NEFTE Compass articles from September 2005

NEFTE Compass archives from September 2005

Crunch Time: Hurricane May Hit Russian Firms With Higher Taxes.
September 7, 2005... Hurricane Katrina is rocking the Russian oil market, threatening to spark a rise in already high taxation levels at the very time that Russian oil companies are raising their voices against export tariffs that they claim are deterring...

Milestone: Gazprom Outlines Plans To Penetrate US LNG Market.
September 7, 2005... Gazprom's first traded LNG cargo created a buzz when it arrived in the US at the end of last week, but there was bad news for Petro-Canada, which had been hoping to partner the Russian gas giant in building a liquefaction plant near St....

Alarm Bells: Lukoil's Alekperov Decries Stabilization Fund.
September 7, 2005... Vagit Alekperov, the president of top Russian oil company Lukoil, has railed against the country's crude stabilization fund, which reaps the windfalls of Russia's onerous export taxes. Alekperov said the oil windfall revenues that go into...

Down South: Rosneft Forges New Export Route.
September 7, 2005... State-owned Rosneft, which considerably increased its upstream base after acquiring Yukos producer Yuganskneftegas, is now pushing ahead with the expansion of its southern export route. At a meeting with President Vladimir Putin this week,...

Summer Break: Taxes Weigh Down August Fuel Oil Exports.
September 7, 2005... Moscow's mounting tax burden on oil products exports has taken its toll on fuel oil shipments, which plummeted 18% in August from the previous month. Fuel oil shipments from the Black Sea and Baltic Sea ports nose-dived to 3.722 million...

Slugging Match: Sibir Wins Court Victory Against Sibneft.
September 7, 2005... UK-based Sibir Energy has chalked up a court victory against Sibneft in its legal battle to restore its 50% stake in the Sibneft-Yugra joint venture. The Moscow Arbitration Court has declared invalid a creditors meeting which had been...

Gut Reaction: Surgutneftegas -- Keeping In With The Kremlin.(Surgutneftegaz Joint Stock Co.)
September 7, 2005... Like clockwork, every time a major acquisition target hits the market in Russia, cash-laden Surgutneftegas pops into the picture as a potential buyer. Just as dependable, however, is the fact that the Kremlin-loyal giant will sit on its money,...

Turkish Delight: Tatneft Backs Down In Bid For Turkish Refiner.
September 7, 2005... Russia's Tatneft is noticeably absent from a list of nine bidders lining up for a 51% stake in state-owned Turkish refiner Tupras. The Russian company won a tender for Tupras last year but the sale was canceled by a Turkish court. ...

Kazakhstan: Kazakhs Urged To Ease Up On Gas Flaring.
September 7, 2005... Oil companies in Kazakhstan are seeking a three-year suspension of a gas flaring ban that has dramatically choked off production growth. After racing ahead by 15% in 2004, Kazakh crude and condensate production in August totaled 1.18...

Kyrgyzstan: Tashkent Restarts Gas Supplies.
September 7, 2005... Uzbekistan has agreed to restart some gas shipments to the neighboring Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan, a senior Kyrgyz official said late last week. Uzbekistan has agreed to resume gas shipments to Kyrgyzstan's southern districts,...

Lithuania: Yukos To Increase Ownership In Mazeikiu Nafta.
September 7, 2005... Yukos reportedly plans to increase its stake in Lithuania's oil company Mazeikiu Nafta (MN), which is currently controlled and operated by the embattled Russian company. Yukos has announced its intention to buy out an 11.5% stake in MN...

Belarus: Naftan Refinery Goes For Upgrade.
September 7, 2005... Belarus' state-owned Novopolotsk refinery (Naftan) plans to invest between $420 million and $480 million in an upgrading program in 2006-10, according to the plant's deputy general director, Anatoly Yudayev. Once the modernization is...

Turkmenistan: Ukraine Seeks To Ease Dependence On Russia.(Brief Article)
September 7, 2005... In a bid to ease its dependence on Russian gas deliveries, Ukraine plans to sign a 30-year gas supply contract with Turkmenistan, which exports the bulk of its gas to Ukraine. State-run Naftogas Ukrainy expects that the frame agreement will...

