NEFTE Compass articles from May 2004

NEFTE Compass archives from May 2004

Teamwork: Gazprom Taps Local Partner To Target China.(Gazprom Russian Joint Stock Co.)(China Gas Holdings Ltd.)
May 12, 2004... Gazprom, the world's biggest natural gas producer, has teamed up with the struggling Hong Kong-listed China Gas Holdings to target downstream gas opportunities in China, the world's fastest growing energy market. The two companies...

Terminal Case: Black Sea Oil Terminal Gets Back To Business.
May 12, 2004... The Batumi oil terminal, a key Black Sea port for Caspian oil exports, faces an uphill struggle as it tries to get back to business after a conflict between Georgia and the autonomous province of Adjaria was resolved peacefully. The...

Death And Taxes: Moscow Slaps On Record High Export Duties.
May 12, 2004... Eager to grab its share of the windfall from high world oil prices, Moscow is set to crank up crude export duties to their highest levels ever. The government will hike the export levies on crude by 18% to $41.60/metric ton ($5.68/bbl)...

Barging In: Yukos Enters Rotterdam Market.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2004... Yukos' Swiss-based trading arm, Petroval, has signed a long-term lease with Dutch Vopak to store fuel oil for bunkering at the Europoort terminal in the port of Rotterdam. The agreement makes Yukos the second Russian producer to enter...

Banana Split: State Divided Over Eastern Pipeline Plans.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2004... Plans to build an oil pipeline from Eastern Siberia to the Pacific port of Nakhodka have failed to win the unanimous support of Russia's government agencies. The Ministry for Economic Development and Trade believes that the existing...

Last Exit: More Russians Depart Iraq.
May 12, 2004... Moscow is finding that its opposition to the war in Iraq has conferred scant protection for its nationals, after a Russian worker was killed in Iraq this week and two more were taken hostage. The Russians were attacked near Latifiya, 50 km...

Rig Deal: Lukoil Appoints UK Driller For Caspian Field.(Lukoil-VolgogradNipimorneft)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2004... Drilling company KCA Deutag, a subsidiary of the UK's Abbot Group, has won a contract from Lukoil-VolgogradNipimorneft for the provision of well engineering design services to the Korchagina field development in the central part of the northern...

Total Confusion: Total Confirms It Is Interested In Sibneft.(Sibneft Oil)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2004... France's Total has confirmed that it might be interested in acquiring a stake in Sibneft, once the Russian oil company completes its messy divorce from Yukos. "Concerning Russia and recent rumors, first we usually do not comment on the...

Swedish Partner: Swedes Link Up With Vitol In Komi Upstream.
May 12, 2004... Sweden's Lundin oil dynasty is making inroads into the Russian oil patch. Canadian-registered Valkyries Petroleum has announced that it signed an agreement to acquire a 50% interest in the Pechoraneftegas (PNG) project in the northern...

Selling Out: Itera Mulls Sales Of Gas Assets To Gazprom.(ITERA International Energy Corp., Gazprom Russian Joint Stock Co.)
May 12, 2004... Having failed to gain access to Gazprom's national gas pipeline network, Russia-based, US-registered gas trader Itera is looking into selling its gas production assets. The trader is in talks with Gazprom on selling its 49% ownership in...

Overspend: Shell Confirms Sakhalin-2 Budget Overshoot.(Royal Dutch-Shell Group of Cos.)
May 12, 2004... Royal Dutch/Shell has confirmed that the Sakhalin-2 project has jumped to $13 billion, up almost 20% from the original $11 billion estimate. Graham Searle, director of EP Projects for Shell International Exploration and Production, cited...

Kazakhstan: Karachaganak Exports Come Back On Stream.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2004... After a nine-month delay, joint operators BG and Eni have relaunched exports from Phase 2 of their Karachaganak gas condensate field. BG said this week that liquids from Karachaganak entered the pipeline to Atyrau on Apr. 23. It expects...

Azerbaijan: Glencore Scoops Up Another Socar Tender.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2004... Azeri state oil champion Socar has awarded its latest tender for a 585,000 bbl cargo to Swiss trader Glencore. The Urals blend cargo will load on Jun. 10-11 out of the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. Socar awarded tenders for...

