NEFTE Compass articles from March 2004

NEFTE Compass archives from March 2004

On The Up: Putin Nominates New Premier, Outlines Priorities.
March 2, 2004... In a move that was even more surprising than last week's firing of Russia's cabinet, President Vladimir Putin named Mikhail Fradkov, Russia's envoy at the European Union, as his candidate for prime minister. The little-known Fradkov was not...

Off The Block: Yukos Rules Out Partnership With Foreign Investor.
March 2, 2004... Once courted by the world's biggest oil companies, Russian major Yukos has ruled out the chances of teaming up with a foreign partner in a strategic alliance. "I don't see any synergy in such a move," Yukos president Simon Kukes said after...

On The Block: Sakhalin-3 To Return To Auction Block.
March 2, 2004... The Sakhalin-3 acreage that was earlier coveted by Exxon Mobil and ChevronTexaco is to be put up for tender, Rinat Murzin, who heads the fuel and energy resources department at Russia's Ministry of Natural Resources, told Nefte Compass. He...

Tour Of Duty: Alekperov To Tour Mideast.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2004... Lukoil president Vagit Alekperov is setting off on a grand tour of the Middle East next week, as the company strives to expand its presence in the region. First stop will be Saudi Arabia, where on Mar. 8 he is scheduled to sign a natural...

Black Spot: Alliance To Increase Stake In Black Sea Refinery.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2004... Russia's Alliance Group has the opportunity to take full control of Ukraine's Kherson refinery, following recent statements by Kazakh state oil and gas concern Kazmunaigas that it is ready to sell its 56% stake in the Black Sea plant. Alliance...

Interwoven: Gazprom To Sell More To UK Via Interconnector.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2004... Russian gas giant Gazprom has unveiled plans to increase its shipping rights via the Interconnector gas pipeline from mainland Europe to the UK, which it regards as one of the most prospective markets. Interconnector UK (IUK) has jumped...

Oil Change: Sibneft Changes Structure, Managers.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2004... Sibneft has announced several structural and personnel changes in its upstream division to streamline corporate management. The company decided to merge two subsidiaries of its Noyabrskneftegas producing arm -- Muravlenkovneft and...

Sign Language: Rosneft And BP To Sign Sakhalin-5 Deal.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2004... BP and Rosneft may sign an agreement this week on financing the Sakhalin-5 project on the Russian Pacific shelf, according to Rosneft first vice president Sergei Alexeyev. The agreement is to determine the financing terms for the...

Little Feat: Febuary Oil Products Exports Rose Slightly.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2004... Exports of oil products rose slightly out of ports in the former Soviet Union in February, compared with the previous month. Shipments of the two main products -- fuel oil and gas oil -- accounted for nearly the entire increase. The slight...

Booster Seat: Primorsk Boost Carries Exports Higher.
March 2, 2004... Russia plans to ramp up seaborne crude exports by 60,000 b/d in March from the previous month's level as it takes advantage of capacity increases at the Baltic Sea port of Primorsk and boosts shipments via Ukraine. Crude exports to seaports via...

Spudded: Lukoil Starts Drilling Off Baltic Enclave.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2004... Lukoil raised the Russian flag in the Baltic Sea this week when it started drilling the first producing well at the Kravtsovskoye (D-6) Block offshore from the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. Early oil is expected to flow some time during...

Russian Crude Loading Programs For March 2004.
March 2, 2004... Novorossiysk Crude Loading Program For March 2004

Caspian Competition: Iran Vies For Extra Caspian Barrels.
March 2, 2004... Iran is pushing ahead with plans to boost its intake of Caspian crude shipped in small tankers to its revamped terminal at Neka and then pumped to the Tehran and Tabriz refineries. But with the 1 million barrel per day BP-operated...

Ukraine: TNK-BP Steps Up Downstream Expansion.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2004... Russian-UK joint venture TNK-BP has revealed ambitious plans to beef up its downstream presence in Ukraine. The company plans to increase its investment into the 320,000 b/d Lisichansk refinery to $27.4 million this year, up 8.5% from 2003,...

