FSU Energy articles from March 2004

FSU Energy archives from March 2004

Marathon sets sights on Vankor: the US oil company is positioning itself as a potential partner for Rosneft in developing Russian projects.
March 26, 2004... US company Marathon could be poised to replace France's Total as a potential partner of Russia's state-owned Rosneft in developing the 1bn bl Vankor field in east Siberia's Krasnoyarsk region. Marathon has already proposed joining forces with...

Doomsday scenario: an unfortunate sequence of events has given Europe fresh incentive to re-examine its security of gas supply.(Editorial)
March 26, 2004... In February, Russia briefly cut gas deliveries to Belarus, including transit shipments to European consumers (FSUE, 20 February, p1). The affect on European buyers ranged from inconvenient to irksome. Germany's Ruhrgas, Gazprom's largest...

Georgian deal looks fragile.(News)
March 26, 2004... Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili has threatened to reintroduce sanctions against the separatist Ajaria region, which last week resulted in the blocking of oil exports through the Black Sea port of Batumi. On 19 March the two sides...

Kazakhs plan to sign BTC agreements.(News)
March 26, 2004... Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan plan to sign a package of intergovernmental agreements on the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline next month, an important step towards securing Kazakh crude for the route. Kazakh prime minister Daniyal Akhmetov...

Kudrin sets out export tax rises.(News)
March 26, 2004... Russian finance minister Alexei Kudrin has clarified planned changes to the taxes paid by oil firms. The government will study the proposals on 9 April. Ministers are suggesting price-related increases in export duties, and revisions to...

Rosneft launches floating storage.(News)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2004... State-owned Rosneft this week officially opened its new 360,000t floating storage tanker the Belokamenka in the ice-free Kola Bay, 15km from Murmansk on the Barents Sea. The tanker will mainly handle crude delivered from Rosneft's...

Sibneft all dressed up.(News)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2004... Sibneft is actively trying to woo a foreign major in the wake of its failed merger with rival Russian oil firm Yukos, say analysts. But balancing the attractions of a Russian reserve base are risks--including a substantial and increasing tax...

Russia accelerates eastern pipeline project.(News)
March 26, 2004... Russia's natural resources ministry has approved the new route of a planned 1mn b/d pipeline from the east Siberian town of Taishet to Perevoznaya Bay, close to the Pacific port of Nakhodka (FSUE, 20 February, p5). Sources at Russian pipeline...

Ust-Luga plans product terminal.(News)
March 26, 2004... The operator of the Ust-Luga port on the Gulf of Finland is planning to start construction work on a product terminal next month. Ust-Luga says the first 2mn t/yr phase of the terminal is scheduled to start operating by summer 2005. Dredging...

Novo Apr loading schedule.(Exports and trade)(Illustration)
March 26, 2004... Novo Apr loading schedule '000t Date Supplier/exporter Volume Berth 1 1-2 TNK-BP (Tyumen Oil 10.2, Sidanco 129.8) 140 2-3 TNK-BP (Tyumen Oil) ...

Butinge Apr loading schedule.(Exports and trade)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
March 26, 2004... Butinge Apr loading schedule '000t Date Supplier/exporter Volume 4-5 Yukos 100 9-10 Yukos 100 14-15...

Tuapse Apr loading schedule.(Exports and trade)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2004... Tuapse Apr loading schedule '000t Date Supplier/exporter Volume 3-6 Sibneft 78 8-11 Lukoil 75 13-15 TNK-BP (Tyumen Oil...

Scheduled seaborne exports.(Exports and trade)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2004... Scheduled seaborne exports '000t Apr Mar chg vs Mar Novorossiysk 3,700 3,896 -196 Tuapse 390 339 51 Odessa 660 640 20 Pivdenne 0...

Primorsk Apr loading schedule.(Exports and trade)(Illustration)
March 26, 2004... Primorsk Apr loading schedule '000t Date Supplier/exporter Volume 1-2 Surgutneftegaz 102 1-2 TNK-BP (Sidanco) 44...

