NEFTE Compass articles from October 2005

NEFTE Compass archives from October 2005

Double Barrel: Lukoil Ups Ante In Kazakhstan, Buys Another Producer.
October 5, 2005... Lukoil is firing both barrels in Kazakhstan, upping the ante in its spat with PetroKazakhstan, at the same time as announcing it has agreed to buy another Kazakh producer, Nelson Resources, for $2 billion. Lukoil Overseas regional director...

Double Trouble: Turkmenistan Close To The Edge As Capacity Crunch Nears.
October 5, 2005... Turkmenistan is living close to the edge. Autocratic President Saparmurat Niyazov has sacked nearly all of his senior officials that had any experience of dealing with international companies in just the space of just a few months. Gone with...

Creative Types: Majors Get Think Up Creative Ways To Cut Losses From Price Caps.
October 5, 2005... Russia's oil companies are thinking up creative ways to reduce losses that will probably result from their recent decision to voluntarily cap domestic fuel prices until the end of the year. Just two weeks after agreeing to the price freeze,...

Rejected: Ministry Throws Out East Siberian Pipe Proposal.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2005... The current proposed route for Russia's oil pipeline from East Siberia to the Pacific Ocean does not meet the requirements of the Ministry of Natural Resources and will have to be redrawn, the ministry said in a statement last week. Deputy...

On Time: Exxon Mobil Starts Up Sakhalin-1 On Schedule.
October 5, 2005... Exxon Mobil brought on stream its Sakhalin-1 project on Oct. 1 as scheduled, with Russian Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko, Indian Oil Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar and India's ambassador to Russia in attendance. Exxon Neftegas...

Shuffleboard: Lukoil Reshuffles Upstream Portfolio.
October 5, 2005... Lukoil is reshuffling its upstream asset portfolio in Russia. The oil major has bought FinlandAEs Neste Oil out of its 50% stake in the Severtek joint venture in Russia's Komi Republic, sources claim. At the same time, Lukoil has started...

Tat's Better: Tatneft Grabs Acreage In Libya.
October 5, 2005... Tatneft's campaign to penetrate the Middle East and North Africa has borne fruit this week, as the Russian company was declareda one of the winners of Libya's latest hotly contested upstream tender. Tatneft grabbed onshore Block 82-4 in...

Downturn: Moscow Slashes Loadings, Hikes Taxes.
October 5, 2005... Russia is slashing its seaborne crude exports by 95,000 b/d compared to the previous month in October port loading schedules, cutting back Baltic Sea loadings as Moscow hikes export tariffs and production stagnates. Loadings next month are...

Eastern Allure: Rosneft Unveils Komsomolsk Upgrade.
October 5, 2005... State-run Rosneft has launched a $90 million diesel fuel hydrofining unit at its Komsomolsk refinery in Russia's Far Eastern Khabarovsk region, Rosneft President Sergei Bogdanchikov announced. The upgrade will boost the refinery's annual crude-...

Local Brew: TNK-BP Moves Forward On Kovykta Local Supplies.
October 5, 2005... TNK-BP is moving forward with its project to supply the local market with gas from its Far Eastern Kovykta gas and condensate field. The shareholders of East Siberian Gas Co. (ESGC) have selected the UK's Petrofac International as the managing...

Nimby: Protests Bring Halt To Terminal Construction.
October 5, 2005... The governor of Russia's Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad has halted the construction of two oil terminals in the face of opposition from local residents and environmentalists. Kaliningrad Governor Gregory Boos put a stop to the construction...

Making Eyes: Lukoil, ConocoPhillips Eye Deals.
October 5, 2005... The strategic alliance forged between Lukoil and ConocoPhillips last year is expanding as the two team up to acquire downstream assets. The companies have set up a special group to work on joint acquisitions, according Leonid Fedun, Lukoil's...

Russian Crude Loadings For October 2005.
October 5, 2005... Novorossiysk Crude Loading Program For Oct. 2005

Kazakhstan: Strategic Control Eyed Over PetroKazakhstan Assets.
October 5, 2005... China National Petroleum Corp.'s (CNPC) $4.18 billion bid for producer PetroKazakhstan seems to have hit another roadblock, with the Kazakh energy minister declaring that the government is keen to assume "strategic control" over the...

