International Petroleum Finance articles from November 2006

International Petroleum Finance archives from November 2006

The cost of cutting.
November 1, 2006... The accident at BP's Texas City refinery in March last year has proved a sobering experience both for the UK supermajor and the oil industry in general, and the most recent revelations concerning the tragedy highlight an issue that some argue...

Tax move could hit Canadian M&A.
November 1, 2006... The elimination of tax benefits enjoyed by Canada's legions of oil and gas income trusts may enhance the federal treasury, but it is likely to throw an Arctic chill on the country's hot mergers and acquisitions business. Even more ominously,...

Foreigners poised for role in Russian power.
November 1, 2006... In marked contrast to the trend towards greater state control and increasing limits on foreign participation in its oil and gas industry, Russia is at last pushing ahead with reforms in its power sector. In an effort to attract much needed...

EOR underpins Shell's unconventional wisdom.
November 1, 2006... With confidence growing that oil prices will remain at $40 per barrel or higher over the medium term, and access to resources and reserve replacement becoming an ever greater concern for Big Oil, unconventional resources look set to play a...

Premier bid mystery complicates M&A outlook.
November 1, 2006... Premier Oil could become the second leading UK independent to disappear in just over a year, but so far, that's pretty much all that is known. The company confirmed last month it was entering talks that could lead to a takeover bid, but while...

Cairn fleshes out plans for Indian IPO.
November 1, 2006... UK independent Cairn Energy believes it could raise around $1.9 billion in gross proceeds from the partial listing of its Indian upstream business now planned for next month. Announcing new details of the planned initial public offering...

Beijing bankrolls big three's overseas adventure.
November 1, 2006... Energy-hungry China last month snapped up more oil and gas assets, this time with state-owned international investment conglomerate Citic Group paying $1.91 billion for the Karazhanbas field in Kazakhstan (p13). The purchase follows Sinopec's...

Lukoil plots its path to the big leagues.
November 1, 2006... Aiming to become a player in the major leagues of the global oil industry by 2016, Russia's biggest oil company Lukoil last month presented its long-term strategy of accelerated growth involving investment of up to $112 billion over the next 10...

Q3 may mark peak for big oil earnings.
November 1, 2006... Oil company profits and stocks have certainly had a good run thanks to years of oil prices that have steadily moved higher. The third-quarter earnings of the integrated oil sector were impressive, but when compared with second-quarter numbers,...

Shell in new Iran talks.
November 1, 2006... Royal Dutch Shell is in negotiations with the Iranian government and China's Sinopec for a 20% equity stake in the 3 billion bbl Yadavaran field in southern Iran, an industry source has told IPF. Tehran is said to be showing increased...

Total exec faces probe.
November 1, 2006... Total's head of exploration and production, Christophe de Margerie, has been placed under investigation by authorities in France as part of a probe related to the UN's oil-for-food program in Iraq. De Margerie, who is due to replace...

Spain's builders buy big.
November 1, 2006... Spanish construction groups have been building up big equity stakes in the country's leading energy groups, with spending in recent weeks totaling some 8.4 billion [euro] ($10.5 billion). Acciona spent 3.4 billion [euro] Sep. 25 on the...

West Siberian buys Nortoil.
November 1, 2006... Stockholm-listed independent West Siberian Resources (WSR), the company through which Spain's Repsol YPF is hoping to develop a major presence in Russia, has bought Russian oil company Nortoil for $115 million, adding more than 100 million bbl...

Rosneft readies war chest.
November 1, 2006... Russia's state-owned Rosneft is looking to open a whopping $24.5 billion short-term line of credit with a group of Western banks, as it builds a war chest to buy bankrupt Yukos' remaining assets, local reports have indicated. The...

Citic set for nations deal.
November 1, 2006... After more than a year on the auction block, Canadian producer Nations Energy has finally agreed to sell its assets in Kazakhstan to China's Citic Group for $1.91 billion. Ecolo Investments, which owns 76% of Nations, has agreed to vote in...

Talisman freezes budget.
November 1, 2006... Canadian independent Talisman Energy expects to keep its exploration and development spending flat in 2007 at around C$4.8 billion ($4.2 billion) to counter the high cost of services and equipment in North America and the North Sea. ...

Statoil buys more Gulf assets.
November 1, 2006... Statoil has been shopping in the Gulf of Mexico again, picking up stakes in two deepwater discoveries and an exploration prospect from Anadarko. The Norwegian company is paying $901 million for a 25% stake in the Knotty Head field and...

Dominion plans big sale.
November 1, 2006... US independent Dominion Energy has decided to drastically downsize its exploration and production operations after failing to convince investors of the value of its North American upstream assets. Dominion, which has made a name for itself...

Koreans line up Nigeria cash.
November 1, 2006... A South Korean consortium has earmarked a massive $10 billion in investment for Nigeria's energy and transport infrastructure in order to sweeten bids for Nigerian oil licenses. The consortium--led by state Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC)...

SK starts new buybacks.
November 1, 2006... South Korea's largest refiner, SK Corp., has instituted a program to buy back 13 million shares, or 10% of the company's equity, for around $903 million. The aim of the repurchase program was to stabilize SK's stock price and improve...

Roc to pay down debt.
November 1, 2006... Ambitious Australian explorer Roc Oil hopes to raise A$219 million ($169 million) from a stock issue to pay off debt from its purchase of US Apache's Chinese assets, a deal which overnight turned the junior firm into one of the largest foreign...

Investors eye output growth, cost control as prices stabilize.(EQUITY MARKETS)
November 1, 2006... Oil equities have moved in lockstep with oil prices over the past several years, but with oil prices stabilizing over the past month or so, the thinking among some Wall Street analysts is that factors besides the oil price will play an...

Bolivia's new contracts come with warning on investment.(EMERGING MARKETS)
November 1, 2006... Bolivia and foreign energy companies have reached agreements on new production contracts that give La Paz a larger share of oil and gas revenues as part of the Andean nation's hydrocarbons nationalization process. But overseas investors have...