FSU Energy articles from April 2003

FSU Energy archives from April 2003

YukosSibneft joins the big league: the merger between Yukos and Sibneft will create an oil firm to rival the global majors in scale, if not in reach.
April 25, 2003... This week's news that Yukos and Sibneft are to merge cements the former's position as Russia's dominant oil firm. In effect, Yukos is to take over Sibneft to create what will be the world's biggest privately owned oil company in terms of...

Narrowing the field: the creation of YukosSibneft will raise the price of admission for western firms hoping to enter Russia. (Editorial).
April 25, 2003... The presentation pulled together by Yukos and Sibneft for their merger announcement this week was entitled "Creating a New International Energy Major". Bold words indeed, but then this deal is a story of superlatives. YukosSibneft will...

China relents on Kovykta gas volumes. (News).
April 25, 2003... The BP-led Rusia Petroleum joint venture, operator of the 1.9 trillion [m.sup.3] Kovykta gas field in eastern Siberia, has agreed with China and South Korea on future gas supplies and pricing. The parties have agreed on exports from...

Japan lobbies for Nakhodka. (News).
April 25, 2003... Tokyo is making a last-ditch effort to persuade Russia to build a crude pipeline from eastern Siberia to the far east port of Nakhodka for exports to Japan. With a long-delayed decision now expected next month, Tokyo is alarmed by Moscow's...

Rosneft extends Sakhalin presence. (News).
April 25, 2003... Rosneft has received exploration licences for two more blocks off Sakhalin island in Russia's far east. The state-owned firm says the natural resources ministry has awarded it a licence for the Veninsky block in the eastern part of the...

PSA chapter delayed again. (News).( production-sharing agreement )(Brief Article)
April 25, 2003... The Duma has postponed the long-awaited second hearing for the production-sharing agreement (PSA) chapter of the second part of Russia's tax code until 14 May, at the request of the government. Deputies were due to vote on amendments to the...

Government plans Zarubezhneft sale. (News).(Brief Article)
April 25, 2003... The Russian government is planning to privatise overseas oil projects firm Zarubezhneft. Observers attribute the government's unexpected move, which is expected to attract bids from Russia's leading oil firms, to lobbying from unnamed oil...

Turkey admits Baku-Ceyhan delays. (News: Caspian).
April 25, 2003... Turkish foreign minister Abdullah Gul has admitted that construction of the Turkish section of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) crude pipeline has been stalled by delays over the expropriation of land for the $2.95bn pipeline. And the minister...

China to buy stake in Azeri fields. (News: Caspian).
April 25, 2003... Chinese state-owned oil company CNPC has finalised a deal to buy a 49.6pc stake in Azerbaijan's Southwest Gobustan onshore oil and natural gas project. The price has not been officially revealed but industry sources put it at around $10mn....

BP starts drilling on Shakh-Deniz. (News: Caspian).(Brief Article)
April 25, 2003... The BP-led consortium developing the Shakh-Deniz offshore gas-condensate field in Azerbaijan has started work on the first of three pre-production wells. The well is being drilled from the Istiglal semi-submersible rig. The work is due to...

Primorsk expansion will shift trade flows. (Exports and trade).
April 25, 2003... Plans to expand capacity at Russia's Baltic terminal of Primorsk have the potential to dramatically alter crude oil trade flows. Crude pipeline operator Transneft wants to increase capacity of the Baltic Pipeline System (BPS) feeding...

Urals gets noticed in the Americas. (Exports and trade).
April 25, 2003... The halt in Iraqi crude exports has boosted the profile of Urals in the US. Urals has started to replace the 600,000 b/d of Iraqi oil that US refiners were taking in the first quarter. And Iraq may have trouble reclaiming its position, given...

US reiterates Murmansk interest. (Exports and trade).
April 25, 2003... A US energy official has reiterated Washington's interest in the Murmansk crude pipeline project. "The project will strengthen bilateral relations and strategic partnership," US energy attache in Moscow, Geoffrey Lyon, told a conference...

Anglo-Siberian `accepts' Rosneft. (Russia & CIS).(Brief Article)
April 25, 2003... The board of independent producer Anglo-Siberian has advised its shareholders to accept Rosneft's takeover bid. Rosneft has offered $73mn for UK-registered Anglo-Siberian, which owns 59pc of Yeniseineft, licenceholder of the 1bn bl Vankor oil...

