NEFTE Compass articles from June 2006

NEFTE Compass archives from June 2006

Last Hope: Yukos Submits Final Plan For Survival.
June 7, 2006... With bankruptcy bearing down, bedraggled Russian major Yukos has put together a plan that would keep the company's head above water. But even as the deal opens the way for Yukos' survival, it also leaves the door ajar for the state's takeover...

Staying Power: Bloodied But Unbowed, Total Retains Focus On Russia.
June 7, 2006... Bloodied and bruised after a decade of working in Russia, French major Total remains upbeat about its prospects, underlining the enthusiasm that foreign investors continue to hold for Russian projects. Despite a number of setbacks, Total...

China Sanction: Gazprom Optimistic Over China Prospects.
June 7, 2006... Russian Gazprom is holding commercial negotiations on exporting gas to China and plans to conclude an agreement by the end of this year, Chief Executive Alexei Miller said. Two alternative routes to China, via the west or east, have been...

Blocked: Rosneft Says Gas Plans Hampered By Gazprom.
June 7, 2006... Russian state-controlled Rosneft claims that efforts by its production arm Purneftegas to boost output of associated gas have been hindered by an inability to reach agreement with Gazprom on using the Russian gas giant's pipelines. ...

Outward Bound: Exxon Starts Crude Exports From Sakhalin.
June 7, 2006... The Exxon Mobil-run Sakhalin-1 project off Russia's Pacific Coast has begun crude exports, according to data from Russia's energy ministry. Beginning in March, Exxon has shipped over 295,000 metric tons of Sakhalin-1 crude out of the De Kastri...

No Sale: Auctions Of Oil And Gas Reserves Delayed.
June 7, 2006... Investors' hopes that Russia will auction off big oil and gas reserves can be forgotten for at least another year, as the new Subsoil Law that would open the way for such tenders has been put on the backburner. The focus now is on...

Altered State: Master Plan For Transportation Giant To Be Clipped.
June 7, 2006... The plan to set up a state-owned transportation giant that would unite Russia's national pipeline operator Transneft with state oil products pipeline operator Transnefteproduct and SG-Trans, a state liquid petroleum gas rail transport company,...

Downbeat: Khristenko Plays Down Resource Nationalism.
June 7, 2006... Russian Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko has denied claims that Moscow is pursuing a policy of energy nationalism. In his opening address at the 23rd World Gas Conference in Amsterdam, Khristenko said Russia plans soon to...

Watchman: Putin Appoints New Governor For Oil Region.(appointments)(Brief article)
June 7, 2006... President Vladimir Putin has appointed Valery Potapenko, a former KGB officer, as acting governor of the oil-rich Nenets autonomous district in the northern Timan-Pechora province of Russia. Potapenko, who lately served as a federal...

Early Parole: Top Prosecutor Gets The Boot.(Brief article)
June 7, 2006... The Russian government has dismissed Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov in a surprise move that observers interpreted as an extension of the power struggle in the upper reaches of the Kremlin. Acting on an order from President Vladimir...

Field Sport: Rosneft Bolsters East Siberian Reserves.(Rosneft)(Surgutneftegaz)(Brief article)
June 7, 2006... Rosneft has won the rights to the Danilov oil and gas field in East Siberia, adding another field to the Russia state company's growing holdings in the region Rosneft reportedly beat out Kremlin-friendly Surgutneftegas for the exploration...

Going Dutch: Gazprom Mulls Gasunie Deal.
June 7, 2006... Russian gas monopoly Gazprom said this week that it had agreed with Dutch gas network firm Gasunie to sign a memorandum of understanding within a month, laying out basic terms of cooperation. The accord would cover cooperation on...

Expansion: Lukoil Expands In Udmurtia.
June 7, 2006... Expanding its presence in the domestic retail market, Russia's top producer Lukoil is buying 41.81% of a regional retailer in the Russian republic of Udmurtia. Lukoil said it signed an agreement to buy the stake in local retailer...

