FSU Energy articles from November 2003

FSU Energy archives from November 2003

OMV looks to Russia: the Austrian firm is looking for new reserves. And it is finalising plans for a pipeline link with the Druzhba.
November 28, 2003... Austrian energy company OMV has identified Russia as a future core production area, and plans to start an upstream project there within the next two years. Undeterred by recent fears about the stability of the country's investment climate,...

The morning after: Georgia is a key link in the export chain from the Caspian. But it is facing an uncertain future.(Editorial, energy transit projects)
November 28, 2003... Unrest in the streets of Tbilisi turned into celebration late last week as Georgians ushered in their "velvet" revolution. But former president Eduard Shevardnadze's handover of power to an opposition coalition has made Georgia an even more...

Kashagan partners find more oil.(News)
November 28, 2003... The international consortium developing Kazakhstan's offshore North Caspian production-sharing agreement (PSA), which includes the giant Kashagan block, has made two new oil discoveries. First exploration wells on the Aktote and Kashagan...

Georgia upheaval raises transit questions.(News)
November 28, 2003... The resignation of Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze on 23 November has raised fears about the security of planned and existing oil and gas export routes through the country. Azeri president Ilham Aliyev has warned that instability...

Downstream chief outlines trading strategy.(YukosSibneft Q&A)(Pyotr Zolotarev)(Interview)
November 28, 2003... The merger of leading Russian oil firm Yukos and its smaller rival Sibneft has prompted managers to look at new strategies for trading the combined firm 's crude and product output. In an interview with Argus, YukosSibnefi's first...

FEK refuses China rail tariff cut.(YukosSibnet Q&A)(federal energy commission)
November 28, 2003... The federal energy commission (FEK) has sent back Yukos' request for a cut in rail tariffs for etude exports to China. There is "insufficient justification" for the cuts, says a FEK official. The FEK has asked Yukos and Russian Railways,...

Uncertainty dents major ambitions.(YukosSibneft)
November 28, 2003... The continuing uncertainty surrounding Yukos appears to have prompted the company to scale back its plans to become an international major. Forecasts for 2004 made by the YukosSibnefi combined board last week seem less ambitious than they...

Novorossiysk cut set to bring down December exports.(Export schedules)
November 28, 2003... FSU seaborne crude exports are set to fall in December, with the Novorossiysk loading schedule set at 819,000 b/d, the smallest this year and down by 65,000 b/d from November. Despite this, major exporters say the December schedules will...

Russian output, exports may drop in 1Q.(Exports and trade)
November 28, 2003... Russian crude production and exports could decline in the first quarter of 2004 due to winter export restrictions. But volumes are expected to remain well above first quarter 2003 levels. Energy ministry forecasts put crude and condensate...

BPS paves the way for growth.(Exports and trade)(Baltic Pipeline System)
November 28, 2003... FSU crude exports eased in October as pipeline firm Transneft diverted crude from Baltic ports to the expanded Baltic Pipeline System (BPS) serving Primorsk. Total exports were 4.64mn b/d (19.6mn t), down by 3.7pc on September. But...

ETG receives Gazprom loan.(Eural Trans Gas)(Gazprombank)
November 28, 2003... Hungarian gas trader Eural Trans Gas (ETG) has confirmed that it has received loans from Gazprombank to buy gas from Turkmenistan. Many observers have expressed surprise that Gazprombank would lend money to a rival of its owner, Russian gas...

Mozyr produces higher-quality diesel.
November 28, 2003... The 240,000 b/d Mozyr refinery in Belarus has started producing 0.001pc sulphur (10ppm) diesel--up from the previous 0.005pc. The move is designed to improve quality in line with stricter EU restrictions on sulphur content coming into force...

Booming exports support domestic prices.(crude prices)
November 28, 2003... High exports are supporting crude prices in Russia mad other CIS countries, despite expectations of a seasonal decline. Russian wellhead prices for crude have reached $15/bt, a rise of more than $3/bl since late October. At this time last...