Marathon to buy west Siberian producer. (Russia & CIS).(Brief Article)
April 25, 2003... US independent firm Marathon is to acquire the Shell-led Khanty-Mansiysk Oil Corporation (KMOC), which operates nine oil fields in western Siberia with combined reserves of 289mn bl. Marathon announced this week that it had reached an...

Ukraine joins Gazprom in pipeline. (Russia & CIS).
April 25, 2003... Ukraine's state-owned oil and gas firm Naftohaz hopes to help Russia's Gazprom build a new 30bn-40bn [m.sup.3]yr gas pipeline along the Caspian Sea coast to boost imports from Turkmenistan. "We want to build 780km of the 1,080km line," says...

Russia strives to up seaborne exports in May.
April 25, 2003... Novorossiysk's May export programme schedules exports of 896,000 b/d (see below), lower than planned volumes for April and 44,000 b/d down on actual exports in the same period last year. Shipments will be restricted by pipeline...

Storm delays Makhachkala shipment. (Russia & CIS).(Brief Article)
April 25, 2003... Storms have delayed shipment of the first gasoline cargo from Russia's Caspian port of Makhachkala to Iran's Neka. The 5,000t cargo was due to load on 11 April but did not sail until this week. The cargo was part of a 10,000t consignment of...

Lukoil and Kazakhstan start talks. (Caspian/central Asia).(Brief Article)
April 25, 2003... Lukoil and Kazakh state-owned oil and gas holding company Kazmunaigaz are to start commercial negotiations on joint development of the Khvalynskoye field in the Caspian Sea, in line with an agreement signed last week. The firms will set up a...

Turkmen refinery upgrade starts. (Caspian/central Asia).(Brief Article)
April 25, 2003... Irish contractor Emerald Oil has begun a $50mn upgrade of a delayed coking unit and diesel fuel hydrotreatment unit at Turkmenistan's Turkmenbashi refinery. "One of our objectives is to start production of low-sulphur diesel before 2005,"...

Azerbaijan product output rises. (Caspian/central Asia).(Brief Article)
April 25, 2003... Socar's Azneftyag and Azbeftyanajag refineries in Baku produced 478,000t of petroleum products in March, compared with 469,000t a month earlier. The plants resumed production of lubricants, suspended in February because of a lack of storage...

New Turkmen field. (Caspian/central Asia).(Brief Article)
April 25, 2003... State-owned Turkmenneft has discovered oil and gas reserves from its first exploration well at the Shatut structure in western Turkmenistan. Daily flow from the 1,500m deep well is 250t of crude (1,825 bl) and 400,000[m.sup.3] of gas....

Looking ahead.(Calendar)
April 25, 2003... * Gar. of Russia 2003. Moscow. 28-29 April. Oil & Gas Vertical Tel: (7095) 149 7245 * OGU. 6-8 May. Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Tel: (44 20) 7596 5081 * 2nd International Pipeline Forum. Moscow. 27-28 May. Oil & Gas Vertical. Tel: (7095)...

Lithuanian output falls. (Baltics).(Brief Article)
April 25, 2003... Lithuania produced 103,000t (8,350 b/d) of crude in the first quarter of 2003, down by 12pc on the same period last year. Lithuanian officials ascribe the decline to increased water content at all of the country's fields. Lithuanian crude is...

YukosSibneft prompts record gains. (Stock markets).(Russian Trading System)
April 25, 2003... The Russian Trading System (RTS) made impressive gains, driven by the news that Yukos and Sibneft are to merge (see p1). The index reached a high of 430.2 points on 22 April before edging back down again to end the week at 429.4 points....

A match made in Siberia. (YukosSibneft).
April 25, 2003... The planned merger of Yukos and Sibneft announced this week (see p1) will unite two of Russia's fastest-growing and most forward-looking firms. The two have led the way in boosting crude output in recent years, mining in respective...

Fuel oil arbitrages open. (Products market).
April 25, 2003... * A gradual reduction in freight rates for large tankers has helped open fuel oil arbitrages to both Asia-Pacific and the US from Baltic ports. This helped keep prices stable for both cracked and straight-run grades, preventing oversupply in...