Kyrgyzstan: Cambrian Gets Back On Track.(Kyrgyzneftegas)
September 7, 2005... Cambrian Oil and Gas's exploration and development schedule in Kyrgyzstan was knocked back earlier this year when the republic was rocked by a change of leadership. The upheavals in Bishkek, which forced the flight of former President...

Three's Company: Novatek Reports Threefold Profit Jump.
September 7, 2005... Russia's biggest independent gas producer Novatek has reported a rise of more than threefold in its first-half 2005 net profit from the same time last year -- mainly on the back of higher output and asset sales. The company reported a net...

Back Track: Moscow Refinery Pays Tax Arrears.
September 7, 2005... The Moscow refinery, one of Russia's largest at 240,000 b/d, has paid 1.9 billion rubles ($67 million) in tax arrears for 2000-02, according to a shareholder, UK-registered Sibir Energy. Early this year the refinery received two tax bills...

Equities and Curencies.
September 7, 2005... Share Prices Closing On Sep. 6, 2005

Crude Oil: Futures Ease Off Hurricane Highs.
September 7, 2005... Brent crude oil futures eased off the Hurricane Katrina-fueled $68.89 high reached on Aug. 30, trading a $3.85 range to a Sep. 7 low of $64.03, 7% off the high and a tad lower than the $64.87 settlement reached on Aug. 26, the last trading day...

Products: Gas Oil Buying Interest Holds Up Well.
September 7, 2005... The International Energy Agency's decision to release 2.1 million b/d of crude and oil products dominated the Russian gas oil scene this week. The IEA's response to the crisis in the US sent crude futures sliding early in the week, in turn...

Collateral Damage: Russia Rattled By Baghdad Outburst.
September 13, 2005... Moscow has been shocked by an attack by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani accusing Russia of an unfriendly stance and emphasizing that only a drastic change in the Kremlin's policy towards Baghdad could allow Russian business to return to Iraq....

Terminator: Russians Cheer Tymoshenko Ouster, But She'll Be Back.(Yulia Tymoshenko)
September 13, 2005... Russian oil companies are cheering the ouster of Ukraine's Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. However, her departure could paradoxically strengthen her role if she returns with a vengeance in Ukraine's parliamentary elections next spring. ...

Shifty: Crude Diverted From Refineries To Export.
September 13, 2005... Defying high export tariffs, Russian oil companies diverted more of their incremental crude to export markets in August, rather than to domestic refineries. Russia ramped up crude exports by 53,000 b/d in August from the previous month to...

Latin Beat: Gazprom Wins Offshore Acreages In Venezuela.
September 13, 2005... Gazprom has won two offshore natural gas blocks in Venezuela in a bidding round for the Rafael Urdaneta project in the western Gulf of Venezuela, according to Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez. Gazprom paid $15.2 million and $24.8 million for...

Easy Rider: Millhouse Eases Way For Sibneft Deal.
September 13, 2005... Sibneft's shareholders have rejected a proposed amendment to the company's charter that would have required a potential purchaser to offer a buyout of minority shareholders in the event of a takeover, a Sibneft representative said this week...

Berlin Pact: German Election Could Undo Gas Pipeline Deal.
September 13, 2005... German energy giant E.On has signed an agreement to become the third partner in an ambitious but controversial gas pipeline project beneath the Baltic Sea, joining Russia's Gazprom and German chemicals firm BASF, which forged an earlier deal in...

Branded: Lukoil Borrows Money For US Filling Stations.
September 13, 2005... Lukoil will guarantee a $475 million loan to its US chain of gasoline stations, Getty Petroleum, which will be borrowed shortly to expand its business. The loan, which is currently being syndicated, will reportedly have a 4' year maturity...

Home Grown: Sakhalin-1 Agrees Local Gas Sales.
September 13, 2005... Exxon Neftegas, the operator of the Exxon Mobil-led Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project, has come to an agreement to its gas production on the local market, clearing the way to begin production on Oct. 1 as planned. Exxon Neftegas reached...

Fire Sale: TNK-BP Considers Big Assets Disposal.
September 13, 2005... Russian-UK joint venture TNK-BP is considering the sale of assets worth up to $3 billion, but newspaper reports that the deal is already set in stone are premature, TNK-BP Chief Executive Robert Dudley said at a press conference at the end of...

