Tag Archives: business

OPEC courts non-members, including Azerbaijan

NOV. 24 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s energy minister, Natig Aliyev, said that OPEC had asked Azerbaijan and other non-OPEC members to cut oil production in an attempt to raise prices. Azeri newspaper Respublika quoted Mr Aiyev as saying that OPEC wanted non-members to cut up to 800,000 barrels of oil per day of production, a figure that it said would eat into the vast reserves. OPEC and non-OPEC members are due to meet again in Vienna on Nov. 28 to decide on the final level of cuts to production.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)

Stock market: Nostrum Oil & Gas

NOV. 25 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Amsterdam-based Nostrum Oil & Gas posted a decline in revenues it its Q3 report this week, but that didn’t stop investors buying its stock.

Nostrum’s stock price climbed back to November 2015 levels, seemingly dispersing the tough months of 2016, when oil prices plunged to around $30/barrel.

The company successfully cut costs and hopes to contain the drop in production to around 10% this year. Next year, the company will further reduce costs once it starts sending its oil through the KazTransOil pipeline due to be completed in Q2 2017.

“We look forward to realising a significant decrease in transportation costs once the KTO pipeline connection is complete by Q2 next year,” CEO Kai-Uwe Kessel said in a statement.

“Our focus now turns towards the 2017 drilling programme and delivering our major infrastructure project, GTU3, on time and on budget.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)

Trump boosts copper, companies in Central Asia benefit

NOV. 25 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Copper prices have gained around 12% to a 16-month high of $2.67/lb, since the election of Donald Trump as US president-elect, showing the power of his words.

Trump’s plan to invest $1 trillion in overhauling ageing infrastructure across the United States gave a boost to the global market price of copper, a key element for large construction projects.

Companies in Central Asia that focus on copper production, chiefly Central Asia Metals and KAZ Minerals in Kazakhstan, also benefited from the Trump effect on copper prices.

Both companies saw their share prices soar in the London Stock Exchange by around 20 – 25% in the past two weeks, a sign that the commodity slump could timidly start to reverse.

Central Asia Metals seized the opportunity to acquire a new deposit in Kazakhstan this week, which showed just how bullish the market has become.

Zak Mir, an analyst for the Proactive Investor website, said that Central Asia Metals’ stock price, which is already at its historical high, is on track to reach 240p/share within the next few months. This would be almost double this year’s low of 124p/share.

It’s been a roller coaster year for commodity companies in the region and this doesn’t look like changing.

Despite the uncertainty, the metals market might well reverse their downward trend before oil prices start growing again, marking an important split between the two sectors.

The Central Asian and South Caucasus region has been badly hit by the fall in commodity prices in the last two years. Any sign of recovery is good news.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)

Kazakhstan-based Nostrum revenues drop

NOV. 23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan-focused Nostrum Oil and Gas posted a 35% fall in revenues for the first nine months of 2016, compared to the same period last year, a slight recovery compared to H1 results. Nostrum said it had successfully cut costs to counter sustained low oil prices. Production averaged 38,900 barrels/day in the reported period, down 12% from 2015. The company said it expects production to average 40,000 barrels/day by year-end.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)

MTS revenues in Armenia and Turkmenistan drop

NOV. 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russian telecoms company MTS published its first quarterly report after discontinuing operations in Uzbekistan, posting a 1.3% decline in revenues in Q3 across its operations in the former Soviet Union, compared to the same period last year. In rouble terms, revenues in Armenia were down 19% to 2.1b roubles and in Turkmenistan they fell by 17% to 1.2b roubles.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)

BGEO results on Georgia increase

NOV. 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — London-listed investment holding BGEO posted a 24% growth in revenues in Q3, compared to the same period last year. BGEO’s main assets are Bank of Georgia and Georgia Healthcare Group (GHG). GHG accounted for the group’s largest growth rate. In the first nine months of the year, GHG posted revenues for 290.4m lari ($116.6), up 64.8% from 2015.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)

The battle for Armenia’s water services

NOV. 25 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Veolia and French rival Saur had been the two major bidders for a contract to unite Armenia’s water supply and sewage systems under one operator.

Prior to Veolia’s victory in the tender, the two companies had been evenly matched.

Veolia operates Yerevan Djur which supplies 1.1m people living in Armenia’s capital with water and waste services.

Since 2014, Saur has operated Armenian WSC, Lori WSC, Shirak WSC and Nor Akunk WSC which supply water and sewage services to 1m people.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)

White Cliff progresses in Kyrgyzstan mine

NOV. 22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Australian miner White Cliff said it had successfully drilled new holes in the quartz zone of its Aucu mine in Kyrgyzstan, recovering high grade ores that yielded significant gold and copper volumes. White Cliff owns a 89% stake in Aucu, which is located 350km west of Bishkek.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)

Azerbaijan to privatise IBA

NOV. 24 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan will privatise the International Bank of Azerbaijan, the country’s largest lender, in the first half of 2017, Rufat Aslanli, chairman of Azerbaijan’s financial supervisory agency, said. Azerbaijan’s ministry of finance owns 54.9% and the government- owned credit company Aqrar Kredit owns 27% in IBA. IBA accounts for around 60% of all lending in Azerbaijan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)

Kazakhstan oil field goes commercial

NOV. 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s troublesome Caspian Sea oil field Kashagan has finally started producing oil on a commercial basis, Kazakh oil and gas minister Kanat Bozumbayev said in a speech to parliament. The project has been heavily delayed and has run several billion dollars over budget but the news still marks an important bench mark for Kazakhstan which is counting on Kashagan revenues boosting it into the top tier of global oil producers.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)