Gdansk Apr loading schedule.(Exports and trade)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2004... Gdansk Apr loading schedule '000t Date Exporter Volume 5-6 TNK-BP (Tyumen Oil) 100 8-9 Kazakh producers 100 12-13 Slavneft 100 15-16 TNK-BP (Tyumen Oil) 100 18-19...

Baltic exports set to rise.(Exports and trade)(Baltic pipeline system )(Brief Article)
March 26, 2004... Crude exports from Baltic ports are set to exceed those from Black Sea ports for the first time next month. Transneft has agreed pipeline shipments to Baltic ports totalling 1.24mn b/d in April, 91,000 b/d more than under the March plan....

Gref praises Gazprom's efforts.(News)
March 26, 2004... Russian economic development minister German Gref this week praised Gazprom's internal restructuring efforts, although his own proposals for far-reaching reform of the gas giant appear to be well and truly off the agenda. Gref said that...

Russia halts CNPC loadings.(News)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2004... A Russian court has suspended crude exports by state-owned Chinese firm CNPC from the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal on the Black Sea, according to a source at CNPC subsidiary China Oil. The court ordered that CNPC's Russian...

Gazprom completes Lithuania deal.(News)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2004... Gazprom has completed its 29.4mn [euro] ($35.6mn) purchase of a 34pc state-owned stake in Lithuanian gas company Lietuvos Dujos, and signed a sales agreement with it that will run until 2015 (FSUE, 16 January, p9). The deal will turn...

Rosneft quits overseas projects.(Russia & CIS)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2004... Rosneft intends to phase out its overseas upstream activities to concentrate on domestic production. The company is developing the 100mn bl Surroriente field in Colombia as part of a consortium, and also has a contract for the 245-South block...

Lukoil delays Vysotsk, again.(Russia & CIS)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2004... Lukoil has once again delayed the start of exports from its new 4.5mn t/yr Vysotsk oil terminal on the Gulf of Finland. The terminal, 100km northwest of St Petersburg, was scheduled to start operations at the end of March, but this was...

Tikhoretsk gets equal treatment.(Russia & CIS)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2004... Transneft and Russia's energy ministry have for the first time drafted a quarterly export schedule for rail shipments of crude from Transneft's Tikhoretsk rail terminal, 200km north of Novorossiysk. Transneft has previously distributed the...

Sakhalin Energy tenders Vityaz crude.(Russia & CIS)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2004... The Shell-led Sakhalin Energy consortium this week issued its first tender of the year to sell Vityaz crude produced off Sakhalin island in Russia's far east. The company is offering 730,000 bl of the 34.3[degrees] API gravity grade for 6-20...

Gazprom exports, Jan-Feb.(Brief Article)(Illustration)
March 26, 2004... Gazprom exports, Jan-Feb bn [m.sup.3] Jan-Feb 2003 Jan-Feb 2004 Total 26.2 28.59 Western Europe 17.9 19.60 Austria ...

Looking ahead.(Brief Article)(Calendar)
March 26, 2004... * CIS Oil and Gas Summit. 30 March-1 April. London. The Energy Exchange. Tel: +44 20 7067 1800. Fax: +44 20 7430 9513 * North Caspian Oil and Gas. 7-9 April. Kazakhstan. ITE. Tel: +44 20 7 596 5166 * CIS Oil and Gas Traders...

Kazakhstan reveals Kashagan fine.(Caspian/central Asia)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2004... The international consortium developing the Kashagan oil field in the Caspian Sea is to pay a $150mn fine for delaying the initial oil production, Kazakhstan's finance minister says. The group--led by Italian firm Eni's Agip-KCO...

PetroKazakhstan penalties tripled.(Caspian/central Asia)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2004... The Kazakh supreme court has rejected an appeal by Canada's PetroKazakhstan against a recent fine for selling products at inflated prices. The court also increased the penalty to $3.6mn from $1mn. PetroKazakhstan may now take the issue to...

Vitol in big Turkmen deal.(Caspian/central Asia)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2004... Trading firm Vitol has bought 500,000t of Okarem crude from Turkmen state-owned Turkmenneftegaz, according to a local trader. Vitol bought the crude on a fob Okarem basis, paying a $5.40/bl discount to Platts' Urals cif Mediterranean...

