NEFTE Compass articles from September 2004

NEFTE Compass archives from September 2004

Dark Days: Beslan Outrage Will Stoke Tensions In Volatile Region.
September 8, 2004... The terrorist outrage in Beslan, North Ossetia, has thrust Russia's volatile North Caucasus back into the spotlight. An upsurge of violence in this multi-ethnic region, which has been a frequent thorn in Moscow's side since the collapse of the...

Opec Outburst: Russian Exporters Rail Against Mideast Opec.(Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries)
September 8, 2004... Russian oil exporters have expressed irritation at Saudi Arabia's decision this week to cut the price of its crude exports to the US and Europe. The move is sure to put further pressure on Russia's Urals exports in its primary market in Europe...

Hit And Run: Yukos Accounts Frozen And Hit With New Tax Bill.
September 8, 2004... Beleaguered oil giant Yukos has suffered another bruising week, as Russian prosecutors froze more of its key bank accounts and tax authorities slapped it with another crushing tax bill in the government's unrelenting crackdown against the oil...

Blue Drain: Gazprom And Eni Count The Cost Of Blue Stream.
September 8, 2004... The Blue Stream pipeline from southern Russia to Turkey, completed in mid-2002 at a cost of $2.3 billion, remains the world's deepest subsea pipe, but it is carrying a fraction of the expected volumes and equal owners Italy's Eni and Russian...

Sold: Lukoil To Accept Bid For Drilling Unit.(Brief Article)
September 8, 2004... In a bid to increase its efficiency, Russia's Lukoil is pushing ahead with its restructuring program and divesting non-core assets. Three investors had expressed interest in participating in a tender for the company's drilling unit,...

Pipe Cleaners: Oil Products Exports By Pipeline Rise.(Brief Article)
September 8, 2004... National oil products pipeline operator Transnefteproduct pumped about half of Russia's gas oil exports in August, according to official data. The pipeline operator sent 1.324 million metric tons of gas oil to seaports for export last...

Blue Dawn: Gazprom Seeks Closer Ties To Turkey.
September 8, 2004... Turkey's Botas and Russia's Gazprom failed to sign an energy cooperation protocol last week when Russian President Vladimir Putin cancelled his trip to Turkey as the hostage crisis in North Ossetia unfolded. But the forthcoming deal --...

Barging In: TNK-BP Raises Safety Standards In Barges.
September 8, 2004... TNK-BP is working to raise the health, safety and environmental standards in its river navigation operations to international standards. TNK-BP celebrated its one-year anniversary on Sep. 1. A year ago, the company kicked off its first day...

Azerbaijan: Three Onshore PSAs Come Up For Signing.(Production Sharing Agreements)(Socar)(Brief Article)
September 8, 2004... Three new production sharing agreements are being prepared for onshore blocks, according to local reports. The AzEn joint venture between Azerbaijan's Azpetrol and Turkish contractor Enka is in line to sign a PSA for the onshore Binagadi...

Georgia: Anadarko Surveys Offshore Block.(Brief Article)
September 8, 2004... US-based Anadarko Petroleum Corp. has started a 3-D seismic survey of its acreage in the Black Sea off the former Soviet republic of Georgia, the company's partner, UK independent JKX Oil and Gas, said on Tuesday. A JKX spokesperson said...

Lithuania: Mazeikiu Nafta Hits 12-Year Refining High.(Brief Article)
September 8, 2004... Despite the escalating crackdown against Yukos, Lithuania's Mazeikiu Nafta (MN), which is controlled and operated by the besieged Russian major, is continuing to improve its performance. MN reported that its 260,000 b/d refinery in August...

Tax Toll: Sibneft Revenues Up, Net Profits Down.(Brief Article)
September 8, 2004... Sibneft this week reported a healthy increase in revenues for the first half of 2004, on the back of favorable international crude prices and higher crude production, but its net income fell 29% due to a one-time gain last year. The...

Loan Sharks: TNK-BP Gets $1 Billion Loan.(Brief Article)
September 8, 2004... Russian-UK oil giant TNK-BP has surpassed expectations and raised a syndicated loan nearly double the initially expected size, securing a credit of $1 billion. In doing so, TNK-BP overcame the departure of two banks from the loan...