Borrowing Streak: TNK-BP Sets Debt Program.
September 13, 2005... Russian-UK oil giant TNK-BP established a $5 billion guaranteed debt issuance program, implemented by its subsidiary TNK-BP Finance, which has been approved and registered for listing and regulated market trading purposes by the Luxembourg...

Ready To Go: Ministry's Plan For Infrastructure Fund Ready.(Ministry of Finance of Russia)(Brief Article)
September 13, 2005... Russia's Ministry of Economic Development and Trade has prepared rules governing the state's proposed infrastructure investment fund and has sent them to the Cabinet for approval. The fund aims to assist the development of Russia's decrepit...

Growth Spurt: Lukoil Orders Tankers For Varandey Expansion.
September 13, 2005... Lukoil is holding a $300 million tender to buy five ice-class tankers to shuttle crude from its Varandey terminal, as it prepares to massively expand the terminal to shuttle crude to the deepwater port of Murmansk. The Russian oil company...

Ring Fence: Gazprom May Get Its Wings Clipped.
September 13, 2005... The government may be calling a halt to Gazprom's aggressive expansion. The natural gas monopoly boosted its output and expanded its reserve base by acquiring controlling stakes in independent gas producers on the cheap. The practice has helped...

Kazakhstan: Chinese Firms Team Up For Caspian Exploration.
September 13, 2005... Chinese oil companies China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) and China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) will collaborate with Kazakh state-owned firm Kazmunaigas in exploring for oil and gas in the northern Caspian Sea off Kazakhstan. The...

Latvia: Riga May Defy EU And Resume Russian Imports.
September 13, 2005... In a bid to get some relief from high international oil prices, which are squeezing its internal gasoline market, Riga is considering resuming imports of cheaper gasoline from Russia and Belarus. Latvia's accession to the European Union...

Georgia: Russia To Charge International Prices For Gas.
September 13, 2005... Against a background of high international oil and gas prices, Russian gas giant Gazprom is discussing natural gas price increases for its customers in the former Soviet Union. Gazprom plans to start natural gas exports to Georgia at market...

Georgia: Frontera To Start New Well Program.
September 13, 2005... Frontera Resources Corp., an independent oil and gas exploration company based in Houston, plans to start a new drilling program at the Taribani field in Georgia in the second half of November, and says it is awaiting a final ruling on a...

Poland: Heavy Demand For Gas Flotation.
September 13, 2005... Polish state gas wholesaler PGNiG, 15% of which is being privatized in a Sep. 23 initial public offering (IPO), two days ahead of the country's general elections, fixed the price of shares in its IPO at 2.98 zloty/share (92.8o), according to...

Uzbekistan: Lukoil Joins Consortium For Aral Sea Exploration.
September 13, 2005... Expanding its presence in Central Asia, Russia's Lukoil has joined an international consortium in Uzbekistan. Foreign investment arm Lukoil Overseas, Uzbekistan's state Uzbekneftegas, Malaysia's Petronas, Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC)...

Lithuania: Lukoil To Start Talks On Mazeikiu Nafta.
September 13, 2005... Lukoil is planning to start negotiations with the Lithuanian government on the acquisition of Yukos' Mazeikiu Nafta (MN) refiner. The subject is going to be on the agenda of Lukoil President Vagit Alekperov's visit to Lithuania planned for...

Billionaires: Rosneftegas Signs Loan For Gazprom Purchase.
September 13, 2005... Rosneftegas, the holding company for Russia's state-owned Rosneft, has signed an agreement with a consortium of Western banks to receive a $7.5 billion syndicated loan. The funds will finance the government's purchase of a 10.7% stake in gas...

Harvard Suit: US Court To Hear Dividend Claims Against Surgut.
September 13, 2005... A New York court has opened Surgutneftegas' long-criticized dividend payment policies for legal action in the US. The court rejected Surgut's appeal to stop the American Arbitration Association from hearing minority shareholders' claims...