Slovakia: Bratislava Threatens Yukos With Confiscation.
October 5, 2005... Russia's embattled Yukos may be forced to give up its foreign assets -- the only ones outside Moscow's grasp. The Slovakian government reportedly has offered to buy Yukos' 49% stake in Slovakian pipeline operator Transpetrol. If Yukos does...

Azerbaijan: J&S Trader Wins Socar Tender.
October 5, 2005... Azerbaijan's national oil company Socar has issued a new sell tender for an 80,000 metric ton (586,000 bbl) cargo of Urals crude to be exported at the end of the month out of Novorossiysk, the company announced. The cargo will load out of...

Barreling Up: Oil Price Propels Stock Market To New Record.
October 5, 2005... Since breaking through prior highs in the middle of the summer, the Russian stock market has continued its upward ascent. Supported by soaring oil prices and strong global liquidity, Russia's RTS stock index smashed through the 1,000 mark...

Equities and Currencies.
October 5, 2005... Share Prices Closing On Oct. 4, 2005

Crude Oil: Promises Drive Futures Lower.
October 5, 2005... The US government made soothing noises about its willingness to release not only more crude oil to refiners if need be but also promised to use its heating oil reserve to counter potential supply shortages. The heating oil reserve, compiled by...

Products: Futures Down But Differentials Up.(refineries)
October 5, 2005... The market for Russian gas oil continued to be mixed this week. Futures prices slipped over the week, but the differentials firmed sufficiently on tightening market conditions to provide net gains for Russian gas oil (see table). Strikes...

Euro Mission: Moscow To Adopt EU Fuel Standards By 2010.
October 12, 2005... Russia is to introduce tougher environmental standards for its domestic fuels market, raising them to match current European Union standards by 2010, in a move that will have wide-ranging implications for both for the domestic auto industry and...

Steppe Dancing: Kazakhstan Sends A Tough Message To Investors.
October 12, 2005... Kazakhstan is sending out the wrong signals to foreign investors, refusing to yield on tough fiscal terms and stepping up its attack on PetroKazakhstan. Amending its legislation to suit the occasion, Kazakhstan's Parliament has passed a...

Long Courtship: Chinese Finally Get Into Russian Upstream.(Brief Article)
October 12, 2005... China's Sinopec looks to have finally got its long-sought after stake in the Russian upstream. Rosneft said it has registered a joint venture to explore acreage offshore Sakhalin, giving China's Sinopec 25.1%. Rosneft holds 49.8%, while...

Realpolitik: Political Decision Taken On Vankor Pipe Route.
October 12, 2005... A political decision has been taken to send crude from Rosneft's East Siberian Vankorskoye acreage south to link into national pipeline operator's Transneft network, insiders claim. The decision to build the 350 km pipeline south has been...

Quid Pro Quo: Moscow Overhauls Oil Taxation After Price Caps.
October 12, 2005... The Russian government appears to have had its fill of high oil price earnings, officially announcing that it won't be taking any bigger slices through higher taxes. Representatives from Russia's ministries of Finance and Economic...

Relief: Moscow Refinery Wins Slight Tax Reprieve.
October 12, 2005... The Moscow refinery has won a slight reprieve from back tax claims. The Moscow Arbitration Court last week upheld a claim of 3 billion rubles ($100 million) against the company by the Federal Tax Service, but reduced the penalties by over 566...

Kazakh Bid: Kazakhstan Seeks To Ship More Crude To Butinge.
October 12, 2005... Kazakhstan is pushing for a clause in an intergovernmental agreement with Moscow allowing its producers to ship 140,000-240,000 b/d of their oil to the Lithuanian Baltic port of Butinge via Russia. The move is widely seen as a preparation...

Small Fry: TNK-BP Sells Smaller Upstream Assets.
October 12, 2005... TNK-BP has started selling off assets as part of its divestment plan, in a move interpreted as preparation for taking over Slavneft's core producer, Megionneftegas. The Russian-UK joint venture has accepted bids from 10 potential buyers...