Equities And Currencies.
September 8, 2004... Share Prices Closing On September 7, 2004

Crude Oil: Saudi Price Cuts Signal Sour Competition.
September 8, 2004... Crude oil futures crept sideways during the reporting period with prices pulled and pushed by headlines on Iraqi exports (unreliable), weather reports (on hurricanes in the Mexican Gulf) and Saudi Official Selling Prices (down). The latter...

Products: Med Strength Spills Over Into NWE.(Northwest Europe)(Brief Article)
September 8, 2004... Russian gas oil differentials soared in the Mediterranean due to a supply crunch and the closing of the trans-Atlantic arbitrage from the US. The southern surge helped boost Northwest Europe premiums a bit, while a slight firming in futures...

Giant Step: Gazprom Swallows Rosneft To Create New State Colossus.
September 15, 2004... Russia's landmark decision to merge Gazprom with Rosneft will create a unified state oil and gas champion, giving the government even greater control over the nation's energy sector and a more powerful tool in foreign policy. Gazprom will...

Diversion: Iran Loses Out As Caspian Crude Heads To Europe.
September 15, 2004... Iran is getting a rude awakening from its dream of becoming a transit corridor for Caspian crude exports. The volume of Kazakh, Russian and Turkmen crude oil barged across the Caspian to Iran's Neka terminal is set to drop by nearly 40% this...

Liquid Courage: Statoil And Gazprom Cozy Up On LNG.
September 15, 2004... Norway's Statoil has signed a wide-ranging memo of understanding with Russia's Gazprom and Rosneft to conduct studies into possible cooperation in liquefied natural gas (LNG) ventures in both nations' sectors of the far northern Barents Sea,...

Fuel Injection: CPC To Ship First Russian Crude.(Caspian Pipeline Consortium)(NaftaTrans)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2004... The ChevronTexaco-led Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) plans to start shipping Russian crude by the end of 2004, allowing the line to reach its design capacity of 560,000 b/d. CPC currently pumps 500,000 b/d of crude from fields in...

Taking Back: Yukos Threatened With Licenses Withdrawal.(The Natural Resources Ministry)(Chukotka Arbitration Court)
September 15, 2004... The Russian government still isn't letting up in its persecution of Yukos. Gumshoes from the General Prosecutor's office raided the oil giant's headquarters this week, just days after the Natural Resources Ministry threatened to revoke the oil...

Baby Steps: Moscow Plans Modest Q4 Output, Exports Boost.(The Industry and Energy Ministry)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2004... Moscow is planning to boost crude production by about 200,000 b/d and exports by 140,000 b/d in the final three months of 2004 from expected third-quarter levels, according to the proposed fourth-quarter crude balance. The Industry and...

Friendly Nudge: Resources Ministry To Review Kovykta License.(Kovykta field)(The Natural Resources Ministry)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2004... The Russian government has made yet another attempt to nudge TNK-BP toward reaching some agreement with natural gas monopoly Gazprom that would advance the East Siberian Kovykta gas export project. The Natural Resources Ministry has...

Party's Over: Refineries Cut Barge Shipments To St. Pete.(TNK-BP )(Brief Article)
September 15, 2004... Russia is set to slash fuel oil exports in October, as four refineries are halting river barge shipments early this year due to the higher export tariffs and strong internal demand for the product, which have made selling fuel oil on the...

Growth Spurt: TNK-BP On Track For Strong Growth.(Brief Article)
September 15, 2004... TNK-BP has announced that it is on track to grow production in Russia by more than its planned 12% in 2004, and by around 7% per year through 2007. TNK-BP said it will ramp up capital expenditure to $1.5 billion-$1.9 billion next year,...

Incumbent: Transneft Head Keeps His Post.(Brief Article)
September 15, 2004... Transneft president Semyon Vainshtok has seen off rumors of his demise by signing a contract to extend his tenure at the national pipeline operator for another three years. Vainshtok will now run the company until September 2007, under the...

