FSU Energy articles from February 2004

FSU Energy archives from February 2004

Rosneft targets Sakhalin III: the state-owned firm appears to be keeping the door open for its erstwhile western partners.
February 27, 2004... Rosneft will bid for Sakhalin III blocks if they are re-tendered, claiming they can be developed under Russia's regular tax regime. And sources at the firm suggest it may join forces with its former Sakhalin III partners, ExxonMobil and...

Entertaining distraction: Putin's dismissal of the Russian government this week was a surprise. But it will have little real impact.(Editorial)
February 27, 2004... Vladimir Putin's unexpected firing of the Russian government has enlivened the otherwise dull run-up to next month's presidential elections. The official line is that the move will allow Putin to make it clear to voters what the shape of...

Kashagan dispute resolved.(News)
February 27, 2004... The international consortium developing Kazakhstan's offshore Kashagan project has resolved its long-running dispute with the Kazakh government, paving the way for development of one of the world's biggest oil discoveries in 30 years. But the...

Yusufov claims China link dead.(News)(Igor Yusufov)
February 27, 2004... Russian energy minister Igor Yusufov claims the government has dropped plans for a crude pipeline to China. Yusufov, who was dismissed along with the rest of the government on 24 February, said last week that the government is determined...

Eastern Urals sales take off.(Exports and trade)
February 27, 2004... Falling Mediterranean freight rates have led to soaring sales of March-loading Russian Urals for export to Asia-Pacific. Around 6mn bl has been sold east. China's state-owned Unipec took 4mn bl from US traders Sempra and Koch and European...

Mediterranean faces sweet crude glut.(Exports and trade)
February 27, 2004... The premium on low-sulphur crude in the Mediterranean is set to fall as regional output of sweet crude rises. Volumes of sweet crude entering the Mediterranean are set to soar with the start of light sweet Azeri crude exports via the 1mn...

Transpetrol objects to Ukraine transit plan.(News)
February 27, 2004... Slovakian crude pipeline operator Transpetrol objects to Ukraine's plans to transport light sweet crude along the Druzhba pipeline to the Czech Republic, a source in the company tells Argus. Ukrainian pipeline firm Ukrtransnafta planned...

Transneft shelves plans for Novorossiysk boost.(News)
February 27, 2004... Transneft has abandoned earlier proposals to increase the capacity of the Novorossiysk crude oil terminal on the Black Sea because of bottlenecks in the Turkish straits. Instead, the Russian pipeline operator is likely to focus on building a...

Putin calls for pipeline progress.(Russia & CIS)(Vladimir Putin)
February 27, 2004... Russian president Vladimir Putin this week ordered the government to prepare documents for developing east Siberia's oil and gas pipeline system. This could speed up plans to start building a proposed 1mn b/d pipeline to Russia's Pacific port...

Gas talks scheduled for June.(Russia & CIS)
February 27, 2004... The Russian government will hold talks on restructuring the gas sector in June, economic development minister German Gref said this week. The economic development ministry earlier proposed splitting Gazprom into separate companies responsible...

TNK-BP releases nine-month profits.(Russia & CIS)
February 27, 2004... BP's Russian joint venture, TNK-BP, made a profit of $1.95bn for the nine months to 31 December, according to US Gaap-compliant unaudited figures released on 27 February. Net cashflow from operations was $2.75bn. Capital expenditure over the...

US court rejects Norex claim.(Russia & CIS)
February 27, 2004... The New York federal court has dismissed a suit brought by Canada-registered Norex Petroleum against Alfa Group and Access/Renova (AAR), partners in TNK-BP. Norex accuses the former TNK of systematically stripping assets from companies...

Teton looking hungry.(Russia & CIS)(Teton Petroleum Co.)
February 27, 2004... US-registered Teton Petroleum has boosted output to 7,000 b/d at its Goloil licence in western Siberia--a 39pc increase on 2002. Teton gives half of its total production from Goloil to strategic partner Russneft in return for investment. Of...

Russian crude sales to US hit record.
February 27, 2004... US imports of Russian crude hit a record 149,000 b/d in 2003, up by 75pc on the previous year and from nothing in 2001, according to US government figures. Russia climbed to 12th place overall in 2003--up from 14th position the previous...

