International Petroleum Finance articles from May 2002

International Petroleum Finance archives from May 2002

Drowning downstream.(petroleum industry profitability)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Last year, US companies plunged into downstream-oriented mergers and acquisitions, arguing that a new era of strong margins was dawning. These deals included the $9 billion acquisition of Tosco by Phillips, the $6 billion purchase of Ultramar...

CEO pay is a win-win scenario in oil sector.(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... 2001 was a year that Halliburton shareholders would like to forget. Beset by falling commodity prices and a rash of asbestos claims related to its construction unit, Halliburton stock plunged nearly 65%, wiping more than $10 billion off the...

Russia reclaims Western majors interest once again.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Russia is back en vogue with Western majors, with BP and Royal Dutch/Shell moving to increase their participation in the country's oil sector last month. BP has increased its holding in Russian producer Sidanco to 25%, in a bid to remain one of...

Reliance juggernaut rolls with mega-merger, new strategies.(Reliance Petroleum and Reliance Industries)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Falling oil demand and deregulation are beginning to drive the results and strategies of India's biggest private oil company. Reliance Petroleum (RPL) is conjuring a mega-merger, a mix of aggressive marketing techniques, and a more...

Eager Chinese pay dearly for foreign assets.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Upstream aspirations at China's state-controlled integrated energy giants have seen PetroChina buy several foreign oil and gas projects recently, with state Sinopec all set to follow suit. But equity analysts are worried that neither company is...

Capital still not flowing into upstart energy tech firms.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... This is hardly shaping up to be the year of recovery that fledgling energy technology firms were hoping for. After venture capital investment for energy-related start-ups fell by roughly 35% last year, the pace of outlays remains slow in 2002,...

Investors gobble up tasty Premcor IPO.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Shares of Premcor gained roughly 15% in a shortened week of trading after the company's Apr. 30 initial public offering, as investors rushed to buy shares of the independent refiner headed by renowned downstream entrepreneur Thomas O'Malley....

Tesoro stock suffers after Golden Eagle "overreaction".(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... San Antonio-based Tesoro illustrated the potential problems that refiners can experience if they operate in a limited number of markets -- perhaps a lesson that Premcor could learn from in the future. Tesoro, which is primarily a US West Coast...

Energy merchants still can't shake Enron debacle.
May 1, 2002... Wall Street long has been fickle, and nowhere has this been showing up any more dramatically than among the energy merchants and integrated utilities. Events involving Dynegy last month illustrate the untenable position where these companies...

Delay of asset sale threatens to derail big seismic merger.(Petroleum Geo-Services sale of unit)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... The merger of two global seismic giants is in jeopardy after Norwegian-US Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS) confirmed difficulties with the sale of its Atlantis oil unit to China's Sinochem, a prerequisite for PGS' pending combination with...

International Oil Daily is here!(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Energy Intelligence Group recently launched of our new daily publication: International Oil Daily. Building on a 50-year tradition of publishing industry standards such IPF, International Oil Daily will bring a global perspective on the latest...

Shell takes Enterprise.(Enterprise Oil acquisition)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Royal Dutch/Shell's $7 billion purchase of UK-based Enterprise Oil suggests the era of rampant M&A still has not run its course. Most analysts expected Shell to target North American gas -- not North Sea oil -- after its failed bid for US...

Lukoil's new plan.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Russian producer Lukoil unveiled a program to boost profitability, including ambitious plans to ramp up oil output to 3.2 million b/d by 2010, from 1.6 million b/d currently. The company is proposing to increase oil product exports, reduce...

Dolphin bids in.(UAE Offsets Group evaluates offers)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... The UAE Offsets Group (UOG) is evaluating five offers that are all well in excess of $200 million from Conoco, Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch/Shell, BP, and Occidental for a stake of up to 24.5% in the $3.5 billion Dolphin project to import up to 2...

Enron comes clean (again).(filing of false financial statements)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Enron confessed to filing false financial statements with regulators to the tune of as much as $24 billion. The company said in the Securities and Exchange Commission Form 8-K that not only were prior financial statements erroneous, it could...

Profits dive at BP, Shell.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... First-quarter profits reported by Europe's two supermajors were down sharply but both BP and Royal Dutch/Shell still came in towards the top end of analysts' expectations. BP posted headline earnings of $1.582 billion, down 57%, while Shell,...

Chinese contrast.(Sinopec sees share price slump while China National Offshore Oil posts profit)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Contrasting results from two of China's top state-controlled oil firms reflect downstream pains and upstream gain. State refiner Sinopec saw its share price slump after declaring an 86% drop on year-ago first-quarter profits to $65 million,...

Find a fair price.(Oman Oil Co., financial management)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... An agreed upon price for Asian refining assets continues to elude supermajors and oil producers alike, with Oman backing out of talks to buy into Singapore's SRC refinery when the parties couldn't agree on fair value for the 285,000 b/d plant....

Downsized HoustonStreet.(electronic trading exchange scales back operations)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Electronic trading exchange HoustonStreet has dramatically scaled back its operations in another example of an internet start-up struggling to find its niche in the energy business. The US-based firm has laid off all but six employees -- down...

New CEOs At ENI, Enel.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... The Italian government met to short-list candidates for key posts in state-controlled energy giants ENI and Enel. ENI Chairman Gian Maria Gros-Pietro and Chief Executive Vittorio Mincato will both step down on May 29. Enel is expected to...

Merger ban proposed.(in gasoline industry)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Attorneys general from three US states and a Democratic senator urged Congress to implement drastic fixes to curb gasoline price volatility and possible market manipulation, including a temporary moratorium on oil company mergers and changes to...

Argentine tariff hike.(electricity companies in Argentina, tariff hike)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... The Argentine government may allow private electricity companies to boost their tariffs in what would be the first such hike under negotiations to soften the impact of currency devaluation. Natural gas distributors may also be allowed to...

Statoil exits Denmark.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Norway's Statoil is leaving the Danish sector of the North Sea, selling its assets to Denmark's state oil and gas company, Dong. At stake are interests in the producing Lulita and Siri oil fields, and Siri satellite Stine. The purchase price is...

Ugly earnings send oil shares lower in April. (Equity Markets).(oil and gas shares)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Shares of top oil and gas companies slumped with the broader market in April, hampered by reports of weak first quarter earnings and investor concerns about the speed of economic recovery. The IPF Oil and Gas Index, which is comprised of 15 of...

Capacity collapse at PDV is price of Chavez years. (Emerging Markets).(Petroleos de Venezuela)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... While the political future of Venezuela remains unsure after the sudden fall and even speedier restoration of President Hugo Chavez, there is no such uncertainty about the deterioration at state Petroleos de Venezuela (PDV) on his watch. Over...

Oil and gas equities in emerging markets. (Emerging Markets).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Oil and Gas Equities in Emerging Markets Company/Country 30 Day 52 Week Asia Latest % Chg High PetroChina 1.59 -0.6 1.84 Zhenhai Refining (China) 1.96...