International Petroleum Finance articles from October 2006

International Petroleum Finance archives from October 2006

OECD joins the party.
October 1, 2006... The past month has seen another swath of headlines about resource nationalism, with pressure mounting on a number of foreign investors in certain flagship projects--Royal Dutch Shell has been feeling the heat in Russia, Japan's Inpex has been...

Echoes of Yukos in Sakhalin-2 row.
October 1, 2006... Moscow's decision to revoke the environmental permit for the Royal Dutch Shell-led Sakhalin-2 development on the Pacific shelf has triggered a huge international backlash. Set alongside attacks on other Western-led projects, it has damaged...

Gazprom goes it alone on Shtokman.
October 1, 2006... In another blow for potential foreign investors in Russia's oil and gas sector, state-owned gas giant Gazprom has dropped plans to develop the giant Shtokman natural gas field in the Barents Sea as a LNG project. Instead, the gas will be piped...

Australians choke on Chinguetti medicine.
October 1, 2006... At the start of 2006, Woodside Petroleum and Hardman Resources were the toast of the Australian oil scene, a partnership about to turn the taps on Mauritania's first producing oil field, Woodside's first operated producing project and Hardman's...

Obstacles litter route of Alaska gas line.
October 1, 2006... With only two months remaining in his term, the future of Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski's proposal for a stranded gas contract with the state's three big oil companies remains very much in doubt. Murkowski, a Republican, has all but...

Conoco, EnCana strike oil sands, refining deal.
October 1, 2006... ConocoPhillips and EnCana have struck an innovative and far-reaching deal to process heavy crude from Canada's oil sands region at two US refineries. Under the agreement, announced at the start of this month, the companies will create two...

Gulf exporters stick with the dollar.
October 1, 2006... Talk that Opec oil producers are pulling money out of the US or abandoning the dollar crops up regularly. It was rife after the Sep. 11, 2001, attacks on the US five years ago amid concerns about the safety of Mideast investments in the US. It...

Soemarno describes Pertamina's learning curve.(Interview)
October 1, 2006... As its oil production has peaked, Indonesia has high hopes of turning the decline around by getting the government out of the business and giving Pertamina, the national oil and gas company, a freer hand both upstream and downstream. Reforms...

Project execution key strength for Exxon.
October 1, 2006... Exxon Mobil has an obviously successful record in finding oil and gas, but according to Exxon Development President Mark Albers, the key area where it believes it ranks above the competition is project execution, the ability to convert is...

Firms spend more, find less.
October 1, 2006... Oil and gas companies continue to spend more on upstream projects, but for the most part those additional dollars are not translating into significant oil reserve growth. A study by energy research firms John S. Herold and Harrison...

Azadegan blow for Inpex.
October 1, 2006... Japan's Inpex will now be granted only a nominal stake in Iran's giant Azadegan oil field following the failure of last-minute talks earlier this month, Iranian Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh has confirmed. Several deadlines to conclude...

Hydro plans Iran drilling.
October 1, 2006... In the wake of its major discovery at the Anaran Block, Norway's Norsk Hydro has signed a $50 million deal to explore for oil in the 7,400 km onshore Khorramabad Block in the Lurestan province, located in southwest Iran. Hydro, which won a...

Brass LNG accord signed.
October 1, 2006... Brass LNG's four shareholders have signed an agreement to build a 10 million ton/yr gas liquefaction plant near the Brass terminal on the Nigerian coast, 100 km west of Bonny Island. Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC) has a 49% stake...

Statoil cuts targets.
October 1, 2006... Norway's Statoil has cut its production targets for 2006 and 2007 by 3% due to project delays. "Complex technical challenges in projects with demanding reservoirs lead to postponements which have a negative effect on production estimates," the...

Eni ups Norway stakes.
October 1, 2006... Italy's Eni has boosted its shareholding in two deepwater exploration blocks off Norway through separate deals with Total and Exxon Mobil. The aim of the deals is to focus on exploring around nearby producing fields in the hope of making...

Firms fined for price fixing.
October 1, 2006... BP, Kuwait Petroleum Corp. (KPC), Royal Dutch Shell, Total and Germany's Wintershall are among 14 firms fined a total of 266.7 million [euro] ($339 million) by the European Commission for operating a road bitumen cartel. In a four-year...

Lukoil delays refining move.
October 1, 2006... Russia's Lukoil has postponed its planned acquisition of refining assets in Eastern Europe and is no longer considering a refinery in the US, opting instead to focus on expanding and upgrading its refineries in Russia. Lukoil Vice...

Anadarko exits Canada.
October 1, 2006... US independent Anadarko Petroleum, seeking to trim its upstream portfolio and reduce debt after two big acquisitions, has sold its Canadian assets to Canadian Natural Resources for $4.2 billion. Anadarko has also put two deepwater Gulf of...

Irving mulls new refinery.
October 1, 2006... Canada's Irving Oil is exploring the possibility of building a second refinery in Saint John, New Brunswick, at a cost of C$5 billion-$7 billion ($4.4 billion-$6.2 billion). If the project is completed before any others, it would be the...

Nabors sets up E&P firm.
October 1, 2006... US-based drilling contractor Nabors has teamed up with a private equity firm to create NFR Energy, an onshore-focused exploration and production (E&P) company. Nabors is partnering with First Reserve to form a fairly sizeable E&P firm. The...

Korea to start oil fund.
October 1, 2006... In a bid to spur overseas oil investments, South Korea's government plans to launch a fund in November for financing overseas oil projects and acquisitions. The fund would have an initial funding of 200 billion won ($208 million). The...

Oil equities fall for second month in a row in September.(EQUITY MARKETS)
October 1, 2006... Oil equities moved lower for the second month in a row in September, with several companies giving back much of the ground gained earlier in 2006. After sliding 3.2% in August, the IPF Index dipped another 3.3% in September, knocking the...

Argentina feels the force of slump in energy investment.(EMERGING MARKETS)
October 1, 2006... For a third consecutive year experts are predicting a major energy crisis in Argentina, but it has yet to come. The government is publicly denying the seriousness of the situation, but energy experts and private-sector representatives say a...