Surgut disappoints.(Caspian/central Asia)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2004... Surgutneftegaz, Russia's fourth-biggest oil producer, has come under fire this week for low pre-tax profits, at a time of high oil prices, and for a lack of transparency in its accounts. On the eve of the firm's annual shareholder...

Kazakh product output falls.(Caspian/central Asia)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2004... Product output at Kazakhstan's 163,000 b/d Pavlodar refinery fell in February to 413,400t from 651,700t in January due to three weeks of maintenance, which ended on 23 February. Kazakh refinery output, Feb '000t Products Atyrau...

Yamal-Europe capacity to increase.(Central/eastern Europe)(Europolgaz)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2004... Europolgaz, the company operating the Polish section of the Yamal-Europe gas line from Russia, this month started construction of two new pumping stations. The units, in Szamotuly, west Poland, and Ciechanow, east Poland, are due to be...

Poles in Iraq.(Central/eastern Europe)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2004... A consortium of eight Polish companies has bid for a contract to build a hydrotreatment and desulphurisation unit at the 100,000 b/d Daura refinery near Baghdad, which supplies products to the domestic market. Results are expected by 15...

Announcement.(Brief Article)
March 26, 2004... Jim Nicholson has joined Argus as global business development manager. Jim will be based at Argus' London headquarters, where he will join the company's senior management team. Jim has spent most of his career specialising in publishing and...

RTS boosted by crude security fears.(Stock markets)
March 26, 2004... Moscow's RTS exchange kept climbing over the week, for exactly the same reason that other stock markets retreated. Global crude prices stayed extremely strong on the back of growing security concerns in the Middle East following Israel's...

Moscow to decide on final Lukoil stake.(Companies)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2004... The Russian government is close to making a decision on selling its remaining stake in Lukoil, according to economic development minister German Gref. The government will pass a special resolution on the issue in the near future, he says. ...

Yukos, Sibneft under investigation.(Companies)
March 26, 2004... Russia's anti-monopoly agency has postponed a ruling it was expected to make on 25 March over allegations that Yukos and Sibneft illegally colluded prior to their merger last year. The agency says it will not rule on the issue for several...

Sibneft marketing chief goes into politics.(Companies)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2004... Sibneft refining and marketing vice-president Valery Oif has resigned to become a member of the Federation Council, the upper chamber of Russia's parliament. Oif will represent the Omsk region, where Sibneft operates the 385,000 b/d Omsk...

Gasoil retreats but fuel oil is stable.(Products market)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2004... * Gasoil prices declined over the week after recent gains, but heavy fuel oil was relatively stable. The move lower on gasoil was partly prompted by increased supply in April, but was also seen to be a seasonal move as Europe emerged from...

Products prices.(Products market)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
March 26, 2004... Products prices 24 Mar Baltic ports (fob) $/t Chg on 17 Mar Russian Gasoil 296.11-298.11 -8 M-100 (straight-run) 128.13-130.13 +1 M-100 (cracked) ...

Freight rates.(Products market)(Illustration)
March 26, 2004... Freight rates 24 Mar Rate WS ($/bl) Novorossiysk to Augusta (Italy) Clean products 30,000t 285 2.17 Fuel oil...

Crude prices.(Crude market)(Illustration)
March 26, 2004... Crude prices 24 Mar NW Europe $/bl Chg on 17 Mar diff to BFO BFO (dated) 34.11-34.17 -0.75 -- Urals (cif) ...

Freight rates.(Crude market)(Illustration)
March 26, 2004... Freight rates (Capital Shipbrokers) 24 May Novorossiysk to Augusta (Italy) WS Rate ($/bl) Crude 130,000t 200 1.56 Crude 80,000t 225 1.75 Crude 60,000t ...

Urals firms in the Med.(Crude market)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2004... * Prices topped $33/bl this week on concerns over low gasoline and distillate stocks, prompted by higher demand in the US. Urals looked weaker in northwest Europe but firmed in the Mediterranean as details of April loading schedules emerged....

