FSU Energy articles from January 2003

FSU Energy archives from January 2003

Sakhalin Energy pursues buyers: the consortium hopes for a breakthrough to allow it to begin a multi-billion dollar investment programme.
January 31, 2003... The Shell-led Sakhalin Energy group, operator of the Sakhalin Il project, is stepping up the search for buyers of its future gas output. Shell's Asia-Pacific gas trading arm, Shell Eastern has submitted a bid to supply liquefied natural...

Tell it to the taxman: if backwardation continues, Platts' change to its Urals price assessment will hit Russia's tax revenues.(Editorial)
January 31, 2003... Russia will lose $220mn in oil export tax revenue this year, if January's market conditions continue, as a result of changes in the methodology of the Platts Urals assessment. Russian tax authorities use published Urals price assessments...

Tengiz partners back down. (News).(Tengizchevroil dispute with Kazakhstan)
January 31, 2003... The ChevronTexaco-led Tengizchevroil (TCO) group has resolved its spat with the Kazakh government on financing development of the 7bn bl Tengiz oil field. The news will allow the $3.3bn second phase of the project to go ahead. TCO will...

Energy ministry revises output forecast. (News).(Russia)
January 31, 2003... The Russian energy ministry has revised its crude output forecast downwards in the wake of recent export disruption at the country's ports. The ministry now expects output of 410mn t (8.2mn b/d) this year, an official tells Argus. This...

Kashagan plans at `crucial phase'. (News).(Kashagan oil field development)(Brief Article)
January 31, 2003... Kazakhstan's assessment of the final development plan for the giant Kashagan oil field is at a "crucial phase", according to the upstream head of operating company Eni. Stefano Cao. The project partners submitted the plan to the Kazakh...

Total FSU crude exports rocket in 2002. (Exports and trade).(former Soviet Union)
January 31, 2003... Crude oil exports from the FSU soared by over 16pc in 2002 to top 4mn b/d (200mn t), the highest level since peak Soviet production in the late `eighties. The new Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) route from Kazakhstan's Tengiz field to...

Siberian Light export decision draws near. (Exports and trade).
January 31, 2003... The Russian government commission on access to export pipelines, chaired by vice-premier Viktor Khristenko, was due to decide this week on whether to end separate exports of Siberian Light through the Black Sea port of Tuapse. If...

Rollovers boost February loadings. (Exports and trade).(petroleum shipments rise)
January 31, 2003... Crude loadings at FSU seaports are set to rise next month as shipments are carded over from January following disruptions at Russian ports. Pipeline operator Transneft has scheduled deliveries of 1.7mn b/d (6.5mn t), or 50,000 b/d more...

Poland persuades Russia to cut gas supplies. (News).
January 31, 2003... Russia has agreed to cut gas supplies to Poland under a long-term take-or-pay contract by a third. The move, instigated at Warsaw's request, was prompted by worries that Poland has contracted to take more gas than it is able to consume. ...

Serbs tread a fine line in Siberia. (News).(Naftna Industrije Srbije seeks upstream opportunities )
January 31, 2003... Serbia's state-owned oil and gas firm Naftna Industrije Srbije (NIS) is looking for upstream opportunities in western Siberia. NIS deputy general manager Igor Korac tells Argus his company is in talks with the Cyprus-registered firm...

China eyes Azeri onshore. (News: Caspian).(CNPC seeks interest in Gobustan field )(Brief Article)
January 31, 2003... Chinese state-owned oil company CNPC wants a 31.41pc stake in Azerbaijan's onshore southwest Gobustan field, say industry sources. The field has estimated crude oil reserves of 115mn bl and 15bn [m.sup.3] of natural gas, with expected...

Aliyev tightens grip on Socar. (News: Caspian).(Heidar Aliyev issues decree on restructuring oil and gas company)(Brief Article)
January 31, 2003... Azeri president Heidar Aliyev this week issued a decree on restructuring of state-owned oil and gas oil and gas firm Socar. The changes will give Socar, whose first vice-president is Aliyev's son Ilkham, even greater control over the...

BTC negotiates project finance. (News: Caspian).(Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan )(Brief Article)
January 31, 2003... Directors of the 1nm b/d Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) crude pipeline consortium are meeting with international banks in Baku to negotiate $300mn of project financing. Officials of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)...