Czech Republic: Conoco Seeks Alliance With Poland's PKN.(ConocoPhillips, PKN Orlen)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2004... ConocoPhillips wants to team up with Poland's PKN Orlen to own and operate Czech oil refinery Ceska Rafinerska, according to Barry Kummins, ConocoPhillips' managing director for central and east Europe. Eni, Royal Dutch/Shell and Conoco...

Changing Gear: European Customers Revise Russian Gas Contracts.
May 12, 2004... Austrian energy group OMV has restructured and extended until 2012 the gas supply contracts with Russia's Gazprom that form the baseload of Austrian gas supply. The new agreement will increase the current 5.5 Bcm/yr volume to 6.5 Bcm/yr and...

Buying Time: Yukos Hit Again As Tax Case Is Delayed.(Yukos Finance B.V)
May 12, 2004... A Moscow court has postponed until May 14 a tax evasion hearing against Russian producer Yukos that began on May 7. The case alleges that the company owes $3.4 billion in back taxes and fines for 2000. The reason for the delay has not been...

Downtown: Russian Stock Market Tests New Lows.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2004... Russia's stock market has fallen to its lowest level this year amid fears that the US will raise interest rates next month. The rate hike would reduce the amount of cash available for investment into emerging markets. Russia's main...

Equities And Currencies.
May 12, 2004... Share Prices Closing On May 11, 2004

Crude Oil: Saudis Fail To Cool Sizzling Futures.
May 12, 2004... Nothing seems to be able to cool sizzling oil prices. Crude oil futures did fall $1/bbl after Saudi Arabia had proposed increasing Opec's official production ceiling by 1.5 million b/d to 25 million b/d when the organization meets on Jun. 3 in...

Products: Thinly Supplied Gas Oil Supports Premiums.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2004... Volatile crude markets have deterred deal-making in products, keeping traders sidelined while they wait to see the direction of prices. Thin spot availability of gas oil from the Baltic Sea port of Ventspils is supporting premiums. Gas oil...

China Coup: Kazakhstan Forges Closer Links To China.
May 19, 2004... China and Kazakhstan have marked a new phase in their expanding relationship by cementing a joint venture to build an oil pipeline that will cover more than 1,000 kilometers of Kazakh territory to the Chinese border. Kazakh President...

Pole Position: Lukoil To Take Another Stab At Poland.
May 19, 2004... Despite a hostile reception because of its Soviet legacy, Russian oil giant Lukoil is refusing to give up on Poland, one of the most dynamic markets in Eastern Europe. Putting past rejections behind it, Lukoil believes its luck will turn...

Nine Lives: Exports Supremo Forms New Regulatory Body.(Viktor Khristenko)
May 19, 2004... Russia's top official in charge of oil exports, Viktor Khristenko, is putting together a new system to regulate crude shipments in the newly reshuffled government. As acting head of the Industry and Energy Ministry, Khristenko has ordered...

Gas Talks: Ruhrgas Mulls Cooperation With Northgas.(Brief Article)
May 19, 2004... Germany's Ruhrgas is in negotiations to acquire one of Russia's largest independent gas producers, Northgas. Northgas wants about $1.2 billion for its assets, according to Russian press reports. Company officials confirm that Western...

Heat's On: Yukos Will Get Its Day In Court Over Tax Charge.(YUKOS Oil Co. tax evasion case)
May 19, 2004... A Moscow court has ruled that tax authorities cannot make Yukos pay any of the $3.5 billion in back taxes and fines the company is accused of owing until after a court decision on Yukos' appeal. The injunction gives Yukos more time to come...

Flashback: Russia Fieldwork Catching Up Fast.
May 19, 2004... Russia has made great progress in boosting oil output by rehabilitating older fields in Western Siberia, but that process is far from complete, according to the chairman of US consulting and reservoir engineering firm Miller and Lents. ...

Strike Two: US Teton Faces Setback In Russia.(Pechoraneftegas )(Brief Article)
May 19, 2004... Denver-based Teton Petroleum's plans for Russia have hit another setback after the US independent failed to acquire a 52% stake in Pechoraneftegas, a 6,800 b/d producer in the northern Komi Republic. Teton planned to buy the stake from...