Bumper volumes pressure Urals. (Crude market).
April 25, 2003... * Benchmark dated BFO remained below $25/b1 despite expectations that Opec's 24 April Vienna meeting will lead to a production cut. Opec is expected to keep quotas static but increase compliance. Urals held steady in the Mediterranean but...

Russian refinery output.(Illustration)
April 25, 2003... Russian refinery output, March 2003 `000t Crude Crude throughput Company/refinery throughput Mar Mar `000 b/d % chg Feb Total for Russia ...

Netbacks.(Illustration)
April 25, 2003... [GRAPHICS OMITTED] Russian crude netbacks Ventspils Primorsk Butinge Urals (cif-fit) ($/bl) 22.20 22.20 22.20 Urals (cif-fit) ($/t) 162.06 162.06...

Green light for Murmansk: the government has agreed to construction of the far north route. Even the project's backers are surprised.
April 18, 2003... Moscow has unexpectedly given the go-ahead for the Murmansk pipeline project, with a view to future VLCC exports to the US. It also appears to have relaxed earlier demands for full state ownership of the route. Prime minister Mikhail...

Take your partners: Moscow is buzzing with rumours of new strategic partnerships. Some may be wishful thinking. (Editorial).
April 18, 2003... Ever since BP and the owners of Tyumen Oil (TNK) announced their landmark strategic partnership in February, observers have been trying to will new tie-ups between western majors and Russian firms into life. The latest match made in...

TNK's Ukraine plans surprise BP. (News).
April 18, 2003... Russia's Tyumen Oil (TNK) has started restructuring its interest in Ukraine's second-largest refinery, the 320,000 b/d Lisichansk plant. This share has been earmarked for inclusion in the TNK-BP joint venture, but BP says it has not been...

Nakhodka line hits bottleneck. (News).
April 18, 2003... Russia appears to be prioritising the Yukos-backed 600,000 b/d Angarsk-Daqing pipeline to China, following a long period of ambivalence about far east export options. But it is expected to continue talking to Japan about a rival pipeline...

BTC storm blows up in Turkey. (News: Caspian).(Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline)
April 18, 2003... The BP-led consortium building the 1mn b/d Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline has complained to the Turkish government about the slow pace of work on the Turkish section of the line. BTC director-general Mike Townshend has written to...

Anadarko sees potential in Georgia. (News: Caspian).(Brief Article)
April 18, 2003... US independent Anadarko has identified "four very large structures with very high potential but very high risk" in Georgia's sector of the Black Sea after evaluation of seismic data. The firm's vice-president of exploration and production,...

Atlantic Caspian's shares suspended. (News: Caspian).(from London's Alternative Investment Market)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2003... Shares in UK firm Atlantic Caspian remain suspended from London's Alternative Investment Market (Aim) after the resignation of its nominated adviser. Trading halted on 8 April after the resignation of finance adviser Corporate Synergy. Firms...

`Kazakhgate' net spreads. (News: Caspian).
April 18, 2003... The investigation into bribery allegations connected with Mobil's 1996 purchase of a stake in Kazakhstan's Tengizchevroil (TCO) project has spread to include ExxonMobil. "We apparently are a subject of the investigation," says an...

Gazprom coughs up for Turkmen gas. (News: Caspian).
April 18, 2003... Gazprom has signed a long-term agreement to buy gas from Turkmenistan, following several years of negotiations. The deal, between Gazprom export arm Gazexport and Turkmen state-owned Turkmenneftegaz, envisages deliveries starting at...

Ukraine hikes crude exports. (Exports and trade).
April 18, 2003... Ukraine's first-quarter crude exports leapt by 272pc on the year to 35,000 b/d, according to official statistics. Most of this is re-exported Russian and Kazakh crude, originally scheduled to go to the country's refineries. Only a tiny...

Platts changes impede product trade. (Exports and trade).
April 18, 2003... Methodology changes introduced on 1 April by price reporting agency Platts are hampering spot product trade and making it more difficult for sellers of FSU products to hedge their positions. The switch to a market-on-close assessment...

TotalFinaEIf fights for Vankor. (News: Russia).
April 18, 2003... TotalFinaElf will defend its deal to buy 52pc in Yeniseineft, licenceholder of the 1bn bl Vankor field in Siberia. The news is a blow to state-owned Rosneft, which hopes to take control of the project. The major wants to buy the stake in...