Northern Oil faces fresh trouble. (Russia & CIS).(to its controversial acquisition of the licence to the 1.4bn bl Val Gamburtseva block )(Brief Article)
January 31, 2003... Northern Oil is facing a fresh challenge to its controversial acquisition of the licence to the 1.4bn bl Val Gamburtseva block in Russia's far north Nenets autonomous district. Lukoil, Sibneft, Surgutneftegaz, Tyumen Oil and Yukos have...

Azeri product exports fall.(Azerbaijan )(Brief Article)
January 31, 2003... Azerbaijan exported 2.64mn t of products in 2002, up by 430,000t on the year. Product exports were 166,300t in December against 240,000t the previous month. Gasoil and jet pass through the Georgian Black Sea ports of Batumi and Poti,...

Moscow Oil changes delivery scheme.(Brief Article)
January 31, 2003... The Moscow Oil Company (MOC), operator of the 242,000 b/d Moscow refinery, is to dramatically cut access to the plant for independent suppliers under processing agreements. Over the past two years, independent suppliers have sometimes...

Stalled licences threaten output. (Russia & CIS).(Brief Article)
January 31, 2003... Crude output in west Siberia's oil-rich Khanty-Mansiysk autonomous district--the source of 60pc of Russia's output--could go into reverse in the next five years, the area's governor claims. Russia's leading oil firms produced nearly 210mn t...

Gazprom gives gas quota to Rosneft. (Russia & CIS).(Brief Article)
January 31, 2003... Gazprom has allocated a 1bn [m.sup.3] gas transportation quota through its pipeline system to state-owned Rosneft for this year. Gas will be supplied by Rosneft's Krasnodarneftegaz to the domestic consumers. Rosneft plans to produce 7bn...

Yukos merges with Eastern Oil. (Russia & CIS).(Brief Article)
January 31, 2003... Eastern Oil (VNK) shareholders have voted in favour of a merger with the company's majority shareholder, Yukos. Last year, Yukos completed its takeover of VNK with the purchase of a further 36.8pc in the firm. Yukos shareholders are expected...

Explosion halts Batumi deliveries. (Caspian/central Asia).(expects 2-day interruption of crude oil deliveries to Black Sea port)(Brief Article)
January 31, 2003... An explosion on 29 January on a railway bridge in western Georgia leading to the Black Sea port of Batumi has halted crude supplies to the terminal. Supplies to Batumi are expected to be interrupted for at least two days, with trains due to...

Kralupy to shut down cracker. (Central/eastern Europe).(for 3 weeks of maintenance work, Czech Republic)(Brief Article)
January 31, 2003... The Czech Refining Company (CRC) is to shut a 25,000 b/d fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) at its 63,000 b/d Kralupy refinery from the beginning of April. Maintenance work on the FCC, which only came on stream at the end of 2001, will last for...

Mol and Slovnaft to bid for Unipetrol. (Central/eastern Europe).(Czech oil firm)(Brief Article)
January 31, 2003... Hungarian firm Mol further displayed its ambition to become central and eastern Europe's leading downstream oil company by announcing it will bid for a 63pc stake in Czech group Unipetrol. It will make the bid along with its Slovakian...

Russian refiners rein in output.(trends in petroleum and related products output and exports, January 1-20, 2003, Russia)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
January 31, 2003... Russian refineries cut production in January as a result of domestic oversupply and disruption to export shipments to Baltic ports. "The oversupply problems are likely to persist until April, when river navigation resumes, allowing exports to...

Looking ahead.(meetings listed)(Calendar)
January 31, 2003... * GIOGE. 13-14 March. Tbilisi, Georgia. ITE. Tel: (44 20) 7596 5081 * North Caspian Oil & Gas. 15-17 April. Atyrau, Kazakhstan. ITE. Tel: (44 20) 7596 5081 * The 10th Annual Central European Gas Conference. 28-30 April. Zagreb....

Oil price keeps RTS afloat. (Stock markets).(Russian Trading System share prices weekly data)(Illustration)
January 31, 2003... Russian share prices emerged relatively unscathed from one of the worst weeks on record for European and US stock markets. A buoyant, albeit volatile, oil price helped the Russian Trading System (RTS) climb by 1.1pc to 346 points, isolating...

Lithuania touts MN stake. (Companies).(government wants to sell 12% share in Mazeikiu Nafta oil company)(Brief Article)
January 31, 2003... The Lithuanian government is looking to sell off a 12pc state-owned stake in oil company Mazeikiu Nafta (MN). The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is seen as the likely buyer of the stake in the Yukos-operated...