Looking ahead.(Calendar)
February 27, 2004... * Caspian Black Sea & Turkiog Oil and Gas. 26-28 February. Istanbul. ITE. Tel: +44 20 7596 5166 * New Opportunities and Markets for Oil Exports from Russia and the Caspian Region. 2-3 March. Moscow. RPI. Tel: +7095 502 5433 * Oil...

ExxonMobil books Caspian reserves.(Caspian/central Asia)
February 27, 2004... The Caspian region accounted for a substantial portion of the 1.7bn bl of oil equivalent (boe) that ExxonMobil added to its proven reserves last year. The US major cited its Caspian operations--including the Kashagan field (see p3) and...

Kashagan delay holds Total back.(Caspian/central Asia)
February 27, 2004... French major Total has blamed delays at a number of upstream projects, including the Kashagan oil field in Kazakhstan (see p3), for lowering its production growth target from 5pc/yr to 4pc/yr until 2008. Speaking at the company's 2003...

Azerbaijan rejects rail tariff rise.(Caspian/central Asia)
February 27, 2004... The Azeri government is expected to reject an increase in rail tariffs for crude and product shipments along the Baku-Batumi route, on the advice of the country's economic development ministry. "We would do better to increase transportation...

Pavlodar refinery resumes output.(Caspian/central Asia)
February 27, 2004... Kazakhstan's 162,000 b/d Pavlodar refinery resumed operations on 23 February after a three-week maintenance shutdown. "The downtime was strategic as we wanted to get ready for large-scale operations during the forthcoming crop planting...

Batumi oil terminal head resigns.(Caspian/central Asia)(Guram Gogitidze)
February 27, 2004... Guram Gogitidze, the general director of Georgia's Batumi oil terminal (BNT), has resigned, according to terminal owner Alegratrans. Gogitidze left his post "for personal reasons", says a statement from the Cyprus-registered company. But in...

Kazakhs to restrict gasoil exports.(Caspian/central Asia)
February 27, 2004... Kazakhstan has banned gasoil exports from 1 March to ensure domestic supplies for the spring sowing season. Refinery gate prices could be frozen from the same date (see table). Refiners have objected to the proposed levels and the issue will...

Market evaluates cabinet dismissal.(Stock markets)(Illustration)
February 27, 2004... The RTS index ended marginally up at 657 points. A sell-off early in the week was reversed on 24 February following President Putin's surprise dismissal of his government (see p2). Putin would have had to replace the cabinet after the...

Primorsk drives export increase.(Exports and trade)
February 27, 2004... Russian seaborne crude exports are set to rise to 2.4mn b/d in March as a result of increased loadings from the Baltic port of Primorsk and Ukraine's Black Sea port of Pivdenne. In March 2002, seaborne exports stood at 1.89mn b/d. ...

Ventspils fuel oil supplies resume.(Exports and trade)
February 27, 2004... Fuel oil deliveries to the Ventbunkers terminal in the Latvian port of Ventspils were resumed this week after a one and a half month suspension. Deliveries to the port from refineries in Belarus have resumed, but the terminal's other...

Russia urges CPC tariff hike.(Exports and trade)(Caspian Pipeline Consortium)
February 27, 2004... The Russian government is once again calling for the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) to raise the tariff for its Tengiz-Novorossiysk pipeline. Energy minister Igor Yusufov claimed after a recent meeting with CPC general-director Ian...

Gasoline fears push prices higher.(Products market)
February 27, 2004... * Product prices surged after futures rose on fears of gasoline shortages in the US in the spring and summer. Easing freight costs helped open gasoil and fuel oil arbitrage possibilities, which have been very limited so far this year. *...

Products prices.(Products market)(Illustration)
February 27, 2004... Products prices 25 Feb Baltic ports (fob) $/t Chg on 18 Feb Russian Gasoil 261.39 - 263.39 +9 M-100 (straight-run) 99.54 - 101.54 +4 M-100 (cracked) ...

Freight rates.(Products market)(Illustration)
February 27, 2004... Freight rates 25 Feb Rate WS ($/bl) Novorossiysk to Augusta (Italy) Clean products 30,000t 355 2.70 Fuel oil 30,000t...