Splitting Atoms: Lukoil Starts Perm Hydrocracker.
September 15, 2004... Russia's Lukoil has launched a $365 million hydrocracking unit at its Perm refinery in Western Siberia to produce and export more higher value light oil products. The unit will allow the plant to process heavy fuel oil into diesel fuel and...

Big Bertha: Rosneft Expands Port Capacity At Tuapse.(Black Sea port of Novorossiysk )(Brief Article)
September 15, 2004... With an eye to boosting exports to the US, Russia's state-owned Rosneft is ramping up the capacity of the Black Sea port of Tuapse. Rosneft plans to plow $50 million into the port to boost its loading capacity by 25% and increase the size...

Muddy Waters: Oil Spill Off Sakhalin Sparks Renewed Green Pressure.(Royal Dutch/Shell-led Sakhalin-2 project)(Russian Pacific shelf)
September 15, 2004... Sakhalin Energy, operator of the Royal Dutch/Shell-led Sakhalin-2 project in the Russian Pacific shelf, is working around the clock to clean up an oil spill after a dredging vessel ran aground during heavy typhoon winds late last week. The...

Georgia: Batumi Terminal Will Not Be Resold, Operator Says.(Naftrans)(Batumi oil terminal)
September 15, 2004... Naftrans, the owner of the Batumi oil terminal, denies reports that the Georgian port is to be re-privatized by the new government that swept to power following last winter's revolution. Mark Rhodes, CEO of Alegratrans, the terminal's...

Azerbaijan: Vitol Bags Socar Volumes.(Socar)(Petrofarm)(Novorossiysk)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2004... Swiss oil trader Vitol has won the latest tender from Azeri state oil company Socar to lift 135,000 metric tons (1 million bbl) of Urals crude out of Novorossiysk. The cargo, which is scheduled to load out of the Russian Black Sea port on...

Georgia: Saakashvili Sacks GIOC President.(Georgian International Oil Corp.)(Chanturia, Gia)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2004... Gia Chanturia has been sacked as president of state Georgian International Oil Corp. (GIOC) as the axe continues to fall on people considered to have been close to former president Eduard Shevardnadze. Georgia's new leader, President...

Azerbaijan: BP Gears Up To Sanction Final Phase Of ACG.(Azeri, Chirag and Guneshli)(Azeri, Chirag and Guneshli (ACG) fields)(Forties field)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2004... Major celebrations are being planned in Baku for Sep. 20, the tenth anniversary of the signing by a BP-led consortium of the republic's "Contract of the Century," for the development of the offshore Azeri, Chirag and Guneshli (ACG) fields. A...

Cashing In: PetroKazakhstan Chief Banks $60 Million.(Nelson Resources)(PetroKazakhstan)
September 15, 2004... Bernard Isautier has reaped the rewards of heading PetroKazakhstan for the past five years by banking nearly $60 million this year from selling stock options in the Calgary-based company. Isautier, who owns a small island in the South...

Lining Up: Kazakh Producer Lines Up UK Credit.(Kazakhoil Aktobe)(Alibekmola)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2004... Kazakhoil Aktobe says it has secured a seven-year, $10.6 million line of credit from the UK government's Export Credit Guarantee Department to develop its Alibekmola field in western Kazakhstan. The credit, which carries interest of 4.12%,...

Equities And Currencies.(Brief Article)
September 15, 2004... Share Prices Closing On September 14, 2004

Crude: Headline Driven.(Brent)
September 15, 2004... Brent crude oil futures have traded an uneasy $2.60/bbl range. They have responded to headlines showing another set of extremely bullish US inventory figures, which sparked an uncertain rally, and weather forecasts alerting traders to the...

Products: NWE Panic Buying Drives Gas Oil Higher.(Northwest Europe)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2004... Product markets are seeking direction from crude futures, which have been volatile because of further sabotage in Iraq and Hurricane Ivan in the Gulf of Mexico. Traders said an unexplained flurry of panic buying towards the end of last...

At The Helm: BP Holds Key To Caspian Export Domination.
September 22, 2004... BP has the potential to build up oil pipeline export capacity from the Caspian to nearly 2 million barrels per day in a move that could set back rival schemes for years to come. The 1 million b/d Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, which is...

