International Petroleum Finance articles from September 2004

International Petroleum Finance archives from September 2004

Hands across the sea.
September 1, 2004... Oil industry trade exhibitions usually have their fair share of cheesy promotional gimmicks, and the Offshore Northern Seas gathering last month in Norway was no exception. Statoil's stand had a chef cooking food from countries where the...

Lund takes charge at Statoil.
September 1, 2004... After a period of unprecedented turmoil, Norway's Statoil will be hoping for more stable and fruitful times ahead following the arrival last month of new chief executive Helge Lund. Lund formally assumed his new role Aug. 16, becoming the...

Foreign cash key to tapping Mexican deep.
September 1, 2004... Pemex upstream chief Luis Ramirez Corzo attracted much public attention at the end of last month when he declared that an estimated 54 billion barrels of oil equivalent lie undiscovered in Mexican territory. That would more than double existing...

Moscow to examine Gazprom's grey areas.
September 1, 2004... Russia plans to investigate trading in Gazprom shares after a lawmaker accused Moscow-based investment bank United Financial Group (UFG) and other brokerages of allowing foreigners to illegally buy shares in the gas behemoth reserved for...

Conoco's Lukoil plans win Kremlin blessing.
September 1, 2004... Russia's forthcoming sale of the state's remaining 7.59% stake in Lukoil is set to be the biggest oil privatization in the history of the new Russia. But one feature that will not differ from the old times is that the winner will be arranged...

Market punishes US refiners as margins dip.
September 1, 2004... The second half of summer hasn't been kind to US independent refiners. Shares in the sector hit 52-week highs in mid-July, but have since been punished by investors. In August, shares in Premcor dropped 7%, Valero Energy and Sunoco stock fell...

Cairn rides Indian elephants into FTSE-100.
September 1, 2004... UK independent Cairn Energy has arguably been the success story of the year for the oil and gas industry. A series of exploration successes in India have transformed the Edinburgh-based company's profile and value, and have now catapulted the...

Syntroleum finds barge-size niche in GTL.
September 1, 2004... When exploration and production veteran Jack Holmes joined natural gas-to-liquids (GTL) technology developer Syntroleum two years ago as president and chief operating officer, the company was at the nadir of its fortunes. The stock price was in...

Decommissioning takes UK into uncharted waters.
September 1, 2004... There is a simple question exercising oil and gas companies as the deadline to scrap many of the giant rigs dotting the North Sea starts to loom--who's going to pay? There are around 260 production structures in the UK North Sea--plus many...

Small fish making big waves in Syria.
September 1, 2004... With estimated oil reserves of only 3.15 billion barrels, Syria remains in the shadows of its larger and more oil rich neighbors. But with larger companies deterred by the challenges of a mature oil province--or the prospect of US...

Saudis eye debt reduction.
September 1, 2004... Saudi Arabia will use the bulk of this year's expected budget surplus from high oil prices to pay down public debt, Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz said earlier this month. "The major part of the [budget] surplus will go towards paying...

Majors bid on Iraq study.
September 1, 2004... Despite its deteriorating security situation, Iraq has attracted a strong turnout for a contract to conduct reservoir and engineering studies at its largest two oil fields, Kirkuk and Rumaila, with 14 bids were submitted from companies in...

Lukoil, Aramco okay budget.
September 1, 2004... The board of Luksar Energy, the joint venture between Russia's Lukoil and Saudi Aramco, has approved the company's operating plan and budget for 2005. Under the plan, Luksar will carry out 2-D and 3-D seismic work on Area A in Saudi...

Libya opens bid round.
September 1, 2004... Libya's National Oil Corp. (NOC) has launched its much-anticipated Epsa-4 licensing round, offering 15 exploration areas rather than eight as indicated earlier this year. The licensing round is the first since 2000, and the first in 18...

EU to probe Portugal deal.
September 1, 2004... The European Commission has decided to open an inquiry into the proposed takeover of Gas de Portugal (GDP), the country's incumbent gas company, by Italy's Eni and state-owned Electricidade de Portugal (EDP). The probe has been spurred by...

TNK-BP secures $1-bil loan.
September 1, 2004... TNK-BP has surpassed expectations and raised a syndicated loan nearly double the initially expected size, securing credit of $1 billion. In doing so, TNK-BP overcame the departure of two banks from the loan consortium, the Netherlands' ING...

Kashagan rethink for BG.
September 1, 2004... As the deadlock continues over who has the legal right to buy BG's 16.67% interest in Kazakhstan's supergiant Kashagan field, the UK company is considering a new option to resolve the dispute--keeping the stake for itself. Kazakh industry...

Shell refinery U-turn.
September 1, 2004... Royal Dutch/Shell has agreed to keep its Bakersfield refinery in California open until Mar. 31, extending by six months the search for a buyer for the 70,000 b/d facility. The move temporarily blunts attacks from key state regulators and...

Another deal for Apache.
September 1, 2004... US independent Anadarko is more than halfway to reaching targeted asset sales of $2.5 billion after striking a $1.3 billion deal to transfer all of its assets in the shallow water US Gulf of Mexico to rival Apache. Apache is again teaming...

Brazil bid round boost.
September 1, 2004... Brazil has completed its sixth annual oil licensing round, garnering bids from a number of international companies in stark contrast to last year's auction, which was a flop. State-owned Petrohras, as expected, dominated the round, but there...

Exxon may lose Cepu.
September 1, 2004... Indonesia's state-owned Pertamina is hoping to find a new partner to help it develop Indonesia's Cepu Block once Exxon Mobil's service contract expires in 2010. But the state-owned company may begin talks with Exxon this month to continue...

China's new reserves rules.
September 1, 2004... China's Ministry of Land and Resources is moving ahead with implementation of a new set of national standards for oil and gas reserves. The ministry wants state firms China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), Sinopec and China National Offshore...

Stock market sell-off hits oil shares in August.(Equity Markets)
September 1, 2004... August was a cruel month for oil shares, marking the first time since April when investors ditched energy stocks in favor of other investments. The IPF Oil and Gas Index was down 0.9% in August versus a 0.2% rise in the S&P 500 Index. But while...

Eastern Europe's consolidators pause (briefly) for breath.(Emerging Markets)
September 1, 2004... After the recent flurry of privatizations and acquisitions, some of the major players in central and eastern Europe's oil sector are indicating that quieter times may be ahead, with companies focusing on realizing synergies and cost savings and...