FSU Energy articles from January 2004

FSU Energy archives from January 2004

Lukoil gains Saudi foothold: Riyadh has awarded a major upstream gas concession to Lukoil, fostering ever closer links with Moscow.
January 30, 2004... Lukoil's international ambitions were boosted this week after it won a tender for exploration and development of a gas block in Saudi Arabia. The Russian firm will work at block A in the Empty Quarter in southeast Saudi Arabia and...

Major development: Lukoils new upstream gas deal in Saudi Arabia is in a different league to its other overseas ventures.(Editorial)
January 30, 2004... It is tempting to see the award this week of a major upstream gas concession in Saudi Arabia to Lukoil as part of a concerted campaign by Riyadh to court Russia politically. But while the deal may well help foster closer links between the...

Yukos campaign heats up.(News)
January 30, 2004... Yukos remained under pressure this week, with further moves against shareholders and managers. On 27 January, senior Russian prosecutor Yuri Biryukov confirmed that three leading shareholders and top managers--Leonid Nevzlin, Mikhail...

TNK-BP rethinks offshore structure.(News)
January 30, 2004... TNK-BP is planning to create a new holding company, registered in Russia. The firm ascribes this to moves towards greater transparency, but observers suggest that the plan has been prompted by the Kremlin's increasingly hard line on oil...

Lukoil buys US retail station network.(News)
January 30, 2004... Lukoil will buy 795 US gasoline stations from ConocoPhillips for $265.75mn. The Russian company already owns the Getty retail network in the US and is believed to be in talks to buy a refinery on the US east coast. But analysts question...

Belarus runs out of gas.(News)
January 30, 2004... A long-simmering dispute between Russia and Belarus over gas supplies has turned nasty, with Russia temporarily suspending supplies after accusing Belarus of stealing gas from the export pipeline that crosses the country. Belarus has no...

Turkmens propose Iran pipeline.(News)
January 30, 2004... Turkmen president Saparmurat Niyazov has proposed construction of a crude pipeline to Iran. He raised the issue during a recent visit to Turkmen capital Ashgabat by Iran's foreign minister Kamal Kharrazi. Turkmenistan ships around 5,000...

Norwegian energy minister in Moscow.(News)
January 30, 2004... Norwegian energy minister Einar Steensnaes signed a programme on energy co-operation between Norway and Russia during a visit to Moscow this week. Norwegian companies are keen to participate in development of the 3 trillion m3 Shtokman...

Russia urges Sakhalin I to hasten gas programme.(Sakhalin)
January 30, 2004... The Sakhalin region authorities are pressing the ExxonMobil-led Sakhalin I consortium to submit a programme on gas development and sales. The Sakhalin administration wants to know where the Sakhalin I group plans to send its gas and when...

Mitsubishi may direct Sakhalin II LNG to US.(Sakhalin)
January 30, 2004... Sakhalin II shareholder Mitsubishi wants to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal on the US west coast, potentially offering a much-needed new sales outlet for Sakhalin supplies. The Japanese firm's US subsidiary Sound...

TNK-BP linked with Baltic oil terminal plan.(News)
January 30, 2004... Russia-UK venture TNK-BP has been linked to plans for a 4mn t/yr oil terminal on a greenfield site at Vistino bay on the Baltic near St Petersburg. Severo-Zapadny Alyans, which won a tender held by the Leningrad region last week for...

Primorsk Feb loading schedule.(News)
January 30, 2004... Primorsk Feb loading schedule '000t Date Supplier/exporter Volume Berth 1 1-2 Surgutneftegaz 100 2-3 Yukos ...

Novo Feb loading schedule.(News)
January 30, 2004... Novo Feb loading schedule '000t Date Supplier/exporter Volume Berth 1 1-2 TNK 145 2-3 Sidanco ...

Gdansk Feb loading schedule.(News)
January 30, 2004... Gdansk Feb loading schedule '000t Date Exporter Volume 8-9 TNK 100 10-11 Kazakh producers 100 15-16 Tatneft 100 19-20 Kazakh producers 100...

Butinge Feb loading schedule.(News)
January 30, 2004... Butinge Feb loading schedule '000t Date Exporter Volume 5-6 Lukoil 100 9-10 Yukos 100 12-13 ...

Tuapse Feb loading schedule.(News)
January 30, 2004... Tuapse Feb loading schedule '000t Date Exporter Volume 1 TNK 30 2 Tatneft 34 47 Sibneft ...

High freight rates depress Urals economics.(Exports and trade)
January 30, 2004... Mounting treight rates continue to undermine the economics of Urals seaborne exports. Fob prices at seaports have reached record-high discounts to dated BFO, especially at Black Sea ports, thanks to high demurrage costs as a result of 30-day...