Barging In: Total To Buy Blocking Stake In Russia's Novatek.
September 22, 2004... France's Total has become the second international oil major to make a large acquisition in the Russian energy patch, announcing an agreement on Sep. 22 to buy 25% plus one share in Novatek, the country's biggest independent gas producer. ...

Slasher: Yukos To Cut Crude Supplies To China.
September 22, 2004... Yukos said it would cut rail shipments of crude to China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), marking the first time that the Russian government's attack on the company has disrupted oil supplies to world markets (NC Aug.26,p1). Meanwhile,...

Shippin' Out: Russia's Q4 Exports Up, Butinge and Odessa Will See Less Oil.
September 22, 2004... Russian crude exports to non-CIS countries via national pipeline operator Transneft are set to rise by 158,000 b/d to 3.22 million b/d (40.415 million metric tons) in the last three months of the year, under the fourth quarter export schedule....

Energy Drink: Koreans Tighten Energy Ties With Russia.
September 22, 2004... South Korean companies this week have signed contracts in Russia worth some $4 billion during a visit by South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun who arrived in Moscow from Astana (see p7). Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) and Rosneft have agreed...

Come Together: Gazprom And ChevTex To Team Up In Russia And US.(Brief Article)
September 22, 2004... Russian natural gas giant Gazprom and ChevronTexaco have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that could lead to joint oil and gas development projects in Russia and North America. The two companies said on Sep. 22 that the six-month...

Pump It Up: Yukos Increases Yugansk Reserves Fivefold.
September 22, 2004... Yukos has revised upward by almost five times the estimate of the amount of oil held by Yuganskneftegas, its largest production unit. The move is designed to pump up the perceived value of Yuganskneftegas before its possible sale to settle...

Azerbaijan: BP Advances With Flagship Caspian Project.
September 22, 2004... BP and its partners on Sep. 20 gave the go-ahead for a $4.7 billion investment program for the third and final phase of development of the Azeri, Chirag and Guneshli (ACG) fields in the Caspian Sea offshore Azerbaijan. A contract...

Kazakhstan: South Korea Targets Kazakh Upstream.(Brief Article)
September 22, 2004... Kazakh state oil company Kazmunaigas and Korean companies Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC), SK Corp., Samsung, LG, and Daesung Industrial have signed a preliminary agreement for exploration and development of the Makhambet area in Kazakhstan....

Georgia: BP Settles Rights-Of-Way For BTC Pipeline.(Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Co.)(BP America Inc.)
September 22, 2004... BP is clearing another hurdle in the construction of its Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline. The company last week began paying villagers in the Borjomi District to secure land rights to build the 1 million barrel per day pipeline. BP...

Kazakhstan: Pro-Presidential Parties Win In Kazakh Elections.
September 22, 2004... Kazakhstan's parliamentary elections on Sep. 19 look set to deliver a resounding victory to the Otan party backed by President Nursultan Nazarbaev. The Otan party won 30 of the 67 directly elected seats up for grabs in the ballot and will win...

Poland: Polish Refinery Sell-off Faces Delays.(Lotos Group)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2004... Privatization of Poland's Lotos Group is likely to be further delayed after the government's chosen adviser BRE Corporate Finance failed to meet a Sep. 20 deadline. BRE was supposed to present a plan by that date for selling the state's...

Ukraine: Ukraine's Oil Major Eyes Pipeline Projects In UAE, Algeria.(Naftogas Ukrainy)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2004... Ukraine's state Naftogas Ukrainy plans to participate in pipeline tenders in UAE and Algeria, as it pushes ahead with its ambitious expansion strategy. Naftogas' executive board decided on Sep. 15 that the company would participate in a...

Makin' Dough: Gazprom's Q1 Profit Beats Expectations.(financial reports)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2004... Gazprom's net profit surged 18% in the first quarter of 2004, mainly due to higher domestic gas prices. The Russian state monopoly reported a net profit of 66.04 billion rubles ($2.26 billion) for this year's first three months in...