Tatneft forecasts dramatic profit fall. (Companies).(preliminary financial data, 2002, Russia)
January 31, 2003... Russian regional oil firm Tatneft has issued an uninspiring set of preliminary financial and operational 2002 results. The company, based in the autonomous republic of Tatarstan, expects pretax profits of Rbs11bn ($350.6mn) in 2002,...

Sibneft pumps up the volume. (Companies).(crude oil output and exports rise, 2002, Russia)(Brief Article)
January 31, 2003... Sibneft remained Russia's fastest growing oil company last year. Crude oil output by the firm rose to just over 520,000 b/d (26mn t) from 412,000 b/d in 2001. And exports rose by almost 50pc, to 217,000 b/d. The company expects this...

Fuel oil arbitrage beckons. (Products market).(world petroleum industry briefs on shipping, supply and demand, and prices)(Illustration)
January 31, 2003... * Product exports began to return to normal following recent disruptions caused by ice at Baltic ports. Fuel oil supplies remain tight in northwest Europe, but prices have receded from the record highs seen just two weeks ago. *...

Urals continues to tumble. (Crude market).(world petroleum industry briefs)(Illustration)
January 31, 2003... * Crude prices eased over the week with Venezuelan exports inching back up and the US supply squeeze easing, Urals lost 50 cents/bl against dated BFO in the Mediterranean and $1/bl in northwest Europe. * February export programmes for...

Russian refinery output.(petroleum refining by company and location, YTD November 2002)
January 31, 2003... Russian refinery output, November 2002 `000t Crude Crude Crude throughput throughput % chg throughput Company/refinery ...

Russian rail exports.(of petroleum and related products, February 2002)(Illustration)
January 31, 2003... Russian scheduled rail exports, February 2003 '000t Procduct Exporter Destination Volume Crude oil Volgograd refinery Astrakhan 50.20 ...

Netbacks.(crude oil netbacks, Russia)(Illustration)
January 31, 2003... Russian crude netbacks Ventspils Pfimorsk Butinge Urals (cif-fit) ($/bl) 29.31 29.31 29.31 Urals (cif-fit) ($/t) 213.96 213.96 213.96 Freight...

BP moves closer to TNK: the UK major is poised to take a stake in its former archrival. How times have changed.
January 24, 2003... BP looks set to take a substantial stake in Tyumen Oil (TNK) this year. The development is almost certain to lead to a broader partnership between the two. The major is due to sign a deal with TNK owners Alfa Group and Access/Renova in...

Ask the market: Platts' new methodology for reporting FSU crude prices has attracted criticism. Has it overplayed its hand? (Editorial).(Editorial)
January 24, 2003... Platts has spent the last couple of years systematically updating its methodologies. Often its changes have faced strong market opposition before eventually being accepted. This happened in July, when it widened North Sea benchmark dated...

Minister calls for control over east Siberian fields. (News).
January 24, 2003... The natural resources ministry has drafted a programme for development of oil and gas fields in east Siberia, proposing full state control over extraction and exports. Oil firms are already gearing up to fight back, amid suggestions that the...

Vankor saga takes new twist. (News).(TotalFinaElf's hopes for license take over dim)
January 24, 2003... TotalFinaElf's hopes of taking over the north Siberian Vankor licence have been further dimmed by moves from Rosneft and Yukos. Rosneft has been holding talks about joining the 1bn bl Vankor project with Soyuzneftegaz, one of the the...

Northern Oil sale looms. (News).
January 24, 2003... One of Russia's leading oil firms is poised to take over far north producer Northern Oil. The buyer has not yet been formally identified, but state-owned Rosneft looks to be the most likely contender. Northern Oil's former chairman,...

Audit chamber pursues Gazprom. (News).(calls for state to boost stake in company)
January 24, 2003... Russia's audit chamber has proposed that the state boost its stake in Gazprom after discovering that the gas giant received allegedly unfair tax exemptions for construction of the Blue Stream pipeline to Turkey. The audit chamber made...

Rusia Petroleum `confronts' Gazprom. (News).(Brief Article)
January 24, 2003... Tyumen Oil (TNK) chairman Viktor Vekselberg has been named a director of Rusia Petroleum, operator of the 1.9 trillion [m.sup.3] Kovykta gas field in eastern Siberia. Vekselberg's nomination is bid to assemble high-profile personalities with...