Cooling Down: Investors Lose Passion For Russia.
May 19, 2004... Russia has been a key target for international oil investors in recent years but the Yukos affair has put paid to that for the time being, according to an international mergers and acquisitions expert. "Last fall there might have been 10-15...

Trial Run: Lukoil Launches Trial Vysotsk Shipments.
May 19, 2004... Russian oil giant Lukoil is set to launch its first trial shipment from its Baltic Sea terminal Vysotsk in the next few days. Lukoil is to load the first crude tanker on May 19-20 from the new terminal, with a "handy-sized" cargo of around...

The Claw: Russneft Sinks Claws Into West Siberian Producers.(Aki-Otyr)
May 19, 2004... Russneft, an oil producing company set up by former Slavneft president Mikhail Gutseriev, looks like it's sinking its claws into two more West Siberian producers, White Nights and Aki-Otyr. Trading outfit Russneft UK became an offtaker for...

Saudi Debut: Lukoil Prepares For Drilling In Saudi Arabia.(Brief Article)
May 19, 2004... Lukoil plans to start exploration drilling on its Block A in Saudi Arabia in 2006, Andrei Kuzyaev, head of Lukoil Overseas said at a conference held over the weekend in Dammam. Lukoil, which has 80% of the Luksar joint venture with Saudi...

Reentry: Russian Companies Reenter Chechnya.(Brief Article)
May 19, 2004... Russian oil and gas companies are pushing ahead with efforts to restore and strengthen control over Chechnya's energy sector. The rebellious republic's oil and gas industry was one of the top issues discussed at a weekend meeting in the...

Bypass Operation: Transneft Pushes Bosporus Bypass.(Anadolu)
May 19, 2004... Russian national pipeline operator Transneft thinks it has a magic bullet to solve the problem of tanker congestion in the Bosporus Strait, a major hindrance to Russian crude exports. Transneft vice president Igor Solyarsky says the...

Push It: Yukos Ups Exports By 20%.(Brief Article)
May 19, 2004... Yukos increased its oil exports by 20% in the first quarter, as high world oil prices enticed the beleaguered company to maximize shipments abroad. Yukos exported 13.5 million tons (1.09 million b/d) of crude oil in the period, up from...

Free At Last: Russians Freed In Iraq.(Brief Article)
May 19, 2004... Two Russian hostages were freed in Iraq after being held for a week. One of them returned to Moscow on an evacuation flight on May 18. The other stayed on in the country to complete the terms of his contract. The freed prisoners were...

Trading Places: Sakhalin-2 CEO Steps Down.(Brief Article)
May 19, 2004... Sakhalin Energy, operator of the Royal Dutch/Shell-led Sakhalin-2 project on the Russian Pacific shelf, announced last week that Steve McVeigh will step down as the company's CEO and return to Shell in July. McVeigh will be replaced by Ian...

Russia's Crude Distribution, April 2004 ('000 metric tons).(Brief Article)
May 19, 2004... * incl. Kazakh resources (567,400 tons supplied in Apr.'04; 1.5 mln tons supplied in Jan.-Apr. '04; 2.0 mln tons supplied in Jan.-Apr. '03 ). ** On May 1, 2004 Source: Russian Energy Ministry

Kazakhstan: Investors Call On Kazakhs To Rethink Legal Changes.
May 19, 2004... Oil companies are urging Kazakhstan to rethink proposed changes to petroleum laws that could make the republic less attractive and spoil its impressive track record. Kazakhstan attracted $20 billion in foreign direct investment over the...

Lithuania: Baltic Refinery Restarts Operations.(Brief Article)
May 19, 2004... Lithuania's Mazeikiu Nafta (MN), which is controlled and operated by Russian Yukos, says its refinery has resumed operations after almost three weeks of planned maintenance aimed at improving fuel quality to meet EU standards. The company...

Armenia: Iran Finalizes Energy Swap Accord.(Brief Article)
May 19, 2004... Following a decade of talks, Armenia and Iran have signed a package of final documents concerning a long-term gas supply deal. Under the accord, which aims to increase Armenia's energy security by diversifying natural gas sources, Iran will...

Georgia: Frontera Aims For Kura Basin Breakthrough.(Frontera Resources)
May 19, 2004... Houston-based Frontera Resources, founded by former US deputy energy secretary Bill White, plans to drill five horizontal wells over the next 12 months in its Block 12 prospect in the Kura Basin. Frontera senior vice president Reginal...

