NOV. 1 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Despite assurances to the contrary, media groups continued to publish reports which said there was a shortage of fuel in Uzbekistan. US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that the worst shortages were in the eastern Ferghana Valley.
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(News report from Issue No. 159, published on Nov. 6 2013)
OCT. 24 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — It’s been another turbulent week for the consortium of partners developing the Kashagan oil field in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea.
This is the field that finally produced its first oil in September after a 13-year, $50b construction phase. It is Kazakhstan’s most high profile industrial project and also carries the nation’s hopes of securing a place as one of the world’s top oil exporters.
The pressure is on, then.
It hasn’t been a smooth route towards commercial oil production at Kashagan, though.
First a gas leak temporarily halted oil production in September. This was fixed but another gas leak halted production a few days later. After initially brushing off this gas leak and saying that it wouldn’t derail the production timetable, officials at the North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC), that’s the name of the company running the site, have changed their mind.
Kashagan will now close for a few weeks until the leak is repaired, media quoted an NCOC statement as saying, meaning that a commercial production target of 75,000 barrels of oil a day will not be hit this month.
A few days later media also reported that AgipKCO’s managing director, Umberto Carrara, had decided to retire after seven years in the job. AgipKCO was the company formed to build Kashagan. NCOC said Mr Carrara’s departure was unconnected to the delays at Kashagan.
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(News report from Issue No. 158, published on Oct. 30 2013)
OCT. 24 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The consortium developing the giant Kashagan oil field in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea halted production to fix a gas leak. The shutdown will delay by a few weeks the commercial start of oil production that had been scheduled for this month.
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(News report from Issue No. 158, published on Oct. 30 2013)
OCT. 29 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Fuel shortages are spreading across Uzbekistan, including in Tashkent, media reported. Photos reportedly showing drivers queuing for fuel in the Uzbek capital are important because it had previously been less effected by shortages than the rest of the country. The Uzbek government denies there are fuel supply problems.
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(News report from Issue No. 158, published on Oct. 30 2013)
OCT. 24 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan increased its state-imposed cap on fuel prices by 7 tenge to 117 tenge ($0.76) per litre of 92-octane petrol. Prices for the lower grade 80-octane petrol and diesel were left unchanged.
The closure of the refinery in Shymkent for scheduled repairs has triggered localised fuel shortages in the weeks prior to the price hike, scheduled for November.
In Southern Kazakhstan fuel was sold only through coupons and in limited quantities. Lines of cars queued at petrol stations that quickly ran out of 92-octane fuel and supplied only the 80-octane version.
Fuel price rises hurt consumers and tension is brewing in Kazakhstan.
According to the Kazakhstan Fuel Association (KFA), a fuel industry lobby group, routine repairs at the Shymkent refinery caused the shortage. It is only one of three refineries in Kazakhstan.
The government has instead blamed a general global increase in oil for the rise on the petrol price cap.
Ordinary drivers are even more frustrated. They blame owners of petrol stations for holding back supplies until the fuel price cap had been raised.
They’ve also had to stomach a higher price increase than originally flagged up.
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(News report from Issue No. 158, published on Oct. 30 2013)
OCT. 18 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The size of Azerbaijan’s non-oil sector has grown by 10.4% since last year, the country’s statistics department said quoting figures comparing the first nine months of this year with the same period in 2012. Expanding the non-oil sector is considered key to sustaining Azerbaijan’s economic expansion.
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(News report from Issue No. 157, published on Oct. 23 2013)
OCT. 16 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan’s state-owned energy company Uzbekneftegaz has denied reports that households across the country are facing a shortage of gas supplies, local media reported. People living in rural areas of Uzbekistan have previously talked of gas shortages to a Conway Bulletin correspondent.
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(News report from Issue No. 157, published on Oct. 23 2013)
OCT. 11 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — A gas leak halted output at the Kashagan oil field in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea for the second time in the past few weeks, media reported. Production facilities at Kashagan cost $50b and took 13 years to build. The oil field started production in September and is key to Kazakhstan’s export aspirations.
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(News report from Issue No. 156, published on Oct. 16 2013)
OCT. 8 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tax revenues from Azerbaijan’s non-oil sector increased by 11.3% in the first nine months of 2013, Azerbaijani minister for economic development Shahin Mustafayev said according to media reports. International economists have said it is vital Azerbaijan develops its non-oil sector.
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(News report from Issue No. 155, published on Oct. 9 2013)
OCT. 4 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — A consortium of energy companies led by the state-owned Uzbekneftegaz will invest around $200m exploring south and east Uzbekistan for oil, media reported. The reports said that China’s CNPC, the Czech Republic’s ERIELL Corporation and Tethys Petroleum, registered in Guernsey, will also be involved in the project.
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(News report from Issue No. 155, published on Oct. 9 2013)