Caspian Pipe: CPC Shareholders Discuss Tariffs.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2004... Prospects for a tariff increase were high on the agenda as shareholders in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) gathered in Moscow on Mar. 2-3 to discuss ways to make the pipeline more effective. Russia's acting prime minister, Viktor...

Ukraine: Ukrneft Eyes Upstream Opportunities In Russia.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2004... Ukrainian state-owned oil company Ukrneft is continuing its quest for upstream opportunities in Russia despite turning down acreage in the Volga-Urals region last month because it didn't like the quality of the high-sulfur crude, a company...

Lithuania: Gazprom Closes In On Gas Acquisition.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2004... After years of talks with Lithuania's government, Russian gas monopoly Gazprom looks to be finally approaching the finishing line in its drive to take a stake in local gas utility Lietuvos Dujos (LD). The Russian gas giant plans to complete...

First Up: TNK-BP Reports First GAAP Results.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2004... Reporting its first financial results since it was formed last year, TNK-BP says it notched up a net profit of $1.948 billion for the first nine months of 2003, amid booming crude output. Booming crude output at the joint venture of BP and...

Payout Shock: Stingy Surgut To Increase Dividend Sharply.(Surgutneftegaz Industrial Association)
March 2, 2004... Surgutneftegas, which is famous for its stingy payouts, said it would sharply increase its 2003 dividend payments. The company's board of directors has recommended that its annual general shareholders meeting on Mar. 20 approve a dividends...

Equities And Currencies.
March 2, 2004... Share Prices Closing On March 2, 2004

Crude Oil: Gasoline Fuels High-Octane Rally.
March 2, 2004... Fears of a US gasoline shortage have taken crude prices back to the war-induced highs of March 2003 with benchmark dated Brent back above $34/bbl earlier this week. Physical differentials are also strengthening, even for low gasoline-yielding...

Products: Gas Oil Rises On The Back Of Futures.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2004... Russian gas oil prices climbed on the back of rising futures. Strengthening differentials pushed outrights even higher in the Mediterranean. Gas oil loadings out of the Baltic Sea ports totaled 360,000 metric tons over the past week, of...

Crackdown: Energy Ministry Disappears In Russian Reshuffle.
March 10, 2004... Russia's energy ministry was folded into a new Ministry of Industry and Energy this week in a government shakeup that signaled that taxation will be a key issue for oil companies in the second term that President Vladimir Putin looks set to win...

Empty Quarter: Lukoil Makes The Leap From Siberia To Saudi Arabia.
March 10, 2004... Lukoil, a company created in the oil fields of sub-zero Siberia, signed up this week to try its luck in the pulverizing heat of the Saudi Arabian desert in an agreement that marks a milestone in the internationalization of the Russian oil...

Sloppy Seconds: Russia To Export Incremental Crude.(Brief Article)
March 10, 2004... Russia is planning to export all of the planned production increase of 169,000 b/d (2.1 million metric tons) in the second quarter of 2004. About a fifth of the incremental production will be sent to CIS markets in Ukraine, Kazakhstan and...

Swiss Watch: Swiss Raid Yukos In New Tax Crackdown.(Brief Article)
March 10, 2004... The Kremlin's crackdown against Yukos has spilled out into the international arena, as Swiss prosecutors this week carried out raids on companies associated with the Russian oil company. Swiss police raided homes, seized documents and...

Bondsmen: Lukoil Plans $500 Million Bond Issue.(Brief Article)
March 10, 2004... Lukoil has announced plans to launch a $500 million eurobond issue as part of a strategy to replace short-term borrowings with cheaper long-term debt. The company's vice president Leonid Fedun said a final decision will to be taken in...

Gas Gusher: Surgutneftegas To Increase Gas Processing.(Brief Article)
March 10, 2004... Russia's third biggest oil producer, Surgutneftegas, is pushing ahead with expansion of its gas processing facilities to cope with growing gas output. The oil major announced last week plans to increase the capacity of the facilities...

Ros Fund: BP Poised To Seal Funding Deal For Sakhalin-5.
March 10, 2004... BP has announced it is ready to sign a set of documents defining the financing terms for the $3 billion-plus exploration and development of Sakhalin-5 on the Russian Pacific shelf in partnership with Russian state Rosneft. Rosneft signed...

