International Petroleum Finance articles from April 2003

International Petroleum Finance archives from April 2003

Who is it good for?(war in Iraq)
April 1, 2003... The start of the US-led military campaign to disarm Iraq and oust Saddam Hussein has a wide array of implications for the oil and gas industry, both short-term and long-term, knowable and unquantifiable. In the very short-term, the...

The 112 billion barrel question.(exploration, management of Iraq's oil reserves)
April 1, 2003... The war in Iraq may have divided the world's politicians, but it has united its oil executives--every one of them is wondering how and when the country's 112 billion barrels of known oil reserves, not to mention its huge exploration potential,...

Profit leader Exxon opts to "stay the course".(Exxon Mobil to focus on capital discipline)
April 1, 2003... Reveling not so discreetly in the setbacks recently experienced by some of its rivals, Exxon Mobil said it would continue to focus on capital discipline and the delivery of superior financial returns during a strategy session last month with...

For pension holiday, read pension hangover ...(stock market tumbles hurt oil company pension funds)
April 1, 2003... It looked, albeit briefly, as if the commencement of hostilities in Iraq last month might have provided a macabre boost to the world's beleaguered stock markets. In the ten days before action began, the US S&P 500 index gained almost 12%, as...

Will others follow BP's lead in Russia?(investment in Russia)
April 1, 2003... BP's blockbuster deal with Tyumen Oil Co. (TNK) to create Russia's third largest oil firm was certainly bold. But will other international majors follow suit? Do Russian companies really need foreign firms making further inroads into their...

Angola takes the hard road.
April 1, 2003... As Angola celebrates the first anniversary of the end of its 28-year civil war, the government of President Eduardo Dos Santos has started laying plans to diversify the country's oil sector and rebuild its shattered infrastructure. But...

Producers hope for best with aggressive hedges.
April 1, 2003... It seemed like a good idea at the time. That's what many oil and gas producers must have been thinking about earlier decisions to hedge production this year as they watched gas prices soar higher throughout most of the first quarter. For a...

BHP Billiton eyes domestic rivals.
April 1, 2003... While Australia can, in Woodside, Santos and BHP Billiton, boast three big oil companies, the latter--not just an oil company but the world's biggest diversified mining group--stands heads and shoulders above its two rivals. Given its size--BHP...

BP data hints at good Q1.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Big Oil is on course for a bumper set of first quarter earnings if the trading data released at the start of April by BP is any kind of guide. BP's Apr. 2 trading statement showed benchmark crude prices up an average 20% from last year's...

Shell to cut E&P jobs.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Royal Dutch/Shell could cut its upstream workforce by more than 4,200 under new plans to improve the performance of the business following last year's acquisition of UK independent Enterprise Oil. The supermajor is planning asset sales and...

CNOOC buys into Kashagan.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) has paid $615 million to acquire a stake in Kazakhstan's giant undeveloped Kashagan oil field from the UK's BG. The deal is for an 8.33% stake in the North Caspian Sea Project, which as well as...

Nigeria LNG gets tanker loan.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Nigeria LNG Ltd. has raised a $460 million loan facility from a consortium of 20 banks to allow its Bonny Gas Transport (BGT) subsidiary to expand its fleet of vessels. Nigeria LNG said it needs eight additional LNG carriers to meet the...

Iberdrola loses gas award.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Bidding for Basque gas body Naturcorp came to a surprise conclusion last month with northern Spanish utility Hidrocantabrico beating the favorite, Basque utility giant Iberdrola, to the 62% stake with a 537 million euro ($571 million)...

Romania revives Petrom sale.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Romania has revived plans for the privatization of Petrom, with company officials indicating that international bidders will be invited to submit offers for the state-owned oil and gas holding firm by September. The hastening of the sale...

Transneft wins pipeline loan.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Russia's Central Bank has agreed to lend national pipeline operator Transneft up to $1 billion to finance a third-phase expansion plan for the Baltic Pipeline System (BPS) that would raise the line's capacity from a current 240,000 b/d to...

Sibneft plans huge payout.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Russia's Sibneft is gearing up to pay annual dividends to its shareholders of 34.23 billion rabies ($1.09 billion), in what would be the largest dividend payout in the country's corporate history. The company's board has approved a...

Valero cautious on margins.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... US independent refiner Valero does not expect US refining margins to hold at their recent elevated heights, but is optimistic on profitability in the ultra-competitive downstream sector for the remainder of the year. Strong gasoline...

Mexico to sell oil dollars.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Mexico has introduced a plan to sell oil dollars for pesos, because the rising level of its reserves is costing it money. High oil prices have left Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) with extra dollars, but it costs the Bank of Mexico more to finance...

Peru waits on Camisea loan.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... The Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) will most likely decide by May whether to give Peru a $75 million loan to finance the giant Camisea gas project, according to the country's Energy Minister Jaime Quijandria. The Camisea project,...

Cairn seeks Indian partner.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... UK independent Cairn Energy has given itself a year to secure a partner to develop its discoveries in the deepwater Krishna-Godivari basin offshore eastern India. "What we are looking for is a partner who can come in and participate in the...

Pertamina selling non-core assets.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Indonesia's state oil firm Pertamina is putting a range of non-core assets up for sale as part of its move to become a limited liability company. Pertamina's subsidiaries targeted for sale include PT Elnusa (electronics), PT Patra Jasa...

War news swings oil shares in line with broader market. (Equity Markets).
April 1, 2003... While most other sectors are primed to post weak first quarter results due to the soft economy, Big Oil should enjoy its finest quarter since early 2001, bolstered by oil prices that averaged more than $30 per barrel and a broad recovery in...

Follow the money: markets assess fallout from Venezuela strike. (Emerging Markets).
April 1, 2003... As Petroleos de Venezuela (PDV) exports return to the market, attention has turned to the financial fallout of the two-month strike, which decimated PDV management. Oil revenue typically makes up nearly one-third of Venezuela's GDP, and...