Petroleum Intelligence Weekly articles from November 2007

Petroleum Intelligence Weekly archives from November 2007

Oil output debate reaches a watershed.
November 5, 2007... Limits on growth have rarely been the dominant theme in the 28-year history of Energy Intelligence's Oil & Money conference, but this year talk of peak--or, perhaps more accurately, plateau--oil shifted from the fringes to center stage. A...

IOCs come to terms with Libya's new deal.(international oil companies )
November 5, 2007... Libya's state National Oil Corp. (NOC) is renegotiating contracts with all of the country's current oil and gas producers with the aim of tightening fiscal terms to increase the government's take in line with higher oil prices. The goal is to...

Billionaire makes waves with bid for Tesoro.
November 5, 2007... In his unsolicited proposal for raising his stake in US refiner Tesoro to 20%, billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian asserts his belief in the refining sector's strong fundamentals and Tesoro's solid management and sound strategy. But the move by...

Mideast NOCs jostle for Asian deals.(national oil companies )
November 5, 2007... As the main regional driver of global oil demand growth, Asia is a crucial market for the Middle East's oil producing states and their national oil companies (NOC). To lock in crude sales to these key markets, Mideast NOCs have been building...

New ways in for energy-hungry investors.
November 5, 2007... Investors wanting exposure to oil prices have traditionally bought shares in an oil company--preferably one with a healthy, unhedged volume of crude production and no interest in distractions such as refineries and LNG plants. Today, that's...

Statoil fits the bill for Shtokman.
November 5, 2007... StatoilHydro beat out several other interested parties, notably ConocoPhillips, to join France's Total and become the second foreign partner in the first phase of Gazprom's huge Shtokman gas development in the Russian sector of the Barents Sea....

Alberta softens tax plans, Alaska plows on.
November 5, 2007... Alberta is nothing like Venezuela--it might sound like stating the obvious, but some oil companies have recently started having their doubts. After watching governments in Caracas, Moscow and elsewhere grab a bigger slice of their country's...

Corporate.(GENERAL)
November 5, 2007... CORPORATE -- A chronic shortfall in funding among oil and gas companies listed on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) could herald a new wave of consolidation, financial services group Ernst & Young has warned. A report said that fully...

Angola.(COUNTRIES)
November 5, 2007... ANGOLA--State-owned Sonangol drew a big crowd to last week's licensing round roadshow in London, even though its style has been cramped by disappointments on nearby acreage and Exxon Mobil's plans to exit ultra-deep Block 33. Sonangol is...

Argentina.(COUNTRIES)(Brief article)
November 5, 2007... ARGENTINA--In another sign of the broad range of investors now interested in oil and gas assets, a little-known Hong Kong firm has unveiled plans to acquire interests in two concessions in the country's northern Salta province for some $1.29...

Brazil.(COUNTRIES)
November 5, 2007... BRAZIL -- A record 72 companies have stated their interest in the country's ninth upstream bidding round, even though most analysts expect state-controlled Petrobras to maintain its dominance in the sector. Those interested in the round,...

China.(COUNTRIES)(Brief article)
November 5, 2007... CHINA -- With fuel shortages reemerging in some cities, Beijing has raised retail prices for gasoline, gas oil and jet kerosene by 500 yuan/ton ($66/ton) starting Nov. 1. This 10% hike is the first since May 2006 and was introduced to narrow...

India.(COUNTRIES)
November 5, 2007... INDIA -- While seeking out upstream opportunities overseas, state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) is also working hard to maintain output at home, with plans to spend a further $2.4 billion redeveloping its aging Mumbai High field in a...

Iraq.(COUNTRIES)(Brief article)
November 5, 2007... IRAQ -- The slow recovery of the country's oil sector is continuing, with crude exports expected to reach 1.85 million b/d this month as Baghdad sees income from oil sales increasing to an estimated $4.4 billion--a record both in volume and...

Japan.(COUNTRIES)(Brief article)
November 5, 2007... JAPAN -- Crude imports in September fell 13% to 3.56 million b/d compared with the same month last year. Imports from the top two suppliers, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, fell more than 10% to 1.01 million b/d and 1 million b/d, respectively. Other...