Main Squeeze: Sovcomflot Blasts Bosporus Restrictions.
March 10, 2004... The head of Russia's biggest shipping company has lashed out at Turkey for its excessive restrictions on tanker traffic through the Bosporus. Sovcomflot president Dmitry Skarga argues that Turkey could boost transit by 400,000 b/d through...

Rig Dig: Deutag Earmarked For Salym Drilling Contract.(KCA Deutag)(Salym Petroleum Development)(Brief Article)
March 10, 2004... KCA Deutag, a subsidiary of UK-based Abbot Group, says it has been awarded an interim arrangement expected to lead "in the near future" to a formal contract worth $42 million to provide drilling services at the Salym field in the...

Field Day: Gazprom And Wintershall Step Up Urengoi Plans.(Brief Article)
March 10, 2004... Natural gas giant Gazprom and Germany's Wintershall are moving forward with plans to develop the Achimovsk reservoirs of the Urengoi gas field in Western Siberia. Gazprom and Wintershall's parent company BASF agreed last week in Munich to...

Local Hands: TNK-BP Sets Up Venture For Kovykta Gas Sales.(East Siberian Gas Co.)
March 10, 2004... Russian-UK venture TNK-BP and the Irkutsk local administration have signed an agreement to set up a 50-50 partnership called the East Siberian Gas Co. (ESGC) to operate a pilot project for Irkutsk regional gasification using production from the...

Bypass Operation: Rail Cars Take Rising Share of Exports.
March 10, 2004... Stymied by export pipeline bottlenecks, Russian oil companies are increasingly turning to alternative export transportation. Russia has been steadily beefing up its fleet of rail tank cars as it struggles to find export capacity for its...

Peace Pipe: Moscow, Minsk To Solve Dispute Over Oil Products Pipeline Ownership.
March 10, 2004... Moscow and Minsk may soon sign an agreement resolving the dispute over ownership over oil products pipelines located on the territory of Belarus. Russia's then-acting Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko approved on Mar. 4 a draft of an...

Russian Gas Production, February 2004.
March 10, 2004... Russian Gas Production, February 2004

Crude Exports Bypassing The Transneft Pipeline System, February 2004.
March 10, 2004... Crude Exports Bypassing The Transneft Pipeline System, February 2004

Caspian Exports: Caspian Exporters Test The Water.(Brief Article)
March 10, 2004... Caspian oil producers are coming up against new challenges as they seek to open new export routes and reduce their dependence on Russia. A Russian push at talks in Moscow last week to increase tariffs on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium...

Kazakhstan: Kazmunaigas Taps BNP Paribas For $300 Million.(Euromin also in structured financing deal)(Brief Article)
March 10, 2004... Kazakhstan's state-owned oil company Kazmunaigas (KMG) has agreed to a $300 million structured financing deal with BNP Paribas and Swiss-registered Euromin to fund further development of its oil fields at Emba and Uzen. The loan, which has...

Slovakia: Gazprom Extends Option To Buy Into Pipeline.(Brief Article)
March 10, 2004... Gazprom has agreed with Gaz de France (GdF) and Germany's Ruhrgas to extend the time period that the Russian gas giant has to exercise its option to buy 16.33% of Slovakia's gas pipeline and storage monopoly Slovensky Plynarensky Priemysel...

Kazakhstan: PetroKazakhstan Boosts Profit Amid Output Fall.(Brief Article)
March 10, 2004... Canada's PetroKazakhstan has seen its oil production slump by 12% over the past year due to "technical issues" with wells at the Kumkol oil fields, but profits for the fourth quarter of 2003 doubled from the year-earlier period. ...

Turkmenistan: Iran Beefs Up LPG Export Facilities.(Pars Energy and Turkmenneftegas sign contract)(Brief Article)
March 10, 2004... Turkmenistan is expanding its export options to meet a sharp growth in output of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), with production of natural gas also up a healthy 11% last year. State trading corporation Turkmenneftegas and Iran's Pars...