Equities and Currencies.
September 13, 2005... Share Prices Closing On Sep. 13, 2005

Crude Oil: Under Pressure From Ample Supply.
September 13, 2005... Brent crude oil futures prices weakened further as the slow recovery from Hurricane Katrina got under way in the US and it became clear that the world, for now at least, is not suffering from any shortage of crude. Fundamental strength, such as...

Products: Rising Freight Keeps Gas Oil Demand Down.
September 13, 2005... The market for Russian gas oil was slow this week with prices dropping sharply after spending several weeks propped up by concerns about the impact of Hurricane Katrina. A fall of $30/metric ton at the beginning of the week was not enough to...

First Move: Majors Agree To Freeze Domestic Pump Prices.
September 20, 2005... As the US and world oil markets prepare for Hurricane Rita following on the heels of Hurricane Katrina, Russian oil companies are getting hit with a different kind of political force back home. Faced with overwhelming political pressure,...

Famous Five: Gazprom Shortlists Partners For LNG Mega-Project.
September 20, 2005... Five lucky companies -- Norway's Norsk Hydro and Statoil, US Chevron and ConocoPhillips and France's Total -- have been shortlisted as potential partners in Gazprom's drive to become a leading player on the world liquefied natural gas stage....

Money Call: TNK-BP Weighs East Siberian Adventure.
September 20, 2005... The TNK-BP-led company Verkhnechonskneftegas plans to invest around $4 billion in 2008-12 to develop the Verkhnechonskoye oil and gas condensate field in East Siberia, a spokeswoman for the Russian-UK joint venture said. It is unclear how...

Big League: Lukoil Loads First Big Tanker From Vysotsk.
September 20, 2005... Lukoil has kicked off a new phase in its Vysotsk export terminal on the Baltic Sea by loading its first large tanker from the port after completing a dredging project. The Russian oil major on Sep. 20 loaded an 80,000 metric ton cargo of...

Summer Showers: Crude Exports Set To Rise In Q4.
September 20, 2005... Despite an increasingly oppressive tax burden which experts say is hampering production growth, Russia is planning to ramp up crude exports by 117,000 b/d in the fourth quarter from the previous three months. Crude exports via the Transneft...

Big Spender: Sakhalin Energy Gives Spending A Boost.(Brief Article)
September 20, 2005... Sakhalin Energy, operator of the Royal Dutch Shell-led Sakhalin-2 development on the Russian Pacific shelf, has submitted a revised budget to the Russian government. The move follows approval of the new estimates -- standing now at some...

Elbow Room: Exxon Wants More Sakhalin Acreage.
September 20, 2005... Exxon Mobil has asked Russia to increase the area of its Sakhalin-1 project, which it is developing under production sharing agreement (PSA) terms. Mark Hackney, vice president of Exxon Neftegas and manager of the company's Sakhalin...

On The Run: Jailed Yukos CEO Files To Run For Office.
September 20, 2005... Jailed ex-Yukos Chief Executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky has filed an application to run in the upcoming elections for the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament. Khodorkovsky sent the necessary forms to the election commission...

Scare: Yukos Unnerved By New Bankruptcy Claim.
September 20, 2005... Yukos' heart skipped a beat last week as reports emerged that a small Gazprom subsidiary had initiated a bankruptcy suit against the beleaguered Russian oil major. The burst of anxiety among Yukos lawyers settled into bewilderment, however, as...

Money Bags: Gazprom Ups 2005 Spending Plan.
September 20, 2005... Russian gas monopoly Gazprom announced this week it is increasing its 2005 investment program by 92.4 billion rubles ($3.3 billion) to 305 billion rubles ($10.7 billion). The funds will be used for the construction of several new pipelines as...

Kazakhstan: Chinese Heading For Clash Over PetroKazakhstan.
September 20, 2005... When China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) agreed in August to pay $4.18 billion for PetroKazakhstan, the Canadian independent which produces some 150,000 barrels per day of sweet crude from Kazakhstan's Turgai Basin, the Chinese state giant...

Azerbaijan: Turkey's Tupras Wins Socar Tender.
September 20, 2005... Turkey's Tupras has won the latest Socar tender to buy an October cargo of Azeri Light crude. The 1 million bbl cargo will be pumped via the Baku-Supsa pipeline to Georgia's Black Sea port of Supsa. It will load on Oct. 6-7. Although the...