Russian oil firms seek Murmansk compromise. (News).(on pipeline construction plans)
January 24, 2003... Russian oil companies are prepared to compromise with the government over plans to build a pipeline to the arctic port of Murmansk for VLCC exports, mainly to the US. The chiefs of Lukoil, Yukos, Surgutneftegaz, Sibneft and Tyumen Oil...

Lukoil claims Iraqi breakthrough. (News).(contract termination rescinded)
January 24, 2003... Lukoil executives last week said Iraq had rescinded its decision to terminate the Russian firm's contract to develop the 7bn bl West Qurna oil field. But Iraqi officials, stopping short of outright denial, have played down the claim, And...

Turkey still backs Azeri gas. (Natural gas).(pipeline construction)
January 24, 2003... The leader of Turkey's ruling AKP party, Tayip Erdogan, has assured Azerbaijan that a planned pipeline to export gas from the country's offshore Shakh-Deniz field to Turkey will go ahead. In Baku earlier this month, on a tour of the...

Polish restructuring starts. (Natural gas).(of PGNiG)
January 24, 2003... Poland has begun restructuring gas concern PGNiG, which has a monopoly on the import, transmission, storage and distribution of natural gas. The move is meant to pave the way for the the sale of 30pc of PGNiG in the second half of this year...

Gazprom to run Central Asian export route. (Natural gas).(Brief Article)
January 24, 2003... Russia's Gazprom has linked up with Uzbek transit firm Uztransgaz and Kazakhstan's Kaztransgas to run the 45bn [m.sup.3]/yr Central Asian pipeline. The pipe starts in Turkmenistan, crosses Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan and connects with Russia's...

Primorsk exporters get to grips with ice. (Exports and trade).
January 24, 2003... Russia's main Baltic crude terminal at Primorsk is meeting its January loading schedule, despite harsh ice conditions. The terminal loaded 809,300t (295,000 b/d) in the month until 20 January. This was actually more than scheduled for the...

Fuel oil fears ease. (Exports and trade).(Brief Article)
January 24, 2003... Fuel oil prices fell by $10/t this week from recent record values. But traders estimate that loadings are well below the usual 550,000-600,000 t/month at Baltic terminals, and there is a large backlog of surplus supply to clear, delaying the...

Tyumen Oil renegotiates deals. (Russia & CIS).(Brief Article)
January 24, 2003... Russia's Tyumen Oil (TNK) has renegotiated the terms of almost all of its crude supply deals for this year to take into account recent changes in Platts' Urals methodology. TNK has managed to convince most of the buyers that signed frame...

Yukos reshuffle. (Russia & CIA).(marketing and refining president quits)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2003... Yukos refining and marketing president Nikolai Bychkov has resigned. Sources at the company have refuted industry speculation about clashes between Bychkov and Yukos chief executive and main shareholder Mikhail Khodorkovsky. They claim...

Firms back end to Sib Light exports.(through separate pipeline transport)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2003... Russian pipeline operator Transneft, and oil companies Yukos, Tyumen Oil (TNK), Surgutneftegaz and Sibneft have asked deputy prime minister Viktor Khristenko to boost pipeline exports by 15mn t/yr (300,000 b/d) by ending separate pipeline...

Turkmen crude exports rise. (Caspian/central Asia).(Brief Article)
January 24, 2003... Turkmenistan exported 1.81mn t (36,000 b/d) of crude last year, up by 9pc on 2001. More than hall of the exports went along the Baku-Batumi route across the Caucasus. Monthly shipments through Russia's Caspian port of Makhachkala did not...

Pipeline breach delays AIOC exports. (Caspian/central Asia).(Brief Article)
January 24, 2003... The AIOC group is planning to put back February loadings of Azeri Light (see below) at its Supsa terminal by one day, as a result of theft and leaks from the 140,000 b/d Baku-Supsa pipeline. Damage was discovered near the city of Gori in...

Lukoil sets date for Yalama well. (Caspian/central Asia).
January 24, 2003... Russian oil company Lukoil will drill its first exploration well at the Yalama oil field, offshore Azerbaijan in the Caspian Sea, in October. The semi-submersible Istiglal rig is likely to do the job. Development of the field's...

Kazakh producers face new rules. (Caspian/central Asia).(on supplying refineries)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2003... Kazakhstan's parliament has passed the first reading of new laws obliging crude oil producers to supply refineries with predetermined volumes, and constraining refineries to work to planned maintenance schedules and to obtain licences for...

