Tag Archives: Kazakhstan

Stock market: Roxi Petrolium

APRIL 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Roxi Petroleum shares have lost 28% of their value in the past three weeks, as investors grow wary of the company’s performance in Kazakhstan, its core focus.

The company operates the BNG contract area, not far from Tengiz in the Mangistau region.

Despite positive news coming from its deep wells, Roxi posted a decline in daily output from its shallow wells.

In January, the company had boasted the renewal of its licence to operate at BNG, which allowed Roxi to plan its investment strategy for the project.

But a 19% decline in output, probably due to technical issues linked to the expansion of the operations, has discouraged investors.

The market’s lukewarm reaction to both operational updates and share issues has increased the stock price volatility. After a sharp decline at the end of March, the stock appears to have stabilised at 9p/share.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)

Fire destroys Kazakhstan’s Abu Dhabi Plaza

APRIL 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – A fire at the Abu Dhabi Plaza, an 88- storey tower being built in central Astana, destroyed five of its floors. No-one was injured. Fires have hit the building several times this year. UAE investors are funding the $1.6b tower which was expected to be finished this year and will be the tallest in Central Asia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)

Kazakh President appoints new personal advisor

APRIL 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev nominated former energy minister and Kazakh government veteran Vladimir Shkolnik as his personal adviser. Mr Shkolnik was sacked from the post of energy minister in March. Mr Shkolnik will also hold the role of adviser to state-owned oil and gas company Kazmunaigas.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)

Bad loans re-emerge in Kazakhstan

APRIL 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s Central Bank said non-performing loans had grown by 7.7% in tenge terms in the first two months of the year. Compared to last February, most banks saw their portfolio worsen, with the notable exception of the two largest lenders, Kazkommertsbank and Halyk Bank. As a proportion, overdue loans now represent 8.3% of total lending in Kazakhstan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)

Kazakhstan blocks Tumblr

APRIL 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s government blocked the blogging platform Tumblr because of concerns it was being used by Islamic extremists to recruit and groom young men to join the radical IS group in Syria and Iraq. Kazakh media quoted security forces as saying that IS used Tumblr to build its various propaganda websites. Governments in Central Asia have been accused of being a soft-touch for IS recruiters.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)

Kazakhstan oil company’s wells dry up

APRIL 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan-focused oil company Roxi Petroleum said its shallow wells produced 865 barrels of oil per day in March, 19% lower than the level reported in January. Contacted by The Bulletin, Roxi declined to comment. It also didn’t post production data for February.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)

Kazakh econ health worsens

APRIL 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s Central Bank said the country’s economic health worsened, as the debt/GDP ratio grew from 72.4% in 2014 to 83% last year. The debt/GDP ratio is the key figure to watch as it is recognised as a key indicator of economic health. Like the rest of the region, Kazakhstan has been trying to fend off an economic downturn.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)

Kazakh car-makers complain

APRIL 12 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Car makers in Kazakhstan said they are struggling to sell their new cars in the domestic market due to new registration fees. On Jan. 1, a new tax of 106,000 tenge ($317) was imposed on cars built up to three years earlier, while a 1m tenge ($3,170) fee was imposed on older cars. Industry data showed around 4,500 cars produced in the second half of 2015 have not sold.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)

Kazakh oil production to drop

APRIL 13 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – OPEC, a club of oil exporting countries, and the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Kazakhstan’s oil output will decline this year. OPEC said Kazakh production will slow by 3.2% to 1.55m barrels/day. The EIA, which uses different parameters in its calculations, said it would fall 1.2% to 1.71m barrels/day.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)

Arrested Kazakh journalist suffers high blood pressure

APRIL 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Setykazy Matayev, a senior figure in Kazakhstan’s media scene and the former head of President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s press office, was sent to hospital suffering from high blood pressure. He was arrested last month and charged with corruption. He is the the most high-profile journalist to be arrested during a crackdown by the authorities on media over the past few months. Analysts have said the crackdown could be linked to a drop in the economy.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)