Moving On: Itera Takes Out $450 Million Loan.
June 7, 2006... Russian natural gas independent Itera is borrowing $450 million from state Vnesheconombank at an interest annual rate of 8%. Shares in the company's Purgaz production unit will provide collateral for the loan, approved at a May 31...

Kazakhstan: Nations Decries Attempts To Scare Away Bidders.(Brief article)
June 7, 2006... Reports that Kazakh oil producer Nations Energy is close to being bought by a Chinese company are premature, according to sources close to Nations. The sources told Nefte Compass that the reports looked like an attempt to "scare away" the...

Lithuania: Poles Mop Up At Mazeikiu Nafta.
June 7, 2006... Lithuania's parliament has approved the sale of a state-owned 30.7% stake in the Mazeikiu Nafta (MN) refining and shipping complex to Polish refiner PKN Orlen for almost $852 million, according to local reports. The sale is part of a...

Belarus: Refinery Upgrades Gasoline To Euro-4 Standards.
June 7, 2006... In a bid to improve the quality of its gasoline to European environmental standards, state-owned Novopolotsk (Naftan) refinery has launched the construction of a low-temperature isomerization unit. The $35 million project will enable the...

Caspian Crude: Azeri Crude Makes Maiden Voyage From Ceyhan.
June 7, 2006... The first cargo of Azeri, a sweet blend of crude from Caspian fields offshore Azerbaijan, has set sail from the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, also marking the debut of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline. The 600,000 bbl cargo...

Slovakia: Russneft Faces Challenge Over Transpetrol.(OAO NK Yukos acquired by Russneft)(Brief article)
June 7, 2006... The sale of Yukos' 49% stake in Slovakian pipeline operator Transpetrol to Russian independent Russneft has been stalled after the Slovakian government failed to approve the deal. Industry sources claim that there is a strong opposition...

Pay Dirt: TNK-BP Mulls Monster Dividend.(Brief article)
June 7, 2006... TNK-BP reportedly is considering paying out up to $5 billion in dividends, an amount that could easily put a smile on the faces of investors that have eagerly awaited a big return from BP's joint venture in Russia. A TNK-BP representative...

Underpaid: Moscow Sets Sakhalin Budget.(Brief article)
June 7, 2006... The Russian government has approved a $2 billion investment plan for 2006 for the Royal Dutch Shell-led Sakhalin-2 development. The amount is in line with earlier expectations but less than half the level expected to be spent this year on the...

Equities and Currencies.
June 7, 2006... Share Prices Closing On Jun. 6, 2006

Crude Oil: Iran Stirs Up The Volatility.(prices and rates)
June 7, 2006... Brent front month crude oil futures traded a $3.66 range between a low of $69.01 on Jun. 1 and a $72.67 high on Jun. 5. Trading remained dominated by technical intraday tactics. However, the early low came in further reactions to a US proposal...

Products: Gas Oil Finding New Strength.
June 7, 2006... The market for Russian gas oil clambered stronger this week following a steady rise in gas oil futures on the InterContinental Exchange (ICE). Futures jumped on Jun. 5 in line with climbing crude, which shot up following warnings from Iran...

Knockdown: Subsoil Law Shifts Ground Under TNK-BP.
June 14, 2006... Three years after BP received the blessing of Russian President Vladimir Putin and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair for its groundbreaking $8 billion Russian investment, its 50-50 TNK-BP joint venture looks set to be barred from auctions for fields...

Setback: CPC Expansion Could Be Held Up Over Bosporus Bypass.
June 14, 2006... Hopes that an agreement is near on the long-overdue expansion of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) could be dashed because Russia is likely to insist on a new condition -- namely that the Bourgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline bypassing the...

New Arrival: Urals Futures Trading Gets Off To Soft Start.
June 14, 2006... The new futures contract for Russian Urals blend crude has started off with more of a whimper than a bang in the first week of trading on Moscow's Russian Trading System (RTS), as the heavy players -- oil traders -- remained on the sidelines....

