International Petroleum Finance articles from May 2005

International Petroleum Finance archives from May 2005

Access denied?
May 1, 2005... Not surprisingly, the question of high oil prices dominated last month's sixth annual International Oil Summit in Paris. Saudi Arabia's oil minister, Ali Naimi, took the opportunity to make reassuring noises about the Saudis' commitment to...

Russian risks starting to tax BP.
May 1, 2005... If BP Chief Executive John Browne and Russian President Vladimir Putin--who met in Moscow Apr. 22--could agree on one thing, it was the phenomenal performance of BP's pioneering TNK-BP joint venture with Tyumen Oil Co. (TNK) since its formation...

Buybacks still best for majors' surplus cash.
May 1, 2005... West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil averaged nearly $50 per barrel in the first quarter, leading Exxon Mobil, BP and other big oil companies to report another huge quarterly profit. Exxon, as usual, led the way, reporting a...

Valero shows faith with Premcor takeover.
May 1, 2005... Valero is set to become the biggest refiner in North America, overtaking current market leader Exxon Mobil, courtesy of the $8 billion deal to buy rival independent Premcor announced at the end of last month. The deal is testament to...

Freight fears reignite Singapore's paper trade.
May 1, 2005... The massive derivatives losses incurred by China Aviation Oil (Singapore) at the end of last year have had a significant impact on energy paper-trading activity in Singapore, with trading volumes thought to be down some 30% so far this year...

Kerr-McGee counts cost of seeing off Icahn.
May 1, 2005... Kerr-McGee's radical plans for a $4 billion share repurchase program may have succeeded in fending off corporate raider Carl Icahn and his associates, but they have incurred if not the wrath, then at least the displeasure of the credit rating...

Simple strategy pays off for Kinder Morgan.
May 1, 2005... Investors looking for glitz and glamour aren't going to find it in the Kinder Morgan companies. What they will find is a set of solid, basic businesses that generate predictable revenues and cash flow, respectable earnings and healthy payouts...

Woodside chief chases growth and diversity.(Interview)
May 1, 2005... As Australia's largest E&P company and the main operator of the country's largest resource development, Perth-based Woodside is a regional giant. In an interview ahead of Woodside's first quarter results last month, Managing Director and Chief...

Ramco's Remp eyes change in fortunes.
May 1, 2005... Beleaguered UK exploration and oil-field services company Ramco suffered a fresh blow last month with the news that talks with a prospective buyer for the company had broken down. But despite this setback, ongoing operational problems at its...

Oxy trumps Shell in Oman.
May 1, 2005... Occidental and the UAE's Mubadala Development, partners in upstream projects in Libya and Qatar, have now struck in Oman, signing a heads of agreement with the sultanate at the end of last month to operate the onshore Mukhaizna oil field and...

Qatar delays gas projects.
May 1, 2005... Qatar will delay decisions on planned gas-to-liquids and pipeline gas projects for up to three years, amid concerns about reservoir management, according to the country's energy minister Abdullah al-Attiyah. The delays involves GTL plants...

Algeria inks E&P contracts.
May 1, 2005... Algeria's Sonatrach has signed upstream contracts for the nine blocks it awarded in last month's sixth licensing round to four companies, including supermajors BP and Royal Dutch/Shell. Sonatrach described the nine-block deal as a...

Shell signs Libya gas deal.
May 1, 2005... Royal Dutch/Shell and Libya's National Oil Corp. (NOC) have signed a long-term agreement covering LNG and gas exploration, following on from the heads of agreement the two sides signed in March last year (IPF Apr.'04, p13). The agreement...

Dutch pair buys Edinburgh.
May 1, 2005... Two Dutch companies, Dyas and Oranje-Nassau, have agreed to pay 132.8 million [pounds sterling] ($253 million) in cash for UK independent Edinburgh Oil & Gas. Following weeks of speculation, the companies have agreed on a recommended cash offer...

Rosneft may pay Yugansk debt.
May 1, 2005... The hapless banks that granted loans to Russia's Yuganskneftegas before the unit was renationalized and bought by state-owned Rosneft may not be as much out of luck as originally thought. The head of Russia's Federal Property Agency,...

Cheap loan for Transneft.
May 1, 2005... Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft has secured funds for the next stage of the expansion of its Baltic Pipeline System (BPS). The company has signed an agreement with the UK's Barclays Capital for a three-year syndicated loan of $250 million...

InterGen sale agreed.
May 1, 2005... Royal Dutch/Shell and Bechtel are to sell the bulk of their InterGen power joint venture in a deal worth more than $5 billion. Shell and the privately owned US engineering firm are selling InterGen to a 50-50 partnership of US investment...

M&A activity dips in Q1.
May 1, 2005... The value of global upstream mergers and acquisitions (M&A) fell in the first quarter from the high level reached in the final quarter of 2004, with most of the drop occurring outside North America, energy research firm John S. Herold said in a...

Statoil moves into US Gulf.
May 1, 2005... Norway's Statoil has created "a new international core area" for itself in the US Gulf of Mexico with the $2 billion purchase of Canadian EnCana's entire upstream portfolio in the region. Statoil will pick up an average 40% interest in 239...

Interest in PDV gas blocks.
May 1, 2005... A total of 29 companies--including majors BP, ChevronTexaco, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch/Shell and Total--have expressed an interest in participating in Venezuela's Rafael Urdaneta project, according to state-owned Petroleos de...

Inchon bidders wanted.
May 1, 2005... Bankrupt South Korean refiner Inchon Oil is back on the block after a Korean judge ruled that more bidders must be attracted to compete with Citigroup's lone bid for the company. Citigroup is Inchon's largest creditor and was instrumental...

Oil price fall takes toll on equities in April.(EQUITY MARKETS)
May 1, 2005... April was a month most investors would probably like to forget. Not only were the broader Standard and Poor's 500 and FT World indices lower in April, but oil shares--which have been the star equities so far this year--struggled last month as...

Nigeria still seeking debt relief despite price windfall.(EMERGING MARKETS)
May 1, 2005... Oil prices may be high, but they still don't seem to be high enough to stein the debt worries of some of the major producing nations. Nigeria, for example--the West African country is carrying around $35 billion in foreign debt and the...