International Petroleum Finance articles from October 2008

International Petroleum Finance archives from October 2008

Uncharted waters.
October 1, 2008... Banks went bust, were nationalized, partly nationalized, or sold off cheap; stock markets plummeted; government bailout plans came and went; and interest rates were cut across the globe. Yet--as of Oct. 9-there was still no real sign of a...

Credit crisis to prompt small-cap shakeout.
October 1, 2008... The ongoing financial crisis is hitting North America's small upstream companies particularly hard. Their reliance on credit and new rights issues to finance their aggressive drilling and acquisition programs has become a serious weakness as...

Fund liquidations hurt UK energy midcaps.
October 1, 2008... Over the past several years, many of the small and medium-sized companies listed on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) benefited from access to cash-rich investors, notably via the booming hedge fund sector. Oil and mining companies...

Russian majors seek state loans as markets crash.
October 1, 2008... As recently as June, Russia seemed mostly immune to the US-led credit crisis, but Moscow's bourses now rank among the world's worst performers. The benchmark RTS stock market index fell 19% on Oct. 6 as skittish investors, already unnerved by...

Angola uses Sonangol to diversify, invest overseas.
October 1, 2008... While oil producers from the Middle East to Norway and Russia are using sovereign wealth funds to invest their petrodollars overseas, Angola is using state oil company Sonangol to make strategic acquisitions in new business areas, most recently...

Sky-high fuel costs reshape world airline industry.
October 1, 2008... The price of jet fuel has quadrupled over the past five years. This harsh reality, combined with the credit crunch, is affecting many oil companies' aviation fuel strategies and reshaping the world's airline map. Although down from peak summer...

Abu Dhabi groups moving upstream and abroad.
October 1, 2008... The balance of power among Abu Dhabi's state-run oil investment companies continues to shift as several players jostle to deliver on their investment strategies. In the past year, the emirate's long-established downstream investor International...

Japan's utilities still struggling after quake.
October 1, 2008... The shutdown of seven of Japan's nuclear power reactors following a powerful earthquake in July 2007 has forced the country's biggest electricity generators to import more coal, LNG, crude and products--and to pay more for these energy imports....

Shell, Iraq sign gas deal.(IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... Royal Dutch Shell and Iraq signed a heads of agreement (HOA) in Baghdad Sep. 22 to set up a joint venture to gather, process and market associated natural gas from fields in southern Iraq. The deal was the first signed by a Western oil company...

Statoil probe faults Hydro.(IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... Two members of StatoilHydro's executive committee resigned Oct. 7 following the publication of a report on the Libyan operations of Norsk Hydro in 2000-01. Tore Torvund, head of Norway E&P, and Morten Ruud, vice president of Projects,...

TNK-BP moves on.(IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... TNK-BP, the 50-50 Russian joint venture between BP and Alfa and Access Renova (AAR), said it had fully resolved the venture's lengthy shareholders' dispute. "The shareholders informed the management of the company of the agreements reached...

EU fines paraffin cartel.(IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... The European Commission has fined nine companies a total of [euro]676 million ($946 million) for operating a European paraffin wax price-fixing cartel for 13 years. The fine must be paid within three months. The companies, which included...

Ecuador's Correa wins vote.(IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... Ecuador's President Rafael Correa gained a decisive mandate for his constitutional reforms in a referendum Sep. 28. Under the new constitution, the country's key industries--including oil and gas--will be state-controlled, although foreign...

Sinopec buys into Syria.(IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... China's state Sinopec agreed to buy Calgary-based Syria-focused independent Tanganyika Oil for US$2 billion. Sinopec's offer of C$31.50 (US$30.44) per share was a big premium to the C$17.50 at which Tanganyika's shares were trading before...

BP to sell Kazakh stakes.(IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... BP is to sell its three minority stakes in Kazakhstan. The UK supermajor will sell both of its interests in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), along with its small stake in the Chevron-led Tengizchevroil (TCO) joint venture that operates...

New mideast energy bank.(IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... Investors from the Mideast Gulf and Libya have set up First Energy Bank (FEB), a regional investment bank focused on the energy business. FEB, which is based in Bahrain and received its operating license in September, has initial paid-up...

Credit meltdown, hedge fund pullout, push energy stocks down.(EQUITY MARKETS)
October 1, 2008... September was one of the worst-performing months for energy stocks in recent history, as the credit crisis deepened and investors deserted the oil sector along with other stocks. Bank failures and fund sell-offs battered most US shares...

Reliance starts producing crude from Indian deepwater field.(EMERGING MARKETS)
October 1, 2008... India's biggest privately owned oil company, Reliance Industries (RI), last month created a little bit of Indian hydrocarbon history with initial flows of oil from the country's first deepwater field, known as MA, in the predominantly gas-rich...