseriev is selling the oil company he founded three years ago, Russneft, to Russia's second-richest man, aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska. Although Deripaska's...

Tatneft Will Still Supply Kremenchug.
July 24, 2007... Crude-long Tatneft has said it will continue deliveries to the Ukrainian Kremenchug refinery even as its erstwhile partner, Ukrainian state Naftogaz Ukrainy, has already wrested control of the plant away from it, according to media reports...

Tatneft Looks To Bitumen For New Growth Phase.
July 24, 2007... Tatneft has entered a make-or-break phase in its development, with the Kremlin giving the green light for the regional company to commence development of bitumen projects that involve challenging managerial and technological conditions. ...

Russia, Qatar Eye Gas Accord.
July 24, 2007... Under the loose auspices of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), Russia and Qatar are negotiating a large-scale accord involving potential multiyear swaps of LNG for European pipeline gas and associated spot trading arrangements, that...

Estonian Cuts Hit TNK-BP Hardest.
July 24, 2007... Contrary to earlier suggestions that the latest ordered cut in flows to the Estonian port of Tallinn was targeted at Swiss-registered trader Gunvor, trading sources tell Nefte Compass that Russian-UK joint venture TNK-BP is suffering the most....

Russian Crude, Condensate Production Up.
July 24, 2007... Russian crude oil and condensate production increased to 9.87 million b/d (40.39 million metric tons) in June, which is 2.15% more than the same period last year and up by 50,300 b/d from May, according to latest data from the Russian Industry...

Ministry Group Criticizes Imperial, DeGolyer & MacNaughton.(Imperial Energy)(Brief article)
July 24, 2007... In an investigation that could eventually result in the loss of licenses, a Russian Ministry of Natural Resources working group has criticized independent reserves appraiser DeGolyer and MacNaughton (D&M) and London-listed Imperial Energy for...

Kremlin Eyes Further Bashkir Assets.
July 24, 2007... Russia's stock exchange, the RTS, has halted trading in shares of companies in the Russian republic of Bashkortostan's energy complex, as a Moscow court has delayed until Aug. 14 further rulings that would transfer to federal control equity...

JKX Buys Caucasus Gas Field.
July 24, 2007... UK-listed JKX Oil and Gas is buying a Russian gas field for $50 million in a deal that will increase the company's proved plus probable oil and gas reserves by approximately 85%. JKX, which is already active in Ukraine, said the...

Russia Pushes Ahead With Espo Pipeline.
July 24, 2007... Russia is pushing ahead with its plan to build the East Siberian Pacific Ocean (Espo) oil trunk line. The issue topped the agenda of a Russian cabinet meeting last week chaired by Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov. The economic efficiency of...

Petersburg Exchange Gains More Support.
July 24, 2007... Five Kremlin-friendly firms have reportedly signed up as founders of the St. Petersburg commodities exchange, which Moscow hopes will increase Russia's importance in the global energy market (NC Jul.5,p4). State-run champions Gazprom and...

US Halliburton Begins Expansion In Russia.
July 24, 2007... US Halliburton has begun to expand its position in Russia's booming services sector, entering into an agreement to buy the entire share capital of Russian directional drilling and services company Burservice for an undisclosed sum. The...

Kazakh Refineries Increase Throughput.
July 24, 2007... Kazakhstan's three refineries increased their crude oil processing by 8.9% in the first half of 2007 to 244,000 b/d, versus the same period last year. Crude runs in June, however, dropped by almost 10% from those in May, to 239,000 b/d,...

Belarus Delays Gas Payment To Russia.
July 24, 2007... Belarus has failed to meet a Jul. 23 deadline to pay off nearly $500 million owed to Russia for gas supplies from Gazprom, bringing the two countries to the edge of another energy crisis. In a linked development, Belarus' authoritarian...

Italy, Greece And Turkey To Sign Pipeline Deal.
July 24, 2007... Italy, Greece and Turkey are to sign a trilateral agreement on Jul. 26 in Rome backing the transportation of Caspian gas by pipeline to Italy via Turkey and Greece, announced Italy's Edison, which has rights to 80% of the pipe's capacity, with...

Mittal To Transfer Kazakh Interest To Indian JV.
July 24, 2007... Arcelor Mittal Chief Executive Lakshmi Mittal said this week that he plans to transfer the Kazakhstan oil assets that he acquired from Russia's Lukoil, to his joint venture firm with state-run ONGC Videsh Ltd. (OVL). Mittal had in April...

Gazprom Starts Exploration Drilling In Uzbekistan.
July 24, 2007... Gazprom is moving ahead with its campaign to expand in Central Asia, tapping new reserves in Uzbekistan, the third-largest natural gas producer in the former Soviet Union after Russia and Turkmenistan. Zarubezhneftegas, Gazprom's overseas...