Belarus: Sibur To Deliver Gas To Belarus.(Brief Article)
March 10, 2004... Having failed so far to sign a contract for gas supplies to Belarus this year, Russian gas monopoly Gazprom is trying to plug the gaps in gas deliveries to the republic with gas volumes from its affiliates. Gazprom-controlled gas processor...

Batter Up: Minority Shareholders Strike Back At Russian Oils.
March 10, 2004... Minority shareholders are striking back at Russian oil companies, with portfolio investors in Surgutneftegas and Slavneft turning to the courts for greater protection from what they see as unscrupulous owners. The Russian State Duma lower...

Equities And Currencies.
March 10, 2004... Share Prices Closing On March 9, 2004

Crude Oil: Profit-Taking Hits Futures.
March 10, 2004... Brent futures hit a new $33.58 high on Mar. 5 but then crashed almost $2/bbl to a $31.62 low on Mar. 10 as speculators hit the New York and London futures markets for a wave of profit-taking and US inventory reports showed a slightly more...

Products: Cold Snap Stimulates Med Gas Oil.(Brief Article)
March 10, 2004... Russian gas oil differentials in the Mediterranean shot upward over the week on a flurry of buying spurred by unseasonably cold weather. Fuel oil outright prices fell with futures. Russian gas oil in the Mediterranean delivered into Genoa...

Wise Up: Putin Sets Out Three Pillars Of Wisdom For Oil Companies.
March 16, 2004... Cutting the ties once and for all with the shady dealings of the past, President Vladimir Putin said after his landslide election victory on Mar. 14 that relations between the Kremlin and the big oil companies will in the future be built on...

On The Brink: Caucasian Export Corridor Hit In Georgian Standoff.
March 16, 2004... A key route for Caspian oil exports was choked off this week as tension between Georgia and its autonomous province of Adjaria came to the boil, prompting the Adjarian port city of Batumi on the Black Sea to declare force majeure on...

In The Hunt: Glencore Targets Upstream Assets In Russia.
March 16, 2004... Interest in Russia's natural resources is not confined to international oil majors. Trading companies are on the acquisition trail, too. One of the world leading trading and commodities companies, Swiss-registered Glencore, is seriously...

May Day: Lukoil Delays Vysotsk Opening Till May.(Brief Article)
March 16, 2004... Lukoil has delayed the opening of its new export terminal at Vysotsk for a third time, by two months. The holdup is a setback to the oil major, which, like other Russian oil companies, is looking for ways to boost crude exports bypassing the...

Primadonna: Primorsk To Lead Charge In Second Quarter Exports.(Baltic Sea port of Primorsk )
March 16, 2004... Russia is planning to ramp up crude exports by 99,000 b/d via the Transneft system during the second quarter of 2004, continuing the upward trajectory of rising output. Exports are penciled in at 3.150 million b/d (39.110 million metric tons)...

Method Acting: Russia Sets Guidelines For New Product Export Duty.(Brief Article)
March 16, 2004... The Russian government commission for protective measures in trade at the end of March will consider a proposal from the Economic Development and Trade Ministry that would set the duty on light oil products at 130% of the crude export duty and...

Freezer Burn: Swiss Freeze Yukos Stake.(Brief Article)
March 16, 2004... The crackdown by Swiss authorities on Yukos, at the behest of Russian prosecutors, could involve the blocking of a 7.5% stake in the Russian company, as well as $5 billion in Swiss bank accounts. According to the Russian daily Vedomosti, a...

China Doll: Yukos Ups Crude Rail Exports To China.
March 16, 2004... Yukos is planning to crank up crude rail exports to China to stratospheric levels, as the Russian government dithers over which Asian pipeline scheme to build. With the Russian government's blessing, Yukos has agreed to ramp up rail...

Iraq Pact: Lukoil Signs Pact With Iraq, West Qurna Waits.(Brief Article)
March 16, 2004... Lukoil has signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation with the Iraqi oil ministry following negotiations in Baghdad last week between Lukoil President Vagit Alekperov and Iraqi Oil Minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum. The sides agreed...

Turkish Delight: Tupras Purchase Clarified.(Brief Article)
March 16, 2004... Tatneft's German-based subsidiary, Efremov Kautchuk, and its Turkish bidding partner, Zorlu Holding, will each pay half of the $1.3 billion winning bid that they submitted for 66% of Turkey's state refiner Tupras. The partners plan to...