Second Glance: Rosneft Joins Queue For Kazakh-Chinese Line.
October 12, 2005... Rosneft has indicated its interest in using Kazakh pipeline Atasu-Alashankou to supply Russian crude to China. Rosneft approached national pipeline operator Transneft with a request to study the possibility of pumping the oil company's...

Stretching Out: Russneft Expands In Komi, Gives Glencore More.
October 12, 2005... Russneft, a fast-growing private oil company led by Mikhail Gutseriev, is preparing to expand in Russia's northern Komi republic and to grant a greater shareholding to its partner Glencore. Russneft last week signed a cooperation agreement...

Losing Pressure: Russian Gas Production Down With Warm Weather.
October 12, 2005... Russian gas production declined 2.6% in September to 47.2 Bcm from the previous month due to unusually warm weather (see table). Gazprom said a decline in demand from consumers in the European part of Russia forced the company to cut gas...

Done Deal: Stroitransgas To Sign Contract In Syria.(Brief Article)
October 12, 2005... Russian pipeline contractor Stroitransgas is pushing ahead with the company's expansion overseas by winning a contract in Syria to participate in the third phase of the Arab Gas Pipeline, which links Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Turkey. The...

No Go: Yukos Rescue Plan Falls Through.
October 12, 2005... A rescue plan devised by Yukos' independent board directors to halt the company's production losses has failed to bear any fruit. According to academic Alexei Kontorovich, the main driving force behind the plan, Yukos' management and...

Assets Arrest: Yugansk Asks Netherlands To Arrest Yukos Assets.
October 12, 2005... Rosneft subsidiary Yuganskneftegas, the former primary production unit of Yukos, has requested that the Amsterdam District Court arrest the shares and assets of Yukos' subsidiaries registered in the Netherlands. Through the European...

Bashed Up: Sistema Raises Stakes In Bashkortostan.
October 12, 2005... Russian industrial holding AFK Sistema has increased its stakes in five oil and gas companies in Russia's semiautonomous Bashkortostan region, giving the company blocking stakes in three of its investments, Sistema said. Sistema, whose...

Lucky Charms: Sakhalin-5 Completes Second Well.(Brief Article)
October 12, 2005... Rosneft and BP -- partners in the Sakhalin-5 project off Russia's Pacific Shelf -- have completed drilling and testing a second exploration well in the Kaigansky-Vasukansky license area. The well -- drilled from the Transocean Legend...

Bulk Order: India To Take Bulk Of Sakhalin-1 Crude.
October 12, 2005... India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) stands to get a large slice of oil from the Sakhalin-1 development offshore eastern Russia, now that production has been launched. ONGC has been covering Rosneft's 20% share of financing for the...

Kazakhstan: CPC Confident Russia Will Approve Expansion.
October 12, 2005... The long overdue expansion of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) oil export pipeline looks set to make progress after the main Western shareholders agreed to meet Russia's demands over the project. "The next formal shareholders' meeting...

Azerbaijan: Vitol Wins Socar Urals Tender.
October 12, 2005... Swiss trader Vitol has won the latest tender by Azerbaijan's national oil company Socar for an October cargo of Urals crude. The 85,000 metric ton (620,000 bbl) cargo will be pumped via the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline and exported out of the...

Kazakhstan: CanArgo Claims A First In Aral Sea Gas Field.
October 12, 2005... CanArgo Energy Corp., a Guernsey-based independent, is pursuing one of the first primary gas developments in Kazakhstan, David Robson, the company's chairman, president and chief executive, told the Kioge conference in Almaty last week. ...

Poland: Warsaw Invites Bids For LNG Feasibility Study.
October 12, 2005... Polish state gas group PGNiG, still the country's dominant importer, has invited bids by Nov. 7 from companies interested in preparing a feasibility study for LNG imports into Poland. The tender is aimed at technical consultancies and...

Azerbaijan: Azeri Light Could Make It As A Benchmark.
October 12, 2005... The advent of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline is an exciting opportunity to establish a new f.o.b. benchmark for crude from the former Soviet Union, a senior manager of pricing service Platts says. "BTC will not truly get going until...