Crude prices.(Crude market)(Illustration)
February 27, 2004... Crude prices 25 Feb $/bl Chg on 18 Feb diff to BFO NW Europe BFO (dated) 32.40-32.46 +0.83 -- Urals (cif) 29.50-29.56 +0.88 ...

Freight rates (Capital Shipbrokers).(Crude market)(Illustration)
February 27, 2004... Freight rates (Capital Shipbrokers) 25 Feb WS Rate ($/bl) Novorossiysk to Augusta (Italy) Crude 130,000t 140 1.09 Crude 80,000t 160 ...

Urals gains in the Med.(Crude market)
February 27, 2004... * Crude prices rose on the back of US stock data that showed significant draws on distillates and gasoline amid fears about the state of US gasoline inventories. Dated BFO gained almost $1/bl to top $32/bl and Urals' gains outpaced the...

Russian rail exports/import, January 2004.(Russian rail data)(Illustration)
February 27, 2004... Russian rail exports/import, January 2004 '000t % chg Crude '000 b/d Dec Overland Afghanistan Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus ...

Russian crude production, December 2003.(Russian oil production)(Illustration)
February 27, 2004... Russian crude production, December 2003 Dec Dec % chg '000t '000 b/d 3-Nov Vertically integrated oil companies 34,918.95...

Russian crude netbacks.(Netbacks)(Illustration)
February 27, 2004... Russian crude netbacks 25 Feb Primorsk Butinge Novo- rossiysk Urals (cif-fit) ($/bl) 29.53 29.53 29.73...

Gas spat comes to a head: Gazprom called Belarus' bluff this week, cutting transit shipments through its awkward neighbour.
February 20, 2004... Gazprom's cherished reputation as a reliable gas supplier to Europe was undermined this week after it halted exports through Belarus. The gas giant temporaily stopped transit through Belarus to Germany, Poland and Lithuania on 18...

A taxing question: the government wants to change the tax regime. But will it be able to come up with something workable?(Editorial)
February 20, 2004... The scramble to produce new oil sector taxation initiatives is heating up. In the past month, President Vladimir Putin has twice spoken in favour of extracting more taxes from oil firms and improving the systems for doing so--provoking a...

Kremlin laughs off Yukos bid.(News)
February 20, 2004... The Kremlin has ridiculed a proposal by key Yukos shareholders to surrender control of the company in exchange for releasing shareholders Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev from jail. Government and Kremlin officials say there will...

Irkutsk set to sell Rusia stake.(News)(Brief Article)
February 20, 2004... The administration of east Siberia's Irkutsk region, home to the 1.9 trillion [m.sup.3] Kovykta gas field, confirmed this week that it plans to sell its 11.24pc stake in licenceholder Rusia Petroleum. "The administration can't invest...

Kiev considers merger.(News)(Brief Article)
February 20, 2004... Ukraine may merge state-controlled upstream firm Ukrnafta with three of the country's refineries to form a large vertically integrated oil company. The state property fund is in talks with Ukrnafta on the issue, says fund head Mikhail...

Lukoil has big plans for Vysotsk.(Interview)(Interview)
February 20, 2004... The Russian oil giant is poised to open its new Vysotsk export terminal on the Gulf of Finland near St Petersburg next month. The company's vice president for sales and supplies, Yuri Storozhev, discussed Vysotsk and other projects in an...

New pipelines remain in limbo.(News)
February 20, 2004... Transneft has told executives from oil firms lobbying for a 2.4mn b/d export route through Murmansk that its preliminary cost estimate is much higher than an earlier figure of $3.4-4.5bn. "We have revealed our estimates to the companies...

Lukoil plans long-term crude export boost.(News)
February 20, 2004... Oil giant Lukoil plans to increase crude exports and reduce those of products in the next few years to take advantage of better netbacks for crude shipments. Lukoil is confident that current crude export capacity constraints will be...

New pipeline underpins battle for market share.(Gazprom)
February 20, 2004... Gazprom is struggling to maintain its position in its key export market, Europe, with exports to Asia and the US still a distant prospect. Europe--in particular western Europe--remains at the core of the gas monopoly's export strategy,...