Russian rail exports/imports, February 2004.(Russian rail data)
March 26, 2004... Russian rail exports/imports, February 2004 '000t % chg YTD Crude '000 b/d Jan '000 b/d Overland Afghanistan Armenia...

Russian crude netbacks.(Netbacks)(Illustration)
March 26, 2004... Russian crude netbacks 24 Mar Primorsk Butinge Novoro- ssiysk Urals (cif-fit) ($/bl) 32.09 32.09 31.34 Urals...

Batumi exports suspended: the conflict between Georgia's government and the Ajaria region interrupted oil deliveries this week.
March 19, 2004... Oil exports via Georgia's Black Sea port of Batumi were temporarily halted this week after Tbilisi imposed economic sanctions on the separatist Ajaria region, home to the port. Rail traffic between Georgia and Ajaria was suspended and lines...

Close call: Georgia has always been unstable. But as its oil transit role increases, the stakes are getting higher.(Editorial)
March 19, 2004... Ajaria's recent defiance of the Georgian government (see p1) merely underlines the inherent fragility of what has now become a key link in the oil and gas export chain from the Caspian and central Asia. Talks between president Mikhail...

Yukos steps up China campaign.(News)
March 19, 2004... Yukos is intensifying its efforts to become the leading Russian crude supplier to China. The firm has offered to help finance an upgrade of Mongolia's rail system to ensure that transit shipments of Russian crude can increase significantly...

Russian officials call for Kovykta decision.(News)
March 19, 2004... Russian diplomats in China warn that further delays in development of gas exports from the 1.9 trillion [m.sup.3] Kovykta field in east Siberia could prompt Beijing to look elsewhere for supplies. "We have received signals from the...

Government appoints energy, tariff heads.(News)
March 19, 2004... Vladimir Putin has ordered his government to complete structural reorganisation by 9 May, meeting the two-month term set by the president for cabinet reform. In line with the wider reform programme, premier Mikhail Fradkov has appointed heads...

Gazprom talks supply security with Poland.(News)
March 19, 2004... Gazprom is working on ways to ensure uninterrupted gas supply to European consumers after the breakdown of the latest round of talks on transit and supply with Belarus. The Russian gas giant was due to sign a deal with Belarusian...

Putin wants Gazprom treated 'with care'.(News)(Brief Article)
March 19, 2004... Vladimir Putin's second term as Russian president is unlikely to usher in a period of far-reaching gas sector reform, if remarks he made immediately after his re-election are to be taken at face value. The restructuring of natural...

Surgut output stays on target.(News)
March 19, 2004... Surgutneftegaz, Russia's fourth-biggest oil producer, boosted crude production by 11pc in the first two months of this year compared with the same period of last year. The company increased output in January-February to 9.4mn t (1.14mn...

Transneft requests tariff hike.(Exports and trade)
March 19, 2004... Transneft has asked the federal energy commission (FEK) to approve an increase in crude pipeline tariffs to compensate for VAT payments that it has to make and for the weakening of the US dollar, in which some tariffs are set. "We are...

Russian exporters ready for EU expansion.(Exports and trade)
March 19, 2004... Russian crude exporters are ready for expansion of the EU at the beginning of May to include their key markets and transit countries. "We have analysed possible consequences. But there are practically none," says an official with a big...

Russia to cut transit via Ukraine.(Exports and trade)(Brief Article)
March 19, 2004... Russia is planning a cut in transit via Ukraine in the second quarter, a move attributed to Moscow's dissatisfaction with the latter's transit policy. The export schedule for the second quarter (see pp 14-15) provides for shipments of 502,000...

Rosneft hopes for Primorsk terminal.(News)
March 19, 2004... State-controlled Rosneft hopes to start building a new crude and product terminal at Primorsk next year. The first $230mn phase of construction would be completed by 2007, with capacity of 15mn t/yr, including 6mn t/yr (120,000 b/d) of...