Primorsk rates soar.(Exports and trade)
January 30, 2004... Rising exports and a lack of suitable ice-class tankers mean freight costs have reached record-high levels for voyages from the Baltic port of Primorsk, despite a much milder winter than last year. The latest deals for 100,000t tankers...

US imports set to resume.(Russia & CIS)
January 30, 2004... US imports of Russian crude are set to resume after sliding to nothing in November from 34,000 b/d in October and a record 475,000 b/d in July. High freight rates from Black Sea ports because of delays through the Turkish straits mean...

Hope for independent gas producers.(Russia & CIS)
January 30, 2004... The Russian government this week announced plans to set up a working group on access to Russia's gas pipeline system, a move that offers a ray of hope to independent producers. The group will work under the government commission on access to...

Sibneft maintains growth.(Russia & CIS)
January 30, 2004... Sibneft appears to be the only Russian oil company which intends to maintain oil production growth this year. The company announced that output will rise by 20pc this year from 632,000 b/d (31.45mn t) in 2002. This is roughly in line with...

Russia's refining throughputs rise.(Russia & CIS)
January 30, 2004... Russian refineries processed 3.8mn b/d (190mn t) of crude last year, up by 2.7pc on 2002. This increase is well behind crude output growth, which rose by 11pc to 8.43mn b/d. The difference reflects the fact that exports are more profitable...

Exporters reject Pivdenne boost.(Russia & CIS)
January 30, 2004... The Russian government commission on access to export pipelines (MVK) this week rejected a proposal by Transneft to increase the quarterly crude export allocation from Ukraine's Pivdenne by 600,000t in February-March. "Producers were strongly...

TNK-BP's Saratov plant gains depth.(Russia & CIS)
January 30, 2004... TNK-BP's 140,000 b/d Saratov refinery in central Russia plans to start operating a new $30mn visbreaking unit in June. This will boost refining depth to 75pc from 60pc, and increase output of clean products for export through Black Sea and...

Mozyr boosts refining depth.(Russia & CIS)
January 30, 2004... The 150,000 b/d Mozyr refinery in Belarus is completing work on a new catalytic cracking unit, due to go online next month. The unit will boost refining depth from about 70pc to 84pc and increase output of clean products to about 74pc of the...

Kazakh product output stays flat.(Caspian/central Asia)
January 30, 2004... Kazakh refineries produced 7.14mn t of products in 2003, almost unchanged on the previous year's output. December output was down slightly on the previous month. Kazakh product output Dec t/* mn t Refinery Atyrau Pavlodar...

Total's Kurmangazy hopes up.(Caspian/central Asia)
January 30, 2004... France's Total is still hoping to take a 25pc stake in a venture to develop Kazakhstan's offshore Kurmangazy field (FSUE, 12 September, p9). "We are continuing negotiations, but this process depends not only on us but also on political...

Glencore wins Serbian tender.(Central/eastern Europe)
January 30, 2004... Switzerland-based trader Glencore has won a tender to supply Serbia's state-owned oil company Nis with 600,000t (4.4mn bl) of crude for 1 February-30 April arrival. Nis, which owns two refineries, specified crude with a minimum API of 31...

Russian domestic product prices slide.
January 30, 2004... Fuel oil prices inside Russia maintained their downward slide in the first half of January, due to oversupply and the mild winter. Fuel oil prices fell by $3/t (Rbs90/t) to $61/t, while gasoil prices fell by 50cents/t, says oil market...

Looking ahead.(Calendar)
January 30, 2004... * Caspian, Black Sea and Turkiog Oil and Gas. 26-28 February. Istanbul. ITE. Tel: +44 20 7596 5166 * 10th Annual Conference of the Balkans and Black Sea Petroleum Association. 24-25 March. Ohrid, Macedonia. Tel: +359 2 955 6014 *...

Yukos blues drive away buyers.(Stock markets)
January 30, 2004... The Russian trading System (RI S) peaked early in the week, but fell back on 26 January when senior Russian prosecutor Yuri Biryukov announced the indictment of five core Yukos shareholders and seven other unnamed executives from the company....

Energy share.(Stock markets)
January 30, 2004... Energy shares 28 Jan chg Year 28 Jan 21 Jan low high RUSSIA ($) INDICES ASP Oil & Gas 1,115 +0.37 ...

RTS trade volumes (22-28 Jan).(Stock markets)
January 30, 2004... RTS traded volumes (22-28 Jan) Company Volume ($mn) % of RTS trade Lukoil 14.7 10.99 Surgutneftegaz 3.62 2.71 Gazprom 215 ...