Acquisition strategy focuses on downstream assets.(Gazprom)
February 20, 2004... Gazprom is trying to secure markets for its gas by acquiring downstream assets in importing countries. In January, it signed an agreement to buy 34pc of Lithuania's gas distributor Lietuvos Dujos (FSUE, 16 January, p7). The deal involves a...

Botas gives green light for Turkish straits bypass.(Turkey)(Interview)
February 20, 2004... Turkish pipeline operator Botas plays a crucial regional role. Mehmet Bilgic--board chairman and general manager--outlined the company's views on export infrastructure development in a recent interview with Argus. What is Botas' view on...

Kukes: higher tax will not hurt growth.(Russia & CIS)(Brief Article)
February 20, 2004... Higher taxes will not choke off oil sector investment, says Yukos chief executive Simon Kukes. Kukes last week told the Council of Foreign Relations in New York that the government will "not go overboard" in its taxation policy, although the...

LG to develop Kremenchug upgrade.(Russia & CIS)(Brief Article)
February 20, 2004... South Korean engineering firm LG is carrying out a feasibility study for a proposed upgrade of Ukraine's 360,000 b/d Kremenchug refinery. A decision to go ahead is expected in the first half of this year. The project will include replacement...

Rosneft floats Murmansk storage.(Russia & CIS)(Brief Article)
February 20, 2004... Rosneft has installed the VLCC Belokamenka as a floating storage facility for crude and products in the ice-free Kola Bay near Murmansk. The tanker is the third floating storage facility at Murmansk. The Belokamenka can load VLCCs,...

Looking ahead.(Calendar)
February 20, 2004... * Caspian Black Sea & Turkiog Oil and Gas. 26-28 February. Istanbul. ITE. Tel: +44 20 7596 5166 * New Opportunities and Markets for Oil Exports from Russia and the Caspian Region. 2-3 March. Moscow. RPI. Tel: +7095 502 5433. * Oil...

Vainshtok hikes Ventspils cost.(Brief Article)
February 20, 2004... Transneft president Semyon Vainshtok says it will cost $2.66bn to resume crude shipments to Ventspils by pipeline, if capacity of the Baltic Pipeline System (BPS) increases to 1.24mn b/d by 2006. Approval for this is expected next month. ...

Refinery throughputs fall.(Russia & CIS)(Brief Article)
February 20, 2004... Russian refineries processed 3.7mn b/d (15.7mn t) of crude last month, down by 2.7pc on December, according to state statistics committee Goskomstat. Russian product output mnt Product Jan % [+ or -] Dec Fuel oil...

Kazakh, Azeri deal expected on BTC.(Caspian/central Asia)(Brief Article)
February 20, 2004... Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan could sign an agreement in the next few months paving the way for shipments of Kazakh crude through the I inn b/d Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, says a senior source from Kazakhstan's state-owned Kazmunaigaz....

Lukoil/Gazprom agree on Tsentralnoye.(Caspian/central Asia)(Brief Article)
February 20, 2004... Russian oil firm Lukoil and state-owned Gazprom plan to sign an agreement on financing development of the offshore Tsentralnoye block in the Caspian by the end of the month, following a meeting this week between Gazprom chief executive Alexei...

Novorossiysk restricts Socar loading.(Caspian/central Asia)(Brief Article)
February 20, 2004... Novorossiysk port authority has restricted Socar to using berths 6 and 7 at the Sheskharis oil terminal, which are for loading small crude tanker cargoes only, a Socar source tells Argus. Both the port authority and Russian pipeline operator...

Georgia nominates new minister.(Caspian/central Asia)(Brief Article)
February 20, 2004... The Georgian parliament has approved a new government and nominated Nikoloz Gilauri to the post of fuel and energy minister. "Gilauri used to work in the energy sector, and this is all we know about him," a ministry source tells Argus....

Petrokazakhstan plans Iran ramp-up.(Caspian/central Asia)(Brief Article)
February 20, 2004... Canadian firm Petrokazakhstan expects shipments of Kazakh Kumkol crude to Iran by rail to ramp up rapidly to hit the 83,000 t/month (20,800 b/d) target by April. Shipments hit 20,000t in January following an initial 3,000t consignment in...