Bread Basket: JKX's Profit Boosted From Upped Ukrainian Production.(JKX Oil & Gas)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2004... UK independent JKX Oil & Gas reported a 75% increase in first-half profits to $8.4 million, thanks to increased production from its core project at Poltava in the Ukraine and higher oil and gas prices. JKX hopes to push production to...

Equities And Currencies.(Brief Article)
September 22, 2004... Share Prices Closing On September 21, 2004

Crude Oil: Blowing In The Wind.
September 22, 2004... Brent crude oil futures traded a volatile $4.70 range between a $40.00 low on Sep. 16 and $44.70 on Sep. 22 with prices literally blowing in the wind. Hurricane Ivan slammed into the Gulf of Mexico forcing the shut-in of more than 9 million...

Products: Gas Oil Heats Up.(Brief Article)
September 22, 2004... Gas oil futures surged to a record high of $412 in electronic trade on Sep. 21. This pulled up cash values in the Mediterranean, where differentials remained strong. In Northwest Europe cash values held steady as differentials collapsed from...

Warm Front: Conoco And Lukoil Take The Plunge.(ConocoPhillips)
September 29, 2004... In what is likely to be last deal of its kind for some time, ConocoPhillips has scooped up a stake in Lukoil and unveiled a strategic alliance that envisages the joint development of oil and gas reserves in Russia and Iraq. The deal marked...

Border Line: China Snaps Up US Firm's Interests In Kazakhstan.
September 29, 2004... As the first pipe was laid this week on a 990 kilometer oil pipeline that will cut through a large swathe of Kazakhstan to the Chinese border, China's cash-rich oil companies are stepping up their quest for new reserves in the Caspian. In...

Triangle: TNK-BP Criticized As Gazprom Turns To Sakhalin.
September 29, 2004... While TNK-BP has been subjected to a new wave of criticism for its failure to develop the huge Kovykta gas field, Gazprom says it will refocus its interest on Sakhalin instead. Gazprom has always been angling for a significant role in the...

Chechen Sales: Chechen Leader Gets Control Over Crude Sales.(Brief Article)
September 29, 2004... Some light has been cast on the fate of Chechnya's crude. According to a statement on Russia's NTV national television channel, control over the sale of the republic's oil has been transferred into the hands of Ramzan Karyrov. Ramzan is a...

Buying Spree: Gutseriev Buys Chernogorskoye Producer.(Brief Article)
September 29, 2004... In a further acquisition drive, Russneft is close to finalizing the purchase of Chernogorskoye, a 7,000 b/d crude producer in Western Siberia. Set up by former Slavneft president Mikhail Gutseriev, Russneft has bought a 50% stake in...

License To Ride: Yukos Keeps Licences And Won't Be Nationalized.(Brief Article)
September 29, 2004... Yukos' main producing subsidiary Yuganskneftegas will keep its field licenses for at least three months, according to Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev. President Vladimir Putin has also broken his silence on the Yukos affair and...

Shell Fishing: Shell Eyes Shtokman LNG Too.(Royal Dutch-Shell Group of Cos., Liquefied natural gas)
September 29, 2004... Royal Dutch/Shell has confirmed that it is discussing options with Gazprom to develop the Shtokman gas project jointly in the Barents Sea, but admits that it's not alone in doing so. "The potential to develop the Shtokmanovskoye field as an...

United: Gazprom Board Promotes Merger With Rosneft.(Gazprom Russian Joint Stock Co.)(Brief Article)
September 29, 2004... Gazprom's board of directors this week appealed to its shareholders to approve amendments to the gas giant's charter to facilitate the merger with state-owned oil major Rosneft. The board ruled that an extraordinary shareholder meeting on...

Dividing Demand: Gazprom Advances With Baltic Pipeline Plan.(Brief Article)
September 29, 2004... Gazprom's preliminary feasibility study for its North Europe Gas Pipeline project should be completed within a month, according to the company's chief financial officer Andrei Kruglov. The project is among several designed to increase...

Green Machine: Gazprom Borrows Over $1 Billion From ABN Amro.(Gazprom Russian Joint Stock Co.)(Brief Article)
September 29, 2004... Gazprom has raised $1.1 billion to pay back loans it borrowed earlier from Western banks. ABN Amro was the only underwriter of the six-year syndicated credit. Despite strong demand from 44 banks for the $2.5 billion placement, Gazprom has...