In Control: Gazprom Keeps Sibneft Deal Abroad, Eyes Yukos' Stake.
October 12, 2005... Russian gas giant Gazprom is steadily closing in on a near-complete takeover of Russian major Sibneft. In addition to the 72.7% stake Gazprom has already agreed to buy from Millhouse Capital, the investment vehicle of billionaire Roman...

Equities and Currencies.
October 12, 2005... Share Prices Closing On Oct. 11, 2005

Crude Oil: Differential Firm Despite 'Demand Destruction'.
October 12, 2005... Urals prices firmed despite the loss to demand of more than 7.22 million barrels backed out by three weeks of industrial action in France. The only thing certain about this market is its volatility. Front month Brent futures traded a $3.88...

Products: French Strike Props Up Gas Oil.
October 12, 2005... The market for Russian gas oil was mixed this week. Drooping European demand weakened prices early in the week despite strong levels in the US. Levels rebounded through the rest of the week helped along by the decision by workers at Total's...

Treasure Island: Gazprom's Sibneft Takeover Augers New Vistas Into Sakhalin.
October 18, 2005... Gazprom's takeover of Sibneft has entered its final stage this week with the announcement that the gas giant's deputy chief executive, Alexander Ryazanov, will be taking over as president of the oil producer. The de facto installation of...

Island Romance: Exxon's Sakhalin-1 Eyes LNG.
October 18, 2005... LNG is for the first time being actively considered as an option for exporting gas from the Exxon Mobil-operated Sakhalin-1 project in Far Eastern Russia, which has to date focused on potential pipeline gas sales, targeting Japan first and more...

Cool Train: Sakhalin-2 Eyes Sources For Third LNG Train.
October 18, 2005... Royal Dutch Shell and its Japanese partners Mitsui and Mitsubishi have begun considering options for a third train at their Sakhalin-2 LNG development on Russia's Pacific Shelf. Gas to supply a third train could come from a variety of...

Brass Ring: TNK-BP Close To Mazeikiu Purchase.
October 18, 2005... Russian-UK joint venture TNK-BP looks to be emerging as the most likely buyer of Yukos' stake in Lithuanian oil company Mazeikiu Nafta (MN). Insiders say the deal has practically been sealed. The tender, however, is still to be held and...

Stratego: Russia Defines Strategic Terms.(Brief Article)
October 18, 2005... Russia's Ministry of Natural Resources says it has developed criteria to define reserves that could be labeled as strategic, in which foreign participation in exploration and development would be limited. The first category involves...

Freeze Dry: Lukoil Halts Shipments Via Belokamenka.
October 18, 2005... Lukoil has halted crude export shipments via the floating storage vessel, the Belokamenka, which is anchored near the Arctic Barents Sea port of Murmansk. The tanker is operated by state Rosneft. The reason for stopping shipments is simply...

Booster: Hess Seeks to Boost Presence in Russia.
October 18, 2005... US Amerada Hess, which earlier this year purchased 7,000 b/d Russian producer Samara-Nafta, plans to increase its output in the country to 50,000 b/d over the next several years, a representative for the company told Nefte Compass. He would not...

Sales Pitch: North European Gas Pipeline Gets First Sale.
October 18, 2005... Russian Gazprom's export arm Gazexport and German-Russian marketer Wingas have agreed on basic terms for gas deliveries via the planned North European Gas Pipeline (NEGP) beneath the Baltic Sea, the companies said last week. However, the...

Shout Out: Urals To Become International Benchmark.(ural trading)(Brief Article)
October 18, 2005... Russia is working to turn its export blend Urals into an international benchmark, with projects to start trading on two international exchanges, as well as setting up a domestic bourse. Russian Economic Trade And Development Minister German...

Flowback: Taxation Affects Russian Crude Flows.
October 18, 2005... Moscow's oil taxation reforms, as well as voluntary price caps agreed to by Russia's biggest oil companies, have caused a major change in the country's crude flows. The tax reforms are aimed at boosting Russia's domestic refining and...