Turkmenistan: Gas Scandal Claims New Victims.(Brief Article)
September 20, 2005... The scandal surrounding Turkmenistan's illegal natural gas shipments to Ukraine claimed several more victims this week, as a Turkmen court sentenced Saparmamed Valiyev, former state minister and chairman of state-run Turkmenneft, to 24 years in...

Ukraine: Naftogas Borrows For Gas Pipelines Upgrade.
September 20, 2005... Ukraine's state oil and gas company Naftogas Ukrainy has signed a memorandum of understanding with France's Societe Generale bank on securing a C2.5 billion ($3 billion) credit line from the bank. According to Naftogas head Alexei Ivchenko,...

Lithuania: Lukoil And Conoco Join Forces For MN Bid.
September 20, 2005... Russian Lukoil and US ConocoPhillips could join forces in a bid to buy Yukos' stake in Lithuanian refiner Mazeikiu Nafta. Mike Fretwell, president of Conoco's international downstream unit, told a news conference after a meeting with...

Quarter Pounder: Lukoil Profits Jump Sharply In Q2.
September 20, 2005... Lukoil reported a net profit of $2.6 billion in the first half of 2005, up 53% from the same period of 2004, in unaudited consolidated results prepared according to US accounting standards, almost in line with analysts' expectations. The...

Jumbo: Gazprom Wins $12 Billion Loan For Sibneft Takeover.
September 20, 2005... Russian gas monopoly Gazprom has won agreement from Western banks on a record $12 billion loan to fund its takeover of Sibneft. The financing package, the largest ever for a Russian firm, will be in four portions, including a one-year...

Equities and Currencies.
September 20, 2005... Share Prices Closing On Sep. 20, 2005

Crude Oil: Hurricane Scare Blows Opec Away.
September 20, 2005... Opec proposed another round of gesture politics on Sep. 20, offering to release the group's last spare production capacity of 2 million b/d if refiners would ask for them. They won't because the sole reason for Opec's cache of 2 million b/d of...

Products: Volatile Futures Hits Physical Trade.
September 20, 2005... Just as Hurricane Katrina's dominance over the Russian gas oil market began to fade, fears of a new hurricane heading toward the US Gulf Coast have sent prices on a roller-coaster ride. Futures surged upward on Sep. 19 as Tropical Storm Rita...

Asian Invasion: Lukoil Makes Inroads In China, Treads Thin Line In Saudi Arabia.
September 27, 2005... After exploration setbacks in the Caspian Sea, Lukoil is starting to make inroads into the growing Chinese market. The Russian major last week opened a representative office in Beijing and mandated its supply and trading arm Litasco to expand...

Makeover: Gazprom Buys Sibneft In Biggest Russian Takeover.
September 27, 2005... The long arm of the state tightened its grip on the Russian oil industry this week when gas giant Gazprom announced it had signed a binding agreement to buy 72.663% of oil producer Sibneft for $13.091 billion from Roman Abramovich's holding...

Second Helpings: Rosneft Positioned To Swallow Rest Of Yukos.
September 27, 2005... State-owned Rosneft is positioning itself to swallow up the rest of Yukos after a separate court decision named Yukos as the defendant in a 226 billion ruble ($7.9 billion) lawsuit filed by its former production arm Yuganskneftegas. If...

Hammer of Justice: Court Quashes Khodorkovsky's Political Ambitions.(OAO NK Yukos)(Mikhail Khodorkovsky)(Brief Article)
September 27, 2005... A Moscow court abruptly rejected former Yukos Chief Executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky's appeal against his conviction on fraud and tax evasion late last week, quashing the oil tycoon's political ambitions. The dismissal of Khodorkovsky's...

Liquid Courage: Gazprom Eyes Shippers For Shtokman LNG.
September 27, 2005... Russian gas giant Gazprom, which recently short-listed five potential partners to develop the giant Shtokmanovskoye gas field in Russia's Arctic Barents Sea and build liquefaction facilities, is now seeking potential partners to arrange LNG...

