FSU Energy articles from September 2002

FSU Energy archives from September 2002

TNK talks up BP prospects: the Russian firm still hopes to team up with the major. But BP is keeping its cards close to its chest.(Brief Article)
September 27, 2002... The owners of Russia's Tyumen Oil (TNK) are continuing to court BP as a strategic partner for the oil firm, TNK president Simon Kukes said at a press conference in London this week. Kukes declined to comment in detail on talks with BP,...

Regime change: Georgia is a key link in the BTC pipeline route. But it remains as unstable as ever. (Editorial).(Brief Article)
September 27, 2002... An oil industry conspiracy theorist could make much of the timing of the recent flare-up between Russia and Georgia over Chechen rebels sheltering in the Pankisi gorge. President Vladimir Putin's announcement that Russia is considering...

Lukoil man released. (News).(Brief Article)
September 27, 2002... Lukoil vice-president and chief financial officer Sergei Kukura was released this week after being kidnapped on 12 September. But the exact circumstances surrounding his disappearance and return remain a mystery. Lukoil claims law...

Yukos poised to overtake Lukoil. (News).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 27, 2002... Yukos looks set to become Russia's number one oil company in terms of production, potentially surpassing current leader Lukoil. Chief financial officer of Yukos, Bruce Misamore, said this week that his company will produce 1.4mn b/d (70mn...

Sibneft and Tatneft join forces. (News).(Brief Article)
September 27, 2002... Sibneft and Tatneft have signed a partnership agreement implying "co-operation in solving corporate issues" at the 242,000 b/d Moscow refinery. Sibneft holds 37pc of the plant and Tatneft has 8pc. A controlling stake is in the hands of the...

Polar Lights launches new fields. (News).(Brief Article)
September 27, 2002... The ConocoPhillips-led Polar Lights joint venture is set to start production from new fields to maintain output. Until now, production has been centred on the Ardalin field. But Polar's acting director-general, Alexander Shmakov, says...

OMV buys stake in Rompetrol. (News).(Brief Article)
September 27, 2002... Austria's OMV has intensified efforts to dominate the downstream market in central and eastern Europe by acquiring a 25.1pc stake in Romania's Rompetrol. The move is part of a strategy to gain access to refining capacity, in pursuit of a 20pc...

Russia and Turkmenistan talk long-term gas. (News).(Brief Article)
September 27, 2002... Russia and Turkmenistan have initialled an intergovernmental agreement on long-term supplies of Turkmen gas to Russia, ahead of a hoped-for signing by the countries' respective presidents before the end of this year. But the two sides have...

PKN receives green light for Gdansk bid. (News).(Brief Article)
September 27, 2002... The management of Polish oil company PKN Orlen is to press ahead with plans to buy the 90,000 b/d Gdansk refinery after receiving authorisation from its supervisory board. This is effectively a green light from the Polish authorities, given...

Yukos moves in at Mazeikiu Nafta. (News).(Brief Article)
September 27, 2002... Senior executives from Russia's Yukos last week joined the board of directors and supervisory council of Lithuanian oil firm Mazeikiu Nafta (MN). This follows the signing, also last week, of an agreement between Yukos and US firm...

Oil firms push for export hike. (Exports & trade).(Brief Article)
September 27, 2002... Russian oil firms appear to have pitched for a major increase in crude exports in the fourth quarter. But their ambitions seem to have been thwarted by the pipeline exports commission (MVK) and pipeline operator Transneft (see p6). An...

Russia cuts export allocations. (Exports and trade).(Brief Article)
September 27, 2002... Russia's pipeline export commission (MVK) has pencilled in crude exports--including transit shipments--of 2.9mn b/d (36.6mn t) through Russia's pipeline system in the fourth quarter. This is less than the volumes scheduled for the third...

