NEFTE Compass articles from November 2008

NEFTE Compass archives from November 2008

Russia Attacks US Policy As Obama Wins.
November 5, 2008... Hopes have been high that the departures of Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush from office could usher in better relations between Russia and the US, respectively the world's largest energy producer and consumer, but so far there has been little...

+Majors Share Responsibiity For New-Look Kashagan.
November 5, 2008... A "new way forward" has been agreed for Kazakhstan's Kashagan oil field, the largest discovery in 40 years, according to Agip KCO, the Eni-led operating company. "Everything is coming together very quickly now," one source close to the...

Crisis Prompts Gazprom To Review Investment.
November 5, 2008... Gazprom may rethink its corporate strategy in light of the financial crisis, although it says it has no plans to change its dividend policy or to scale back projects. Directors of the Russian gas giant will look at the strategy in...

Russia Unexpectedly Slashes Export Duties.
November 5, 2008... Russia reportedly has cut oil export duties sharply to stimulate stagnating shipments, although trading sources were pessimistic about the chances of export flows rising as a result of the reduced rate. In the second unscheduled cut to...

India Seeks Russian Oil And Gas.
November 5, 2008... Indian Oil Minister Murli Deora used a visit to Moscow this week to pitch for LNG from the massive Sakhalin-2 oil and gas development on Russia's Pacific shelf, as well as for assets in East Siberia and a stake in the Sakhalin-3 oil and gas...

Russia Increases CPC Stake With Oman Buyout.
November 5, 2008... Russia has bought Oman's 7% stake in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), bringing its holding to 31%. A source at state pipeline operator Transneft, which manages the Russian stake, said Moscow has finalized the deal and will transfer the...

Meeting Of Gas Producers In Moscow Postponed.
November 5, 2008... Moscow's push to solidify the fledgling alliance of gas producers could be facing delays, as the meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) planned for November has been postponed until April next year, according to Qatari Oil Minister...

Gazprom Pushes Forward With Italian Deals.
November 5, 2008... Gazprom has advanced plans for asset swaps with Eni and Enel after signing binding accords to develop two big Siberian fields that the Italian firms acquired from Yukos last year. One accord says the three firms will approve development plans...

Russia Starts Drilling In Venezuela.
November 5, 2008... Gas drilling has started from a Russian platform in the Gulf of Venezuela under a 30-year license won by Russia's Gazprom to develop the Urumaco-1 and Urumaco-2 gas fields as part of the Rafael Urdaneta project. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez...

Diamond Monopoly To Explore Angola.
November 5, 2008... Russia's state diamond monopoly, Alrosa, has won an on- and offshore oil exploration license in African Angola that will enable the company to further implement its business diversification strategy. "The government of Angola has granted us...

Quartet Join In Austrian Hub Relaunch.
November 5, 2008... Gazprom and Austria's OMV, together with Wiener Borse, operator of the Vienna Stock Exchange, and Centrex Europe Energy & Gas, a Russian gas importer based in Austria, said this week that they have agreed in principle to cooperate on developing...

Russia, Libya Strengthen Cooperation.
November 5, 2008... Russia and Libya agreed to strengthen civilian and military ties and discussed expanding cooperation in the oil and gas sector during a visit by Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi to Moscow last week. Gazprom head Alexei Miller and Shokri...

Sintez Gets Indonesian Offshore Block.
November 5, 2008... Sintez group has won the license to an offshore block in Indonesia at tender, boosting the company's plans to expand outside Russia. Sintez's subsidiary for overseas projects, Sintezmorneftegas, won the right to explore the East Bawean-I...

Antimonopoly Service Targets Rosneft, Lukoil.
November 5, 2008... The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has found state major Rosneft and top independent producer Lukoil guilty of abusing their dominant market positions by setting artificially high prices for refined products. Rosneft was threatened...

Karachaganak Expansion Put On Hold.
November 5, 2008... Plans to expand production at the giant Karachaganak gas and condensate field have been put on ice as joint operators BG and Eni begin discussions with the Kazakh government on rescheduling the multibillion-dollar Phase 3 of the project (NC...

Ukraine Sees More Modest Gas Price Rise.
November 5, 2008... Ukrainian officials expect prices for Russian natural gas to increase by around 33% from the current $179.50/Mcm -- a significantly more moderate rise than the jump to around $400/Mcm earlier threatened by Russian state giant Gazprom. The...

BP Reopens Pipeline Closed By Georgia Conflict.
November 5, 2008... BP has reopened the Baku-Supsa pipeline across Georgia, which has been closed since the Russian incursion in August. The 100,000 b/d capacity pipeline from Azerbaijan to the Georgian Black Sea coast was operating around 90,000-95,000 b/d...