Earnings Season: Russian Companies Report Strong RAS Results.(Brief Article)
May 19, 2004... Russian oil companies showed strong results in the first quarter of 2003, aided by world oil prices that have climbed to record highs and the recovery of Russia's domestic crude market. Tatneft earned about half of its total profit for last...

Equities & Currencies.
May 19, 2004... Russian Oil Companies' RAS Financial Results

Crude: Rebound After Downward Correction.
May 19, 2004... Brent crude oil futures continued steaming north, setting another new high of $38.90/bbl on Friday, May 14 before running out of breath and buyers, and a much-needed downward correction took hold. Between Monday, May 17, and Wednesday, May 19,...

Products: Gas Oil Premiums Fade.
May 19, 2004... Gas oil premiums have dropped since last week, although traders still say they are having trouble finding spot availability. Falling crude prices have caused market participants to reassess positions and have kept trade thin. That said, the...

Variant: Sibneft Mark Seen On Sibir Shareholder Scam.(Sibneft Oil)
May 26, 2004... After leaving the market stunned last year by pulling out of a merger with Yukos at the last minute, Sibneft has now been charged with stabbing another partner in the back. Sibneft's hand is seen behind the massive share dilution in the...

Enigma: Russian Output To Stay High Despite Calls For Restraint.(Petroleum)
May 26, 2004... While the world's industrial powers are calling on Opec to boost production at its meeting in Beirut next week, one of the biggest unknowns as the market searches for ways to cool soaring oil prices is which direction is Russia headed, having...

Top Dog: Putin Tells Government To Approve Pipeline Projects.(Vladimir Putin)(oil pipeline)
May 26, 2004... The Russian government should move more quickly to make decisions on increasing the country's oil pipeline export capacity, said President Vladimir Putin. He also called the $7 billion North European gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea to...

Taxing Situation: Yukos Declared Guilty On Tax Bill.(YUKOS Oil Co.)(Brief Article)
May 26, 2004... In another blow to beleaguered Yukos, the Moscow Arbitration Court has ruled that the Russian oil company is guilty of underpaying its taxes and now owes 99 billion rubles ($3.4 billion). Yukos denies any guilt and says it intends to appeal the...

Wildcatters: Saratov Prosecutors Charge TNK-BP Unit Boss.(Saratovneftegaz)
May 26, 2004... TNK-BP has found itself ensnared in legal wrangling over production by its indirectly owned subsidiary Saratovneftegas in the Saratov region of central Russia. The Saratov prosecutor's office has charged Stanislav Tyurev, the unit director...

Members Only: Russia Gets EU Backing To Enter WTO.(European Union)(World Trade Organization)
May 26, 2004... Russia has signed a landmark deal with the European Union over its entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO). The agreement, signed at a Europe-Russia summit in Moscow, follows a Kremlin promise to gradually increase domestic natural...

Monopoly: Shafranik Calls For Curbs On Russian Majors.(Yuri Shafranik)
May 26, 2004... The Russian government should break the grip on the country's oil industry held by a handful of giant vertically integrated companies and reintroduce market mechanisms to boost investment and create niches for small and medium-sized companies,...

Piecemeal: Asian Line Might Be Built In Stages.(Petroleum pipeline construction)
May 26, 2004... Russian crude could start flowing to Asian markets from the Pacific port of Nakhodka much earlier, if the project is realized in stages using existing railway infrastructure, said national pipeline operator Transneft's president Semyon...

Dune Buggy: Itera Buys US Producer.(Dune Energy)(Itera (Russia))(Brief Article)
May 26, 2004... Itera, the Russia-based, US-registered gas producer and trader, is seeking new opportunities in the US as Gazprom continues to squeeze it out of former Soviet territories. Itera has for $12 million acquired a 78% controlling stake in Dune...

Flat Chance: Baltic Exports To Stay Flat In June.(Petroleum)(Brief Article)
May 26, 2004... Russia will keep exports out of the Baltic Sea ports in June absolutely flat on the month before, according to the preliminary port loading schedules released so far. The ports of Primorsk, Gdansk and Butinge will load a combined 1.212...