Iraqi exports pressure Urals. (Exports and trade).(Brief Article)
September 27, 2002... Prices for seaborne Urals crude, having only just recovered from their recent period in the doldrums, took another beating this week as exports of competing Iraqi grades looked set to increase dramatically. Urals' discount to dated Brent...

Kazakhstan ups Russian transit. (Caspian).(Brief Article)
September 27, 2002... Following an earlier agreement with Russia on crude oil transit, Kazakhstan is poised to boost shipments. Kazakhstan has asked Russian pipeline operator Transneft for permission to ship 330,000 b/d (16.5mn t) through the Atyrau-Samara...

New line jeopardises Iran exports. (Caspian).(Brief Article)
September 27, 2002... Kazakh crude sales to Iran under a swap deal could be jeopardised by the development of new export routes. "We are shipping about 20,000 t/month (5,000 b/d) of crude from oil fields in Aktubinsk oblast, but we are not ready to discuss...

Russia keeps pushing for CPC tariff hike. (Caspian).(Brief Article)
September 27, 2002... Russia is continuing to demand that the tariff for crude shipments through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) line from Kazakhstan be raised. At a press conference this week, energy minister Igor Yusufov reiterated Russia's desire for...

Shkolnik: all export options open: earlier this year, Kazakhstan and Russia signed breakthrough agreements on crude transit and joint development of formerly disputed Caspian fields. During a recent interview with Argus, Kazakh energy minister Vladimir Shkolnik discussed the prospects for further co-operation between the two countries, despite their sometimes divergent interests. (Kazakhstan).(Brief Article)
September 27, 2002... Kazakhstan is committed to ship 340,000 b/d (17mn t/yr) of crude through Russia. Do you want to send more oil through Russia and what other routes are you considering? We are considering many Russian routes. There are a lot of...

Miller brings in new blood. (Russia & CIS).(Alexei Miller of Gazprom)(Brief Article)
September 27, 2002... Gazprom chief Alexei Miller plans to reshape the company's board, replacing "old guard" figures linked to former Gazprom chief Rem Vyakhirev with his own proteges. Miller wants the number of board members--reduced last year from 21 to 14...

ExxonMobil takes fresh Yukos cargo. (Russia & CIS).(Brief Article)
September 27, 2002... ExxonMobil has bought a further Urals cargo from Yukos to take to the US. But unlike the two VLCCs of Urals shipped by Yukos to the US earlier this year--both also bought by the US major through Yukos' Geneva-based trading arm Petroval--the...

Russian gas exports up. (Russia & CIS).(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
September 27, 2002... Gazprom export arm Gazexport announced last week that it exported 75.7bn [m.sup.3] of gas to European destinations in January-July, a rise of just over 5pc on the same period last year (see table). Sources at Gazprom say the total value of...

Loan deal causes controversy. (Russia & CIS).(Brief Article)
September 27, 2002... Gazprom last week signed a "strategic partnership" agreement with Russia's Alfa Bank. The bank will supply an unsecured $150mn loan for the gas giant. Alfa is also to extend its limit on Gazprom lending to $350mn. But the agreement has...

Looking ahead.
September 27, 2002... * Kioge 2002/Power Kazakhstan. 1-4 October. Kazakhstan. ITE. Tel: (44 20) 7596 5081 * Refining & Petrochemicals in Central & Eastern Europe. 1-2 October. Zagreb. World Refining Association. Tel: (44 1242) 529 090 * Oil & Gas...

Ministry suggests subsoil draft. (Russia & CIS).(Brief Article)
September 27, 2002... The ministry for economic development has devised its draft subsoil law. The draft is similar to one prepared by the natural resources ministry in response to proposals from the Kremlin administration that oil firms be reduced to mere...

Sibur and Lukoil bury the hatchet. (Russia & CIS).(Brief Article)
September 27, 2002... Gazprom petrochemical subsidiary Sibur has reportedly reached an agreement with Lukoil over the disputed Lokosovsky gas processing plant. Lokosovsky was sold last December by Sibur's previous management under company president Jabov...