TNK-BP tightens control over Ukraine assets.(News)
March 19, 2004... TNK-BP will establish a new Ukrainian subsidiary later this month--TNK-BP Ukraine--to tighten control over its assets and operations in this country. The new company will help "introduce uniform management and ensure co-ordination...

Ministry investigates Slavneft licences.(News)(Brief Article)
March 19, 2004... Russia's ministry of natural resources has found Slavneft production subsidiary Megionneftegaz guilty of extensive licence violations at its fields in west Siberia's Khanty-Mansiysk autonomous district. The ministry's Khanty-Mansiysk...

Yukos appeals.(Russia & CIS)(Brief Article)
March 19, 2004... Yukos is planning to appeal against a Moscow court decision to annul the $9bn share issue used to acquire Sibneft. In early March the court ruled that the federal securities commission was wrong to register the July 2003 share issue due to...

Gazprom identifies NEGP gas source.(Russia & CIS)(North European Gas Pipeline)(Brief Article)
March 19, 2004... Gazprom has identified the Yuzhno-Russkoye gas field in the Yamal-Nenets autonomous region in west Siberia as the main source of supply for the planned North European Gas Pipeline (NEGP). The field contains 600bn m3 of proven and probable...

TNK-BP raises 2004 targets.(Russia & CIS)(Brief Article)
March 19, 2004... TNK-BP has revised its production plan for the year, amid higher than expected international crude prices and recent increases in the capacity of Russia's export pipelines. The firm expects crude production to increase by 14pc to 1.45mn b/d,...

Rosneft invests in Vankor.(Russia & CIS)(Brief Article)
March 19, 2004... Russia's state-controlled Rosneft will invest $1.2bn in developing the east Siberian Vankor field over the next four years, but it is unclear whether France's Total will join the project. Rosneft expects to see Vankor's oil output hit 6mn...

Shell still favours PSAs.(Russia & CIS)(Brief Article)
March 19, 2004... A senior Shell executive has voiced support for development of Russian projects under production-sharing agreements (PSAs), despite last year's freeze on new PSA projects (FSUE, 16 May, p8). Planned PSA developments before last year's Duma...

ING lends $295mn for Khabarovsk.(Russia & CIS)(Brief Article)
March 19, 2004... Investment bank ING has agreed to issue a $295mn credit for one year for the upgrade of the 90,000 b/d Khabarovsk refinery in Russia's far east, says plant operator Alyans. The upgrade will include construction of a 500,000 t/yr diesel and...

Looking ahead.(Calendar)
March 19, 2004... * 10th Annual Conference of the Balkans and Black Sea Petroleum Association. 24-25 March. Ohrid, Macedonia. Tel: +359 2 955 6014 * CIS Oil and Gas Summit 30 March-1 April. London. The Energy Exchange. Tel: +44 20 7067 1800. Fax: +44 20...

CPC to raise tariff from 1 June.(Russia & CIS)(Caspian Pipeline Consortium)(Brief Article)
March 19, 2004... The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) will raise the tariff of its Tengiz-Novorossiysk pipeline to $27.22/t ($3.73/bl) from I June, up from $26.19/t now. The rise is an automatic annual change, made in line with the producers' price index....

Ministry proposes new product duty.(Russia & CIS)(Brief Article)
March 19, 2004... Russia's ministry for economic development has drafted a new ruling covering product export duties. It proposes that clean products, including gasoil, be subject to a rate that is 130pc of the prevailing crude export duty, while dirty...

Kazakhstan cuts crude exports.(Caspian/central Asia)(Brief Article)
March 19, 2004... Kazakhstan exported 720,000 b/d (2.86mn t) of crude in February, compared with 698,000 b/d in January. Crude exports and imports '000t Route Feb [+ or -] Jan Pipelines ...

Georgia ups rail transit tariffs.(Caspian/central Asia)(Brief Article)
March 19, 2004... Georgia has raised rail tariffs for crude shipments to $6/t from $5/t, and those for oil products to $8/t from $7/t. Georgian railways primarily handles oil being shipped from Baku to Batumi, although deliveries to the Georgian Black Sea port...