Morning-After Bill: Moscow Gives Yukos Bill For Remaining Tax Arrears.
October 18, 2005... Russia's beleaguered oil major Yukos still owes the Russian government nearly 200 billion rubles ($7 billion) in tax arrears, Russian news agencies reported, citing the head of Russia's federal court bailiffs. The figure is the first that...

Kazakhstan: PetroKazakhstan Sale Approved.
October 18, 2005... PetroKazakhstan shareholders approved this week an offer by China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) to acquire the independent producer for US$4.2 billion, setting the stage for the deal to be completed after weeks of political wrangling and...

Azerbaijan: Select Energy Wins Socar Tender.
October 18, 2005... Azerbaijan's state oil company has awarded its latest tender for Azeri Light crude to German trader Select Energy. The 600,000 bbl (80,000 ton) parcel, the 12th awarded this year, will load out of Georgia's Black Sea port of Batumi on Nov....

Turkmenistan: Kiev Wrings Hands Over Turkmen Gas.
October 18, 2005... Kiev looks to be running into a brick wall in attempts to ease its dependence on Russian gas by signing a new long-term supply contract with Turkmenistan. Instead, it has failed to even negotiate the terms of Turkmen gas purchases for 2006....

Kazakhstan: Foreign Direct Investment Jumps By 14%.
October 18, 2005... Foreign direct investment into Kazakhstan jumped by 14% to $2.7 billion in the first six months of 2005, compared with the first half of 2004, according to the National Bank of Kazakhstan. Of the total, $761 million went into the Central...

Kazakhstan: Kazakhstan To Become Major Gas Supplier to China.
October 18, 2005... Kazakhstan is beginning to see itself as a potential bridge for natural gas from Central Asia and Russia to be delivered to the fast-growing Chinese market. A preliminary feasibility study on building a gas pipeline from fields in western...

Rare Stake: Lukoil Secures Majority Stake In Nelson.
October 18, 2005... Lukoil has acquired a 65% stake in Nelson Resources, a Bermuda-registered oil producer operating in Kazakhstan, Lukoil announced. In line with an agreement signed last week, subsidiary Lukoil Overseas purchased 566.4 million outstanding...

Eye For An Eye: Transneft Eyes East Pipeline Financing.
October 18, 2005... National pipeline operator Transneft may place eurobonds worth $5 billion to finance construction of the first phase of a pipeline to East Siberia and the Pacific Ocean. According to Transneft Vice President Sergei Grigoriev, the company...

Equities and Currencies.
October 18, 2005... Share Prices Closing On Oct. 18, 2005

Crude Oil: Reluctant Buyers Force Differentials Down.
October 18, 2005... Urals differentials weakened as high prices made buyers back off until asking prices came down to meet them. Outright prices also fell when new Hurricane Wilma was projected to give US Gulf of Mexico oil and gas installations a miss. Bearish US...

Products: Prices Blowing In The Wind.
October 18, 2005... The market for Russian gas oil had another volatile reporting period as mixed reports of a developing storm in the Gulf of Mexico sent crude futures on a roller coaster ride. Product prices followed crude sharply upward on Monday as Hurricane...

Massive Attack: Night Of The Long Knives In Azerbaijan.
October 26, 2005... Azerbaijan has been hit by a political bombshell less than a fortnight before the Nov. 6 parliamentary elections that could go a long way towards deciding its long-term future. In the space of a few days, a slew of government ministers and...

In Defense: Moscow Defends State Role In Consolidation.
October 26, 2005... Russia's Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko visited the US this week, accompanied by a group of Russia's top oil executives, to revive stalled energy dialogue between the two countries. His main mission was to gloss over the impact...

Term Life: TNK-BP Awards Term Sales Contracts.
October 26, 2005... Russian-UK joint venture TNK-BP has awarded its big annual tender for 2006 crude sales to eight buyers. Meanwhile, as the end of October fast approaches, Russia still has not issued port loading schedules for November. "Everyone is...

On Line: Salym Petroleum To Start Production At New Field.(Salym Petroleum Development)(Brief Article)
October 26, 2005... Russia's Salym Petroleum Development (SPD), a joint venture between Royal Dutch Shell and Russian player Evikhon, plans to begin production at the West Salym field in West Siberia on Nov. 25. The West Salym field is the largest of SPD's...

