International Petroleum Finance articles from January 2006

International Petroleum Finance archives from January 2006

Picking winners.
January 1, 2006... Who are going to be the star turns in the corporate oil world in 2006? The sector thrived last year, riding the crest of a commodity price wave, with "pure play" explorers and refiners seeing the biggest rises ahead of more modest increases for...

India, China learn the power of two.
January 1, 2006... If 2005 was the year when national oil companies from India and China truly began to make clear the scale of their global ambitions, 2006 looks set to mark the first real development in their international strategy, with the NOCs beginning to...

Conoco gambles on American gas.
January 1, 2006... ConocoPhillips has placed a multibillion-dollar bet on the North American natural gas market, unveiling last month a deal to buy Burlington Resources in a cash and stock deal valued at $35.6 billion. The purchase puts Conoco in the top spot...

Mystery firm helps solve Moscow-Kiev gas row.
January 1, 2006... Russia's reputation as a reliable gas supplier to Europe was called into question during the first days of the New Year when deliveries to Germany, Italy, France and other countries dipped by as much as 30% following the decision of Russian...

Norway driller could become Noble prize.
January 1, 2006... A fierce trans-Atlantic tug-of-war could be on the cards between US drilling firm Noble Corp. and newcomer SeaDrill over Norway's Smedvig, a move that could spark further deals throughout the European rig industry. Further consolidation in the...

Self-sufficiency still the key for Petrobras.
January 1, 2006... While the leading international majors agonize over whether to return surplus cash flow from high oil prices to investors or to divert it into higher capital spending, Brazil's state-controlled Petrobras is beginning to see its strategy of...

PetroChina misses out on red packet payday.
January 1, 2006... Seasonal gift-giving reached new and unprecedented heights in China last month, with Beijing deciding to grant state-owned Sinopec Group a one-time compensation payment of 10 billion yuan ($1.24 billion), aimed at making up for refining losses...

Shell takes over as Big Oil's big spender.
January 1, 2006... Royal Dutch Shell starts 2006 in the perhaps unenviable position of being Big Oil's biggest spender. The supermajor last month confirmed an increase in its planned capital expenditure for this year, to $19 billion from the previously announced...

AIM faces reality check after stellar 2005.
January 1, 2006... Having drawn more than $1 billion of new investor cash to its oil and gas listings in 2005, London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) has come of age as a hot source of start-up capital, mainly provided by European small-cap fund managers...

Ex-colleague turns against former Enron bosses.
January 1, 2006... Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling, the two former chief executives of Enron slated to go to trial this month on an assortment of federal charges related to the disgraced energy merchant's 2001 failure, have a new bogeyman to face--codefendant Richard...

Aramco steps up drilling.
January 1, 2006... Saudi Aramco plans to increase the number of development wells it drills this year by 61% compared with 2005, the company said last month. "Due to an unprecedented corporate push to increase oil output to help meet burgeoning global demand,...

Maersk inks Qatar deal.
January 1, 2006... Denmark's Maersk Oil has concluded an agreement with Qatar Petroleum to further develop the Al-Shaheen offshore field. The six year program will involve spending a total of $5 billion, while raising the field's capacity by 285,000 b/d, from...

BP in Libya gas talks.
January 1, 2006... BP has begun discussions with the Libyan government on a gas exploration and development deal following the signing of a basic memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the two sides at the end of 2005, Libyan and industry sources have told...

Chad loans suspended.
January 1, 2006... The World Bank has suspended loans to Chad following the Dec. 29 decision by the African country's National Assembly to approve changes in the Petroleum Revenue Management Law (PRML), which had been the deciding factor for the bank's support of...

Eni agrees Galp deal.
January 1, 2006... The Portuguese government has reached a deal with Eni on the Italian major's involvement in the country's biggest oil firm Galp Energia, with Eni agreeing to maintain its stake in the company at 33.34% and to surrender an option to increase...

Total passes Norway test.
January 1, 2006... Norway's newly consolidated state pension fund is to continue investing in Total following an examination of the French oil company's activities in Myanmar by a government ethics panel. Norway's Ministry of Finance had asked the country's...

Gazprom enters North Sea.
January 1, 2006... Russia's Gazprom has acquired its first-ever stake in a North Sea block, in a modest but intriguing step in what has become a series of investments in the UK gas market. ZMB, wholly owned by Gazprom's Berlin-based ZGG holding company, has...

Russneft's grand ambitions.
January 1, 2006... Russia's fast-growing private oil company Russneft has announced plans to increase crude output this year from 330,000 b/d to 500,000 b/d by expanding its portfolio of upstream assets both onshore and offshore and further developing its own...

New Sakhalin loan delay.
January 1, 2006... The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will conduct a public consultation process before deciding whether to part-finance the $20 billion Royal Dutch Shell-led Sakhalin-2 gas development on Russia's Pacific shell',...

Azeri capital debut.
January 1, 2006... Azerbaijan has made its debut in the international capital markets by concluding a $750 million loan to cover its investment commitments to the BP-led development of the Azeri, Chirag and Guneshli fields in the Caspian Sea. The five year...

Hydro halts US Gulf project.
January 1, 2006... Norsk Hydro has halted development of its deepwater Telemark field in the US Gulf of Mexico, saying that under current market conditions it is not prepared to sink more money into what it describes as a marginal field. "After considering...

Exxon mulls Brazil sale.
January 1, 2006... Exxon Mobil is considering the sale of a 30% stake in four Brazilian oil fields located in oft: shore block BC-10, where Petrobras recently confirmed the commercial viability of extensive reserves. "As part of our long-standing practice,...

Output growth, cost control key for share performance in 2006.(EQUITY MARKETS)
January 1, 2006... With oil prices averaging around $60 per barrel last year, oil company executives and shareholders had plenty to smile about. Strong commodity prices and refining margins--both of which were lifted by 2005's active US hurricane...

Gazprom readies for heavyweight emerging market entrance.(EMERGING MARKETS)
January 1, 2006... Just in time to fulfill a long-held promise to foreign investors, Moscow has approved the full liberalization of the share market of state-controlled Gazprom, setting the stage for the gas behemoth to take the lead spot this year among emerging...