Cash surge triggers fresh highs.(Stock markets)
February 20, 2004... The RTS index hit its highest point since the 1998 financial crash this week. Traded volumes peaked on 12 February at $40.7mn, but the RTS reached an intra-day high of 655 points on 18 February. Last year, analysts doubted the market...

Mol profits rise on Slovnaft, tax gain.(Companies)
February 20, 2004... Hungarian oil and gas firm Mol has published an extremely strong set of results for 2003, and analysts say the firm is now reaping the benefits of its aggressive expansion in central and eastern Europe. Mol managed to defy an economic...

Sibir looks downstream.(Companies)(Brief Article)
February 20, 2004... London-registered Sibir Energy appears poised to acquire a 25pc stake in TNK-BP's chain of 42 retail stations in Moscow, Sibir chief executive Henry Cameron confirms. "We've reported on the progress of this deal for the last three years....

Yukos courts Gazprom.(Companies)(Brief Article)
February 20, 2004... Yukos says closer co-operation with Russian gas monopoly Gazprom will be key to developing its gas business. The company intends to boost natural gas production to 15bn [m.sub.3] by the end of 2005, up from 5.65bn [m.sup.3] last year....

Buoyant futures push prices higher.(Products market)(Brief Article)
February 20, 2004... * Product prices were higher across the barrel in line with crude futures. European gasoil markets were split, with the Mediterranean outperforming northwest Europe comfortably. The opening up of arbitrage opportunities to the US is helping...

Products prices.(Products market)(Illustration)
February 20, 2004... Products prices 18 Feb Baltic ports (fob) $/t Chg on 11 Feb Russian Gasoil 252.74 - 254.74 +7 M-100 (straight-run) 95.54 -...

Freight rates.(Products market)(Illustration)
February 20, 2004... Freight rates 18 Feb Rate WS ($/bl) Novorossiysk to Augusta (Italy) Clean products 30,000t 355 2.64 Fuel oil 30,000t...

Crude prices.(Crude market)(Illustration)
February 20, 2004... Crude prices 18 Feb NW Europe $/bl Chg on diff 11 Feb to BFO BFO (dated) 31.57-31.63 +1.22 -- Urals (cif) 28.62-28.68 ...

Freight rates (Capital Shipbrokers).(Crude market)(Illustration)
February 20, 2004... Freight rates (Capital Shipbrokers) 18 Feb Novorossiysk to Augusta (Italy) WS Rate ($/bl) Crude 130,000t 170 129 Crude 80,000t 157.5 1.20 Crude 60,000t...

Urals Med edges stronger.(Crude market)(Brief Article)
February 20, 2004... * Crude prices gained on the back of sharp rises for gasoline on both sides of the Atlantic. Urals edged up from recent lows in the Mediterranean, but remained under pressure in northwest Europe, with traders expecting a surge in exports next...

Crude export offtakers, January 2004.(FSU crude offtakers)(Illustration)
February 20, 2004... Volume Producers Offtakers ('0001) Novorossiysk Sibneft Sibneft Oil Trade 232.32 Sibneft...

Russian crude netbacks.(Netbacks)(Illustration)
February 20, 2004... Russian crude netbacks 18 Feb Primorsk Butinge Novoro- ssiysk Urals (cif-fit) ($/bl) 28.65 28.65 28.65 Urals...

Russia looms large in BP results: the TNK-BP venture is certainly paying its way, but the major remains tight-lipped over plans for the future.(British Petroleum Company PLC)
February 13, 2004... TN-BP featured prominently in BP's fourth-quarter results presentation in London this week, not least because it was the one production highlight in an otherwise uninspiring upstream performance. But BP chief executive John Browne also used...

Festering wound: last week's metro explosion is a stark reminder of the intractability of the conflict in Chechnya.(Editorial)(Editorial)
February 13, 2004... Although no-one has claimed responsibility for last week's devastating explosion on the Moscow metro, the authorities--from the president down--have been quick to blame Chechen separatists, with Vladimir Putin pointing the finger directly at...