Autumnal Glow: September Output Up Despite Sibneft Decline.
October 26, 2005... Russian crude and condensate production crept up by 47,100 b/d in September to 9.54 million b/d (39.06 million metric tons) from the previous month, according to the latest Industry and Energy Ministry data. This also represents a 1.4% increase...

Golden Share: Rosneft Buys Blocking Stake In TNK-BP Project.
October 26, 2005... Russian state oil company Rosneft has agreed to purchase a blocking stake in the massive TNK-BP-led East Siberian oil and gas project Verkhnechonskneftegas. Rosneft plans to buy Interros' 25.94% stake in the project, although the deal is...

Viking Siege: Swedish Firm Expands In Russia.(West Siberian Resources )(Brief Article)
October 26, 2005... Sweden's West Siberian Resources (WSR) has purchased production licenses for two oil fields in Russia's Timan-Pechora region, the company announced. WSR will pay $67 million for the licenses to operate the North Kharyaga and the...

All Inclusive: Comprehensive Tax And Legal Overhauls Planned.
October 26, 2005... Russia's Ministry of Economic Development and Trade has released a comprehensive set of proposals for overhauling taxation and legislation for the country's oil sector. The plan, issued on Oct. 21, also includes a wide-ranging analysis of the...

Done and Dusted: Gazprom Seals Sibneft Takeover.
October 26, 2005... Gazprom last week completed its purchase of oil producer Sibneft for more than $13 billion, in what became Russia's biggest-ever corporate takeover. As a result, nearly 30% of the Russia's oil production is now under state control. ...

Push To Shove: Putin Pushes For East Siberian Pipeline Progress.
October 26, 2005... President Vladimir Putin has once again thrown his weight behind a scheme to construct an East Siberian oil pipeline to the Pacific coast. Russia's prime minister, Mikhail Fradkov, has been asked by Putin to take under his personal control...

Italian Job: Under The Gun, Eni Seeks New Gazprom Deal.
October 26, 2005... Top executives of Italy's Eni flew on a surprise mission to Moscow last week in an apparently successful effort to persuade Gazprom to alter an agreement that the two companies reached only five months ago that allows Gazprom to market directly...

Outpost: Khodorkovsky Surfaces In Prison Near China.(OAO NK Yukos)(Mikhail Khodorkovsky)(Brief Article)
October 26, 2005... Former Yukos Chief Executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky has surfaced at a penal colony in Russia's East Siberian Chita region, close to the Chinese border. He was sentenced in May to eight years in prison for fraud and tax evasion. ...

Iranian Spud: Norsk Hydro, Lukoil Prepare To Drill In Iran.
October 26, 2005... Norway's Norsk Hydro is set to drill another exploration well at the Anaran Block in western Iran, near the Iraqi border. Russian Lukoil holds 25% in the project. Norsk Hydro will spud the Changuleh-West well in October, spokeswoman Kama...

Kazakhstan: Kulibaev Steps Down.
October 26, 2005... Timur Kulibaev, one of the most powerful people in the Kazakh oil and gas industry, has resigned as first vice president of state company Kazmunaigas to pursue private business interests. He is replaced by Alexander Pavlov, the former...

Azerbaijan: Select Energy Wins Second Socar Tender.
October 26, 2005... German trader Select Energy has won a second tender in a row from Azerbaijan's Socar, to buy a 1 million bbl cargo, an official from the state oil company told Nefte Compass. The Azeri Light crude cargo will load out of the Georgian Black...

Turkmenistan: Gazprom Faces Higher Price For Turkmen Gas.
October 26, 2005... Turkmenistan has asked to raise the price at which it sells natural gas to Russia's Gazprom, which needs the gas to satisfy climbing domestic and foreign demand. Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei...

Poland: Presidential Poll Underpins Tough Stance With Russia.(Lech Kaczynski )(Brief Article)
October 26, 2005... The election of tough-talking conservative politician Lech Kaczynski as Poland's next president edges the country even closer to a collision with energy-rich neighbor Russia. Kaczynski, who garnered 54% of the vote on Oct. 23 in a run-off...