Ukraine: Kiev Plans Trial Druzhba Shipment.(Brief Article)
March 16, 2004... In what looks like an attempt to justify the economic viability of pumping Caspian crude via its Odessa-Brody pipeline, Ukraine is gearing up to make an experimental crude shipment to the Czech Republic. The crude shipment will start at...

Kazakhstan: South Korea Inks Exploration Deal.(Brief Article)
March 16, 2004... South Korea and Kazakhstan have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore for reserves and jointly develop oil fields in the Caspian Sea, home to one of the world's largest oil reserves, according to the Korean Ministry of Commerce,...

Safe And Sound: Gazprom Mulls Security European Gas Supplies.(Yamal-Europe gas pipeline)(Brief Article)
March 16, 2004... Russian gas monopoly Gazprom and Poland's state-owned Polish Oil and Gas Co. (PGNiG) have agreed to set up several working groups to work out ways to avoid disruptions in gas supplies along the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline, said Gazprom. The...

Romania: Five Bidders Line Up For Gas Sell-Off.(Romanian gas distributors Distrigaz Nord and Distrigaz Sud)(Brief Article)
March 16, 2004... All of the five companies that expressed interest in taking stakes in Romanian gas transporters Distrigaz Nord and Distrigaz Sud have submitted preliminary bids, the Romanian Economy Ministry said this week. Russia's Gazprom, Italy's Enel,...

Poland: Prime Minister Backs PKN-Mol Merger.(Brief Article)
March 16, 2004... Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller has thrown his support behind the proposal to merge Polish oil firm PKN Orlen and its Hungarian counterpart Mol in a move to counter suggestions from the country's Treasury that the Polish firm should absorb...

Long Greens: Alliance Gets $295 Million Loan For Refinery.(Brief Article)
March 16, 2004... Moscow-based Alliance Group is pushing ahead with plans to upgrade its Khabarovsk refinery in the Russian Far East to improve the quality of its oil products. The company has mandated Dutch Bank ING to act as financial consultant and...

Product Line: Transnefteproduct Pumps Higher Profits.(Brief Article)
March 16, 2004... Russian oil producers are not the only ones benefiting from booming oil prices and rising exports. National oil products pipeline operator Transnefteproduct has reported a first-half 2003 net profit of 1.4 billion rubles ($49.2 million). This...

Equities And Currencies.
March 16, 2004... Share Prices Closing On March 16, 2004

Crude Oil: Differentials Steady To Firm, Futures Kick Higher.
March 16, 2004... New front-month May Brent futures in its first day of trading managed to close an 80o gap to its predecessor to hit an intraday $33.52 high on Mar. 17. The rally was triggered by a US inventory report, which was slightly more bullish than...

Products: Firm Differentials, Futures Rally Boost Cash Values.(Brief Article)
March 16, 2004... Gas oil differentials held up despite a sharp $18.25/ton rise in International Petroleum Exchange gas oil futures boosting cash values. The force majeure on oil exports from the Black Sea port of Batumi should not have a large influence on...

Roll Back: Rosneft Calls Off International Adventure.
March 23, 2004... Russia's state-owned Rosneft, the oil company to watch during President Vladimir Putin's second term, has tested the waters of international markets, but didn't like them. Rosneft first vice president Nikolai Borisenko says the company has...

Rock On: Russian Stock Market Sails To Record Highs.
March 23, 2004... Powered by higher oil prices, Russia's benchmark RTS stock index broke through the important 700-point barrier over the past week. The RTS has surged by more than a quarter this year, outpaced only by markets in Colombia and Venezuela,...

Growing Up: Shell Maps Out Russia Growth Strategy.
March 23, 2004... Royal Dutch/Shell does not rule out making an equity acquisition in Russia, as part of an overall drive to expand its presence, says John Barry, Shell's president and country chairman in Russia. "Generally in terms of strategy, we are very...