Resources ministry threatens licences. (News: Russia).(Brief Article)
April 18, 2003... Russia's natural resources ministry has warned oil firms operating in western and eastern Siberia that it will withdraw licences from companies failing to honour them. Yukos, TNK-BP, Salym Petroleum and Obneftegazgeology all came under fire,...

Duma puts another nail in the PSA coffin. (News: Russia).(production-sharing agreement)
April 18, 2003... In another mow for would-be production-sharing agreement (PSA) investors, Duma deputies have backed a government proposal to slash the list of PSA-eligible sites in favour of development under Russia's regular tax regime. In fact,...

TNK buys out Sibneft. (Russia & CIS).(Tyumen Oil)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2003... Tyumen Oil (TNK) has acquired Sibneft's 1pc stake in Onaco and its 38pc stake in the latter's Orenburgneft production subsidiary. TNK purchased Onaco for $1.08bn in 2000 only to discover that Sibneft held a minority stake in Orenburgneft...

Odessa loadings delayed by accident. (Russia & CIS).(Brief Article)
April 18, 2003... Crude loading at Ukraine's Black Sea port of Odessa have been delayed by an accident last week when a minor crack appeared in a tanker. "Crude started leaking from the Gerani when loading was close to completion. The leakage has been fixed,...

Goldovsky strikes back. (Russia & CIS).(Yakov Goldovsky)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2003... Yakov Goldovsky, the former head of Gazprom petrochemical subsidiary Sibur who was arrested last year on accusations of assets-stripping, seems determined to recover some of the businesses he handed over to the gas monopoly to buy his...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
April 18, 2003... In the netback table on the back page of FSU Energy, the crude export duty should have read $25.90/bl in February and March rather than $29.80/bl.

Russia raises crude pipeline tariffs. (Russia & CIS).(Brief Article)
April 18, 2003... Russia's federal energy commission, the FEK, has decided to increase crude pipeline tariffs by an average of 0.63pc from 1 May. The additional funds are expected to be used by pipeline operator Transneft to service planned loans of $1.2bn for...

TNK eyes Turkish refining assets.(Tyumen Oil)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2003... Tyumen Oil (TNK) chief executive Viktor Vekselberg expressed his firm's interest in acquiring refining assets in Turkey at a meeting with Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara last week. TNK gave no further details. Next month,...

Looking ahead.
April 18, 2003... * Oil & Petroleum Products Trading in the International Markets. 21-24 April. Moscow, Russia. Eco-Technics Consulting. Tel: (7095) 159 9919 * Oil & Petroleum Products Trading in the International Markets. 21-24 April. Moscow, Russia....

CPC agrees Kazakh crude deal. (Caspian/central Asia).(Caspian Pipeline Consortium)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2003... The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) has signed an agreement with Kazakhstan's state-owned oil and gas holding company Kazmunaigaz for transit of crude oil from the Martyshi field in western Kazakhstan. Kazmunaigaz will supply 2,000 t/d of...

Azeri Light exports up. (Caspian/central Asia).(Brief Article)
April 18, 2003... Four 1 mn bl cargoes of Azeri Light will load at the Georgian Black Sea port of Supsa in May, one more than for April but in line with most months over the past year. A further 1m bl cargo is scheduled to load cross-month May/June. BP has...

Kazakh product output up. (Caspian/central Asia).(Brief Article)
April 18, 2003... Kazakhstan's three refineries produced 652,100t of products in March (see table, below), compared with 540,000t in February. On average, output was up by 1,700 t/day. Refinery output is expected to remain steady until the summer, when...

Agip KCO to build Caspian island. (Caspian/central Asia).(Brief Article)
April 18, 2003... Dutch firm Royal Boskalis Westminster is to build an artificial island in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea for Agip KCO, the international consortium developing the Kashagan field. The 200x250m island will be built 75km offshore and is...

Kazakh crude exports dip. (Caspian/central Asia).
April 18, 2003... Kazakhstan exported 733,000 b/d (3.12nm t) of crude in March, compared with 757,000 b/d in February. Pipeline exports were fairly steady but there was a sharp drop in rail deliveries as the ChevronTexaco-led Tengizchvroil group cut shipments....

