International Petroleum Finance articles from December 2005

International Petroleum Finance archives from December 2005

Margin calls.
December 1, 2005... The downstream has been something of a poor relation in the major oil companies' portfolios in recent years--just think of Royal Dutch Shell's current mantra, "more upstream and profitable downstream", which suggests exploration and production...

Panic buying takes hold in rig market.
December 1, 2005... With the worldwide rig market fast approaching 100% utilization, oil companies are scrambling to secure capacity for their upstream programs, and as a result, dayrates for drilling equipment have gone through the roof. Heavy demand across the...

Investors size up Russia's new blue chip.
December 1, 2005... After sitting quietly in the back of investors' minds since May, a barrage of information has begun to emerge about the Russian government's plans for privatizing part of Rosneft. Rosneft's board of directors is continuing to examine the...

Conoco plows cash back into downstream.
December 1, 2005... Comfortable that good downstream times are here to stay, ConocoPhillips is plowing back piles of cash into its refining and marketing business, making good on a plan initially floated in April. The Houston-based oil major announced in...

Clues on returns for project Kuwait.
December 1, 2005... Could international investors' long wait for progress on Kuwait's much-delayed upstream opening finally be nearing its end? There have been enough false dawns to warrant caution, but the signs are encouraging--some clues to the likely fiscal...

Flotation leaves EdF with sinking feeling.
December 1, 2005... Billed as the largest public listing of a company in the world this year, the part-privatization of Electricite de France (EdF) failed, however, to light up the market when it made its stock exchange debut on Nov. 21. Instead, amid complaints...

New investors under African skies.
December 1, 2005... Any retail investor or government trawling the Africa Upstream Conference in Cape Town last month for suitable companies and explorers could have been forgiven for feeling like a child in a sweet shop--or perhaps a sturgeon swimming through...

Woodside, Santos outline ambitious drilling agendas.(Company Profile)
December 1, 2005... Most exploration and production companies live and die by the drill bit and Australian independents Woodside and Santos are no exception. In recent investor presentations both companies unveiled ambitious 2006 drilling programs that will have...

UK decides to take bigger share of high price windfall.
December 1, 2005... The UK has joined the ranks of countries seeking a bigger share of the windfall from high oil and gas prices, with the country's finance minister, Gordon Brown, announcing this month a doubling of the supplementary tax paid by North Sea...

DNO spuds in Iraq.
December 1, 2005... Norwegian independent DNO has spudded its first well in the Kurdistan area of northern Iraq, under a production sharing agreement (PSA) signed with the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in 2004 (IPF Jul.'04,p12). DNO's decision to proceed...

Bidders line up for Tamoil.
December 1, 2005... Italian refiners ERG Petroli and API have reportedly joined the bidding for Libyan state-controlled refiner Tamoil, which has already attracted interest from Total and Repsol YPF. The government, advised by BNP Paribas, has not decided...

BP ups green spending.
December 1, 2005... BP is doubling its investment in alternative and renewable energies, and creating a new low-carbon power business unit, BP Alternative Energy, which will manage an investment program in solar, wind, hydrogen and combined-cycle gas turbine...

Hydro's hedge fun.
December 1, 2005... Seemingly confident that its $2.56 billion deal for Spinnaker Exploration is in the bag, Norway's Norsk Hydro has entered into a hedging program for the majority of the US independent's expected oil and gas production from 2006 through to 2008....

Repsol's refining spree.
December 1, 2005... Spain's Repsol YPF has increased its planned downstream spending for the 2005-09 period to 6.2 billion [euro] ($7.3 billion), up 9% from the 5.7 billion [euro] figure indicated at the company's most recent strategy presentation in May this year...

Hot debut for ICE.
December 1, 2005... The IntercontinentalExchange (ICE), owner of the world's No. 2 energy futures marketplace, sparked a frenzy in its highly anticipated initial public offering (IPO) last month, with its share price closing on its New York Stock Exchange debut up...

Unocal vets form Cobalt.
December 1, 2005... Less than four months after Chevron closed its acquisition of Unocal, three former Unocal executives have teamed up to form a new oil and gas exploration company that will target the deepwater US Gulf of Mexico and selected international...

Niko rebuffs IOC.
December 1, 2005... Indian Oil Corp. (IOC) is kicking the tires of little-known Canadian independent Niko Resources, which has a growing portfolio of upstream projects in India. Following media reports from India, Niko confirmed earlier this month that it...

New Caracas tax claims.
December 1, 2005... Venezuela has hit two more of its foreign oil operators with back tax claims. Japan's Teikoku Oil and privately owned French independent Perenco were notified at the end of November that they have two weeks to pay back income taxes for some...

Bridas mulls asset deal.
December 1, 2005... Argentina's Bridas is considering selling some of its domestic assets in order to expand its holdings in Turkmenistan. The company is reportedly considering possible deals with China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) and Russia's Gazprom to sell...

Gail, HPCL form JV.
December 1, 2005... India's Gail and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (HPCL) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to jointly pursue domestic and overseas upstream opportunities and acquisitions. The two companies will also seek to farm into existing...

New dawn for sunrise?
December 1, 2005... Australia and East Timor have reached agreement on a long-running dispute over petroleum reserves and a shared maritime border, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer announced earlier this month. The agreement opens the way for...

Lackluster oils beaten by broader market in November.(EQUITY MARKETS)
December 1, 2005... November wasn't a terribly exciting month for oil equities. After spending much of 2005 climbing--thanks to what's seemed like an endless rise in oil prices--share values were generally flat. Oil prices moved little last month, trading in a...

BP, Temasek come in with rescue deal for China Aviation.(EMERGING MARKETS)
December 1, 2005... BP and Singapore's state investment company Temasek Holdings have been confirmed as the new investors in China Aviation Oil (Singapore) (CAO), coming in this month with a rescue package totaling $60.23 million in cash for the troubled Chinese...