Russia, Ukraine plan joint gas exports. (Russia & CIS).(Brief Article)
September 27, 2002... Gazprom and Ukrainian oil and gas firm Naftohaz Ukrainy are planning to export 4bn [m.sup.3] of gas from Ukraine to central and eastern Europe, according to Naftohaz chairman Yuri Boiko. The gas in question will be Turkmen gas imported by...

Production declines for Dana. (Russia & CIS).(Brief Article)
September 27, 2002... UK independent Dana Petroleum's production levels fell by 13pc in the first half of 2002 to 5,275 b/d of oil equivalent (boe/d), largely as a result of a 32pc decrease in volumes at its South-Vat Yoganskoye field in western Siberia. Dana has...

Benchmark announcement.(Brief Article)
September 27, 2002... Petroleum Argus on 23 September adopted a new North Sea crude benchmark, dated BFO (Brent, Forties, Oseberg), to replace dated Brent as a marker crude--in line with changes in the crude market. This dated BFO assessment will be the lowest...

Mol aims to raise acquisition funds.(Brief Article)
September 27, 2002... Hungarian oil and gas firm Mot is planning capital increases, further sales of non-core assets and a share buy-back to finance potential acquisitions next year in Croatia, Serbia and Romania, Mol's management will ask shareholders at an...

RTS regains confidence. (Stock markets).(Brief Article)
September 27, 2002... Doggedly high oil prices, as Iraq indicated it may not co-operate with the UN, helped restore confidence in Russian equities, after last week's slip. Few investors were willing to sell their shares in Russia's buoyant energy sector, leading...

Baku seeks Russia's support. (News: Caspian).(Brief Article)
September 27, 2002... Russian president Vladimir Putin and his Azeri counterpart Heidar Aliyev this week signed an agreement on Caspian demarcation. They also held wide-ranging talks on the economic and political future of Azerbaijan. The delineation...

Socar seeks term agreements. (News: Caspian).(State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic favors supply deals with western refiners)(Brief Article)
September 27, 2002... Azeri state-owned oil company Socar is planning to drop its crude sales tenders in favour of term supply deals with western refiners. "It's about time we end the primitive bidding option and initiate more definite relations with specific...

ChevronTexaco to invest in Kazakhstan. (News: Caspian).(projects intended to boost crude oil production)(Brief Article)
September 27, 2002... ChevronTexaco is planning to invest $3bn-4bn in 2003-05 to boost crude oil output at the Tengiz oil field in Kazakhstan, ChevronTexaco chief David O'Reilly said after meeting President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan this week. The...

Georgia tender for Novo-Ceyhan study. (News: Caspian).(Georgian International Oil Corp. to draft feasibility study for Novorossiysk-Supsa-Cyehan pipeline)(Brief Article)
September 27, 2002... The Georgian International Oil Corporation (GIOC) plans in November to open a tender for a draft feasibility study for a proposed Novorossiysk-Supsa-Ceyhan pipeline, GIOC president Gia Chanturia said in Baku last week. The 600,000 b/d link...

Prices rise on continuing war fears. (Products market).(Brief Article)
September 27, 2002... * Product prices gained after crude futures jumped on speculation that the US is inexorably moving towards military action in Iraq. * Heavy fuel oil exports from the Baltic remained steady and supply began to build in the key Rotterdam...

Iraqi crude inflow hits Urals. (Crude market).(Brief Article)
September 27, 2002... * Iraq continued to dominate crude markets. Outright prices strengthened as the UK government published a "dossier" detailing the Iraqi regime's attempts to acquire weapons of mass destruction. Dated BFO ended the week up by 64[c]/bl at...

Russian 4Q oil exports.(Statistical Data Included)
September 27, 2002... Russia's crude export schedule outside the FSU, 4Q 2002 '000t Exporter Novorossiysk Odessa Total exports 9,526 600 Rosneft ...