No Cheap Gas: Gas Prices Start To Spiral Up.
June 14, 2006... The cheap gas that Gazprom decided earlier this decade to buy from Central Asia to avoid expensive moves to counter stagnation in domestic Russian output may not be that cheap after all. Gazprom is being pressed by Central Asian exporters to...

Fund And Games: Russia Takes Hard Line Ahead Of G8.
June 14, 2006... Russia is sticking to a hard-line position on Gazprom's right to control gas exports and on other energy issues ahead of the G8 summit that it is to chair in St. Petersburg in mid-July. The US and European Union had been hoping for a number...

Making Space: Crude Exports Jump While Agency Shies From Duties.
June 14, 2006... Singed by a graft-related crackdown on Russia's customs agency, Russia's Federal Energy Agency wants to put some distance between itself and the country's crude exports. According to insiders, the head of Russia's Energy Agency, Sergei...

Dutch Tap: Lukoil Targets KPC's Rotterdam Refinery.
June 14, 2006... Lukoil, Russia's leading oil producer, has entered the running to buy Kuwait Petroleum Corp.'s (KPC's) 80,000 b/d refinery near Rotterdam in the Netherlands, which the Kuwaitis recently put up for sale, Lukoil Chief Executive Vagit Alekperov...

Breaking Ground: Czechs Plan Refinery In Russian Region.
June 14, 2006... Czech state-run crude pipeline operator Cepro plans to build a 70,000 b/d crude oil refinery in Russia's Oryol region to supply the growing market in Russia and in the Czech Republic, a Cepro representative said Cepro has signed a...

Swap Shop: BASF Offers Libyan Assets To Gazprom.
June 14, 2006... Gazprom is to receive a 49% stake in two Libyan concessions, C97 and C98, under an asset swap agreement with German energy company BASF. Under a framework agreement signed by Gazprom and BASF, BASF-owned Wintershall will get an interest of...

On Board: Rosneft Confirms Board, Capital Increase.
June 14, 2006... Russian state-controlled Rosneft last week announced the election of a new nine-member board of directors, including three independent officials. Igor Sechin, who doubles as deputy head of the Kremlin administration, was reelected as...

Latin Interest: Gazprom Eyes Bolivia Gas.
June 14, 2006... Gazprom is interested in investing as much as $3 billion to jointly develop energy projects in Bolivia with state Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales de Bolivia (YPFB). The news comes as some of the South American country's largest investors are...

Russian Gas Production, May 2006.
June 14, 2006... Russian Gas Production, May 2006

Caspian Crude: Caspian Producers Look To Fill BTC Pipeline.
June 14, 2006... UK super major BP and other Caspian players are targeting new oil plays in the Caspian Sea to fill the recently launched Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, which runs from Azerbaijan to the Turkish Mediterranean. The 1 million b/d pipeline...

Ukraine: Shell Signs Exploration Accord.
June 14, 2006... Royal Dutch Shell signed last week an agreement to start joint activities with Ukrainian gas exploration company Ukrgazvydobuvannya (UGV), a subsidiary of Naftogas. The agreement was signed in The Hague, with Ukrainian President Viktor...

Azerbaijan: Glencore Wins Socar Tender.
June 14, 2006... Swiss-registered trader Glencore won the latest tender for Urals crude from Azerbaijan's Socar, the Azeri state company announced last week. The 60,000 metric ton (440,000 bbl) cargo will be loaded out of the Russian Black Sea port of...

Azerbaijan: Shah Deniz To Deliver First Gas In October.(Shah Deniz is owned by British Petroleum)(Shah Deniz enters into contract with Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan (BTC) for gas deilivery)(Brief article)
June 14, 2006... First gas from the BP-led Shah Deniz offshore Azerbaijan fields will be delivered to Turkey on Oct. 1, 2006. The gas will be shipped via the South Caucasus Pipeline, which follows the route of the recently opened Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan (BTC)...

Lithuania: Foster Wheeler Wins Refinery Upgrade.
June 14, 2006... Refiner Mazeikiu Nafta (MN) has signed a deal with Foster Wheeler Italiana to upgrade the Baltic plant's output to meet tightening European Union quality requirements. A representative for the Foster Wheeler engineering group told Nefte...