Czech refinery shake-up. (Central/eastern Europe).(Brief Article)
January 24, 2003... Shareholders in the Czech Refining Company (CRC)--operator of the Czech Republic's two largest refineries--have agreed to hand over responsibility for all feedstock purchases and product sales to a new firm, Unipetrol Rafinerie (UR). The...

Polish president vetoes biofuels bill. (Central/eastern Europe).(Brief Article)
January 24, 2003... Polish president Aleksandr Kwasniewski has vetoed a parliamentary bill that aimed to increase the amount of biofuel components in gasoline. The bill--already passed by Poland's parliament--would have imposed a minimum 4.5pc level of ethanol...

Hungary and Romania plan gas line. (Central/eastern Europe).(Brief Article)
January 24, 2003... Hungarian oil and gas firm Mol and Romanian gas transportation company Transgas have agreed to launch a feasibility study for a gas pipeline connecting Hungary and Romania. The study is expected to be completed this summer and, if approved,...

Looking ahead.(Calendar)
January 24, 2003... * GIOGE. 13-14 March. Tbilisi, Georgia. ITE. Tel: (44 20) 7596 5081 * North Caspian Oil & Gas. 15-17 April. Atyrau Kazakhstan. ITE. Tel: (44 20) 7596 5081 * The 10th Annual Central European Gas Conference. 28-30 April. Zagreb,...

Petromidia commissions new unit. (Central/eastern Europe).(Brief Article)
January 24, 2003... Romania's flagship refinery, the 96,000 b/d Petromidia plant, has put into operation a 5,500 t/month pentane-hexane isomerisation unit. The 1.5mn [euro] ($1.61mn) unit transforms unmarketable n-pentane into isomerate, which can be used in...

Oil firms flounder. (Stock markets).
January 24, 2003... A sharp correction in global equity markets, after a period of relative strength, brought Russian stocks down. The Russian Trading System was down by 5pc to 343 points. Investment bank UFG cites local issues, such as power utility concerns...

Firms boost `unofficial' exports through Ukraine. (News).(crude oil re-exports )
January 24, 2003... Russia is expected to raise crude oil exports to Ukraine this year, and a sizable part of the increase is likely to be re-exported through Ukrainian ports. The official export schedule from Russian pipeline operator Transneft has set...

Three bids for Ina. (News).(Croatia's state-owned oil and gas company)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2003... Austria's OMV, Hungary's Mol and Russia's Rosneft have bid for a 25pc stake in Croatian state-owned oil and gas company Ina. Mol and OMV, which already have extensive regional service station networks, are the favourites, according to...

TNK exports through Ukraine's Pivdenne. (News).(Brief Article)
January 24, 2003... Ukraine's Pivdenne crude terminal will handle two export cargoes this month. These are the first exports through the terminal, which was built to handle Caspian crude for shipment to central and eastern Europe (FSUE, 26 July. p6). Tyumen Oil...

Prices fall as supplies are restored. (Products market).
January 24, 2003... * Product supplies from the FSU were still badly disrupted by ice at Baltic ports, but the situation is improving, taking prices down from historic highs hit in the middle of January. The impact of the lost supply on gasoil markets was...

Urals collapses in Mediterranean. (Crude market).(crude oil prices)
January 24, 2003... * Crude prices remained strong on heightened US-Iraqi tension, even though Venezuela's general strike, now in its eighth week, looks close to ending. * Urals collapsed in the Mediterranean, losing 75 cents/bl against dated BFO on the...

FSU crude offtakers.
January 24, 2003... Crude export offtakers, December 2002 Volume Producers Offtakers ('000t) Novorossiysk Sibneft Sibneft Oil Trade...

Netbacks.(Russian crude prices)
January 24, 2003... Russian crude netbacks 22 Jan Ventspils Primorsk Butinge Urals (cif-fit) ($/bl) 30.93 30.93 30.93 Urals (cif-fit) ($/t) 225.79 225.79 225.79 Freight...

Russia delays pipeline decision: Japan wants an oil pipeline from Siberia to Nakhodka. China wants one to Daqing. Now Moscow has to choose.
January 17, 2003... Russia has decided to delay a decision on the route of a major pipeline from east Siberia to Asian markets until March when the government is due to approve a concert for development of east Siberian oil and gas. Until then, Moscow will have...

On thin ice: recent loading delays at Russian ports call into question the wisdom of blocking shipments to Ventspils. (Editorial).(Editorial)
January 17, 2003... Hands up who remembers the Western Pipeline System (WPS), Latvia's grand design to double capacity of its Ventspils crude terminal? After the 1998 financial crisis appeared to take the wind out of Russia's rival Baltic Pipeline System...