Pacific Winds: Transneft Submits Pacific Pipeline Study, Ups Profits.
September 27, 2005... National pipeline operator Transneft has submitted a feasibility study to the government for the construction of the first stage of an oil pipeline to the Pacific Coast, said company Vice President Sergei Grigoriev. The document was...

Indian Spice: Stroitransgas Wins New Contract In India.
September 27, 2005... Russian pipeline contractor Stroitransgas is pushing ahead with expansion overseas, winning a new contract in India. The company, in a consortium with India's Essar Construction, has won a tender to build a 168 km section of a gas pipeline...

Holding Hands: Gazprom Eyes Cooperation With Thailand.
September 27, 2005... Gazprom is mulling long-term energy sector cooperation with Thailand, in line with its strategy to become a global energy player. The issue was on the agenda of a meeting last week of Gazprom's chief executive, Alexei Miller, with...

Double Barrel: Gazprom Mulls Gas Pipelines To China.
September 27, 2005... Russia's Gazprom, which does not have a stake in any of the upstream projects expected to supply China, but which has been authorized by the Russian government to coordinate all gas exports to Asia now appears to be firmly in charge of the...

Certifiably Nuts: Lukoil and Gazprom To Certify Venezuelan Reserves.
September 27, 2005... Lukoil and Gazprom have made some progress in their efforts to penetrate Latin America. The two figures among seven foreign oil companies chosen to "certify" extra heavy crude reserves in the Orinoco Belt. The project, however, seems to be...

Ukraine: New Cabinet Formed As Tymoshenko Plots Comeback.
September 27, 2005... Russian and Western oil companies can expect a more tactful and even-handed policy towards the energy sector from the new government formed by Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko. There will certainly be less interference from business...

Kazakhstan: Abu Dhabi Shows Interest In PetroKazakhstan.
September 27, 2005... Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia) has thrown its hat into the ring as a potential bidder for PetroKazakhstan, the Canadian-registered producer that has already agreed a $4.18 billion deal with China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC). ...

Kazakhstan: Mol Suspends First Well On Fyodorovskoye.
September 27, 2005... The first exploration well drilled by Hungary's Mol on Kazakhstan's Fyodorovskoye Block has been suspended after reaching a depth of 5,844 meters, but normal testing was impossible due to a slim hole at the bottom, the company's head of...

Kazakhstan: Karachaganak To Start Exporting Via Transneft.
September 27, 2005... The Karachaganak project jointly operated by BG and Eni is getting ready to start pumping condensate into the Russian Transneft pipeline system for export to seaports, a source close to the venture tells Nefte Compass. The producer will...

Uzbekistan: Gazprom Signs Transit Deal.
September 27, 2005... Russia's Gazprom this week signed a natural gas transit agreement with Uzbekistan. The agreement aims at securing Central Asian gas flows, mainly from neighboring Turkmenistan, via the Central Asia-Center pipeline -- the main route for...

Belarus: Lukoil Gets $20 Million Loan To Supply Refineries.
September 27, 2005... Russian oil giant Lukoil's Belarus subsidiary has signed a $20 million credit agreement with Austria's Raiffeisen Zentralbank Osterreich (RZB). The funds will be extended by RZB's local Belarus subsidiary Priorbank for a one-year term, to...

Poland: Russian Energy Ties At Risk.
September 27, 2005... The already chilly relationship between Russia and Poland appears set to turn even colder with the overwhelming victory of two center-right parties in Poland's recent parliamentary elections. The two leading parties, Law and Justice with...

Ukrainian Core: Higher Prices Offset Output Fall At JKX.(JKX Oil and Gas PLC)(Brief Article)
September 27, 2005... Despite a fall in production, UK independent JKX Oil and Gas still managed to turn in a healthy profit in the first half of 2005 thanks to high oil prices. Average production dropped in the first half to 7,521 boe/d from 8,022 boe/d in the...

Half Full: Profits Soar In Turkmenistan For Dragon, Burren.(Brief Article)
September 27, 2005... The first-half 2005 profits of Dragon Oil, a Dublin-registered, Dubai-owned company that operates exclusively in Turkmenistan, more than tripled on the year on the back of soaring oil prices and increased production, the company said in a...

Equities and Currencies.
September 27, 2005... Share Prices Closing On Sep. 27, 2005