Currency exchange rates (per $).(Stock markets)
January 30, 2004... Currency exchange rates (per $) 28 Jan Central and eastern Europe Bulgarian lev 1.56 Croatian kuna 6.07 Czech koruna 26.72 Hungarian forint 210.40 Polish zloty 3.76...

UES board seeks answers.(Companies)
January 30, 2004... The board of Russian power monopoly UES is becoming increasingly concerned about the number of foreign acquisitions it has made over the past six months, says board member David Geovannis. He intends to question the managers about a rash...

Court fines firms over Kazakh spat.(Companies)
January 30, 2004... A judge in the Texas State Court has found against oil services company Halliburton and UK-listed independent Ramco, in a long-running legal dispute with US oil firm Anglo-Dutch. The court has awarded damages and costs of $106mn against...

Gazprom board approves budget.(Companies)
January 30, 2004... Gazprom's board this week approved the firm's 2004 budget. Gazprom initially planned a budget with a $1.45bn deficit but revised this under pressure from the board--dominated by government officials. The final budget sees a surplus of around...

Prices dip with futures.(Products market)
January 30, 2004... * Product prices fell this week as futures came down from the peaks hit in the middle of January. Difficulties with shipping are having a big impact on arbitrage possibilities, keeping product in Europe and spot prices under pressure for...

Products prices.(Products market)
January 30, 2004... Products prices 28 Jan $/t Chg on 21 Jan Baltic ports (fob) Russian Gasoil 253.24 - 255.24 -25 M-100 (straight-run) 108.54 - 110.54 ...

Freight rates.(Products market)
January 30, 2004... Freight rates 28 Jan Rate WS ($/bl) Novorossiysk to Augusta (Italy) Clean products 30,000t 320 2.38 Fuel oil...

Urals remains under pressure.(Crude market)
January 30, 2004... * Crude prices fell on forecasts of milder weather in the US northeast region, and dated BFO prices dropped to below $30/bl for the first time this year. Urals eased against the benchmark in both the Mediterranean and northwest Europe, with...

Crude prices.(Crude market)
January 30, 2004... Crude prices 28 Jan $/bl Chg on 21 Jan diff to BFO NW Europe BFO (dated) 29.84 - 29.90 -1.81 -- Urals (cif) 27.39 - 27.45 -2.02...

Freight rates (capital shipbrokers).(Crude market)
January 30, 2004... Freight rates (Capital Shipbrokers) 28 Jan Novorossiysk to Augusta (Italy) WS Rate ($/bl) Crude 130,000t 310 2.36 Crude 80,000t 315 2.39 Crude...

Russian refinery output, December 2003.
January 30, 2004... Russian refinery output, December 2003 Crude Crude throughput throughput Dec '000 % chg Company/refinery Dec ...

Russian crude netbacks.(Netbacks)
January 30, 2004... Russian crude netbacks 28 Jan Primorsk Butinge Novo- rossiysk Urals (cif-fit) ($/bl) 28.42 28.42 28.47...

Rosneft covets northern project: the state-owned firm has set its sights on Lukoil's planned northern venture with ConocoPhillips.
January 23, 2004... Rosneft has approached fellow Russian firm Lukoil with a request to join its proposed joint venture with ConocoPhillips in Timan-Pechora. It has its eye on a 25pc stake in the $1.5bn project, which covers fields previously earmarked for...

Structural shift: rising Baltic exports have led Urals' values to slide in northwest Europe. Exporters will have to get used to it.(Editorial)
January 23, 2004... Russian Urals crude has always been worth more in northwest Europe than in the Mediterranean, reflecting the greater volumes exported from Black Sea ports. But pipeline operator Transneft's concentration of export capacity expansion on the...

Yukos wrestles with Sibneft.
January 23, 2004... Sibneft has agreed under pressure from Yukos to hold an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on 28 March to vote on changes to its charter and elect a new board. Talks between the two firms are continuing over how to dismantle their...

BP completes Slavneft deal.
January 23, 2004... BP has completed a deal to include a 50pc stake in Slavneft in the TNK-BP joint venture. It will pay $1.4bn for the stake to its TNK-BP partners Alfa Group and Access/Renova. The major paid slightly over the price of $1.35bn agreed last...

Surgutneftegaz slows pace of growth.
January 23, 2004... Surgutneftegaz plans to increase crude production this year by 5.5pc to 1.14mn b/d (57 mn t). Last year's output of 1.08mn b/d was up by 10pc on 2002. Surgut does not give any reason for the slowdown, but sources in the company ascribe the...