Russian refinery output.(August 2002 report)(Statistical Data Included)
September 27, 2002... Russian refinery output, August 2002 '000t Crude throughput Crude throughput Company/refinery Aug Aug '000 b/d Total for Russia ...

Netbacks.(Russian crude netbacks)(Statistical Data Included)
September 27, 2002... Russian crude netbacks 25 Sep Ventspils Primorsk Urals (cif-fit) ($/bl) 27.69 27.69 Urals (cif-fit) ($/t) 202.14 ...

Baku-Ceyhan launches: the new Caspian export route has moved a step closer to reality. And more firms have signed up.(Baku, Azerbaijan)(Tbilisi, Georgia)(Ceyhan, Turkey)(Brief Article)
September 20, 2002... Construction of the 1mn b/d Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline was officially launched this week with a ceremony at the Sangachal crude terminal on Azerbaijan's Caspian coast. The launch was attended by US energy secretary Spencer Abraham...

Held to ransom: the kidnapping of a senior Lukoil executive has sent a shockwave through the Russian oil industry.(Brief Article)(Editorial)
September 20, 2002... The era of kidnappings and contract killings in Russia is, of course, far from over. But an attack on a top Russian oil industry executive is more or less unprecedented. On the face of it, the abductors of Lukoil vice-president for...

Yukos weighs transatlantic pros and cons. (News).(YUKOS Oil Co.)(Brief Article)
September 20, 2002... Russia's Yukos plans to continue with trial long-haul VLCC shipments of Urals to the US until at least the end of this year. The firm this week announced that the two VLCC shipments of Urals it made to the US in June and July, the first...

Alfa-Eco seeks investors for Sakhalin. (News).(Sakhalin Island)(Former Soviet Union)(Brief Article)
September 20, 2002... Russian trading firm Alfa-Eco is continuing its search for a strategic partner to split the risk of operating fields in the Sakhalin VI offshore contract area. Petrosakh--which is 95pc owned by Alfa-Eco--received an exploration licence...

No news on missing Lukoil man. (News).(Brief Article)
September 20, 2002... The kidnapping of a senior Lukoil executive last week has spread alarm in Moscow business circles. It has also prompted speculation that the abduction could be linked to an internal power struggle at Russia's largest oil firm (see p2). Lukoil...

Lukoil strikes Fortum deal. (Exports and trade).(Brief Article)
September 20, 2002... Leading Russian oil producer Lukoil has agreed a crude term supply deal with Finnish company Fortum for 1mn t/yr (20,000 b/d) supplied through the Primorsk terminal on the Gulf of Finland. The deal will run for two years, opening an...

FSU exports break record--again. (Exports and trade).(Former Soviet Union)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 20, 2002... Crude exports from the former Soviet Union (FSU) broke July's record to hit a new post-Soviet high in August. Exports for the year to date were 16pc up on the same period in 2001. A 66,000 b/d increase in exports of sweet Caspian crude...

New user enters CPC. (News: Caspian and central Asia).(Caspian Pipeline Consortium)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 20, 2002... US-Kazakh joint venture Arman on 13 September became the first new shipper to use the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) export route from Kazakhstan to Novorossiysk since it opened last October. Arman plans average exports of 7,000 b/d...

Baku, Moscow define Caspian border. (News: Caspian & central Asia).(Azerbaijan)(Russia)(Brief Article)
September 20, 2002... Azerbaijan and Russia are planning to sign an agreement on delimitation of their Caspian border at the end of September. The document will be signed during Azeri president Heidar Aliyev's visit to Moscow in the last 10 days of September. ...

Afghan gas talks. (News: Caspian & central Asia).(Brief Article)
September 20, 2002... Representatives of the governments of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan discussed a proposed trans-Afghan gas pipeline at a meeting in Kabul this week. They reviewed a draft framework agreement on construction of a 1,756km link...

