Каспинфо
январь 2001

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Название: Материалы на английском
Главные Пункты:
* Туркменистан приостанавливает поствки газа в Россию.
* Реконструкция НПЗ в Атырау начнется в этом году - рамочное соглашение об этом подписано между Казахойл и японской Marubeni.
* Часть каспийской нефти, отгружаемой в портах Грузии, будет транспортироваться грузинским торговым флотом, для чего, в частности, планируется закупить два новых танкера.
* Нефть Казахстана будет поставляться в Иран танкерами на основе соглашений замещения.
* И другие сообщения
(31.01.2001)

Полный Текст
Материалы на английском
МАТЕРИАЛЫ НА АНГЛИЙСКОМ

*****
Turkmenistan Halts Natural Russian Gas Supply
By Gulshen Ashirova, TCA reporter
ASHGABAT (TCA). On January 1 Turkmenistan stopped the delivery of
natural gas to Russia because of the absence of a legal document
confirming Russia's intention to import this fuel in 2001, the
Government's press release issued on January 1 has said.
"According to Deputy Prime Minister Elly Gurbanmuradov, yesterday
Turkmenistan has stopped the delivery of natural gas to Gazprom's
daughter company, Itera," the press release said.
Gas supply was started late in December 1999 according to a contract
with Russia's Gazprom on the delivery in 2000 of 20 billion cubic
meters of natural gas at a price of UDS36 per 1,000 cubic meters and
continued according to a contract with Itera on the delivery of
additional 10 billion cubic meters for UDS38 per 1,000 cubic meters.
All gas supplies have been partially paid with goods.
The press release said that the Russian government, Gazprom and Itera
have several times asked the Turkmen Government to prolong the
previously signed contract and continue gas supplies on the existing
conditions. However, Turkmenistan has rejected Russia's proposal due
to the absence of a legal document confirm-ing the intention to import
Turkmen gas in 2001.
In 2001 Itera planned to purchase 30-40 billion cubic meters of
Turkmen gas (including 10 billion intended for Europe). After numerous
talks with the Turkmen Government, the question of gas prices has
remained unsolved.
A representative of the Turkmen Government said that Ashgabat insists
on the price of UD $40 per 1,000 cubic meters (to be paid 50/50 with
hard currency and goods) because this price covers all expenses for
the extraction and transportation of gas. In his words, the Turkmen
Government is ready to discuss conditions for the resumption of gas
supply.
Besides Russia, Turkmenistan is using the Central Asia - Center gas
pipeline system to deliver its natural gas to Ukraine, which is
receiving 80 million cubic meters per day starting from January 1.
Ukraine imports Turkmen gas according to a contract on the delivery of
30 billion cubic meters in 2001 at a price of UD $40 per 1,000 cubic
meters. Some additional gas wells have been put into operation in
Turkmenistan to provide the above volume of gas to Ukraine.
As was reported earlier, as of 19 December 2000 Russia had received
nearly 27 billion cubic meters of Turkmen gas and Ukraine - 2.5
billion, According to the previous contracts, in 2000 Turkmenistan
must have delivered 30 billion cubic meters of gas to Russia and 5
billion to Ukraine.

*****
Reconstraction of Atyrau Oil Refinery To Begin in 2001

ASTANA (Interfax). Reconstruction of Atyrau Oil Refinery in the west
of Kazakhstan is to begin in the Middle of 2001 and will last about
three years, Yokio Niikho, a representative from Japanese Marubeni,
the manager of the project, said. Kazakh national oil and gas company
Kazakhoil and Marubeni signed a framework agreement for the
reconstruction of the oil refinery in August last year. The cost of
the project amounts to $308 million. Of the total, $68 million will be
paid by Kazakhoil, which owns 86% of the refinery and the remaining
$240 million will be offered by the Japanese company as a soft 30-year
credit at 15% per annum.
According to Niikho, the Kazakh government has offered state
guarantees for $200 million of the credit.
After the reconstruction, the refinery will be able to refine 4.3
million tones of oil per annum, he said. At the moment the refinery
has a design capacity of 4.5 million - 5.5 million tones of oil, but
due to aging equipment, the plant is not able to refine this amount.
The reconstruction will increase the quality of the products produced
and will reduce the ecological impact of production. After the
reconstruction, the yield from crude will increase from 57%-60% at
present to 75%, Niikho said.
Kazakhoil and Marubeni are currently searching for an engineering
company and are holding talks on a scheme for advance financing for
work.
The refinery processed 2 million tones of oil in the first 11 months
of 2000.