Chechnya wants oil control.
January 23, 2004... The Chechen government has mounted a bid to take control over local oil producing and refining units currently run--nominally at least--by Russian state-owned Rosneft. Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov, who was elected with strong backing...

Oslo studies Russian intentions.
January 23, 2004... Norwegian energy minister Einar Steensnaes will visit Moscow next week for talks with his Russian counterpart, Igor Yusufov, and economic and trade minister German Gref. Proposed Russian projects to supply oil and gas to the US will...

Russia, Ukraine agree on gas line.
January 23, 2004... Russia and Ukraine have agreed to start constructing the first section of the proposed 1,500km, 28bn [m.sup.3]/yr Novopskov-Uzhgorod gas line, which is designed to raise Russian exports to Europe by 25pc (FSUE, 29 August, p4). Construction of...

Russia adjusts 1Q pipeline schedule.
January 23, 2004... Russia's government commission on access to export pipelines, the MVK, will decide next week on adjusting the crude export schedule for January-March based on the results of actual supply to the Transneft system in the fourth quarter of 2003....

Consultant advises Odessa-Brody reversal.
January 23, 2004... US pipeline consultancy Energy Solutions has recommended that Ukraine temporarily reverse the 180,000 b/d Odessa-Brody pipeline for export of Russian crude, as proposed by TNK-BP. The firm was due to submit a study to Kiev this week, but...

Duma committees will follow party line.
January 23, 2004... United Russia, the Kremlin-created party backed by President Vladimir Putin that won a landslide majority in December's parliamentary elections, has secured control of all 29 committees in the Duma. Committee heads may still be able to...

Tatneft claims victory.
January 23, 2004... Russia's Tamer says the Turkish government has selected it as winner in the sale of a 65.76pc state-owned stake in refiner Tupras. The deal, if it goes ahead, will represent a major boost for Tatneft, raising its profile and ensuring a stable...

Czech Republic shortlists Unipetrol bidders.
January 23, 2004... The Czech government has short-listed three firms in the sale of a 63pc state-owned stake in oil holding company Unipetrol. Leading regional firms PKN Orlen of Poland, Mol of Hungary have both made it through to the second bidding round, as...

Russia, Kazakhstan agree on transit allocations.
January 23, 2004... Russia has raised the limit of Kazakhstan's crude transit allocation for 2004 to 440,000 b/d (22mn t), from 390,000 b/d last year, according to a protocol signed by the energy ministers of both states, a copy of which has been obtained by...

Azeris object to Russian tariff hike.
January 23, 2004... Azerbaijan is threatening to stop crude exports via Novorossiysk if Russia hikes pipeline tariffs, as proposed. State-owned Socar, which exports 50,000 b/d through the Baku-Novorossiysk line, will divert the oil to the Baku refineries if...

RTS breaks through the 600 barrier.
January 23, 2004... The Russian Trading System (RTS) broke through the 600-point mark on 20 January, and looked set to remain above it towards the end of the week. Shell's recent downgrade of its reserves has helped reawaken investor interest in Russia,...

Seaborne exports set to rise.
January 23, 2004... Russia's seaborne crude exports are set to increase in February, as the port allocations for the month have been set by pipeline operator Transneft at 2.33mn b/d (9.3mn t), 120,000 b/d above the January schedule (see table). The figure does...

ExxonMobil shuts Zafar-Mashal well.
January 23, 2004... ExxonMobil has suspended drilling the second well at its offshore Zafar-Mashal block in the Azeri sector of the Caspian Sea, according to a source close to the project. The major began shutting in the first well at the block earlier this...

Fob fuel oil prices fall.
January 23, 2004... Fuel oil prices at Baltic ports dipped to $115-117/t this week, down by around $16-17/t on levels a fortnight ago, thanks to continuing oversupply. There is little demand from European buyers, with trade further hampered by limited tanker...

Azerbaijan starts gasoil exports to Iran.
January 23, 2004... Trader Petrofarm has started shipping gasoil from Baku's Azneftyanajag refinery to Iran, says an official from Azeri state-owned oil firm Socar, which operates the plant. So far this year the trader has shipped two 4,5005,000t cargoes to...

Romanian gas sale.
January 23, 2004... Five potential buyers have expressed interest in Romanian state-owned gas distribution firms Diztrigaz Nord and Distrigaz Sud. Germany's Wintershall and Eon, Italy's Enel, Russia's Gazprom, and Gas de France have all come forward for...

Baltic ports directory.
January 23, 2004... This new edition of the Argus guide to oil terminals on the Baltic Sea is an essential tool for anyone who needs to keep up with the latest changes to the region's export infrastructure. It covers all major outlets, as well as lesser-known...

