International Petroleum Finance articles from February 2007

International Petroleum Finance archives from February 2007

Just another oil company?
February 1, 2007... Is BP about to become just another oil company? For years, Chief Executive John Browne has transfixed investors with audacious deals, progressive environmental politics and the promise of growth from the company's heavily touted "New Profit...

Minorities try to put squeeze on shell.
February 1, 2007... More than three months after making its initial approach, it's still not clear whether Royal Dutch Shell is moving any closer to clinching a deal to buy out the minority interests in its Shell Canada affiliate. Minority shareholders had been...

Abu Dhabi outlines terms for gas tender.
February 1, 2007... Abu Dhabi is following in the footsteps of Saudi Arabia in opening up its upstream gas sector to international oil companies (IOCs), offering a 60-40 joint venture with Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (Adnoc) and a 30-year contract for the...

IOCs offer muted response to Iran's new buyback terms.
February 1, 2007... International oil companies (IOCs) have been waiting with bated breath for Iran to unveil new modified terms for the country's buyback contracts, currently considered to be some of the shortest and riskiest in the oil industry. But the new...

New year, new hope for UK independents.
February 1, 2007... The New Year marks something of a new beginning for a number of the leading names in the UK independent sector. For Premier Oil and Cairn Energy, it is a case of moving on from a year dominated by one big event--a possible takeover and...

Big oil volumes slump, but reserve gains impress.
February 1, 2007... Oil company earnings continued to fall in the final quarter of 2006, with lower oil prices and a weaker downstream environment conspiring to push profits down. The five Western oil majors tracked by IPF--Exxon Mobil, BP, Royal Dutch Shell,...

Shell maintains strike rate for Big Cat wells.
February 1, 2007... Royal Dutch Shell's Big Cat exploration strategy is "paying off," according to Chief Executive Jeroen van der Veer, but that doesn't mean the company will be sharing any more details of it with investors. Announcing the company's full-year...

Majors divided in approach to SE Asia.
February 1, 2007... When the majors outline their big growth projects, new profit centers and capex magnets for the rest of this decade and into the next, Southeast Asia generally gets few mentions. Recovery costs under $10/boe mean it's a great place to eke out...

Assets change hands in post-Enron shuffle.
February 1, 2007... Five years after Enron's demise, assets of the former energy merchant sector remain among the most actively traded properties as the companies continue to reform their identities. Enron made "convergence," the concept of offering a full range...

Hydro admits Front Runner looks exhausted.
February 1, 2007... If Norsk Hydro's $2.56 billion takeover of US independent Spinnaker Exploration looked expensive when it was announced in September 2005, it looks a lot pricier now. Hydro last month said it was taking a $549 million post-tax write-down on Gulf...

Ownership games hit Surgut stock price.
February 1, 2007... A move by Surgutneftegas to divest a subsidiary which once held more than a third of its stock has added to the uncertainty surrounding ownership of Russia's fourth largest oil producer. It has also triggered a steep drop in its share price....

Shell, Repsol in Iran deal.(IN BRIEF)
February 1, 2007... Royal Dutch Shell and Spain's Repsol YPF have signed a buyback deal with state-owned National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC) for the upstream part of the Persian LNG project, according to Iranian and company sources. The signing of the upstream...

BP signs on in Oman.(IN BRIEF)
February 1, 2007... BP marked its official entry into Oman last month with the signing of a production sharing agreement for a large area that includes two discovered gas fields, Khazzan and Makarem. The acreage could yield between 20 Tcf-30 Tcf of reserves, which...

CNOOC eyes Yemen LNG.(IN BRIEF)
February 1, 2007... State-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) is in talks to buy US Hunt Oil's stake in Yemen LNG, well-placed Yemeni officials have told IPF. The Yemeni government was aware of the talks between the two companies, but had not yet...

Devon out of Africa.(IN BRIEF)
February 1, 2007... Devon Energy has started looking for buyers for its West African oil assets as the US-based independent seeks to sharpen its focus in North America. The assets being sold by Devon had proved reserves of 90 million boe at year-end 2006, or...

Petroplus still shopping.(IN BRIEF)
February 1, 2007... This month's $1.4 billion acquisition of the BP's 172,000 b/d UK Coryton refinery is "certainly not the end of the road" for Swiss-listed refiner Petroplus, with senior management seeking more opportunities to expand the business, according to...

E.On poised for Endesa.(IN BRIEF)
February 1, 2007... German energy giant E.On looks poised to take control of Spain's largest electricity group, Endesa, after a bruising 16-month takeover battle and late capitulation by counterbidder Gas Natural (GN). A sealed bid runoff between E.On and...

New talks on Shtokman?(IN BRIEF)
February 1, 2007... Russia's Gazprom hopes to resume talks this month with companies it previously short-listed but rejected for a role in developing the giant Shtokman gas field in the Barents Sea. The gas giant had planned to choose partners from a shortlist...

Conoco cuts Kashagan.(IN BRIEF)
February 1, 2007... ConocoPhillips reserve replacement last year was hit by a large downgrade to proven reserves at the giant Eni-led Kashagan development in Kazakhstan. The company's preliminary reserves report for 2006 includes downward revisions of 260 million...

Tesoro buys Shell refinery.
February 1, 2007... Royal Dutch Shell has sold its 100,000 b/d Wilmington refinery in California to US refiner Tesoro for $1.63 billion. The deal also includes the Wilmington products terminal and 250 Shell retail sites. The deal will increase Tesoro's...

Rough time for Anadarko.(IN BRIEF)
February 1, 2007... It has been a rough few weeks for US independent Anadarko, with the company's debt downgraded to one notch above junk status by Moody's, and its fourth-quarter earnings hit by a $100 million special charge as a result of Algeria's new windfall...

JBIC sticks by Sakhalin-2.(IN BRIEF)
February 1, 2007... The state-owned Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) is likely to continue with planned funding for Russia's troubled Sakhalin-2 development to ensure the LNG scheme takes off, despite the recent withdrawal of another key backer, the...

Iran close to India deal.(IN BRIEF)
February 1, 2007... After lowering its proposed price by some 30% since August 2006, Iran has signed a gas export deal with Pakistan, and is close to sealing a similar agreement with India, a senior Indian government official has told IPF. If signed, the deals...

Low commodity prices push oil equities down in January.(EQUITY MARKETS)
February 1, 2007... The sell-off in oil in the first half of January hit energy equities hard, with most oil company shares tumbling during the early part of the month. Before rebounding later in the month, oil prices got off to a rocky start in January,...

Fitch cuts Orinoco operators as Chavez turns the screw.(EMERGING MARKETS)
February 1, 2007... The fun and games continue for international oil companies (IOCs) operating in Venezuela, with President Hugo Chavez this month setting a May deadline for the foreign operators of the country's four heavy oil upgrading projects in the Orinoco...