Surgut rumours lift market. (Stock markets).(Surgutneftegaz)
April 18, 2003... The Russian Trading System (RTS) made impressive gains on the week, moving up by 4.8pc to 388.6 points. Surgutneftegaz rose on speculation about a possible hostile takeover bid. This followed rumours that the Duma intends to pass a law...

Lukoil seeks legal advice on Iraq ... (Companies).
April 18, 2003... Lukoil has approached UK and US lawyers about protecting its interest in the 7bn bl West Qurna production-sharing agreement (PSA) in Iraq. Last week the Russian firm said it will challenge any attempt to oust it from the project. ...

... And outlines Yukos-beating strategy. (Companies).
April 18, 2003... Russian oil giant Lukoil has announced a set of ambitious new targets for the next 10 years. The oil giant's key aim is to defeat its closest rival Yukos, which has overtaken it in terms of both crude output and exports. Lukoil hopes to...

Gasoil bucks the market. (Products market).
April 18, 2003... * Gasoil outperformed other products as refinery shutdowns and the impact of heavy exports to the US stretched a delicately balanced market. Rising supply from the Baltic put pressure on fuel oil prices. * The last blast of winter weather...

Urals rebounds in the north. (Crude market).
April 18, 2003... * Crude prices held steady over the week. Dated BFO hovered around $25/bl as traders anticipated the speedy restoration of Iraqi exports. The recent slide has even prompted Opec to consider a production cut at its 24 April meeting. Urals...

Russian rail exports/imports, March 2003. (Russian rail data).(Illustration)
April 18, 2003... Russian rail exports/imports, March 2003 `000t % chg YTD Crude `000 b/d Feb `000 b/d Gasoline Overland Armenia Azerbaijan...

Netbacks.(Illustration)
April 18, 2003... Russian crude netbacks 16 Apr Ventspils Primorsk Butinge Urals (cif-fit) ($/bl) 22.76 22.76 22.76 Urals (cif-fit) ($/t) ...

Transneft plans Novo boost: the pipeline operator has outlined plans to increase the capacity of Russia's main Black Sea crude outlet.
April 11, 2003... Russian crude pipeline operator Transneft is laying the ground for a major boost in export capacity from the Novorossiysk crude terminal on the Black Sea. The news comes amid continuing complaints from oil firms about export capacity...

After the storm: Russian firms are wondering about their future in Iraq. Time for some pragmatic diplomacy from Moscow. (Editorial).
April 11, 2003... The dramatic scenes in Baghdad this week as US forces moved into the city suggest that Saddam Hussein's regime has more or less disintegrated. Already the thoughts of Russian oil companies are turning to the aftermath of the conflict....

Lukoil boosts its Yalama share. (News).
April 11, 2003... Lukoil has boosted its stake in Azerbaijan's offshore Yalama project from from 60pc to 80pc, taking part of Azeri state-owned firm Socar's interest. "Increased activity at Yalama is in line with our strategy of focusing our efforts on...

TNK-BP boss pleads Kovykta PSA case. (News).(Bob Dudley)
April 11, 2003... The president-designate of BP's new Russian joint venture has said a production-sharing agreement (PSA) remains the best framework for developing the Kovykta gas field in eastern Siberia, despite the threat that the project could be removed...

Iran holds firm on swaps timetable. (Caspian export routes).
April 11, 2003... Iran claims its efforts to become a major conduit for FSU crude exports by means of swap agreements remain on target. The country's deputy oil minister with responsibility for Caspian affairs, Mohammed Nezhat, said in London last week...

Kazakhstan may sell JV stake. (News: Caspian).( CNPC-Aktobemunaigaz )(Brief Article)
April 11, 2003... The Kazakh government may sell a 25.12pc state stake in the CNPC-Aktobemunaigaz joint venture, says a Kazakh industry source. Terms and conditions of the potential sale have not been disclosed. China's state-owned CNPC, which owns a...

Turkmenistan targets PSA output boost. (News: Caspian).(production-sharing agreement)
April 11, 2003... The five operators of production-sharing agreement (PSA) projects in Turkmenistan will produce 1.54mn t (31,000 b/d) of crude this year, says the country's energy ministry (see table). Investment will be roughly in line with last year's...