Russia and Austria move closer. (News).(Brief Article)
January 17, 2003... Russian pipeline operator Transneft has resumed negotiations with Austria's OMV about construction of a 50km pipeline from Bratislava in Slovakia to the 200,000 b/d Schwechat refinery near Vienna. The proposed line would link the Austrian...

Kasyanov delivers Murmansk export blow. (News).(Russian prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov)
January 17, 2003... Russian prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov has delivered a blow to the group of oil companies hoping to develop a new export route through the far north port of Murmansk. During a visit to Murmansk last week, Kasyanov announced that all new...

TNK agrees with Yukos to run Rospan. (News).(Tyumenneft, YUKOS Oil Co.)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2003... Tyumen Oil (TNK) is to operate west Siberian natural gas producer Rospan, majority owned by Russian oil company Yukos. The latter owns 56pc of Rospan, with TNK holding just 44pc. The companies vied for control of Rospan last year, and TNK...

Russians head for Baghdad. (News).(Brief Article)
January 17, 2003... A Russian delegation, headed by deputy energy minister Ivan Matlashov and deputy foreign minister Alexander Saltanov is visiting Iraq this week. The group will include Lukoil executives, who hope to persuade Iraq's newly appointed acting...

Kazakhs trim foreign perks. (News).(foreign oil firms to receive less tax breaks under new law)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2003... Foreign oil companies in Kazakhstan will receive fewer tax breaks and customs exemptions under a new law aimed at improving conditions for domestic operators. President Nursultan Nazarbayev last week approved changes from 21 January,...

Lukoil tests Iranian waters. (News).(Brief Article)
January 17, 2003... Lukoil has started supplying crude to Iran, the first Russian company to do so. And it is hoping to secure a long-term sales agreements. Litasco, Lukoil's transportation and shipping subsidiary, says its first cargo was delivered to Iran...

Dragon finds more oil. (News).(Brief Article)
January 17, 2003... Dragon Oil, majority-owned by Dubai-based Emirates National Oil, has reported flows of 9,464 b/d after tests at its fifth well in Turkmenistan's offshore Cheleken block. Further wells will be drilled in the second half of the year and...

Oil firms demand Ventspils export resumption ... (Exports and trade).
January 17, 2003... The heads of five leading oil companies rove urged Russian prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov to force state-owned pipeline operator Transneft to re-start crude shipments to the Latvian port of Ventspils. But the government is expected to ignore...

... And attack Transneft role at MVK. (Exports and trade).
January 17, 2003... Russian oil firms are increasingly discontented with the policies of the government commission on access to export pipelines (MVK), claiming crude exports are being artificially constrained. Producers say crude pipeline operator Transneft...

Baltic ice hampers exports. (Exports and trade).
January 17, 2003... Ice continues to disrupt FSU oil exports Iron Baltic ports, aggravating supply shortages and boosting fuel oil prices in Europe to two-year highs. There are currently no 80,000t ice-class tankers available in the region and only five...

Poland struggles to cope with extra oil. (Exports and trade).
January 17, 2003... Russian pipeline operator Transneft's decision to pencil in a separate 39,000 b/d crude export allocation for Poland's Baltic port of Gdansk in the first quarter reflects an overall hike in shipments on the northern leg of the Druzhba...

Crude traders move away from Platts. (Exports and trade).
January 17, 2003... Mediterranean crude traders have moved away from pricing off Platts Urals assessments since the price reporting agency changed its methodology at the beginning of the year. Platts' switch to calculations based on the structure of the...

Urals hit by loading paralysis. (Exports and trade).
January 17, 2003... The Urals market in the Mediterranean has been in a state of near paralysis for well over a month as loading delays at the key Black Sea outlet of Novorossiysk have mounted. Severe storms have left the port closed more often than not since...

Gazprom flexes export muscle. (Natural gas).
January 17, 2003... Russian gas giant Gazprom increased exports to European markets last year and plans further rises this year. It also hopes to claw back market share in CIS countries, lost to controversial trader Itera by former Gazprom management. ...

Hungary to reform gas pricing. (Natural gas).
January 17, 2003... The Hungarian government has drawn up proposals to liberalise the country's gas market by next year. But it has yet to come up with a solution to the problem of how to make all gas sales profitable. The socialist-led administration of...