International Petroleum Finance articles from September 2002

International Petroleum Finance archives from September 2002

A broader responsibility.(corporate ethics)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... You hear a lot about corporate governance these days. In the post-Enron, post-WorldCom effort to regain investor trust, executives, politicians, regulators, bankers, and analysts are keen to talk about it, although it can mean different things...

Grooming the next generation of super CEOs.(oil industry)
September 1, 2002... Who replaces Lee Raymond, John Browne, and Phil Watts at the top of Exxon Mobil, BP, and Royal Dutch/Shell, respectively, in the coming years will likely provide clues to where the supermajors believe they need the most improvement. While...

Tilton is latest vice chairman to exit oil industry.(Glenn Tilton)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2002... No wonder the position of vice chairman at the newly merged oil giants is compared to the vice presidency in the US executive branch. While high in title, the position clearly offers little power, as industry executives are bolting from the...

Number of upstream deals soars, but values plummet.(oil industry acquisitions)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2002... The number of worldwide upstream mergers and acquisitions--as well as reserve values--rebounded in the second quarter from first quarter levels, however the total value of deals dipped because of a waning number of expensive corporate...

Schlumberger looks past the oil patch for IT customers.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2002... Schlumberger--already well known in the oil industry--is beginning to make a name for itself in the information technology business. New York-based Schlumberger, which was founded in 1924 as an oil services firm, has over the past 20 years...

Multi-billion dollar feeding frenzy leaves Shell bloated.(Royal Dutch/Shell)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2002... Over the past 18 months, Royal Dutch/Shell has been on a spending spree, snapping up a mix of upstream and downstream assets in North America, Europe, and New Zealand, shaking off the wallflower tag that dogged it during Big Oil's years of...

Analysts say expensing options no big deal for big oil.(stock options)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Calpine became the first major US independent power producer in late August to elect to expense the cost of its stock option grants, but analysts say the financial impact of this change on future earnings at Calpine--and at other energy...

State privitizations: the rebound rattles Europe.(energy industry)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2002... Has the ideology that launched the privatization of energy companies and utilities in the UK in the 1980s finally conquered all in Europe? A last bastion of state control does appear to be wavering, with the new French government announcing...

Flooded asset market is a small refiners' dream.(petroleum industry)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2002... With a bunch of US refining assets still up for grabs, independent downstream outfits are mulling their options for acquisitions, buoyed by the cheaper price tag for refineries, but also cautioned by poor industry fundamentals so far in 2002....

Merger of equals makes debut with ConocoPhillips.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2002... ConocoPhiilips is officially off and running after the two companies received conditional approval from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for their $15.3 billion merger late last month. The merger, which was agreed on last November, creates...

BP learns hard way about doing business in China.(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2002... As BP discovered last month in unexpectedly losing out to Australia for an estimated $13 billion deal to export Indonesian liquefied natural gas to coastal China, doing business in China can be like entering a giant maze. While there is no...

Saudi gas deal stalled.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2002... The ministerial committee overseeing the $20 billion natural gas opening in Saudi Arabia is in no hurry to respond to final proposals made by Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch/Shell, leaders of the three consortia, as cooling relations with the US...

Petroplus mauling.(petroleum)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2002... Europe's biggest independent refiner, the Netherlands' Petroplus, got a mauling from the worst refining margins in 15 years and posted a second successive quarterly loss, of $7.7 million. This was slightly smaller than in the previous quarter...

North sea savings.(petroleum)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2002... Closer cooperation between the UK and Norwegian governments could save the region's operators $2 billion by 2010, according to a report presented by UK Energy Minister Brian Wilson and his Norwegian counterpart Einar Steensnaes at the 15th...

Total's Argentine losses.(Total Fina Elf)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2002... Total Fina Elf is seeking compensation from Argentina for losses suffered since January, when the government broke the terms of some concession contracts, which added to the French firm's $1.3 billion outstanding debt in Argentina. Total wrote...

Enron's rat.(Michael Kopper)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2002... The guilty plea of Michael Kopper, described as the chief lieutenant to former Enron Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow, to federal charges of fraud and money laundering is expected to fire investigators to bring in more mid-level Enron...

Sinopec profits rebound.(China Petrochemical Corp.)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2002... China's second-ranking oil company, China Petrochemical Corp. (Sinopec), bounced back from an appalling first quarter to post first-half profits of $653 million, although this was still 45% down on last year at halftime. Higher oil and chemical...

ONGC eyes assets.(Oil and Natural Gas Corporation)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2002... Already on an overseas spending binge, India' Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is looking to buy UK independent Cairn Energy's assets in the subcontinent. Cairn's upstream interests in India are concentrated in the Ravva and...

New PSAs in Russia.(production sharing agreements)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2002... Moscow is hatching plans to tighten its grip on production sharing agreements (PSAs) and has mandated state Rosneft to start working on amendments to PSA legislation that would give the state an increased role in such projects--and likely...

Enron's clearance sale.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2002... Enron is about to embark on a massive asset sale in what amounts essentially to a liquidation. Up for sale are partial interests or full ownership in Portland General, an electric utility in Oregon; Sithe cogeneration plant in New York; a...

Mexico's energy reform.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2002... President Vicente Fox has taken a harder line on energy reform, circulating to members of Congress a set of draft bills that call not only for the greater involvement of private investors in the electricity sector, but also for the granting of...

Petrobras profits off 35%.(Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2002... while the second-quarter earnings of state Petrobras fell 35% from a year earlier, to $680 million, largely on currency devaluation, they were some 135% better than the feeble first-quarter 2002 performance of $290 million, thanks to...

Joining the list of disappointed Venezuelan oil field investors, Japanese partners Nippon Mitsubishi and Japan National Oil Corp. (On The Move).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2002... Joining the list of disappointed Venezuelan oil field investors, Japanese partners Nippon Mitsubishi and Japan National Oil Corp. sold a joint 20% stake in the La Ceiba field in a complex deal. Petro-Canada bought most of the international...

Exxon Mobil. (On The Move).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2002... Exxon Mobil is acquiring 25% of both the Proteus Oil Pipeline Co. and the Endymion Pipeline Co., which will lay the pipeline to carry oil from the Thunder Horse field in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico to onshore storage and distribution...

Financially troubled US energy merchants continue to sell assets to pay down debt and improve liquidity. (On The Move).(Aquila; Energy Transfer)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2002... Financially troubled US energy merchants continue to sell assets to pay down debt and improve liquidity. Aquila is selling its Southeast Texas and Midcontinent gas pipeline systems and related plants and its 50% stake in Oasis Pipe Line to...

Top oil shares stabilize in August with broader market. (Equity Markets).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2002... Shares of top worldwide oil and gas companies steadied with the broader market in August, after many suffered double-digit percentage losses in a market meltdown in July. The IPF Oil and Gas Index, which is comprised of 15 of the top worldwide...

Russia's majors target assets further west. (Emerging Markets).(petroleum)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2002... Flush with cash and eager to expand their downstream reach, Russia's leading oil players are training their sights on Central and Eastern Europe, where several state-owned oil companies' are up for full or partial privatization. The Russians...