State-owned firm aims to match rivals' growth. (Rosneft).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 20, 2002... Rosneft has announced massive expansion plans designed to ensure that the state-owned company can compete with Russia's privately owned oil firms. Company president Sergei Bogdanchikov appears to be banking on support from both the Kremlin...

Turks press Russia over Blue Stream. (News: Caspian & central Asia).(Turkey)(Blue Stream pipeline)(Brief Article)
September 20, 2002... Gazprom sources have denied recent Turkish claims that it has agreed to cut its price for gas deliveries and warn that Turkish insistence on lower prices could jeopardise the start of the Blue Stream pipeline under the Black Sea. But the...

Shakh-Deniz under negotiation. (News: Caspian & central Asia).(gas project in Azerbaijan)(Brief Article)
September 20, 2002... Shareholders in the BP-led Shakh-Deniz gas project in Azerbaijan have begun discussing possible changes to the development concept for the offshore field. BP's president in Azerbaijan, David Woodward, says the first phase of the project...

Itera wins Uzbek gas tender.(Uzbekistan)(Brief Article)
September 20, 2002... Russian gas trader Itera and the consortium uniting Ukraine's Industrial Union of Donbass, Germany's Debis and US firm Zeromax won a tender last week to export 400mn [m.sup.3] of gas from Uzbekistan in September. The partners will pay...

China plans new Azeri venture.(Azerbaijan's Pirsagat oil field)(Brief Article)
September 20, 2002... China's Sheng Li, a subsidiary of state-owned Sinopec, has signed a memorandum with Azeri state-owned Socar on joint development of Azerbaijan's onshore Pirsagat oil field. Sheng Li plans to carry out seismic work, rehabilitation and drilling...

Sakhalin output down. (Russia & CIS).(crude oil production data, Russia)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 20, 2002... Crude oil production from Sakhalin Energy's Piltun-Astokh field in Russia's far east fell to 68,400 b/d (290,000t) in August, from around 75,000 b/d the previous month, as the Shell-led consortium began the implementation of a water-injection...

Surgutneftegaz-Slavneft pact crumbles. (Russia & CIS).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 20, 2002... A planned alliance between Surgutneftegaz and Slavneft to bid for 220,000 b/d Novopolotsk (Naftan) refinery and the associated Polimir petrochemical plant in Belarus is falling apart due to Slavneft's plans to bid independently. Slavneft's...

Gazprom invites Surgutneftegaz. (Russia & CIS).(to join in development of gas field, Siberia)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 20, 2002... Gazprom chief Alexei Miller this week invited Surgutneftegaz to join forces in the development of the 160bn [m.sup.3]/yr Urengoi field in western Siberia. Gazprom indicates that the future of the Surgut gas-processing plant--acquired by the...

Tatneft breaks off talks with Sibir. (Russia & CIS).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 20, 2002... Independent oil producer Sibir has confirmed that it has broken off negotiations with Tatneft, which had hoped to take a 33.3pc stake in the firm (FSUE, 5 July, p5). Earlier this year, Tatneft and its affiliated trader Corus offered to pay...

Surgutneftegaz receives new block. (Russia & CIS).(20-year oil and gas production license)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 20, 2002... Surgutneftegaz has received a 20-year production licence for the Severo-Labatyugansky block in west Siberia. The block unites the Severo-Labatyuganskoye and Vostochno-Labatyuganskoye fields. Surgutneftegaz has drilled five exploration and...

Gazprom delays eurobond issue. (Russia & CIS).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 20, 2002... Gazprom appears to have put back a planned eurobond issue. The gas giant earlier announced plans to place 10-year bonds worth $750mn in New York this month in an issue to be lead-managed by Morgan Stanley and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein...

