International Petroleum Finance articles from August 2004

International Petroleum Finance archives from August 2004

The best of times?
August 1, 2004... 2004 continues to provide both the best of times and, if not exactly the worst of times, then at least some very vexing challenges for the international oil and gas business. The "best of times" part is clear enough from a quick look at...

Shell pays up but SEC is still snooping.
August 1, 2004... Royal Dutch/Shell has taken a huge step toward dealing with the legacy of this year's reserves downgrades by agreeing to deals in principle with both the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA)...

The rising cost of insuring the boss.
August 1, 2004... Enron, Royal Dutch/Shell and Yukos have more in common than just the fall from grace of their leading lights. Courtesy of their New York listings, all three firms now face class-action suits in the US, a costly and dangerous cudgel popularized...

Qatar takes center stage in Exxon growth plans.
August 1, 2004... Exxon Mobil has a reputation for moving slowly and cautiously when approaching any new endeavor, but when it moves, the earth tends to shift on its axis. The heads of agreement signed in July with Qatar for a $7 billion, 154,000 barrels per day...

Latin America struggling to secure investment.
August 1, 2004... Latin America's oil and gas exporters will need over $100 billion in investment in the next five years--a tremendous sum, by any standard. The money is required to meet a growing population's energy needs, as well as to maintain and expand the...

Majors remain in the giving vein.
August 1, 2004... With oil prices approaching $50 per barrel and global capacity stretched to the limits, there has been some head scratching as to why oil companies aren't increasing exploration budgets in an attempt to get a quick bump in oil and gas output....

PetroChina prepares for domestic debut.
August 1, 2004... State-controlled PetroChina is seeking to raise funds by issuing shares in what would be the largest-ever single domestic listing on China's stock market, with the estimated issue size of 10 billion yuan-denominated A-shares, which could raise...

Devon swaps the check book for the drillbit.
August 1, 2004... US independent Devon Energy is perhaps best known for a series of acquisitions that mainly served to beef up its onshore gas business in North America. The purchase of Ocean Energy broke that pattern by giving it an offshore exploration...

Exxon vs. Microsoft.
August 1, 2004... Software giant Microsoft's announcement last month that it intends to buy back $30 billion in common stock, issue a special $3/share dividend and double its annual payout to 32 cents/share did not impress supermajor Exxon Mobil. The...

Iraq studies contract bids.
August 1, 2004... Iraq's State Co. for Oil Projects (Scop) has started evaluating offers for five projects and expects to be ready to award contracts by late September, Scop's director general Ahmad al-Shamaa has told IPF. "We are in the process of doing a...

In Salah gas onstream.
August 1, 2004... Gas production and gas sales have commenced from the $1.8 billion In Salah development in Algeria, which is being jointly operated by state-owned Sonatrach, BP and Statoil. In Salah gas deliveries will plateau at 9 Bcm/yr--roughly 870...

Sixth train for NLNG.
August 1, 2004... Nigeria LNG Ltd. has given the formal go-ahead for the construction of a sixth LNG train at its facility at Bonny in Nigeria, consortium partners Eni, Total and Royal Dutch/Shell have announced. The sixth train, which will come on stream in...

Angola warned on loans.
August 1, 2004... The International Monetary Fund has again cautioned Angola on its dependency on oil-backed loans, saying its debt servicing commitments would hinder the economy for the rest of the decade. "Reliance on expensive oil-backed loans from...

OMV agrees Petrom terms.
August 1, 2004... Austria's OMV has agreed to terms with Romania to buy a controlling stake in Petrom. OMV will pay up to 1.52 billion [euro] ($1.86 billion) for a 51% stake in the state-owned company, making the sale eastern Europe's largest ever oil...

Conoco meets Putin, Lukoil.
August 1, 2004... ConocoPhillips could be moving towards taking a stake in Russia's Lukoil. Russian president Vladimir Putin, Conoco chief executive James Mulva and Lukoil president Vagit Alekperov met in the Krasnodar region of southern Russia Jul. 22, the...

Sakhalin woes for Exxon.
August 1, 2004... Exxon Mobil has admitted that early costs at its Sakhalin-1 project on Russia's Pacific shelf are running over budget. "Our spending under the first phase of the [Sakhalin-1] project has been increased, driven by a number of factors,...

Fifth find for Kashagan group.
August 1, 2004... The Eni-led consortium developing the giant Kashagan oilfield in Kazakhstan's sector of the Caspian Sea has made a fifth discovery on its acreage. A first exploration well on the Kairan structure was drilled from an artificial island to a...

Unocal scraps output targets.
August 1, 2004... US independent Unocal is scrapping its policy of providing investors with its best forecast of future oil and gas production after watching actual volumes fall short of its estimates too often. "Because recent actual production levels have...

PDV completes debt buyback..
August 1, 2004... State-owned Petroleos de Venezuela (PDV) has completed the repurchase of some $2.5 billion of foreign debt as part of a restructuring of its financing arrangements announced last month (IPF Jul.,p16). The deal closed Jul. 26 and totaled roughly...

Exxon mulls Australia exit.
August 1, 2004... Exxon Mobil is considering its future in Australia's refining sector in the face of tightening fuel standards, even as rival majors BP, ChevronTexaco and Royal Dutch/Shell aggressively upgrade their plants to meet new tougher specifications for...

Oil shares outpace broader market in July.(Equity Markets)
August 1, 2004... Investors continue to flock to shares in the world's top oil and gas companies, which again outperformed the broader market in July, lifted by $44 per barrel oil and strong US natural gas prices. The IPF Oil and Gas Index rose by 1.0% last...

Capital flees Russia as Yukos fights for survival.(Emerging Markets)
August 1, 2004... The latest twists and turns of the Yukos affair may be difficult to keep pace with, but one trend in Russia seems clear enough--capital is leaving the country. Figures from Russia's Central Bank show that net capital outflows totaled $5.5...