Lukoil Gives Azeri Block A Second Chance.
November 5, 2008... Lukoil has spudded a second exploration well on the Yalama (D-222) Block in the Azeri sector of the Caspian Sea, according to an official at Azeri state Socar. About 1,000 meters have already been drilled out of a target depth of 2,650...

Kazakhs Target TNK-BP Russian Assets.
November 5, 2008... Kazakh oil producer Kazmunaigas Exploration Production (KMG EP) said it is holding talks with TNK-BP on purchasing some of the Russian-UK joint venture's assets in Russia. KMG EP's managing director for business development, Dastan...

Armenia To Increase Gas Storage.
November 5, 2008... Armenia plans to increase the capacity of its underground natural gas storage fivefold through 2011 to secure gas supplies for the country's consumers. Armrosgazprom, a joint venture between the Armenian energy ministry, Russia's Gazprom...

Russia Pumps State Cash Into Hard-Hit Firms.
November 5, 2008... State oil giant Rosneft will get $800 million of state money to help it repay some of its $20 billion debt as part of the Russian government's plan to bail out companies hardest hit by the financial crisis. Rosneft, chaired by Igor Sechin,...

Lukoil Chops Spending And Warns Of More Cuts.
November 5, 2008... The board of top private Russian producer Lukoil has approved a significant cut in next year's investment budget. The cut is likely to be the first of many in the Russian industry as oil companies adjust to lower oil prices and much higher...

Equities and Currencies.
November 5, 2008... Share Prices Closing On November 1, 2008

Urals Still Strong On Supply Worries.
November 5, 2008... Oil prices have had a terrible time of it lately with the fear of further demand destruction at the hands of crashing equity markets and a strengthening US dollar piling on downward pressure. Front-month December Brent futures traded a $9.97...

Refinery Delays Support Distillates.
November 5, 2008... Lack of refinery availability has helped support European middle distillates spot prices, with some delays in refineries returning from maintenance. One of the crude distillation units at Royal Dutch Shell's Pernis refinery has been...

Russian Tax Cuts May Be Too Late To Stop The Rot.
November 10, 2008... Fears of falling crude oil production have prompted Moscow to tackle its punitive taxation system. But it could be too late to stop the decline, experts say. After months of heavy criticism, Russia plans from December to begin...

BP Bows Out Of Kazakhstan, Hunkers Down In Russia.
November 10, 2008... BP has signed an agreement to sell a stake in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) to state Kazmunaigas (KMG). But as it bows out of Kazakhstan, the UK supermajor's fortunes elsewhere in the former Soviet Union are mixed. In Russia it has...

Crude Flows To Czech Republic Face Problems.
November 10, 2008... Gazprom Neft has struck a direct supply deal with refiners in the Czech Republic following similar contracts forged earlier by other Russian producers, trading sources claim. However, none of the deals extend beyond the end of the year, in...

'Gas Troika' Talks Cooperation In Doha.
November 10, 2008... In the run-up to this week's top-level meeting in Doha of the "gas troika," signs have emerged that Russia, Qatar and Iran are discussing agreements affecting such politically and industrially important issues as LNG development at Iran's giant...

Pipeline To China Approved By State Experts.
November 10, 2008... Plans to build an oil pipeline to China have received another shot in the arm following Russian state experts agency Glavgosexpertiza's approval of the suggested line. A feasibility study for a 70 km spur from the East Siberian Pacific...

Gazprom, BASF Firm Up Cooperation.
November 10, 2008... Gazprom and Germany's BASF are discussing cooperation on projects in East Siberia focusing on the gas processing business. The Russian state gas giant has presented its plan for a unified gas production and transportation system in East...

ONGC Gets Approval For Imperial Energy Buyout.
November 10, 2008... Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has approved Indian state Oil and Natural Gas Corp.'s (ONGC) $2.59 billion buyout of Russia-focused Imperial Energy, removing the final obstacle to the takeover, which would be the biggest overseas...

Libya's Oilinvest Eyes Russian Assets.
November 10, 2008... Libyan state holding company Oilinvest is seeking upstream and downstream assets in Russia, its latest global expansion target. Oilinvest Chief Executive Isam Zanati informed Russian Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev at a meeting in...

Lukoil Outlines Erg Purchase Details.
November 10, 2008... Leading independent Russian producer Lukoil says it will finalize a joint-venture deal with Erg, Italy's second-biggest refiner, by the end of the month. The Russian company is taking a 49% stake in Erg's Isab refinery in Priolo, Sicily. ...

