International Petroleum Finance articles from May 2004

International Petroleum Finance archives from May 2004

Rocky Mountain high.
May 1, 2004... At first glance, it seems like a strange time for corporate mergers and acquisitions. Asset prices are exceptionally high, as share prices have soared with commodity prices, and oil and gas companies are generating huge amounts of surplus cash...

Big oil needs to spend windfall wisely.
May 1, 2004... With benchmark West Texas Intermediate averaging more than $35 per barrel, US natural gas prices hovering above $5 per thousand cubic feet and refining margins riding high on strong gasoline demand, top integrated oil companies posted huge...

Shell tries to move on from secrets and lies.
May 1, 2004... After months of scandal over its overstated oil and gas reserves, Royal Dutch/Shell is finally beginning to move on--or at least trying to. Last month's publication of the company's own investigation into January's reserves downgrade, and the...

Fresh onslaught leaves Yukos on the brink.
May 1, 2004... Investor confidence in Russia has been rattled in recent weeks as the Kremlin has stepped up its onslaught against leading oil company Yukos, pushing the company to the brink of bankruptcy. In a double-whammy last month, the government...

Aramco hits the road to reassure on reserves.
May 1, 2004... Saudi Aramco is pushing ahead with a public relations campaign to counter allegations that its oil fields are wearing out as a result of poor management. The state giant is opening its books to the oil industry and gradually releasing more...

New models emerge for LNG financing.
May 1, 2004... Most of the three-dozen or so liquefied natural gas receiving terminals proposed for North America plan to use pretty much the same mechanical equipment and technology. Their financing arrangements, however, will be anything but standard,...

How the producers do their sums.
May 1, 2004... What kind of oil price do producers want? It's a question that's been exercising pundits for some time. As we move into May 2004, WTI is trading at a 13-year high of nearly $40 per barrel. It might seem odd to be talking about the other end of...

Valero's greehey urges brighter view of refining.
May 1, 2004... US independent refiner Valero has grown dramatically in recent years, buying both fellow independent Ultramar Diamond Shamrock and El Paso's Corpus Christi, Texas, refinery. Despite a series of record years since 2000, Chairman and Chief...

Shell sells Angola stake.
May 1, 2004... Royal Dutch/Shell is pulling back from investment in Angola's upstream by selling its half stake in the BP-operated offshore Block 18 to India's ONGC Videsh for $600 million. "We don't have critical mass in Angola. The funds will be reinvested...

Sonangol's jumbo loan.
May 1, 2004... A group of international banks led by Standard Chartered has agreed to lend some $2.5 billion to Angola's Sonangol in an oil export-backed loan. The facility, billed as the largest-ever syndicated loan for a state-owned oil company,...

BP plans chemicals IPO.
May 1, 2004... BP is planning to sell off more than half of its underperforming petrochemicals business, possibly through an initial public offering (IPO) in the second half of next year. The plan will involve consolidating BP's olefins and derivatives...

Fortum plans oil spin-off.
May 1, 2004... Finland's Fortum is moving ahead with plans to split off its oil businesses into a separate company in an initial public offering (IPO), which it now says is likely to go ahead at the end of the year. The new company will comprise all...

Gazprom funds formed.
May 1, 2004... International investors are lining up for the opportunity to buy into Russia's Gazprom, as Moscow looks increasingly ready to lift restrictions on foreigners buying stock in the world's biggest natural gas producer. Investment companies...

Total eyes Caspian.
May 1, 2004... Total is scouting for new opportunities in the Caspian, but is declining comment on local press reports that it is considering farming into Azerbaijan's Lukoil-operated Yalama (D-222) Block or is eyeing the assets of Russian-Italian venture...

EnCana buys Tom Brown.
May 1, 2004... EnCana, already North America's biggest independent, plans to buy US Rockies natural gas producer Tom Brown for $2.3 billion in cash, strengthening its position in Colorado's Piceance Basin and also giving it a foothold in East Texas. "Tom...

Murphy's Canadian sales.
May 1, 2004... Murphy Oil has sold two packages of Canadian oil and gas assets holding 46 million hoe of proven reserves for a combined price of C$829.5 million ($624 million). The first deal involved properties sold to Canada's Pengrowth Energy Trust...

PDV blocks BP asset sale.
May 1, 2004... BP will have to keep its stake in two Venezuelan oil fields that it planned to sell to private French independent Perenco because state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela (PDV) has blocked the deal. "We spent just over a year looking for approval but...

$1 billion for Reliance.
May 1, 2004... India's Reliance Industries became the country's first private-sector company to post net annual profits of $1 billion, reporting the bumper earnings for the fiscal year ending in March. The performance was propelled by gross refining...

Cairn strikes again.
May 1, 2004... Shares in UK independent Cairn Energy. jumped again last month after the company revealed that it bad struck lucky for the third time this year in its Rajasthan Basin exploration block in northwest India. Cairn said that the latest find, N-C-1,...

Sinochem wins Inchon bid.
May 1, 2004... China's Sinochem has moved one step closer to owning South Korea's bankrupt Inchon Oil refinery, after being chosen last month as the preferred bidder by the Inchon District Court, which currently has legal control of the company. The...

Petron to raise funds.
May 1, 2004... Philippines refiner Petron has obtained board approval to seek a loan of $150 million to fund construction of secondary units at its 180,000 b/d Bataan refinery. Details of the loan, including whether it will involve a simple cash loan or...

Big oil outpaces broader market in April.(Equity Markets)
May 1, 2004... Shares of leading worldwide oil and gas companies out-performed the broader equity market in April, powered by high oil and gas prices, robust refining margins and announcements of record first-quarter profits. The IPF Oil and Gas Index,...

PKN prevails in Czech auction as Mol Merger talks end.(Emerging Markets)
May 1, 2004... The government of the Czech Republic has agreed to sell its controlling stake in the country's largest oil company Unipetrol to Poland's PKN Orlen for 11.3 billion koruna ($415 million). PKN was the sole final bidder in the Unipetrol...