Good Citizen: Shell Jumps On The Sponsorship Bandwagon.(Brief Article)
March 23, 2004... Royal Dutch/Shell has joined a growing band of oil companies in Russia that are eager to demonstrate their social responsibility. Shell's Russian arm has signed a sponsorship agreement with the Bolshoi Theater for 2004-07 in a move that...

Red Light: Polar Lights Forced To Halt Production.(Brief Article)
March 23, 2004... The Polar Lights joint venture between ConocoPhillips and Rosneft was forced to halt production last month because its crude failed to make it into the pipeline system of national pipeline operator Transneft. Polar Lights pumps crude into...

Iraq First: Lukoil Signs Up To Supply Products To Iraq.(Brief Article)
March 23, 2004... Russian oil major Lukoil has become the first Russian company to get a contract in postwar Iraq. The company reported last week that it has signed an agreement with US Refinery Associates of Texas to supply Iraq with gasoline and fuel oil....

Control Freak: Transneft Pushes For More State Control.
March 23, 2004... As the Russian government tightens its grip over the oil and gas sector in the wake of President Vladimir Putin's reelection, the head of national pipeline operator Transneft has called for more state control over oil exports. "The state...

Private Number: Zarubezhneft To Be Privatized This Year.(Brief Article)
March 23, 2004... The government appears to have made a final decision to sell off the Soviet-era overseas oil champion Zarubezhneft. Earlier this month then-acting Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko signed a resolution ordering the government to transform...

Hard Knocks: US Teton Hungry For More Russian Exposure.(Brief Article)
March 23, 2004... Undeterred by the rough and tumble of the Russian oil industry, Denver-based Teton Petroleum is looking for new upstream acquisitions. The US independent has made offers to buy three producing companies, including two in Western Siberia and one...

Tax Break: Differentiated Tax On Production To Be Postponed.(Brief Article)
March 23, 2004... In what could be good news for the majority of Russia's big oil companies, it has been announced that the introduction of the differentiated tax on crude production could be postponed for two years. Industry and Energy Minister Viktor...

No Mercy: Khodorkovsky Denied Bail Again.(Yukos' Mikhail Khodorkovsky)(Brief Article)
March 23, 2004... Moscow's Basmanny Court has extended Mikhail Khodorkovsky's stay in pre-trial detention until May 25 (NC Jan.22,p3). Khodorkovsky's lawyer Robert Amsterdam called the case a farce, and said that he knew the outcome of the politically...

CPC Rises: CPC To Increase Pipeline Tariff.(Caspian Pipeline Consortium)(Brief Article)
March 23, 2004... The crude transportation tariff for the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) system will be increased by 3.9% to $27.22/metric ton ($3.71/bbl) beginning this July, according to CPC General Director Ian MacDonald. The increase is due to...

In and Out: Sibneft Appoints New Downstream Vice President.(Brief Article)
March 23, 2004... Russia's Sibneft has appointed Andrey Komarov as vice president for downstream operations. He replaces Valery Oif, who was elected to Russia's Federation Council upper house of parliament as a representative of the Omsk region, where Sibneft...

Getty Spat: Gazprom Faces Getty Lawsuit.(Brief Article)
March 23, 2004... Members of the Getty family, led by Mark Getty, grandson of oil billionaire John Paul Getty, will launch lawsuits against Russian gas giant Gazprom in the High Court in London and the American Arbitration Association in New York, according to a...

Chosen One: Gazprom Picks Field To Supply European Pipeline.
March 23, 2004... Russia's Gazprom has designated the Yuzhno-Russkoye field as a core source of reserves for direct gas shipments to continental Western Europe and eventually the UK, via the proposed North European gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea. It was...

Azerbaijan: Austrians Bag Socar Volumes.(Brief Article)
March 23, 2004... Austrian oil company OMV has won a tender from Azeri state oil company Socar to buy Azeri Light crude, to be pumped through the Baku-Supsa pipeline. The 1 million bbl cargo will load out of the Georgian Black Sea port of Supsa Apr. 10-11....

Kazakhstan: Karachaganak Counts Down Nine-Month Delay.(Brief Article)
March 23, 2004... Condensate from the giant Karachaganak field operated by Eni and BG in Kazakhstan should start to flow to world markets via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) route by the end of the second quarter, nine months behind schedule, sources close...