ExxonMobil exits Oguz.
November 28, 2003... ExxonMobil is pulling out of Azerbaijan's offshore Oguz exploration project in the Caspian Sea after a long period in which the project has been frozen, says Azeri state-owned Socar. The US major--operator of the project and 50:50 owner along...

Kazakhstan ups crude exports.
November 28, 2003... Kazakh crude exports by pipeline reached 2.43mn t (571,000 b/d) in October, compared with 2.16mn t in September. The rise has been caused by the return of exports through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) route to earlier levels after...

US imports of Russian crude ease.(Exports and trade)
November 28, 2003... US imports of Russian crude eased to 142,000 b/d in September, down from a record 475,000 b/d in July and August's 288,000 b/d, according to the latest official US government figures. The US has been the biggest buyer of Russian and...

Ukraine stalls Druzhba-Adria.(Exports and trade)
November 28, 2003... Ukraine's parliament--the Rada--has failed to ratify an intergovernmental agreement with Russia, Belarus, Slovakia, Hungary and Croatia to allow the Druzhba-Adria crude export pipeline project to go ahead. "The issue was not well...

No news is good news.(Stock markets)
November 28, 2003... There was an almost audible sigh of relief from the market this week, as the battle between Yukos and state prosecutors failed to produce any dramatically bad headlines. No news is good news, oil and gas sector analysts agreed. They even...

Gazprom delays Kovykta decision.(Companies)
November 28, 2003... Gazprom is delaying its decision on entering the 1.9 trillion [m.sup.3] Kovykta gas condensate field in eastern Siberia and has no plans to buy a 25pc stake in the project from financial group Interros. The gas giant says it is awaiting a...

Petrom privatisation edges forward.(Companies)(Petrom R.A.)
November 28, 2003... ConocoPhillips has pulled out of the sale of 33.34pc of Romania's Petrom. Eight of the initial 15 bidders for the oil firm filed preliminary non-binding offers on 21 November (see table). Austria's OMV, which already has a retail...

Surgut rejects temporary licence.(Companies)
November 28, 2003... Russian oil firm Surgutneftegaz has turned down a temporary licence for the 124mn t Talakan oil and gas condensate field in the Sakha-Yakutia autonomous republic of east Siberia. The temporary licence, awarded by the natural resources...

No takers for abundant fuel oil.(Products market)
November 28, 2003... * Product prices were weaker across the board following losses on the US futures markets. Fuel oil fell sharply as demand remained weak both within Europe and outside the region, while gasoil fared little better. * High-sulphur cracked...

Turkish delays paralyse med trade.(Crude market)
November 28, 2003... * Crude prices eased over the week before rebounding on 26 November after the release of Official US stocks data indicating a strong draw on crude inventories. Dated BFO closed at $28/bl, while Urals lost ground against the market in...

Russian refinery output, September 2003.(Russian refinery output)(Illustration)
November 28, 2003... Russian refinery output, September 2003 Crude Crude % chg Company/refinery throughput throughput Aug Sep Sep '000 b/d Total for...

Netbacks.(Illustration)
November 28, 2003... Russian crude netbacks 19 Nov Primorsk Butinge Novo- Tuapse Rossiysk [dagger] Urals (cif-fit) ($/bl) ...

Kremlin maintains the pressure: the investigations against Yukos continue. And President Putin has laid down the law to the business elite.
November 21, 2003... The Russian authorities are keeping up the pressure on Yukos after a meeting between Vladimir Putin and business leaders on 14 November, at which the president reassured them that the campaign against the oil firm's owners will not spread....

New rules: the president has presented Russia's oligarchs with a new deal--they have little choice but to accept it.(Editorial)(Editorial)
November 21, 2003... The business leaders who assembled to hear President Vladimir Putin last week (see pl) seemed like a cowed bunch, And the meeting looks set to become a landmark in the evolution of relations between big money and the Kremlin. Putin's...

Turkey, Russia sign new gas deal.(News)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2003... Ankara and Moscow have signed a deal under which Turkey will pay a single reduced price for the gas it imports from Gazprom via three separate contracts. The price will be "no more" than Gazprom charges Europe, an customers, says a...

