Tag Archives: hydrocarbons

Gas tariff rise in Kazakhstan

JULY 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Kazakh anti-monopoly agency approved a 39% increase in the top rate it can charge for pumping gas through its pipeline network to 1,769 tenge/1,000 cubic metres ($5), in a move that will impact domestic and industrial gas prices. The new tariff ceiling will come into effect on Sept. 1 and will be valid until 2020. Gas price rises are a sensitive issue. Governments across the region have been raising prices slowly, moving away from Soviet subsidies. This, though, has frustrated people and triggered anti government protests.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 291, published on Aug. 1 2016)

Turkish police arrests CEO of Azerbaijan’s state energy company for links to Gulen movement

AUG 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkish authorities have arrested Sadettin Korkut, former CEO of Petkim, an Azerbaijan-owned refinery on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, in what media said was part of a purge of people linked to exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen (July 28).

Azerbaijan’s state-owned energy company SOCAR dismissed the claim, saying that the arrest was linked to a spat with another employee of SOCAR Turkey Enerji, its Turkish subsidiary.

Mr Korkut had resigned as CEO, a position he had held for four years, the day before he was arrested. Twenty-seven other employees of SOCAR’s Turkish subsidiary, which operates the Petkim refinery, were also sacked at the same time.

Turkish media immediately linked the arrest and the sackings to the Gulenist movement, which they dub a terrorist network.

“Around 200 workers from Petkim and related companies were sacked due to their alleged ties to the Gulenist Terror Organisation (FETO),” the Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Around 60,000 public sector employees and dozens of journalists and businessmen were arrested in Turkey in the aftermath of an attempted military coup on July 15. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Mr Gulen of masterminding the coup from his exile in the US.

Azerbaijan is one of Turkey’s strongest allies. It backed the arrest.

“SOCAR’s management believes that Turkey will become stronger after these difficult days. We will continue to operate and invest in Turkey with all of our energy,” Vagif Aliyev, CEO of SOCAR Turkey Enerji said in a statement.

SOCAR Turkey Enerji and SOCAR Turkey Petrokimiya own a majority stake in Petkim.

Anar Mammadov, head of SOCAR’s Greek subsidiary, has been appointed new CEO of Petkim.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 291, published on Aug. 1 2016)

Kazakhstan-focused Nostrum drops in H1

JULY 27 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan-focused Nostrum Oil & Gas posted a 41% drop in revenues in H1 2016, compared to last year because of continued low oil prices. Production in H1 fell by 12% to an average of 38,993 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The company said that the full-year production forecast remained at an average of 40,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 291, published on Aug. 1 2016)

Oil output falls in Kazakhstan

JULY 28 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Due to sustained low oil prices, Kazakhstan’s oil production could shrink further this year, according to Asset Magauov, deputy energy minister. Mr Magauov said that a majority of the companies operating in the country reported a decline in production in 2015. The official forecast for 2016 is 75.5m tonnes, a 5% reduction compared to last year. In March, then-energy minister Vladimir Shkolnik had projected a production target of 77m tonnes for 2016.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 291, published on Aug. 1 2016)

EBRD considers Azerbaijani gas

JULY 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said it is negotiating financing TAP, a trans-Adriatic gas pipeline which forms part of the so-called Southern Gas Corridor network that will pump Azerbaijani gas to Europe. In an interview with AP, the EBRD said it is looking to invest €500m ($550m) in the project. Azerbaijan’s state-owned SOCAR (20%), BP (20%), Italy’s Snam (20%), Belgium’s Fluxys (19%), Spain’s Enagas (16%), and Switzerland’s Axpo (5%) own TAP.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 291, published on Aug. 1 2016)

Stock market: Nostrum Oil and Gas

AUG 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Amsterdam-based Nostrum Oil & Gas has posted lower revenues and production in H1 2016, but its share price continued to hold at around 300p because of bullish forward forecasts.

The company’s CEO Kai-Uwe Kessel said that in an era of low oil prices, cost-cutting is paramount. He also said that the company was focusing on building a small pipeline that would reduce its transport costs in 2017.

By focusing on cutting costs, however, the company seems to have been unable to regain either its production or its revenue stream from last year. Both were down by 12% and 41% respectively in H1 2016.

In the company’s statement, Mr Kessel remained confident that Nostrum’s production target will be met by the end of the year.

“We look forward to increasing production throughout the second half of the year to achieve our target 2016 production of 40,000 boepd,” he said.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 291, published on Aug. 1 2016)

Gazprom Kyrgyzstan repairs pipeline

JULY 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Maintenance work at the Bukhara-Tashkent-Bishkek-Almaty gas pipeline will result in gas cutoffs in several Kyrgyz towns, the press service of Gazprom Kyrgyzstan said. The pipeline is part of a Soviet-designed system pumping Uzbek gas to Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan and the repairs and gas cutoffs show just how antiquated the pipeline network has become.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 291, published on Aug. 1 2016)

Azerbaijan’s energy company restarts its platform

JULY 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s state-owned energy company SOCAR said that it had resumed operations at an oil platform badly damaged by a storm and a fire in December. SOCAR said that work at one of the 28 oil wells operated by Platform No. 10 in the shallow-water Guneshli field had restarted. 31 oil workers died in the storm on Dec. 11, the worst offshore accident at an oil platform for nearly 30 years.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 290, published on July 22 2016)

Oilfield in Kazakhstan issues bond

JULY 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tengizchevroil (TCO), the Chevron- led consortium exploiting the Tengiz oilfield in western Kazakhstan, issued a $1b 10-year Eurobond with a 4% coupon, lower than previously forecast, RIA Novosti said. Earlier in July, TCO approved a $37b expansion plan, which will boost production at Tengiz by 45% by 2020.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 290, published on July 22 2016)

Azerbaijan’s gas corridor to be funded

JULY 20 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s finance minister Samir Sharifov said that his country is in talks with several international financial institutions to raise funds to pay for the construction of the so-called Southern Gas Corridor, a network of pipelines that will pump gas from the Caspian Sea to Europe. Mr Sharifov told the FT that the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Asian Development Bank are all considering supporting the project.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 290, published on July 22 2016)