Looking ahead.
January 23, 2004... * Risks and Opportunities in Caspian and Central Asian Oil and Gas Pipeline Partnerships. 26-27 January. London, CWC. Tel: +44 207089 4200 * Caspian Black Sea & Turkiog Oil & Gas. 26-28 February. Istanbul. ITE. Tel: +44 20 7596 5166 ...

Gazprom exports, Jan-Dec.
January 23, 2004... Gazprorm exports, Jan-Dec bn [m.sup.3] 2002 2003 Total Export 130.6 140.48 Non-FSU 129.4 138.93 Austria 5.2 6.03 Germany 32.2...

Fuel fundamentals weakening.
January 23, 2004... * Limited export opportunities from Europe meant there was little demand for fuel oil. Gasoil exports rose on solid demand from the US. although high freight rates are restricting arbitrage opportunities, * High-sulphur cracked fuel oil...

Record loadings hit Urals.
January 23, 2004... * Dated BFO remained close to $32/51. Urals remained under pressure, sliding in both the Mediterranean and northwest Europe as initial indications suggest exports are set to rise again in February from January's record levels, * An...

Russian pipeline exports, 2003.
January 23, 2004... Russian pipeline exports, 2003 '000t Exporter Novorossiysk Tuapse Odessa Total exports through Russia 47,697.3 4,860.3 9,452.0 Total exports by Russia 41,651.3 4,860.3...

Russian crude production, November 2003.
January 23, 2004... Russian crude production, November 2003 Nov Nov '000t '000 b/d Vertically integrated oil companies ...

Russian crude netbacks.
January 23, 2004... Russian crude netbacks 21 Jan Primorsk Butinge Novo- rossiysk Urals (cif-fit) ($/bl) 29.44 29.44 ...

Kasyanov backs export duty hike: high oil prices mean companies are enjoying 'excess profits'. And the government wants its share.
January 16, 2004... Russian premier Mikhail Kasyanov this week reiterated his support for a windfall tax on oil firms, underlining the fact that the sector's tax burden is likely to increase this year. Such a tax is justified when prices are above $25/bl,...

Capacity creep: a question mark hangs over big new pipeline projects. But Russia's crude export capacity will still grow.(Editorial)
January 16, 2004... The Russian energy ministry's programme for this year (see p4) is exactly what you would expect from an institution whose job is essentially to reformulate the Kremlin's view on energy issues for wider consumption. The ministry does not set...

Tatneft leads Tupras race.(News)
January 16, 2004... Russia's Tatneft has emerged as frontrunner in the privatisation tender for Turkish refiner Tupras. The purchase would allow Tatneft--already a leading Russian supplier of crude to Turkey--to boost its Turkish shipments. ...

Lukoil hopes for Iraq breakthrough.(News)
January 16, 2004... Lukoil remains optimistic about the prospects of being able to revive its contract to develop the 7bn bl West Qurna project in Iraq. The firm's vice-president, Leonid Fedun, said this week that there are some "positive signs", and company...

Yukos pledges Talakan fightback.(News)
January 16, 2004... Yukos is planning a further appeal against an east Siberian arbitration court decision awarding a permanent development licence for the Talakan crude and condensate field to Surgutneftegaz (FSUE. 19 December p4). The court, in the...

Energy ministry outlines export capacity priorities.(News)
January 16, 2004... Russia's energy ministry has outlined the government's priority energy projects for this year. The programme envisages significant expansion of export capacity, although some of the projects oil companies have been pushing remain on the back...

Transneft tightens transit control.(News)
January 16, 2004... Russia's pipeline monopoly, Transneft, has tightened its control over crude transit through the country's neighbours. Russian exporters say this year's deals with Transneft require them to pay transit fees to the Russian pipeline company...

AIOC plans to spend more.(Caspian/Central Asia)
January 16, 2004... The BP-led AIOC consortium will invest $2.45bn this year in its Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) offshore block in Azerbaijan. This will include $2.36bn in capital expenditure (capex) and $90mn in operational expenditure (opex), says David...

Kazakhstan exports more crude.(Caspian/Central Asia)
January 16, 2004... Kazakhstan exported 712.000 b/d (35.6mn t) of crude last year. Shipments through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) route to Novorossiysk rose. despite a drop in output at the Tengiz field because of maintenance. The increase reflects...

PetroKazakhstan ships first cargo to Iran.(Caspian/Central Asia)
January 16, 2004... Canada's PetroKazakhstan has exported its first 3,000t (21,900 bl) cargo of Kazakh Kumkol crude to Iran by rail. The crude was shipped across Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan to Serakhs on the Iranian border last month. From there it went to...