Russian Crude Loading Programs For June 2004.
May 26, 2004... Draft Primorsk Crude Loading Program For June 2004

Kazakhstan: Reserves Slip At PetroKazakhstan.(oil reserves )(Brief Article)
May 26, 2004... After seeing its crude production drop by nearly half, PetroKazakhstan has announced that its reserves are dwindling, too. In a regulatory filing, the Toronto-listed company says its year-end 2003 proved plus probable oil reserves totaled...

Azerbaijan: Kazakh Trader Wins First Socar Tender.(Euro-Asian Oil)(Brief Article)
May 26, 2004... Azeri state Socar has awarded its latest tender for a 137,000 metric ton (1 million bbl) consignment of crude to trader Euro-Asian Oil. The Russian Urals blend cargo is scheduled to load on Jun. 25-27 out of the Russian Black Sea port of...

Kazakhstan: Statoil Opens Astana Office To Boost Collaboration.(Brief Article)
May 26, 2004... Statoil's acting chief, Erling Overland, opened his new office in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan, on May 25. Located in the city center's Astana Tower, the office will double as Norway's consulate. The ceremony was also attended by Kazakh...

Bulgaria: First Offshore Gas Field Set To Flow.(Brief Article)
May 26, 2004... UK independent Melrose Resources expects to begin full production from Galata, Bulgaria's first offshore gas field, early in June, having completed tests to its 23-km pipe from the platform to the shore. Average production is expected to be...

Romania: OMV Picked For Final Talks On Petrom Privatization.(OMV (UK) Ltd.)(Brief Article)
May 26, 2004... The Romanian government has chosen Austrian oil group OMV to enter into exclusive negotiations on the acquisition of a 33.34% stake in state-run oil group Petrom, the country's largest oil and gas group. This would be followed by an increase in...

Ukraine: Kiev Bans Product Exports In Wake Of Price Spike.(Petroleum products)
May 26, 2004... Spooked by escalating domestic gasoline prices, Ukraine has slapped a temporary ban on exporting oil products. The ban took effect on May 25 and will last for a week. Additionally, Ukraine says it has persuaded Russian-UK venture TNK-BP to...

Homeward Bound: TNK-BP To Regroup At Home, Pay Russian Taxes.
May 26, 2004... TNK-BP has created a preliminary plan to form a Russian holding company that will streamline the operations of the Russian-UK joint venture. In the wake of the Yukos affair, the move is seen as an attempt to avoid criticism from Russian...

Equities And Currencies.
May 26, 2004... Share Prices Closing On May 25, 2004

Crude Oil: Prices Remain Strong After Saudi Gesture.(Saudi Arabia)
May 26, 2004... Saudi Arabia's attempt at cooling red-hot crude oil futures prices by stating that the kingdom would open its production taps wide cut prices by about $1.50/bbl over the past week -- but they then recovered to set new highs. By May 24, Brent...

Products: Gas Oil Differentials Remain Volatile.(Brief Article)
May 26, 2004... Gas oil differentials in the Mediterranean market remain volatile and rose to $26 per metric ton over the screen on a c.i.f. basis. Gas oil premiums in Northwest Europe rose by more than futures declined over the last week, leading to an...

New Spark: US Seeks To Rekindle Russian Flame.
May 31, 2004... With the spotlight firmly on the stability of oil supplies from Saudi Arabia in the wake of last weekend's bloody attack in Al-Khobar, Russia is once again being courted by the US as a potential supplier. "We want to see Russian oil and...

End Game: Yukos Dragged Down By Loss Of Sibneft.
May 31, 2004... Yukos has sunk deeper into the mire, stripped of its controlling stake in Sibneft and slapped with a tax bill that threatens to push it into bankruptcy by year-end. Whether the company will continue to exist in anything like its present...

Pied Piper: Transneft Board Approves Turkish Pipeline.
May 31, 2004... The Russian government has given national pipeline operator Transneft the go-ahead to take part in the project to build a pipeline across Turkey from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, bypassing the congested Bosporus waterway. Moscow...