Medvedev Offers Oil And Gas Ruble Deals.
November 10, 2008... Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has unveiled proposals to turn the ruble into a global currency by using the Russian currency to settle purchases of oil and gas. In a bid to accelerate efforts to change what he called the global...

Sakhalin-2 Starts Filling In Oil Pipeline.
November 10, 2008... The Gazprom-led Sakhalin-2 project has finished building an 800 km oil pipeline that will allow year-round oil production to start at the end of 2008. Project operator Sakhalin Energy reportedly said last week that it had already started...

High Prices Knock Down Russian Gas Exports.
November 10, 2008... Russian natural gas sales to the most lucrative markets outside the former Soviet Union reportedly dropped by 8.3% on the year to 12.6 Bcm in October, as a sharp increase in prices prompted European consumers to cut purchases. Record-high...

Vitol Stands By Ventspils.
November 10, 2008... Two years after international fuel trader Vitol took the plunge into Latvia's transit market, the company has dismissed growing rumors in the local market that it has been disappointed with its investment in terminal operator Ventspils Nafta...

Russia-Ukraine Gas Talks Show Little Progress.
November 10, 2008... Nearly three years after Russia's cutoff of gas to Ukraine disrupted flows farther west, Moscow and Kiev are locked in arduous price negotiations that could once again rattle wary consumers across Europe. Gazprom Chief Executive Alexei...

BTC Loadings Lifted By Tengiz.(Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Co.)
November 10, 2008... Shipments of Azeri Light crude oil from Turkey's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan via the BP-operated Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline are set to total 780,000 b/d in December, a sharp rise from projected volumes this month. BTC flows,...

Lithuanian Port Ramps Up Shipments.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Klaipedos Nafta (KN), the state-controlled operator of Lithuania's Baltic Sea oil export terminal, is boosting its transit flows, thanks mainly to higher product shipments. The company says it handled 6.795 million metric tons of oil products...

Kuwaitis Weigh Ukraine Investment.
November 10, 2008... Kuwait's Global Oil is considering investing about $200 million in Ukraine's energy sector, including oil and gas exploration projects. The issue was discussed last week during a meeting between the president of Global Energy, Mohammed...

JKX Hails Milestone In Ukraine.
November 10, 2008... JKX Oil and Gas hailed "a significant operational milestone" this week as it announced that it had completed the tie-in of its Ukrainian gas production to the Soyuz trunk line, effectively removing any delivery constraint on the amount of sales...

Swiss Take On Albanian Blocks Left By Occidental.
November 10, 2008... Two blocks in Albania that were previously explored by US Occidental Petroleum have been picked up by DWM Petroleum, a wholly owned subsidiary of Switzerland-based Manas Petroleum. Blocks 2 and 3 cover about 3,400 sq km. In December 2001...

KNOC Signs Uzbek Deal.
November 10, 2008... Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) has signed a contract with Uzbekistan's state-owned Uzbekneftegas to explore two adjacent oil and gas blocks in the Central Asian country. The South Korean state-owned company said that if the five-year...

Auditor Confirms Turkmen Gas Riches.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... The massive growth of Turkmenistan's natural gas reserves has been confirmed in a statement issued by independent auditor Gaffney, Cline & Associates. The UK-based company said it had been authorized by the Turkmen government to comment on...

Kazakhs To Reduce Oil Export Tax.
November 10, 2008... Kazakhstan will bring some relief to beleaguered oil producers by reducing the size of the export tariff that was introduced in May to generate extra revenues. Speaking at a government meeting, Kazakh Energy Minister Sauat Mynbayev said the...

Fitch Slashes Ratings For Russia, Kazakhstan.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... International ratings agency Fitch has downgraded its sovereign ratings for Kazakhstan, Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania, and slashed its outlook for Russia and a number of the world's emerging markets, citing increased risks from the expanding...

Novatek Sees Profits Rise On Higher Gas Sales.(Financial report)
November 10, 2008... Novatek, Russia's top independent natural gas producer, saw net profits climb to over 5.68 billion rubles ($211 million) in the third quarter of 2008, 11% up on year-earlier levels and slightly above an average of analysts' forecasts. ...

Equities and Currencies.
November 10, 2008... Share Prices Closing On November 11, 2008

Futures And Physicals Both In Decline.
November 10, 2008... Crude oil futures prices remain under pressure from the relentless wave of bad macroeconomic news that continues to exacerbate fears of further destruction of energy demand. Front-month December Brent futures traded a $9.25 range between a $62...