Azerbaijan ups product exports.(Caspian/central Asia)(Brief Article)
March 19, 2004... Azerbaijan exported 170,500t of products in February, up from 163,300t in January and 156,000t in February 2003. Socar sold gasoline at an average of $322.20/t ($7.30/t less than in January) in February, kerosine at $292.60/t (-$11.8/t),...

Latvia allows doping.(Baltics)(Brief Article)
March 19, 2004... The Latvian customs authorities have lifted a ban on "doping" of products with additives such as hydrogen sulphide scavenger, which removes hydrogen sulphide. The ban, introduced earlier this year, had pushed up the cost of exporting through...

Oil prices keep investors optimistic.(Stock markets)
March 19, 2004... Soaring crude futures mean the fundamentals on Russia's oil-dominated stock market are looking extremely strong. The country's foreign currency reserves are at record highs of around $85bn, thanks in large measure to crude export...

Nafta Polska upheaval threatens PKN-Mol.(Companies)
March 19, 2004... Upheaval at Nafta Polska, the state-controlled holding company overseeing oil-sector privatisation and restructuring in Poland, has cast serious doubts over plans to merge the country's main oil firm, PKN Orlen, and Hungarian oil and gas...

JKX profits up on output hike.(Companies)(ETG)(Brief Article)
March 19, 2004... Higher Ukrainian output and a rise in oil prices boosted UK firm JKX's profits to $10.7mn in 2003 from $5.9mn in 2002. JKX chief executive Paul Davies says output rose by 55pc. He adds that the firm received an average $26/bl for crude...

Cash bids for UES.(Companies)(United Energy Systems of Russia)(Brief Article)
March 19, 2004... Moscow looks set to approve cash bids at the auctions for wholesale generating companies when power monopoly UES is dismantled, say industry sources. A commission looking into power-sector reform headed by energy and industry minister Victor...

Gasoil stays strong in the Med.(Products market)(Brief Article)
March 19, 2004... * Prices rose in line with futures, which closed in on highs not seen since August 1990. Gasoil was particularly strong in the Mediterranean. But recent heavy refining runs have resulted in a surplus of unwanted fuel oil, leaving prices...

Products prices.(Products market)(Illustration)
March 19, 2004... Products prices 17 Mar Baltic ports (fob) $/t Chg on 10 Mar Russian Gasoil 303.86 - 305.86 +40 M-100 (straight-run) 127.13 - 129.13 -3 M-100 (cracked)...

Freight rates.(Products market)(Illustration)
March 19, 2004... Freight rates 17 Mar Rate WS ($/bl) Novorossiysk to Augusta (Italy) Clean products 30,000t 320 2.44 Fuel oil...

Crude prices.(Crude market)(Illustration)
March 19, 2004... Crude prices 17 Mar Chg on $/bl 10 Mar diff to BFO NW Europe BFO (dated) 34.86 - 34.92 +2.05 -- Urals (cif) ...

Freight rates (Capital Shipbrokers).(Crude market)(Illustration)
March 19, 2004... Freight rates (Capital Shipbrokers) 17 Mar WS Rate ($/bl) Novorossiysk to Augusta (Italy) Crude 130,000t 165 1.28 Crude 80,000t ...

Bantumi blockade holds up BP cargo.(Crude market)(Brief Article)
March 19, 2004... * Crude prices continued to spiral upwards on supply and security concerns, with dated BFO rising above $33/bl. Urals in both the Mediterranean and northwest Europe remained reasonably stable, with March cargoes largely cleared out and April...

Russia's crude export schedule outside the FSU, 2Q 2004.(Russian 2Q oil exports)(Illustration)
March 19, 2004... Russia's crude export schedule outside the FSU, 2Q 2004 '000t Novoro- Exporter ssiysk Tuapse Odessa Pivdenne Total exports through Russia 11,500.0 1,185.0...

Russian crude netbacks.(Netbacks)(Illustration)
March 19, 2004... Russian crude netbacks 17 Mar Primorsk Butinge Novo- rossiysk Urals (cif-fit) ($/bl) 32.84 32.84 31.99...