MAY 12 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Around 140 people working for the oil services company KazStroyService have gone on strike in west Kazakhstan demanding an increase in wages, media reported. Kazakhstan is sensitive to strikes. In 2011, 16 people died during fighting between protesters and police at a strike in west Kazakhstan.
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(News report from Issue No. 231, published on May 13 2015)
MAY 13 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan will start producing AI-95 grade petrol from 2018 to meet higher demand, said the vice president of the state- owned energy company SOCAR, David Mammadov. Azerbaijan currently produces AI-92, a lower grade of fuel. The government has been pushing people to buy more modern cars.
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(News report from Issue No. 231, published on May 13 2015)
MAY 13 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Oil produced by BP’s Azeri- Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) fields in the first quarter of the year inched up to average of 661,000 barrels per day from 645,800 barrels per day during the same period last year, BP-Azerbaijan said.
This increase, although small, is important. BP has been under increasing pressure from Azerbaijan to reverse a decline in output at ACG, the principal driver of Azerbaijani oil production.
For the past couple of years BP has spent millions and replaced various management teams trying to stem the decline in output at ACG.
It now appears to be working, and overall Azerbaijani oil production is rising as a consequence.
Earlier this month BP also said that it was going to suspend operations at one of the ACG platforms for repairs. This should dent ACG output in the short term.
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(News report from Issue No. 231, published on May 13 2015)
MAY 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The chairman of Azerbaijan’s state energy company Rovnag Abdullayev said the country could produce up to 40b cubic metres of gas a year, state- linked media reported. This would propel Azerbaijan into the top tier of global producers.
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(News report from Issue No. 231, published on May 13 2015)
MAY 13 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia has negotiated a reduced price for gas from Russia’s Gazprom but the government will not pass this saving on to consumers, energy minister, Yervand Zakharyan, said. Instead, Mr Zakharyan said, consumers will pay the same price.
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(News report from Issue No. 231, published on May 13 2015)
MAY 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said it will give a syndicated loan for the second phase development of the Caspian Sea Shah Deniz gas project. EBRD President Suma Chakrabarti said on a visit to Baku that the size and timeframe were undecided.
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(News report from Issue No. 231, published on May 13 2015)
MAY 1 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s State Oil Fund said its assets had dropped by 5% in the first three months of the year compared to the same period in 2014. Azerbaijan’s government is trying to push its way through a regional economic downturn and has said it will dip into its reserves to support various projects.
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(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
MAY 1 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The European Union wants to take gas deliveries from Turkmenistan from 2019, part of a determined drive to use Central Asia to weaken Russia’s grip over its energy supplies.
On a trip to Ashgabat, Maros Sefcovic, a European Commission vice-president and its top energy official, said gas could be sent to Europe from Turkmenistan either through a proposed pipeline that runs along the Caspian Sea floor or via Iran and then through neighbouring Turkey.
“Europe expects supplies of Turkmen gas to begin by 2019,” he said after meeting Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov.
For years Europe and Turkmenistan have discussed the tantalising potential of Turkmen gas reaching European households, but Mr Sefcovic’s trip to Ashgabat and subsequent statement is the strongest indication yet that what once appeared rather fanciful could actually materialise.
And it would be a game changer for Europe and Turkmenistan.
Europe is desperate to reduce Russia’s grip over its gas supplies, especially since the eruption of war in east Ukraine and the souring of relations with the Kremlin.
Turkmenistan, which holds the world’s fourth largest gas reserves and has been maturing its production process, is eager for more clients.
Currently China buys most of Turkmenistan’s gas. Europe, though, would be another large, stable client and it would propel Turkmenistan into the top division of global gas suppliers.
On his trip to Ashgabat, Mr Sefcovic also met with energy ministers from Azerbaijan and Turkey. The EU needs their support to pump Turkmen gas.
The stakes are high for both Europe and Turkmenistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
APRIL 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Revenue at Kazmunaigas EP, the London-listed unit of Kazakhstan’s state energy company, fell by 47% last year because of the collapse in oil prices, it said at its annual results. Importantly, too, salaries increased by 10% at Kazmunaigas after last year’s devaluation of the Kazakh tenge.
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(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
APRIL 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Vladimir Shkolnik, Kazakhstan’s energy minister, said the Caspian Sea oil project Kashagan would resume pumping oil in December 2016. This estimation is a few weeks earlier than Western energy companies linked to the project have suggested. Oil from Kashagan was suspended in 2013.
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