Kazakh Gas Production, May 2006.
June 14, 2006...  

Taking The Plunge: Moscow Mulls Putting Oil Fund Into Foreign Bonds.
June 14, 2006... Moscow finally appears ready to take the plunge and invest the country's massive windfall oil revenues in foreign fixed-income assets. Russia's Finance Ministry and the Central Bank are expected later this month to sign an agreement on...

Equities and Currencies.
June 14, 2006... Share Prices Closing On June 13, 2006

Crude Oil: Volatile Futures, Steadier Differentials.
June 14, 2006... July Brent crude oil futures traded a rocking'n'rolling $4.79 range, recovering from a Jun. 8 low of $67.73 to a Jun. 12 high of $71.20 only to crash spectacularly to another $66.33 low on Jun. 14. The early low was reached on conciliatory...

Products: Sharp Mediterranean Gas Oil Supply Increase.
June 14, 2006... European middle distillate product prices fell on early week crude futures losses but had recovered a little at press time. The Monday crude sell-off came courtesy of another bout of jitters in global financial markets. At press time,...

On The Road: Rosneft Hits The Road Ahead Of Record IPO.
June 20, 2006... In less than a week a major Russian oil company will have to face investor questions regarding a flimsy stock market, uncommonly large debts and potential legal attacks. The remarkable thing is that company isn't in trouble; it's launching a...

Great Wall: China Makes First Breakthrough In Russian Upstream.
June 20, 2006... China has made its first breakthrough into the Russian oil industry by purchasing 120,000 barrel per day producer Udmurtneft from Russian-UK joint venture TNK-BP. In a side deal, Russia's state Rosneft will acquire 51% in Udmurtneft from...

Liquid Power: Gazprom Talks GTL Alliance With Shell.
June 20, 2006... Gazprom is holding talks with Royal Dutch Shell on a joint venture to build a GTL plant to process 12 Bcm/yr of gas in West Siberia. According to Alexander Ryazanov, deputy chairman of Gazprom's management board, the plant is planned to be...

Russian Rebound: Production Growth Rate Recovers In May.
June 20, 2006... Russian crude production growth rate recovered slightly in May to reach 9.62 million b/d (40.69 million metric tons), up 3.23% on the year and up 21,500 b/d from April's output (see p9). Crude output in January-May averaged 9.53 million b/d...

Trickleish: Volgotanker Tie-Up Makes Summer Shipping A Bust.
June 20, 2006... The tax-inflicted shutdown of Europe's largest inland shipper, Volgotanker, is having a crushing effect on Russia's summer shipping season, and products are only trickling out of the VolgoBalt canal system to feed exports. Trading sources...

Going Hungry: Gazprom Caps Domestic Utility's Consumption.
June 20, 2006... Russia's electric power monopoly Unified Energy System has been forced to drop its consumption of natural gas from state behemoth Gazprom in a move that could free up significant volumes of gas while simultaneously drawing heavily on Russia's...

Pipe Dreams: Ministry Pushes For Transneft To Take CPC Stake.
June 20, 2006... Russia's Industry and Energy Ministry has sent documents to the government with the proposal of transferring to control over the state's stake in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) to national pipeline operator Transneft, according to Deputy...

Changing Stakes: Gazprom Shuffles Shtokman Cards.
June 20, 2006... Russia is not only putting off a decision on what partners it will bring in to the massive Shtokman LNG project until after the mid-July G8 summit as an apparent expression of irritation at Washington's recent critical attitude toward its...

Building Blocks: Surgut Plans New Refinery Construction.
June 20, 2006... Surgutneftegas is considering building a new refinery in Russia able to process 12 million metric tons/yr of crude (240,000 b/d), according to President Vladimir Bogdanov. "We will participate in tenders for refineries if any company puts...

Summer Soar: Crude Exports Fly As Production Rebounds.
June 20, 2006... Though crude production growth in Russian has receded from the double-digit figures of a few years ago, the country's oil exports are blazing ahead, as Moscow plans to increase crude exports in the third quarter by more than 200,000 b/d from...