Kuwait.(COUNTRIES)(Brief article)
November 5, 2007... KUWAIT -- Bader al-Humaidhi has been named as the new oil minister--the third in less than two years--tasked with injecting life into the country's sputtering oil industry. Al-Humaidhi takes over more than four months after the previous...

Russia.(COUNTRIES)(Brief article)
November 5, 2007... RUSSIA -- Russneft appears to be in the middle of another power struggle in Moscow, leaving the fate of the 280,000 b/d independent producer in the balance. Aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska has already paid $3 billion for control of Russneft to...

Russia.(COUNTRIES)
November 5, 2007... RUSSIA -- TNK-BP remains defiantly optimistic about its growth prospects in Russia, even after the loss of the massive Kovykta gas field to Gazprom earlier this year, but has also stepped up its search for opportunities overseas (PIW Jul.2,p1)....

Sudan.(COUNTRIES)(Brief article)
November 5, 2007... SUDAN -- The country's top oil producer, Chinese-led Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Co. (GNPOC), is still battling to maintain production at around 250,000 b/d, down since output peaked over three years ago at close to 300,000 b/d (PIW...

UAE.(COUNTRIES)
November 5, 2007... UAE -- ConocoPhillips has pulled out of negotiations with Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment Co. (Ipic) on building a 500,000 b/d refinery in Fujairah--hardly a huge surprise, given the concerns the US major has recently raised...

Western Sahara.(COUNTRIES)(Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic )(Brief article)
November 5, 2007... WESTERN SAHARA -- Explorers with a taste for politically risky terrain may soon have some new opportunities to consider, with the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) government of Western Sahara set to offer nine exploration blocks in...

Global supply rebounds in October.(production data)
November 5, 2007... Global oil supply rebounded sharply in October from September output levels that had been affected by maintenance in the former Soviet Union and the North Sea and bad weather in the US Gulf of Mexico (PIW Oct.8,p7). Supply rose to 86.7 million...

A Small Step.(Marketview)
November 5, 2007... LONDON -- The New York Mercantile Exchange was well on its way to $100 oil last week, and, rightly so, the market was making a big deal about crude hitting this benchmark, since its symbolic value cannot be understated. But many analysts now...

PIW market indicators.(Petroleum Intelligence Weekly )(Statistical table)
November 5, 2007... 1 Week 2 Weeks 4 Weeks Spot Crude Ago Ago Ago Opec Basket $85.67 $81.67 $75.92 UK Brent (Dtd.) 89.61 84.37 78.87 UK...

Global demand holds up as $100 oil beckons.
November 12, 2007... With oil prices rapidly approaching $100 per barrel, all eyes are on how demand is holding up at such extraordinarily high levels. Conventional wisdom throughout the price rise of the past four years has been that oil prices beyond $60/bbl...

Shanghai frenzy sees PetroChina dethrone Exxon.
November 12, 2007... The date Nov. 5, 2007, may or may not mark a key milestone in China's challenge to the US as the world's leading economic power, but it is the date on which state-owned PetroChina replaced Exxon Mobil--on paper, at least--as the world's largest...

Political row threatens Kuwait contract talks.
November 12, 2007... Kuwait's oil sector has been shaken by the resignation of new Oil Minister Bader al-Humaidhi--just one week after his appointment as the third incumbent in the post in less than two years--following protests from the country's parliament....

Gas the new challenge for Brazil's planners.
November 12, 2007... Brazil's management of its oil sector has been one of Latin America's great economic success stories. Burned badly by the oil price shocks of the 1970s, the country has now achieved selfsufficiency in oil, thanks largely to the work of...

Peak oil? Peak gas may not be far behind.
November 12, 2007... Is the global natural gas pipeline half full or half empty? In other words, is the world's natural gas production headed for a peak along the lines of that expected for oil? Whatever happens, and whenever it happens, industry executives,...

Big oil profits set for fourth-quarter rebound.
November 12, 2007... Assuming they meet analysts' expectations, Exxon Mobil's fourth-quarter earnings could be the company's second-largest quarterly profits ever. And while the US supermajor's rivals are not on quite the same near record-breaking trajectory, the...

