International Petroleum Finance articles from November 2007

International Petroleum Finance archives from November 2007

Shaking the tree.
November 1, 2007... From safe and secure Canada to more volatile countries such as Ecuador, governments are increasing their take from international oil companies (IOC). Given that many existing contracts were signed in the era of $40 oil, it's hardly surprising...

PetroChina rides wave of speculation in China.
November 1, 2007... Following PetroChina's initial public offering (IPO) of shares in Shanghai Nov. 5, the media had a field day: The state-controlled Chinese oil company was now "the biggest company in the world," with a market value of "more than $1 trillion,"...

Hayward makes his mark with BP overhaul.
November 1, 2007... Whatever happens during the rest of his tenure as head of BP, Tony Hayward will never be accused of mincing his words. Announcing a corporate restructuring plan on Oct.11, Hayward said: "BP's performance has materially lagged [behind] our peer...

Alberta tax increase not so bad as feared.
November 1, 2007... The Canadian province of Alberta late last month announced higher oil and gas royalties from Jan.1, 2009. While the new terms backed away from some of the more aggressive recommendations of a government-appointed review panel, oil companies...

Deadline looms on Kashagan as Astana tightens the screws.
November 1, 2007... By the start of this month it seemed that the high-stakes battle for control of the giant Kashagan project in Kazakhstan was heading for a negotiated solution. On Oct.22 the Kazakh government and the Eni-led consortium developing the field...

StatoilHydro joins total in Shtokman first phase.
November 1, 2007... StatoilHydro last month joined France's Total as the second foreign partner in the first phase of Gazprom's giant Shtokman gas and condensate development in the Arctic Barents Sea, beating out ConocoPhillips for a share in the project and...

Big oil hit by low US refining margins, PSCs.
November 1, 2007... After riding the wave of strong US refining margins for several quarters, oil companies watched that wave come crashing down in the third quarter. During the period, the run-up in oil prices--with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude...

Ecuador's Correa ups windfall tax rate to 99%.
November 1, 2007... Spurred in part by high oil prices, resource nationalism has been spreading throughout Latin America, with nationalizations and changes to contract terms introduced in Bolivia and Venezuela. However, it was still a surprise to many when...

Shell boosts US profile with Gulf spending.
November 1, 2007... In the wake of the reserves fiasco, output declines and budget overruns, the aggressive spending by Royal Dutch Shell at last month's US Gulf of Mexico lease sale showed how important the deepwater Gulf has become in the rebuilding of the...

Kuwait oil minister kerfuffle.(IN BRIEF)
November 1, 2007... Bader al-Humaidhi, who was appointed Kuwait's oil minister Oct. 28, resigned a week later. His predecessor, Water and Electricity Minister Mohammad al-Olaim, who was appointed acting oil minister in June following the resignation of Sheikh Ali...

Santos cap removed.(IN BRIEF)
November 1, 2007... The South Australia state government in midOctober said it will overturn a law that prevents a single shareholder from owning more than 15% of independent producer Santos--potentially opening the door to a takeover of the Adelaide-based...

Eni inks Libya deals.(IN BRIEF)
November 1, 2007... Eni signed a $28 billion deal with Libya's stateowned National Oil Corp. (NOC), under which Eni will double its gas export capacity in Libya from 8 Bcm to 16 Bcm/yr. Half of the $28 billion will come from Eni and half from NOC. The deal...

GDF-Suez merger details.(IN BRIEF)
November 1, 2007... French energy groups Gaz de France (GDF) and Suez said their merger would be completed as close as possible to the start of 2008 and targeted 10% Ebitda growth next year and [euro] 17 billion ($24 billion) Ebitda by 2010. Average capital...

South Pars standoff.(IN BRIEF)
November 1, 2007... Iran warned Western oil companies, led by Total and Royal Dutch Shell, that their South Pars gas and LNG deals were at risk if they did not finalize their agreements by June 2008. Total has been allocated Phase 12 of the giant South Pars...

Conoco quits fujairah project.(IN BRIEF)
November 1, 2007... ConocoPhillips has pulled out of negotiations with Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment Co. (Ipic) on building a 500,000 b/d refinery in the United Arab Emirate of Fujairah. Conoco, which signed a feasibility study heads of agreement...

Firm makes Argentine outlay.(IN BRIEF)
November 1, 2007... New Times, a little-known Hong Kong firm, in late October announced it had signed a conditional agreement to acquire a 30.6% stake and development rights to the Tartagal and Morillo blocks in Argentina's northwestern Salta province for...

Gazprom Neft JV plans.(IN BRIEF)
November 1, 2007... Gazprom Neft, the oil subsidiary of Russian state gas group Gazprom, has offered Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell and StatoilHydro the opportunity to set up a joint venture to explore and develop the offshore Lopukhovsky Block. Chevron and Gazprom...

Lukoil's Iraq hopes dashed.(IN BRIEF)
November 1, 2007... Iraq's Oil Ministry reiterated Nov. 5 that a $4 billion, Saddam Hussein-era deal with privately owned Russian producer Lukoil had been scrapped, adding it would not be revived. "Iraq has declared before that all the contracts made or...

Oryx train to start.(IN BRIEF)
November 1, 2007... South Africa's Sasol and state-owned Qatar Petroleum (QP) will boost production of the $1 billion Oryx gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant to 27,000 b/d by the end of the year, Qatari Energy Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah said at the Oil & Money...

EnCana expands in Texas.(IN BRIEF)
November 1, 2007... Canada's EnCana has bought Leor Energy's interests in the US' Deep Bossier tight gas play in East Texas, including Leor's 50% interest in the prolific Amoruso field, for about $2.55 billion. The acquisition covers approximately 215,000 net...

Oil shares beat broader market, but downstream questions linger.(EQUITY MARKETS)
November 1, 2007... Shares of leading international oil companies outpaced the broader market in October, backed by the spectacular ascent of crude oil prices to more than $94 per barrel throughout the month. However, the equity market's enthusiasm for the...

Foreign investment in India's refining sector to increase.(EMERGING MARKETS)
November 1, 2007... Foreign partners look set to invest $12 billion in two mothballed greenfield refinery projects on India's east coast. Indian-born steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal and France's Total are joining Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (HPCL) in its stalled...