Break Point: Ministries Ask For Tax Break Amendments.
June 20, 2006... The lower house of the Russian parliament, the State Duma, has approved the first reading of a bill that would legally reinforce Gazprom's monopoly over gas exports. Coming a month before the G8 summit in St. Petersburg, the bill flies in...

Frozen Motion: Petro-Canada Awaits Gazprom On LNG Deal.
June 20, 2006... Petro-Canada is ready to move forward with the proposed Baltic LNG facility near St. Petersburg, but is still waiting for Russian behemoth Gazprom to come to a decision on the project, according to John Miller, Petro-Canada's vice president...

Club Class: Putin Eyes Asian Expansion.
June 20, 2006... Russian President Vladimir Putin has pledged support for the construction of a natural gas pipeline from Iran to India via Pakistan. The project "is quite feasible," given support from the three countries involved, Putin said. Gas giant...

Kazakhstan: Gas Output Dips As Karachaganak Seesaws.
June 20, 2006... Kazakh natural gas production dropped a shade to 1.9 Bcm in May from the previous month, but the total was a steep 16% decline from May 2005. Production last month dropped sharply at the giant Karachaganak gas condensate field operated...

Caspian Crude: Kazakhstan Signs Up For BTC Pipeline.
June 20, 2006... The presidents of Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan signed an agreement on Jun. 16 to allow the transportation of Kazakh oil to the Mediterranean through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev said the...

Latvia: Kazakhstan Eyes Ventspils Port.(Brief article)
June 20, 2006... Kazakhstan is viewed as a potential buyer of a 38.62% state stake in Baltic Sea oil terminal owner Ventspils Nafta (VN), which the Latvian government plans to sell by the end of the summer. Representatives of Kazakhstan have stated that...

Azerbaijan: Sofaz Held Up As Example, Doubters Remain.
June 20, 2006... The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (Sofaz), a rainy day fund set up to deal with a glut in petrodollars, is being used as an example for countries trying to deal with windfall resource riches (NC Nov.17,p1). The fund, audited by Ernst &...

Big Winner: Tatneft Refinery Gets Money From Investment Fund.
June 20, 2006... A government commission has approved giving Tatneft 16.5 billion rubles ($610 million) from the Russian State Investment Fund for the construction of the company's planned Nizhnekamsk Refinery, a mixed blessing as the company was seeking...

Big Spender: ConocoPhillips Outlines Russian Investment.
June 20, 2006... US major ConocoPhillips expects its investment in Russia since 2004 to reach between $8 billion and $9 billion by the end of the year, up from around $7 billion at present, Kevin Meyers, president of ConocoPhillips Russia, said this week at the...

Equities and Currencies.
June 20, 2006... Share Prices Closing On Jun. 20, 2006

Crude Oil: Cautiously Recovering.
June 20, 2006... July Brent crude oil futures traded a relatively modest $2.36 range, making a cautious recovery in the wake of the expiry on Jun. 15 of the July contract, with new front-month August retaining some of its premium over July. Crude prices were...

Products: Revived Lifting Boosts Prices.
June 20, 2006... The market for Russian gas oil strengthened slightly this week, bolstered by a revived lifting program in Northwest Europe and modestly stronger crude futures. Strong demand in the German market, where lifting has been light throughout...

Target Practice: Rosneft Sets Goals For Record Privatization.
June 27, 2006... Russian state oil champion Rosneft has finally unveiled the framework for its initial public offering (IPO), which is increasingly looking like a second stab by Moscow at the farcically failed privatizations of the 1990s. The company has valued...

Challenge: Europe Backs Caspian Gas Pipeline To Rival Russia.
June 27, 2006... Caspian gas producers could start chipping away at Russia's domination of European markets within the next five years after a breakthrough this week on a key pipeline project. The planned 3,400 kilometer Nabucco gas pipeline taking Caspian...