Gazprom closes in on Kovykta.(News)
February 13, 2004... Gazprom is keeping up the pressure in its long-running campaign to enter the 1.9 trillion m3 Kovykta gas project in east Siberia on its own terms. The gas giant has signed a deal with the government of the Irkutsk region, where the field...

A gas line for Europe.(News)(North European Gas Pipeline)
February 13, 2004... Russia's Gazprom is pressing ahead with plans to build the proposed North European Gas Pipeline (NEGP) for exports to Germany and the UK, having received a green light for the project from Moscow last month. But it has yet to secure concrete...

Kazakhstan courts Rosneft.(News)
February 13, 2004... Kazakhstan is trying to enlist Russia's state-owned Rosneft and Gazprom to develop gas production in the third phase of the Karachaganak gas and condensate project. Astana hopes Rosneft and Gazprom will agree to build a gas-processing...

Kurmangazy complications.(News)
February 13, 2004... Planned changes to Kazakhstan's tax legislation could hit Russian state-owned firm Rosneft's hopes of signing a production-sharing agreement (PSA) for the Kurmangazy area, located on the border between the Russian and Kazakh sectors of the...

Crude deliveries fall.(News)
February 13, 2004... Russian and CIS refineries received 4.8mn b/d (20.5mn t) of crude in January, down by 3.7pc on December, according to the Russian energy ministry. The month-on-month decrease reflects reduced domestic demand and producers' general eagerness...

TNK-BP considers joining Turkish bypass project ...(News)
February 13, 2004... TNK-BP has joined a working group set up by Russian pipeline firm Transneft to consider possible construction of a pipeline bypassing the Turkish straits. The oil company links the move to its ambitious plans to increase crude output....

... And studies Baltic terminal options.(News)(TNK-BP)
February 13, 2004... The Leningrad regional government has approved a request from TNK-BP for permission to build a 12mn t/yr oil terminal at Luga bay, around 120km west of St Petersburg. The local authorities expect construction of the proposed terminal,...

Rising Urals exports shift refining balance.(Exports and trade)
February 13, 2004... Increasing Urals exports from northern ports, coupled with falling North Sea crude output, are likely to prompt refiners in northwest Europe to buy more of the sour Russian grade. Urals exports from Baltic and Arctic ports are set to...

Black Sea closures hit FSU exports.(Exports and trade)(Former Soviet Union)
February 13, 2004... Exports of crude from the FSU tell from December's record level in January. Total exports were 4.86mn b/d (20.5mn t), down by close to 200,000 b/d from December. But volumes were up by more than 17pc on a year ago. The fall in January...

Druzhba-Adria moves forward.(Exports and trade)
February 13, 2004... The Druzhba-Adria pipeline project for delivery of Russian crude to Croatia's deepwater port of Omisalj appears to be back on track. Russian pipeline operator Transneft says first shipments to the Adriatic could be made by the end of the...

Exporters turn to northern ports.(Exports and trade)
February 13, 2004... Russian crude exporters are increasingly using the far north ports of Vitino, Arkhangelsk and Murmansk, in the face of constraints in the Baltic and Black Sea. In January, rail deliveries to northern ports hit 166,000 b/d (705,000t), up...

Turkey approves Tupras sale.(Russia & CIS)(Efremov Kautschuk)(Zorlu)
February 13, 2004... The Turkish government has given final approval for the sale of a 65.7pc stake in state-owned refiner Tupras to Tatneft affiliate Efremov Kautschuk and its local partner Zorlu. A Tatneft official tells Argus that the company hopes to tie up...

Kherson refinery cuts processing.(Russia & CIS)(Brief Article)
February 13, 2004... Ukraine's Kherson refinery will process just 22,000 b/d (270,000t) in the first quarter of this year, compared with over 37,000 b/d in the same period of 2003, says refinery operator Alyans. The cut will allow the plant to carry out work to...

Makhachkala Iran volumes hit record.(Russia & CIS)
February 13, 2004... Russia's Makhachkala crude terminal on the Caspian handled a record 25,000 b/d (108,000t) of Russian crude bound for Iran in January, compared with 14,000 b/d in December. January loadings included 21,000 b/d of Urals, with the remainder made...