One Down: Russia's Output Growth Masks Sibneft's Decline.(Brief Article)
September 29, 2004... Russian crude production continued to grow in August, reaching yet another post-Soviet record of 9.38 million b/d (39.65 million metric tons), or 71,200 b/d more than the month before (see p11). The country's output for eight months of the...

Trick Or Treat: Russia Plans October Export Boost.
September 29, 2004... Russia is planning a hefty 123,000 b/d boost in its October seaborne crude exports from the previous month, and potentially even more. The increase is planned to come entirely out of the Black Sea ports, as state pipeline operator Transneft...

Russian Crude Loading Programs For October 2004.
September 29, 2004... Novorossiysk Crude Loading Program For October 2004

Georgia: Moscow And Tbilisi Stoke Up The Tension.
September 29, 2004... Escalating tensions between Moscow and Tbilisi have heightened Georgia's fears of Russian military attacks on its territory as it tries to hold together the fragile state. Relations between the two countries have never been warm since the...

Kazakhstan: PetroKazakhstan Cut Out Of Iran Swap Trade.(Brief Article)
September 29, 2004... PetroKazakhstan, the Canadian independent that owns the Kumkol group of oil fields, has been unable to export any of its crude to Iran since July, when the Kazakh authorities revoked its license, sources close to the company say. The reasons...

Kazakhstan: South Korea Takes An Option On Onshore Field.(Brief Article)
September 29, 2004... South Korea's Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) has signed a protocol with state oil company Kazmunaigas giving it exclusive rights to buy the Kazakh company's 69% stake in the onshore Tenge oil field, which has estimated recoverable reserves of...

Azerbaijan: Azeri Transit Deal To Novorossiysk Extended.(Brief Article)
September 29, 2004... A contract between Azerbaijan and Russian state pipeline operator Transneft to ship oil through the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline has been automatically extended until February 2006, after the two sides could not agree to a new contract. ...

Azerbaijan: Exxon Unlikely To Drill Second Well After Gas Find.(Brief Article)
September 29, 2004... Oil officials have confirmed that the first exploration well drilled by Exxon Mobil on the Zafar-Mashal Block has found natural gas (NC Sep.2,p10). Khoshbakt Yusifzadeh, first vice president of state oil company Socar, told reporters that...

Kazakhstan: Eni Looks Every Which Way For Kashagan Exports.
September 29, 2004... Eni says a decision is needed by 2006 on a pipeline, out of four main options, to export Kashagan crude to world markets. Angelo Belotti, senior vice president for upstream business planning at Eni, Kashagan's operator with 16.67% equity,...

Rake It In: Lukoil Q2 Results Dissappoint.(Brief Article)
September 29, 2004... Lukoil reported a 43% slide in second-quarter earnings compared with the same period of last year, when profits were buoyed by the sale of an asset in Azerbaijan. Excluding the Azeri sale, Lukoil's profits rose, but not by as much as analysts...

Hot Item: Gas Producer Attracts IFC Funding.(Novatek, International Finance Corp.)(Brief Article)
September 29, 2004... Russia's largest independent gas producer, Novatek, will borrow as much $120 million from the World Bank's private lending arm, the International Finance Corp. (IFC), to increase production from its largest gas and condensate field. The...

Equities And Currencies.
September 29, 2004... Share Prices Closing On September 28, 2004

Crude Oil: Rampant Bulls Stumble.(Brief Article)
September 29, 2004... Brent crude oil futures traded another volatile $3.60 range between a $43.20 low on Sep. 22 and a new record high $46.80 high on Sep. 28 with prices pushed up on renewed fear of supply disruptions, this time because of fighting between rebels...

Products: Gas Oil Slips Off Record High.(Brief Article)
September 29, 2004... Gas oil futures reached a new record high of $439.75/metric ton on Sep. 28, after crude pulled up the price but then slipped again. Fuel oil prices have refused to follow crude upwards, as ample supply and closed arbitrages have held prices...