Gazprom targets Romania.(News)
November 21, 2003... Russia's Gazprom is keen to establish a presence in Romania, which is important for it not so much as a gas export outlet but as a key transit country. Gazprom confirms its interest in buying stakes in Romanian gas distribution...

Lukoil eyes US refinery.(News)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2003... Lukoil is interested in acquiring the 250,000 b/d Bayway refinery at Linden, New Jersey, from ConocoPhillips. "Our priority is to forge a new joint venture with ConocoPhillips to develop upstream ventures in Russia," says Lukoil's head of...

Major investment boost ahead.(TNK-BP)
November 21, 2003... TNK-BP plans investment of around $1.6bn next year, an increase of 23pc on expected levels this year. Almost $1bn has been earmarked for the upstream, while over $400mn is likely to go to the downstream. The business plan is expected to...

Green challenge looms.(TNK-BP)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2003... TNK-BP faces a huge ecological challenge that could push up costs. BP estimates that TNK-BP will have to spend $1bn over i0 years to cover environmental liabilities--a major concern given the poor environmental reputation of the assets it...

S&P assigns upgrade.(TNK-BP)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2003... Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) has assigned TNK-BP a BB minus long-term credit rating, following S&P's upgrade of TNK from B plus to BB minus on 17 November. Paris-based S&P analyst Eric Tanguy says the arrest of Yukos head...

Term Urals contracts awarded for 2004.(TNK-BP)
November 21, 2003... TNK-BP has awarded a tender for its 2004 seaborne exports of Urals. The firm plans to dispose of its entire Urals exports from both Black Sea and Baltic ports for 2004 to the nine winners of the tender, awarded on a fob basis. Volumes will...

Winners set their sights beyond Europe.(TNK-BP)
November 21, 2003... Many of TNK-BP's Urals export tender winners are firms that specialise in shipping the grade outside Europe: Koch, Sinochem, Trafigura, Glencore and Samsung--whose 2003 cargoes are thought to have passed to Glencore. Marginalised from Russian...

Butinge exports normal despite schedule absence.(Exports and trade)
November 21, 2003... Crude loadings at Lithuania's Yukos-controlled Butinge terminal remain normal despite the absence of the port's November loading schedule. Some traders feel the confusion is linked with the crackdown by the Russian authorities on major...

Ventspils Nafta amends terminal sale terms.(Exports and trade)
November 21, 2003... Ventspils Nafta (VN), the operator of Latvia's biggest oil terminal, is again looking for a Russian buyer for a stake in its 320,000 b/d facility. VN wants to sell a 50pc stake in Ventspils Naftas Terminal (VNT), the recently created...

Duma regains product duty control.(News)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2003... The Duma has passed new legislation to remove limitations on product export duties, boosting the government's control over oil sale revenues. This will allow the cabinet to regulate duties previously tied to international crude prices....

EBRD to start crediting Kazakhs.(News)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2003... The EBRD is expected to make a decision this week on the issue of first credits for the Kazakh oil sector. A total of $70mn may be allocated for developing the Kankiyak-Atyrau pipeline. A further $7mn could be made available for the...

Hungary, Poland set to approve PKN-Mol.(News)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2003... Hungarian oil and gas firm Mol has signed a letter of intent with Poland's PKN-Orlen paving the way for a merger between the two. The letter was signed in the presence of Hungarian prime minister Peter Medgyessy and his Polish counterpart...

Kazakhstan makes new environmental claims.(News)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2003... Kazakhstan's environment ministry is making fresh claims against oil firms operating in the country. Minister Aitkul Samakova says Kazakhstan's biggest producer, the ChevronTexacoled Tengizehevroil (TCO) group, has been ordered to pay $1mn...

PSA commissions dissolved.(Russia & CIS)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2003... The government has dissolved 19 production-sharing agreement (PSA) commissions. They include commissions for the Ayashsky and Vostochno-Odoptinsky Sakhalin blocks in Russia's far east, which ExxonMobil and Chevron Texaco had hoped to develop,...

