International Petroleum Finance articles from April 2006

International Petroleum Finance archives from April 2006

A Barents beauty contest.
April 1, 2006... Any day now, the contestants in arguably the year's most intriguing petroleum beauty contest will discover their fate, when Gazprom announces who it has picked as its partners for the massive Shtokmanovskoye liquefied natural gas project in...

Big gas projects feel the pinch.
April 1, 2006... Expectations of a swell of liquefied natural gas (LNG) deliveries to North America by the end of the decade may prove to be far too optimistic as liquefaction projects are running into a slew of financial and logistical challenges, IPF has...

Downstream weighs on China's majors.
April 1, 2006... High oil prices have brought cheer to many in the petroleum sector in the past year, but in China, crude hovering at $60 per barrel has proved both a blessing and a bane for the local majors. The three Chinese oil firms PetroChina, Sinopec and...

End in sight for Yukos after Moscow Court ruling.
April 1, 2006... As Kremlin-friendly oil companies sharpen their knives in anticipation and state-owned Rosneft looks for complete control of its prize asset in preparation for an initial public offering (IPO), a court ruling appears at last to have given the...

M&A makes a slow start after stellar 2005.
April 1, 2006... Companies buying entire companies--rather than piecemeal packages of assets--was the standout trend in global upstream merger and acquisitions activity in 2005. Corporate consolidation returned in a big way last year, reaching levels not...

Baker panel studies BP's safety puzzle.
April 1, 2006... Last month marked the first anniversary of the fatal blast at BP's Texas City refinery that took the lives of 15 workers and injured another 170. Over the period, much of the fallout from the accident has already been dealt with--BP has...

Shell tightlipped on new African reserves cut.
April 1, 2006... Royal Dutch Shell is remaining tightlipped about the reasons for a downgrade of more than 200 million barrels from its African oil reserves in its 2005 reserves bookings. The 206 million bbl cut, which came to light when Shell published its...

Brussels turns nasty in Europe's power row.
April 1, 2006... Europe's recent wave of utility mergers has fueled a row that has broken out about "economic nationalism," which is pitting national governments against the European Commission in a battle that could determine the shape of the industry in the...

New horizons beckon for UK independents.
April 1, 2006... Consolidation may not be sweeping through the UK upstream independent sector in the same way it is in the US, but there are still some significant changes taking place. UK-listed exploration firms have enjoyed even more of a high oil price...

Exxon deal adds spice to UAE concession talks.
April 1, 2006... After almost one year of negotiations, Exxon Mobil last month finally concluded a deal to join Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (Adnoc) and Japan Oil Development Co. (Jodco) in the Zakum Development Co. (Zadco), operator of the giant Upper Zakum...

Saudis push Rabigh flotation.
April 1, 2006... Saudi Aramco and Japan' s Sumitomo Chemical have formally launched work on their $10 billion PetroRabigh refining and petrochemical expansion on Saudi Arabia's west coast. At least 25% of the project will be financed by a public offering on the...

Sasol halts Iran GTL.
April 1, 2006... South African synfuel producer Sasol has put plans for a gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant in Iran on hold, as the Islamic republic faces threats of UN sanctions over its nuclear program. Sasol and Iran's National Petrochemical Co. (NPC) have been...

OMV seals Turkish deal.
April 1, 2006... Austria's OMV is hopeful that its major new investment in the Turkish downstream will ultimately lead to upstream oppoaunities in Iraq. OMV last month announced it was paying Turkey's privately-owned Dogan Group just over $1 billion for a...

LNG boost for BG.
April 1, 2006... The UK's BG Group enjoyed a stronger-than-anticipated trading performance in the first quarter, thanks largely to the contribution of its LNG business, which is expected to book an operating profit of at least 130 million[pounds sterling] ($225...

Statoil to buy back stock.
April 1, 2006... The Norwegian government has agreed to allow state-controlled Statoil to launch its first ever sham buyback program, but the repurchases will be structured in such a way that the state's 70.9% interest in the company remains unchanged. The...

Sakhalin-1 budget approved.
April 1, 2006... The Exxon Mobil-led Sakhalin-1 consortium developing oil and gas reserves on the Russian Pacific Shelf will invest $1.6 billion this year in the project, following the approval of the 2006 budget last month by the authorized state body for the...

China, Russia ink deals.
April 1, 2006... Beijing rolled out the red carpet for last month's visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin, and was rewarded with three new agreements paving the way for the two nations to broaden their cooperation in oil and gas. In the first, Gazprom...

Big bids in US lease sale.
April 1, 2006... Half-a-dozen deepwater blocks drew monster bids of $20 million or more at last month's Gulf of Mexico lease sale in New Orleans, making it the strongest such sale in eight years. Central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 198 raised $573 million in high...

Storms hurt insurer OIL.
April 1, 2006... The oil industry's leading captive insurance firm, Oil Insurance Limited (OIL), has announced that it posted an underwriting loss of $225 million for 2005, thanks largely to some $2 billion in claims connected to the damage to Gulf of Mexico...

Caracas hits BP for taxes.
April 1, 2006... BP has become the latest oil company to be hit by a back-dated bill from Venezuela's tax authority. The Seniat is asking BP for some $62 million relating to the 2001-04 period, reflecting income taxes which should have been paid at a rate of...

Devon Mulls Angola exit.
April 1, 2006... Devon Energy is reevaluating its exploration activities offshore Angola after drilling three unsuccessful wells there and may exit the country altogether. The US independent has already taken a $170 million impairment charge after drilling...

Koreans win Nigerian duel.
April 1, 2006... Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) has finally signed a deal with Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC) for two exploration blocks, following months of wrangling over unpaid signature bonuses and a tussle between the Korean firm and India's Oil...

Oil shares recover in March after poor February.(EQUITY MARKETS)
April 1, 2006... After a steep drop in February, oil equities rebounded nicely in March, a month that also saw global oil prices move higher. The IPF Index rose 3.8% in March, following February's steep 6.7% decline in value. In March, the IPF Index beat...

BP walks away from India's refining renaissance.(EMERGING MARKETS)
April 1, 2006... Harsh market conditions for downstream companies in India--including hefty losses from sales of petroleum products below cost and a potential glut in domestic refining capacity--are being blamed for last month's decision by BP to pull out of a...