Rising Russian Exports Put Pressure On Prices.
November 10, 2008... Russian products traders are still making a loss on exports, despite the November tax cuts, but because products taxes are calculated as a proportion of the crude export tax, losses are at least minimized. "Russian runs are up," said one...

Russia Relaxes Renationalization Strategy.
November 18, 2008... After five years of steamrollering through the oil and gas industry, Russia's renationalization drive looks to have hit the buffers, at least temporarily, with the signing of a deal last week that leaves a clutch of important assets in...

Central European Players Tighten Their Belts.
November 18, 2008... The financial crisis has forced Central and Eastern European heavyweights OMV of Austria, Hungary's Mol and Poland's PKN Orlen to batten down the hatches, cut capital expenditures and hoard cash as they try to reassure investors that they are...

Russia Intensifies Latin America Offensive.
November 18, 2008... Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is preparing for a six-day sweep through Latin America that kicks off Nov. 22, the latest in a building Russian offensive in the region that has seen corporate executives and government officials sign a series...

Russia, EU Resume Talks After 3-Month Freeze.(European Union)(Brief article)
November 18, 2008... Russia and the European Union have resumed partnership talks that had been frozen for three months following the August conflict between Russia and Georgia. Further talks are scheduled for Dec. 2, when the sides will recommence arduous...

Lukoil's Fedun Pushes Russia To Join Opec.
November 18, 2008... Lukoil Vice President Leonid Fedun, the most ardent advocate of Russia joining Opec, has laid out three options for Russia to regulate production volumes in collaboration with the producer organization. In an article published this week in...

Rosneft Exports Salym's Crude.
November 18, 2008... In a revelation that has raised the brows of some traders, Rosneft in October exported crude produced by Salym Petroleum Development (SPD), Royal Dutch Shell's Russian joint venture with London-listed but Russian-controlled Sibir Energy. ...

Authorities Reluctant To Rule On Kovykta.(TNK-BP)(Brief article)
November 18, 2008... In a sign that the Russian natural resources ministry is reluctant to be responsible for deciding the fate of TNK-BP's giant Kovykta gas field, a ministry official has said that a recent official investigation into the field was flawed. ...

TNK-BP Launches Euro-5 At Ryazan Refinery.
November 18, 2008... Russian-UK joint venture TNK-BP has begun production of diesel fuel meeting Euro-5 quality standards at the Ryazan refinery, the company's largest plant and one of Russia's most advanced refineries. The refinery produced some 85,000 tons...

Gazprom Neft, TNK-BP Face Huge Fines.
November 18, 2008... In a further attempt to strengthen the state's ability to control domestic oil product prices, Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has found Gazprom oil arm Gazprom Neft and TNK-BP guilty of abusing their dominant position on the market...

Gazprom Neft Outlines Crisis Spending Cut.
November 18, 2008... Gazprom oil arm Gazprom Neft has joined Lukoil in slashing its investment plans in expectation of tougher times next year. The company has said it plans to cut investment by 20%-25% in 2009 to 70 billion rubles ($2.5 billion) if the price of...

Gazprom Extends Global Reach.
November 18, 2008... Russian gas giant Gazprom is stepping up its drive to become a major global player by building new partnerships in the Middle East, Europe, China and at home. Although little concrete information has emerged on joint investment plans being...

Gazprom Loses Sales In France.
November 18, 2008... Norwegian fertilizer maker Yara has slashed gas use at its French plant, Gazprom's largest industrial customer in France and one of its largest in Western Europe. Yara said it will "temporarily stop production of ammonia and urea at its...

Turkmenistan Block 3: A Legal Minefield.
November 18, 2008... Turkmenistan's concertina-shaped Block 3 in the middle of the Caspian Sea includes some of the biggest oil deposits in the area (see map). But the block's biggest field, Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG), which contains recoverable reserves of...

Kazakhstan Eyes Bigger CPC Stake.
November 18, 2008... Kazakhstan is considering buying an additional 3% stake in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) out of the 7% holding that Oman recently sold to Russia. A successful purchase would raise Kazakhstan's stake to 22% from the current 19%,...

Bodman: Obama Will Maintain US Caspian Interest.
November 18, 2008... Leaders from across Europe and the former Soviet Union last week signed a broad declaration supporting the establishment of energy transportation corridors circumventing Russia, but little progress was made toward bringing new alternative...

TNK-BP Restarts Ukraine Refinery.
November 18, 2008... TNK-BP's Lisichansk refinery in Ukraine this week resumed crude processing after finalizing testing of equipment at the plant, which was repaired in October. The refinery was shut for scheduled maintenance to examine and replace aging...