Karachaganak-CPC link nears completion. (News: Caspian).(Brief Article)
April 11, 2003... The BG/Agip-led Karachaganak Integrated Organisation (KIO) has almost completed work on new units that will allow its condensate to flow to the Black Sea through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) link from Kazakhstan to Novorossiysk. KIO...

Khodorkovsky outlines limits of growth. (Interview).(chief executive and leading shareholder, Mikhail Khodorkovsky)
April 11, 2003... Yukos has become Russia's number one oil firm in terms of crude output and exports. Its chief executive and leading shareholder, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, has taken a high-profile role in lobbying for the construction of new pipeline routes. In...

Yukos sets sights on Iraq.(Brief Article)
April 11, 2003... Yukos wants to enter Iraq once the conflict there has ended, chief executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky reveals. "Yukos would be interested in working in Iraq, including operating fields." he says. Unlike its main rival, Lukoil Yukos has no...

Latvia forces Ventspils issue. (Exports & trade).(Brief Article)
April 11, 2003... The Latvian government wants to shake up the shareholder structure of terminal operator Ventspils Nafta (VN), apparently in the hope of receiving a controlling stake in Ventspils, Latvia's largest oil terminal. Such a move could open the way...

Man-Tess to upgrade Riga terminal. (Exports & trade).(Brief Article)
April 11, 2003... Latvian company Man-Tess plans to boost loadings of clean products at its Riga terminal after completing an upgrade in May-June. Man-Tess is about to finish construction of a new deepwater berth which will be linked to its storage...

Primorsk prepares for the thaw. (Exports & trade).(Brief Article)
April 11, 2003... Russia's Primorsk crude terminal is preparing for the break-up of the thick ice that has covered the Gulf of Finland. As temperatures rise, drifting ice will pose a new hazard for tankers using Primorsk, possibly until as late as mid-May. ...

Rosneft ups the stakes over Vankor. (News: Russia).(Brief Article)
April 11, 2003... Russian state-owned oil firm Rosneft wants to buy the company that effectively controls the licence to the 1bn bl Vankor field in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia. The news is a potential blow for TotalFinaElf, which had hoped to enter Vankor itself,...

Gazprom boasts sparkling results. (News: Russia).
April 11, 2003... Russian gas giant Gazprom has announced preliminary results for last year--the company's best financial performance in a decade. Export and domestic sales earned Gazprom $15.5bn after taxes, a rise of $450mn on the previous year. Moscow...

Turkey wants Blue Stream price cut. (News: Russia).(Brief Article)
April 11, 2003... Turkish energy minister Hilmi Guler says the country is looking for further concessions from Russia over the price of gas delivered through the Blue Stream pipeline. Guler has told the Turkish parliament that gas purchased by Turkey through...

Lukoil consolidates Komi assets. (News: Russia).
April 11, 2003... Lukoil has completed the first stage of consolidation of its assets in the Komi republic in Russia's far north. This should help the oil giant increase exports, reduce operational expenses and simplify the structure of its operations in the...

Long-haul sales pick up. (News: Russia).(Brief Article)
April 11, 2003... Black Sea Urals sellers have continued to look for outlets outside the Mediterranean over the past week. and at least 5mn bl of April-loading Urals now appears set to leave the region. Dutch trader Trafigura has sold a late-April Tyumen...

Traders circumvent single-hulled tanker ban. (Exports & trade).
April 11, 2003... FSU fuel oil traders continue to charter single-hulled tankers, despite EU ministers' backing of a proposal to ban single-hulled fuel oil tankers from EU ports with immediate effect last month. Traders are taking advantage of the loose...

Russia to increase crude exports by river. (Exports & trade).
April 11, 2003... Exports of Russian crude by river are due to start this month, supplementing pipeline and rail shipments. Overall crude exports by river are expected to hit 3.18nm t this year, up 6pc on the 3mn t shipped during the April-November 2002...

Crude output edges up. (Russia & CIS).(Brief Article)
April 11, 2003... Russia produced 8.13mn b/d of crude and condensate in March, according to preliminary figures from the energy ministry. This takes output above February's record-high level of 8.07mn b/d (FSUE, 4 April, pp16-17). First-quarter production...