Reservation: TNK-BP Releases Reserves Data Amid FSB Probe.(Federal Security Service)(Brief Article)
May 31, 2004... TNK-BP has released the results of its first comprehensive audit of oil and gas reserves, conducted by DeGolyer and MacNaughton. Ironically, the announcement came amid news that TNK-BP is being probed by the Federal Security Service (FSB),...

High Octane: Refinery To Accelerate Gasoline Output.(Alliance Group's Khabarovsk refinery )(Brief Article)
May 31, 2004... The Alliance Group has completed the first phase of its three-stage, $350 million modernization of the Khabarovsk refinery in the far east of Russia. The Moscow-based company has brought online a new isomerization unit and completed...

Odessa Fail: FSU Oil Products Exports Slide In May.(Former Soviet Union )(Brief Article)
May 31, 2004... Oil products exports from the former Soviet Union continued to slide in May, as producers diverted more crude away from domestic refineries to export markets, which yield better margins. Ukraine's weeklong ban on products exports has ended,...

Whale Tale: Greens Warn Banks Off Sakhalin.(Environmental activists )(Sakhalin-2 oil gas project)
May 31, 2004... The world's largest banks are being lobbied by environmental groups not to finance the Royal Dutch/Shell-led Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project off Russia's Pacific coast, because of a threat to an endangered species of whale. "Shell's...

June Bug: Ambitious Export Plans Hampered By Bottlenecks.(Russian crude exports)
May 31, 2004... Moscow has ambitious plans for its summer crude exports, starting with a 110,000 b/d boost in June seaborne loadings over last month. However, chances for the massive export boost to materialize any time soon look slim: Russia's export...

Comrades: Vietnam Seeks To Rebuild Oil Relations.
May 31, 2004... Despite some heated spats in the past two years over their joint venture oil company, Vietsovpetro, old comrades-in-arms Vietnam and Russia appear to be making an effort to mend the tattered joint venture partnership. During a three-day...

Russian Crude Loading Programs For June 2004.
May 31, 2004... Novorossiysk Crude Loading Program For June 2004

Crackers: East European Refiners Hold Their Heads High In EU.(crude processing)
May 31, 2004... The European Union's 10 new members may only have 14 refineries processing just over 1 million barrels per day between them, but they include some of the most sophisticated upgrading plants in Europe. And that, along with booming local fuel...

Kazakhstan: Russia Waiting For Invitation To Join China Pipeline.(Brief Article)
May 31, 2004... Kazakhstan's plans to build a pipeline to China could provide Russia's oil companies with another outlet for their crude. But Russian national pipeline operator Transneft says it hasn't yet received any proposals from Kazakh state oil concern...

Lithuania: Baltic Port To Launch Crude Shipments In July.(Brief Article)
May 31, 2004... The Baltic port of Klaipeda plans to launch shipments of crude oil in July, assuming that it secures the necessary certification from a state commission this month. A spokesman for the port operator, Klaipedos Nafta (KN), said the terminal...

Poland: Vopak Abandons Polish Plans.(Vopak Shipping B.V., Naftobazy)(Brief Article)
May 31, 2004... Dutch storage firm Vopak has pulled out of negotiations with Polish authorities on its acquisition of an interest in the Naftobazy network of more than 20 state-owned oil tank terminals. Vopak said talks broke down after the two sides failed to...

Slovakia: Ruhrgas Stocks Up On Storage Capacity.(Brief Article)
May 31, 2004... Germany's leading gas supplier, Ruhrgas, paid some $75 million last month for rival German power group RWE's 40% stake in Slovak oil firm Nafta Gbely. Nafta Gbely owns a strategic 1.7 Bcm natural gas storage facility, near the main...

Tat Spat: Tatneft Cleared For Tupras Takeover.(Brief Article)
May 31, 2004... A Turkish court has lifted an injunction that had suspended the privatization of 66% of Turkish state-run refining group Tupras for $1.3 billion, paving the way for a consortium of Russia's Tatneft and its Turkish partner Zorlu Holding to...

State Of The Art: Rosneft Boosts Profits By 44%.(Brief Article)
May 31, 2004... Russian state-owned Rosneft has announced that it made a consolidated net profit of 21.3 billion rubles ($710 million) in 2003, in accounts prepared according to Russian accounting standards. This represents a 44.2% increase from the...

Equities And Currencies.
May 31, 2004... Share Prices Closing On June 1, 2004