Naftogaz Ukrainy Given More Time To Pay.
November 18, 2008... The holders of $500 million in bonds from Ukrainian state firm Naftogaz Ukrainy have agreed to allow the company extra time until the end of this year to file its financial results from 2007, bond issuer Standard Bank London Holdings said in a...

Lithuania Backs LNG Project.
November 18, 2008... Lithuania's government is planning to transfer its 17.7% shareholding in the country's largest gas utility, Lietuvos Dujos (LD), to the company set up to operate a planned LNG terminal, Lithuanian Transport Minister Algidras Butkiyavichus said....

Russia, Belarus Agree To Trade Energy In Rubles.(Brief article)
November 18, 2008... In line with Moscow's official strategy to transform the ruble into a global currency, Russia and Belarus have agreed to use the Russian currency for oil and gas transactions. According to a deal inked by Russia's finance minister, Alexey...

Lithuanian Refinery Boosts Profits.(Financial report)
November 18, 2008... Lithuania's Mazeikiu Nafta (MN), the sole refiner in the Baltic states, boosted net profits in the first nine months of 2008, although it incurred losses in the third quarter. The oil complex, majority owned by Polish refiner PKN Orlen,...

Transneft Seeks Investment Cash As Profits Soar.(Financial report)(Brief article)
November 18, 2008... Russian state pipeline monopoly Transneft's net profits rose to 42.96 billion rubles ($1.6 billion) in the first half of 2008, 23% higher than a year earlier. Revenue jumped by 16% to 129.9 billion rubles. Transneft's revenue from oil...

Surgutneftegas Boosts Cash Pile.(Financial report)(Brief article)
November 18, 2008... Surgutneftegas, Russia's fourth-largest oil producer, recorded total revenues over the first nine months of 2008 of 475.4 billion rubles ($17.3 billion), a rise of only 5.8% from the first three quarters of 2007, despite the huge surge in oil...

Equities and Currencies.
November 18, 2008... Share Prices Closing On November 18, 2008

Modest Buying Interest, Softer Differentials.
November 18, 2008... Crude oil futures continue to try to construct a credible floor under prices that over the past month have tumbled more than 30% -- let alone their 65% crash from ICE Brent's front-month record high of $147.50 as recently as Jul. 11. So far,...

Cold Snap Supports Gas Oil.(Brief article)
November 18, 2008... German heating oil consumption has been supported by lower temperatures this week, but the buying spree may have started to run its course. The benchmark ICE gas oil moved into contango this week, implying a weaker market as prompt oil is...

Turkmenistan's Record Gas Find Could Be Tricky To Develop.
November 25, 2008... There's good and bad news for Turkmenistan. The good news is that the country has one of the world's largest gas fields, the onshore South Yolotan/Osman reservoir, which with in-place reserves of up to 14 trillion cubic meters has the...

Russia Weighs Moves To Control Production, Prices.
November 25, 2008... In a move that could have a dramatic impact on Russian crude oil production, Moscow is considering ways to step up state control over output in an attempt to influence oil prices on the domestic and global markets. The main instrument for...

Crisis Pushes Power Reform To The Brink.
November 25, 2008... Fears are mounting that the economic crisis could drive many of Russia's new electricity production companies and distribution firms to collapse, undoing the massive restructuring of the power sector over the last several years. Top...

Power Company Plugs Into Africa.
November 25, 2008... Russia's state power plant builder, Technopromexport, and little-known company Libyan-African Investment Portfolio have agreed to set up a joint venture to build power plants in Africa. A new venture, called Laptechno-Power, will build and...

Lukoil Emerges In Hunt For Repsol Stake.
November 25, 2008... Top private Russian oil producer Lukoil appears to have emerged as the leading suitor to take a substantial stake in Spain's Repsol YPF, although sources with the company insist that financing such a deal is impossible at this point in time....

Russia, Ukraine Settle Gas Standoff For Now.
November 25, 2008... Gazprom and Ukraine's Naftogaz Ukrainy have managed for the time being to avoid a repeat of the 2006 shutoff of Russian gas supplies that sent shockwaves through Europe. Bowing to mounting pressure from Gazprom, the Ukrainian firm promised this...

Putin To Sign BPS-2 Resolution.
November 25, 2008... National pipeline operator Transneft is expected to receive government approval to go ahead with construction of the Baltic Pipeline System-2 (BPS-2) this week, as the company presses forward with another major project regardless of the...