Kovykta stake sale.(Russia & CIS)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2003... Yukos, Total and BHP Billiton have declined to comment on a 17 November report in Russian daily Yedomosti that they are considering submitting bids for a stake in Rusia Petroleum, the TNKBP-led operator of the 1.9 trillion [m.sup.3] Kovykta...

Russian energy export revenues up.(Russia & CIS)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2003... Russian energy exports outside the CIS amounted to $49bn in January-September, an increase of 33.6pc over the same period of last year, according to customs statistics. Energy made up 60.7pc of all non-CIS exports, compared with 56.4pc a year...

Statoil in Shtokman talks.(Russia & CIS)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2003... Norway's Statoil is in talks with Russian state-owned firm Gazprom to build an liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant as part of the development of the 4.3 trillion [m.sup.3] Shtokman gas field in the Barents Sea. Statoil says it pitched an idea...

Total dispute could ease.(Russia & CIS)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2003... Russia appears ready to resolve a tax dispute with France's Total that has cast a shadow over the latter's far north Khatyaga project (FSUE, 10 October, p3). The authorities could drop claims for $48.5mn if Total refrains from seeking...

Looking ahead.(Calendar)
November 21, 2003... * Services and Equipment for the Russian Oil and Gas Industry. 2-3 December, Moscow. RPI. Tel: (7 095) 502 5433 * Risks and Opportunities in Caspian and Central Asian Oil and Gas Pipeline Partnerships. 26-27 January. London. CWC. Tel: (44...

Russian refining sees monthly dip.(Russia & CIS)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2003... Russia processed 3.77mn b/d (16mn t) of crude in October, compared with 3.87mn b/d the previous month, according to data from the Goskomstat state statistics committee. October processing volumes are up by 1.2pe on the same month last year....

Gazprom exports climb up.(Russia & CIS)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2003... Gazprom exported 102bn [m.sup.3] of gas in the first nine months of this year, up by 6.88bn [m.sup.3] on last year (see table). The company expects to earn $39bn next year with expenditure running at $47bn. Gazprom intends to borrow $5bn,...

Russians in Algeria.(Russia & CIS)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2003... Rosneft and Gazprom construction affiliate Stroitranagaz last week started drilling their first exploration well at the 245-South block in the oil-rich Illizi basin of eastern Algeria (FSUE, 10 October, p9). Russian companies signed a...

Teton losses narrow.(Russia & CIS)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2003... Teton Petroleum, a US independent operating in Russia, saw third-quarter revenues rise by 23pc on the same period of 2002 to $2.7mn as sales jumped. The company's quarterly net loss narrowed to $1.5mn from $2.2mn. Sales of oil to Teton rose...

ChevronTexaco pays compensation.(Caspian/central Asia)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2003... Chevron Texaco and Total have paid $30mn-40mn compensation to Azerbaijan for not drilling a second well on the offshore Apsheron gas structure in the Caspian Sea, says a source at Azeri state-owned oil firm Socar. The US firm, as operator of...

Elf exits Turkmenistan.(Caspian/central Asia)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2003... Elf Trading, part of Total, will close its representative office in Turkmen capital Ashgabat. Elf says it has finished its work in the central Asian state, where it has had a presence since the 'nineties. Meanwhile, Gazprom will open an...

BP to boost Azeri light exports.(Caspian/central Asia)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2003... The BP-led AIOC group plans to boost Azeri Light exports to 139,000 b/d next month, from 126,000-127,000 b/d, after the start-up of a new well at its offshore Chirag field in Azerbaijan's Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli block. AIOC plans to export four...

Azeri product exports rise.(Caspian/central Asia)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2003... Azerbaijan boosted exports of clean products last month. This rise was in part due to the Azneftyanajag refinery--which specialises in producing light products--receiving a bigger share of crude for processing. ...

Bulls fail to rally the RTS.(Stock markets)
November 21, 2003... The Yukos affair continues to overshadow the Russian stock market. Prosecutors have widened their investigations to include Sibneft, with the state audit committee reporting "violations" in tax and customs payments (see pl). But many...

Lukoil directors to review strategy.(Companies)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2003... Lakoil's board of directors plans to "fine-tune" the company's 10-year cop porate development strategy at a meeting to be bold in the Geneva offices of its Litasco trading arm on 21 November. "They will set specific targets for sector...