Refinery Explosion: After Years Of Ridicule, Russian Refining Turns The Corner.
June 27, 2006... Long ridiculed for its second-rate refining capacity which, though expansive, turns out products that are often used as further feedstock for European refineries, the Russian downstream sector may be about to turn a corner. Russian oil...

Getting Results: Lukoil Announces Hefty Q1 Gains.
June 27, 2006... Russian leader Lukoil announced hefty gains in 2006 first-quarter profits against the previous year, which nevertheless failed to meet analysts' expectations. It also announced increased numbers year-on-year in oil and gas production and...

Southward Bound: Moscow Trims Exports While Shifting To Black Sea.
June 27, 2006... Moscow is trimming seaborne crude exports for the second month in a row in July despite an ambitious plan to set a new record for crude exports in the third quarter of the year. Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft has penciled in seaborne...

Chums: Novatek Sells Equity Stake To Gazprom.
June 27, 2006... Top Russian gas independent Novatek announced this week that its main shareholders Levit and SWGI Growth Fund had agreed to sell an equity stake of up to 20% at market value to ZGG, a German subsidiary of Russian gas giant and pipeline monopoly...

In Flux: Gazprom Forges Belgium Deal.
June 27, 2006... In a move to ease its dependence on Ukraine, which is the main transit corridor and owner of storage facilities for Russian gas supplies to Europe, Gazprom is teaming up with Belgium's gas grid owner Fluxys to secure gas supplies to European...

Monster: TNK-BP Pays Out Massive Dividend.
June 27, 2006... TNK-BP put a smile on the faces of its stockholders this week when it announced -- as expected -- that it was paying out a monster total dividend of $4.8 billion (131.3 billion rubles) (NC Jun.8,p8). The annual general meeting of TNK-BP...

Edging Up: Tatneft Proved Reserves Rise Slightly.
June 27, 2006... Russian independent Tatneft managed to boost its oil and gas reserves by nearly 1% in 2005, rebounding from 2004, when the company was unable to replace its production, the company announced this week. Tatneft's proved oil and gas...

Ukraine: Tymoshenko Comeback Threatens Gas Deal.
June 27, 2006... Ukraine's Orange revolution allies have come to an agreement to form a majority coalition in the country's parliament that has launched Yulia Tymoshenko back into the post of prime minister while simultaneously threatening the tenuous deal...

Ukraine: First Deepwater Drilling Contract Awarded.
June 27, 2006... The first deepwater drilling contract for offshore Ukraine has been awarded by Vanco International to fellow Houston-based company Atwood Oceanics Pacific, for use of the Atwood Southern Cross semisubmersible drilling unit. The contract is...

Kazakhstan: Kulibaev Makes A Comeback At Kazmunaigas.(Brief article)
June 27, 2006... Timur Kulibaev, the son-in-law of President Nursultan Nazarbaev who has been the leading player in the Kazakh oil industry for more than five years, has been appointed chairman of the board of Kazmunaigas (KMG), the company he left at the end...

Eye On Iran: Gazprom Mulls Iranian Investments.
June 27, 2006... Russian gas giant Gazprom had one eye on competition from Caspian gas when it announced this week that it was considering making oil and gas investments with state Iranian companies, by setting up a joint venture for exploration, development...

Rose-Tinted: Growth Outlook Picks Up For Gazprom Neft.
June 27, 2006... The outlook for Gazprom Neft, formerly known as Sibneft, is looking rosier than expected, leading to suggestions that it could be ready to offer a chunk of its shares for sale on the open market. State-controlled gas behemoth Gazprom...

Defrocked: Tatneft Decides To Delist From NYSE.
June 27, 2006... Tatneft's tortured relationship with the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) will soon come to an end. As the only Russian oil company listed on the US exchange, Tatneft has decided -- for cost reasons -- to delist and focus instead on the...

Crude Oil: Slightly Better Differentials.
June 27, 2006... August Brent crude oil futures resumed a degree of volatility in a $4.30 trading range with prices bouncing off a $67.57 low on Jun. 21 to reach a high of $71.87 on Jun. 28. The impetus came from US gasoline futures supported by positive...