Economics pose threat to Mideast refining plans.
November 12, 2007... Rising costs and uncertainty about future profitability are threatening a host of Mideast refining projects scheduled to come on line between 2010 and 2012. Demand projections show that the world will be desperate for certain refined products...

Petrobras' Gabrielli tours the global oil horizon.(Interview)
November 12, 2007... Jose Sergio Gabrielli de Azevedo, chief executive of Brazilian oil and gas giant Petrobras, gave a keynote speech at this year's Oil & Money conference. While in London, he sat down with PIW for a wide-ranging interview on industry trends, his...

Formula prices.(GENERAL)(Statistical data)
November 12, 2007... FORMULA PRICES -- Saudi Arabia's formula price discounts for December crude going to the US have dropped to record lows, following market trends for sours in the US Gulf of Mexico (PIW Oct.29,p10). State Saudi Aramco has also lowered term...

Futures.(GENERAL)
November 12, 2007... FUTURES -- Trading of the new Oman crude futures contract on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) hit new records in October, reportedly reflecting greater Asian participation (PIW Oct.8,p1). Oman futures traded a total of 39,885 contracts...

Indonesia.(COUNTRIES)(BP Indonesia)(Brief article)
November 12, 2007... INDONESIA -- BP is considering adding a third LNG train to its Tangguh LNG project, with one company executive going as far as to suggest up to eight trains could be built at the Papuan site. The first two confirmed Tangguh trains will produce...

Iraq.(COUNTRIES)( Kurdistan Regional Government )(Brief article)
November 12, 2007... IRAQ -- Tensions between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Baghdad look set to increase further following the KRG's award of seven new production sharing contracts (PSC) and its renewal of five existing contracts. The new deals lift...

Kazakhstan.(COUNTRIES)(Brief article)
November 12, 2007... KAZAKHSTAN -- The Eni-led consortium developing the giant Kashagan oil field has been given a new Nov. 30 deadline for finalizing an agreement with the government on how to resolve the dispute over the project. An understanding between the...

Nigeria.(COUNTRIES)
November 12, 2007... NIGERIA -- The government plans to borrow up to $4.3 billion from domestic banks to cover its budget and Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC) arrears on joint ventures with international oil companies, Minister of State for Oil Odein...

Russia.(COUNTRIES)
November 12, 2007... RUSSIA -- Crude exports to destinations outside the former Soviet Union via the Transneft pipeline system fell to 3.876 million b/d in October from 4.037 million b/d in September, as a new record-high export tax cut into export netbacks and...

Russia.(COUNTRIES)
November 12, 2007... RUSSIA -- Gazprom's drive to build up its presence in its key European Union market gathered pace last week when it took a stake in a gas pipeline from the Netherlands to the UK as part of a swap deal allowing Dutch state gas grid operator...

Saudi Arabia.(COUNTRIES)
November 12, 2007... SAUDI ARABIA -- Some 25% of the equity in the west coast Petro-Rabigh refinery expansion will be offered to investors in an initial public offering now scheduled for Jan. 5-12--the first time a state Saudi Aramco project has been open to public...

Vietnam.(COUNTRIES)(Brief article)
November 12, 2007... VIETNAM -- After years on the back burner, Hanoi's bid to build a downstream industry is gathering pace, with three statebacked refineries now in development. Petrovietnam is seeking final government approval for the southern 160,000 b/d Long...

Weak US refining dents third-quarter performance.
November 12, 2007... The leading majors' downstream profits tumbled in the third quarter, ending what was beginning to look like an endless streak of rising quarterly earnings. Refining and marketing earnings for the five integrated oil companies tracked by PIW...

Dizzy distillates.(Marketview)
November 12, 2007... LONDON--European middle distillates markets are under siege, with an Oct. 31 explosion at the UK's Coryton refinery adding fuel to an already sizable fire. "Coryton took off a very small amount of production," one trader observed. "But the...

IEA paints grim picture of energy challenges.(Marketview)(International Energy Agency)(Brief article)
November 12, 2007... The International Energy Agency (IEA) has released what is probably its grimmest ever World Energy Outlook report, arguing that if governments don't change their policies, oil and gas imports, coal use and greenhouse gas emissions are set to...