Gazprom results impress.(Companies)
November 21, 2003... The market has cautiously welcomed Gazprem's third-quarter results, which show profits up by 59pc to $923mn. Analysts see this as an indication that the gas giant is on track to achieve its yearend target of $6.6bn, based on the traditional...

Lukoil's gas plans take shape.(Companies)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2003... Lukoil has taken complete control of Nakhodkaneftegaz, operator of the gas Nakhodkinskoye field in the Yamal-Nenets autonomous district of western Siberia. The Russian oil giant boosted its existing 60pc stake in Nakhodkaneftegaz by...

Gasoil leads the way.(Products market)
November 21, 2003... * Product prices have risen across the board in response to a surge on US futures markets, which were led higher by surprisingly high gasoline demand. Gasoil has surged, while fuel oil and vacuum gasoil (VGO) rose more modestly. * Baltic...

BFO gains, Urals firm.(Crude market)
November 21, 2003... * Crude prices gained on the back of worries over US gasoline stocks. Urals remained firm against dated BFO, but trade was in a lull, with November cargoes all but cleared out and December trade awaiting the release of loading programmes. ...

Russian rail exports/imports, October 2003.(Russian rail exports)
November 21, 2003... Russian rail exports/imports, October 2003 '000t Crude % chg '000 b/d Sep Overland Afghanistan Armenia Azerbaijan...

Russian crude netbacks.(Netbacks)
November 21, 2003... Russian crude netbacks 19 Nov Primorsk Butinge Novo- rossiysk Urals (cif-fit) ($/bl) 28.49 26.49 ...

Kovykta gains momentum: Russia, China and South Korea are poised to take the Kovykta gas project a step closer to start-up.
November 14, 2003... The 1.9 trillion [m.sup.3] Kovykta gas project in east Siberia appears to be moving forward, with an agreement due to be signed this week marking completion of the feasibility study. Kovykta operator Rusia Petroleum, led by BP-TNK, was...

Caucasian vicious circle: the current disorder in Georgia is a stark reminder of how fragile the balance in the vital Caucasus region is.(Editorial)(Editorial)
November 14, 2003... The Yukos affair has overshadowed events elsewhere in the FSU recently. But there are things afoot that are of equal concern to international oil firms. Georgia appears to be slipping into chaos following allegations of vote-rigging in...

Lukoil and ConocoPhillips consider far north JV.(News)
November 14, 2003... Lukoil and US major ConocoPhillips are planning to establish a joint venture to develop fields in the far north Timan-Pechora basin--most likely under Russia's regular tax regime. The Russian firm wants to earmark a controlling stake in...

Khodorkovsky stays in prison.(News)
November 14, 2003... Former Yukos chief executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky was refused bail by a Moscow court on 11 November at a closed hearing during which he appeared by video link from his cell. The prosecutor general's office wants to detain the leading...

BG acknowledges Karachaganak hit.(Exports and trade)
November 14, 2003... UK firm BG has acknowledged that significant delays to the export of Kazakhstan's Karachaganak condensate through the 600,000 b/d Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) route have made a hefty dent in its bottom line. In it third-quarter...

Urals trade suffers from storms and disruptions.(Exports and trade)
November 14, 2003... Crude exports from the Black Sea have been hit again by the closure of the Bosporus strait and by loading disruptions at Russian and Ukrainian ports. The Bosporus was closed to tankers on 11 November after a vessel that ran aground the...

Gazprom weighs Black Sea LNG options.(Natural gas)
November 14, 2003... Gazprom may build liquefied natural gas (LNG) export infrastructure on the Black Sea coast, following problems with supplies of gas to Turkey through the Blue Stream pipeline. The gas giant is considering building an LNG plant and export...

Rethink on TAP pipeline route.(Natural gas)
November 14, 2003... Concern about chronic instability in southern Afghanistan has prompted reconsideration of a previously discarded northern route option for the proposed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) natural gas pipeline. But the $2.5bn project has...