Looking ahead.
September 20, 2002... * 1st Russian Petrochemicals Technology Conference. 23-24 September. Moscow. EPC. Tel: (44 20) 7357 8394 * 2nd Russian Refining Technology Conference. 26-27 September. Moscow. EPC. Tel: (44 20) 7357 8394 * Kioge 2002/Power...

Ukraine blocks Tatars. (Russia & CIS).(from complete takeover of Urktatnafta)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 20, 2002... Ukraine's state property fund this week blocked an extraordinary shareholder meeting of Ukrtatnafta, a joint venture between Ukraine and Russia's autonomous republic of Tatarstan, which operates Ukraine's 320,000 b/d Kremenchug refinery....

Tyumen region to offer fields. (Russia & CIS).(lists oil and gas fields for licensing)(Brief Article)
September 20, 2002... The natural resources department of the Tyumen region in western Siberia has prepared a list of oil and gas fields (see below) for a new geological study licensing round. If approved by the federal ministry for natural resources, an auction...

Supsa October programme. (Caspian/central Asia).(crude oil loading data, Supsa port, Georgia)(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
September 20, 2002... Four 1mn bl cargoes of Azeri Light will load at the Georgian Black Sea port of Supsa in October. BP this week sold its first cargo to Italian refiner Saras at a 50 cents/bl premium to dated Brent, 20 cents/bl up on the last September trade....

Atyrau cuts processing. (Caspian/central Asia).(refinery cuts crude oil)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 20, 2002... Kazakhstan's 5.5mn t/yr (110,000 b/d) Atyrau refinery processed 1.462mn t of crude oil in January-August, slightly down from 1.495mn t processed during the same period last year. Kazakhstan's ministry of energy and mineral resources says the...

Druzhba breach. (Central/eastern Europe).(crude pipeline bursts)(Brief Article)
September 20, 2002... A section of the Druzhba crude pipeline passing through Hungary burst on 18 September during routine maintenance work carried out by oil and gas company Mol. The company says the amount of oil leakage was limited as engineers had already...

Butov exploits Kharyaga grandfather provision.(Vladimir Butov)(Brief Article)
September 20, 2002... The governor of the Nenets autonomous district in the tar north of Russia, Vladimir Butov, has won a case against the country's tax authorities that will allow his administration to take 60pc of the tax revenues from the TotalFinaElf-led...

Rompetrol moves into Moldova. (Central/eastern Europe).(Brief Article)
September 20, 2002... Romanian refiner Rompetrol has established a subsidiary in Moldova with the intention of developing a fuel retail network in the country. The company will initially focus on sales of motor fuels and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), as well as...

Lukoil affair knocks Russia's image. (Stock markets).(decline in share prices)(Statistical Data Included)
September 20, 2002... The kidnapping of Lukoil vice-president Sergei Kukura contributed to a general decline in Russian share prices, reviving memories of the country's more volatile recent corporate past. Shares in Lukoil itself dropped sharply by 7.4pc to...

Yukos seals Lithuania deal. (Companies).(increases stake in Mazeikiu Nafta)(Brief Article)
September 20, 2002... Russia's Yukos was this week due to complete its $85mn acquisition of a 26.85pc stake in Lithuanian oil firm Mazeikiu Nafta (MN) from US company Williams. The deal will increase Yukos' share in MN to 53.7pc and give it operational...

Government progresses on gas reform. (Companies).(Brief Article)
September 20, 2002... Russian prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov said last week that the government will finally start to consider a long-awaited gas market liberalisation plan early in December. The plan, drafted by Gazprom and the economic development ministry,...

JKX profits drop. (Companies).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 20, 2002... Profits at independent UK exploration and production firm JKX fell by 11.9pc in the first half of 2002, to $3.7mn. A decrease in production at the company's main assets in Ukraine was the main factor behind the fall, as well as lower oil...