Gazprom confirms gas resale talks.(Natural gas)(Brief Article)
November 14, 2003... Gazprom has confirmed that it is in talks with Germany's Ruhrgas and Hungary's Mol about lifting resale restrictions on its gas supplies to these companies. Gazprom agreed similar contract changes last month with Italy's Eni that will allow...

Tatneft results disappoint.(Russia & CIS)(Brief Article)
November 14, 2003... Regional oil firm Tatneft's first-half results have come in below expectations. Investment bank Renaissance Capital says they are "materially below" what had been hoped for, while UFG says they look "weak relative to full-year forecasts"....

TAIF to build new Nizhnekamsk unit.(Russia & CIS)(Brief Article)
November 14, 2003... Tatar-US joint venture TAIF this week started work on a $76mn project to build a catalytic cracker and other facilities at Nizhnekamsk in the Tatarstan autonomous republic. The units are scheduled to start up in the second half of 2005 and...

River exports up in October.(Russia & CIS)(Brief Article)
November 14, 2003... Crude and products exports by river hit 2mn t last month, up by 222,000t on September, after heavy rain increased water depths on the inland waterway system. Total exports for this year's navigation season are over 10.5mn t.

Sempra lines up China VLCC.(Russia & CIS)(Brief Article)
November 14, 2003... US trader Sempra may be lining up a 2mn bl (270,000t) VLCC shipment of Russian Urals crude from the Baltic Sea to China for late November, according to shipping sources. Sempra has bought 1.25mn bl of Urals from trader J&S loading at Poland's...

EBRD approves BTC loan.(Caspian/central Asia)(Brief Article)
November 14, 2003... The EBRD this week approved a $250mn loan for the 1mn b/d Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline (BTC). The bank will lend $125mn itself, as well as providing a $125mn syndicated loan (FSUE, 7 November, p5). It also approved a $30mn loan for the first...

Looking ahead.(Calendar)
November 14, 2003... * RIOGE. 20-21 November. Bucharest, Romania. (44 20) 7596 5081 * Russian Gas and Electricity Sectors. 20-21 November. Moscow. Adam Smith Conferences. Tel: (44 20) 7490 3774 * Risks and Opportunities in Caspian and Central Asian Oil...

PetroKazakhstan proceedings start.(Caspian/central Asia)(Brief Article)
November 14, 2003... Canada's PetroKazakhstan started court proceedings in Astana this week to challenge a $6.3mn fine imposed by the Kazakh antimonopoly agency in October for putting up prices of products sold on the domestic market above government-set levels....

ExxonMobil starts Zafar-Mashal drilling.(Caspian/central Asia)(Brief Article)
November 14, 2003... ExxonMobil has started drilling its first exploration well at the Zafar-Mashal offshore block in Azerbaijan's sector of the Caspian Sea. The first well, to be drilled to a depth of 6,800m, is located at the Zafar structure. Drilling will be...

Kazakhstan plans crude export tax.(Caspian/central Asia)(Brief Article)
November 14, 2003... The Kazakh government plans to introduce a crude export tax based on crude production and transportation costs, as well as other expenses. It wants a rate of 4pc at crude prices of $20/bl and 16pc at $25/bl. Rates for other price levels are...

Kazakh pipeline study awarded.(Caspian/central Asia)(Brief Article)
November 14, 2003... The Kazakh Oil and Gas Institute has won a tender from Kazakh pipeline monopoly Kaztransoil to develop a feasibility study for the upgrade and reversal of one of the two lines that make up the Uzen-Atyrau pipeline. Work will start next year...

Azeri Light loadings up.(Caspian/central Asia)(Brief Article)
November 14, 2003... Four 1mn bl cargoes of Azeri Light will load at the Georgian Black sea port of Supsa in December, the same as for most months over the last year but one more than for November. Japan's Itochu sold the month's first cargo on a confidential...

Mol's Croatian purchase approved.(Central/eastern Europe)(Brief Article)
November 14, 2003... Hungarian oil and gas firm Mol has completed its purchase of a 25pc plus one share stake in Croatian firm Ina. Mol has nominated four members of its executive board to Ina's supervisory and management boards, and has drafted strategy...