Traders support fuel oil barge market. (Products market).(fuel oil, gas oil and heating oil prices, September 18 versus September 11, 2002, northwest Europe)(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
September 20, 2002... * Prices were down slightly on the week but gasoil and fuel oil continued to outperform lighter products. Keen trader buying in northwest Europe absorbed a heavy fuel oil export programme from the Baltic Sea. * In northwest Europe the...

Iraqi news pressures Urals. (Crude market).(crude oil prices as of September 18, 2002, Europe)(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
September 20, 2002... * Outright crude prices were volatile but dated Brent ended the week up just $1.11/bl. Prices eased after Iraq offered to unconditionally re-admit UN weapons inspectors, then gained on US data showing a downturn in crude stocks and increasing...

Russian rail data.(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
September 20, 2002... Russian rail exports/imports, August 2002 '000t % chg Crude '000 b/d Jul Overland Afghanistan Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus 4.58...

Netbacks.(crude oil netbacks data, Russia)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
September 20, 2002... Russian crude netbacks 18 Sep Ventspils Primorsk Butinge Urals (cif-fit) ($/bl) 27.30 27.30 27.30 Urals (cif-fit) ($/t) 199.29 199.29...

Oil companies attack Khristenko: Russian oil firms are gunning for the MVK boss over cuts to their crude export allocations.(Viktor Khristenko; oil export commission)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 13, 2002... Leading Russian oil firms demanded last week that prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov strip deputy premier Viktor Khristenko of the right to distribute and approve crude export allocations. In a letter to Kasyanov, Russia's leading...

One year on: the 11 September attacks on the US changed the world. Russia is making the most of it. (Editorial).(Western trade relations)(Brief Article)
September 13, 2002... President Vladimir Putin made a well publicised phone-call to George Bush this week to express Russian sympathy on the first anniversary of last year's attacks on New York and Washington. A year ago he was one of the first world leaders to...

Resources ministry offers subsoil compromise. (News).(Russia)(Brief Article)
September 13, 2002... Russia's natural resources ministry has prepared a draft version of a new subsoil code to be submitted to the government by October. Oil firms have given its proposals the thumbs-up, hailing them as a vast improvement on controversial...

Quality bank put back on hold. (News).(crude oil)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 13, 2002... Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft has put on hold ambitious plans to create a crude quality bank by the end of the year. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior Transneft source told Argus that a meeting with oil companies to...

Urals under pressure. (Exports and trade).(Brief Article)(Industry Overview)(Statistical Data Included)
September 13, 2002... A combination of factors have led Russian Urals crude to slide against its benchmark, dated Brent, over the past month. But, while the fuel oil-rich grade is likely to receive a boost ahead of winter, some of Urals' weakness, particularly in...

Refinery closure leads to Rostock exports. (Exports and trade).(Brief Article)(Industry Overview)(Statistical Data Included)
September 13, 2002... Germany's Baltic port of Rostock will export at least four 80,000t (580,000 bl) Urals cargoes in September due to the closure of TotalFinaElf's 212,000 b/d Leuna refinery in eastern Germany. The re-exports of crude supplied to the refinery on...

Mixed signals on export quotas. (Exports and trade).(Russia fuel oil export quotas)(Brief Article)
September 13, 2002... The Russian government appears undecided on whether to introduce fuel oil export quotas this winter to ensure that power stations are adequately supplied. Energy minister Igor Yusufov said this week that his ministry sees no need for a...

Black Sea storms hit product exports. (Exports and trade).(Brief Article)(Industry Overview)(Statistical Data Included)
September 13, 2002... Product exports from FSU ports fell to their lowest level since February last month, as storms and flooding cut loadings at Black Sea ports. Total shipments dropped by 3.5pc on the month to just under 6.8mn t, with only increased exports...

Russia opens arctic gates. (Upstream development).(Brief Article)
September 13, 2002... Russia is turning its attention to development of fields on its offshore shelf--home to huge crude and gas reserves--in anticipation of the inevitable depletion of its Siberian oil and gas fields. Despite the lack of infrastructure and severe...