*****
Kazakhstan to increase Uranium Production

ALMATY. Kazakhstan is to increase uranium production 30% year-on-year
in 2000, Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister and Energy Minister Vladimir
Shkolnik said.
Kazakhstan produced 1,588 tones of uranium, up 16.3% from 1998.
According to a development program for the Kazakh uranium industry, it
is planned to continuously increase production until 2005.
Shkolnik also announced that in 2001 Kazakhstan will invest about 3.5
billion rubles (S24.3 million) in developing the uranium industry. It
is planned to invest these funds in beryllium production, particularly
in the production of copper-beryllium alloy and beryllium bronze at
the Ulba Metallurgy Plant, the largest producer of fuel for nuclear
power plants in the CIS. This plant is part of Kazatomprom.
Shkolnik also announced that it is planned to partially reconstruct
tantalum production at the Ulba Plant.
In addition, the Kazakh govern-ment hopes that joint ventures set up
this year by Kazatomprom, Canadian Cameco and French Cogema will
be-gin producing uranium ore in the south of the republic in the next
year and a half - two years.
As reported earlier, in 2000 Kazatomprom invested about $36 million in
developing uranium, tantalum and beryllium production. This year the
concern began to produce niobium pentoxide and Ferro-niobium pentoxide
and produced its first beryllium ingots.
Kazatomprom plans to reach capacity beryllium production at Ulba
Metallurgy Plant in the second - third quarter in 2001. In addition,
by the end of next year it is planned to set up nio-bium ingot
production at the plant.
Of $11 billion in foreign direct investment in the Kazakh economy
since 1994, the energy and mining-metallurgy industries have received
$8.6 billion.

*****
Georgian Fleet to Move Caspian Oil Through Black Sea Ports

Tbilisi (Interfax). Part of the Caspian oil to be exported through
Georgia's Black Sea ports will be transported by the Georgian merchant
fleet. General Director of the Georgian International Shipping Lines
Guram Dolbaya has told Interfax.
A program has been drafted under which the country's merchant fleet
will be supplied with two new tankers of the "Aframax" and "Suezmax"
types, with displacements of 100,000-150,000 tones, Dolbaya reported.
He also said that tankers of this class would be received at the port
of Supsa, and in the future at the port of Kulevi ten kilometers from
the port of Poti, where a large oil terminal is being built.
Dolbaya said that Chevron has signed a letter of intent in Tbilisi and
is interested in the project.
The partnership with Chevron could help attract the loans needed to
acquire the tankers, eh said. Potential partners to charter the
tankers include major oil companies producing oil on the Azerbaijani
Caspian shelf and transporting it along the Baku-Supsa pipeline.
Dolbaya said that only foreign vessels currently transport Caspian oil
through the Georgian ports. The 14 tankers owned by Georgian shipping
companies transporting petroleum products in offshore zones are not
suitable for transporting crude oil. Each of them has a water
displacement of less than 30,000 tones, which makes their use in the
transport of large volumes of oil unprofitable, he said.

*****
AZERBAIJANI OIL PRODUCTION UP 1.9 %

BAKU. Production of oil and gas condensate in Azerbaijan in the first
11 months of 2000 increased 1.9% year-on-year to amount to 12.856
million tones, the Azerbaijani State Statistics Committee told
Interfax. At the same time, gas production in the republic fell by
5.5% to amount to 5.185 billion cubic meters, the Committee said.
Primary refining of crude oil in January-November amounted to 7.53
million tones (up 5% year-on-year). Gasoline production amounted to
482,700 tones (up 53.1%), fuel oil - 3.736 million tones (up 5.7%),
diesel - 1.792 million tones (up 2.9%), kerosene -687,600 tones (up
9.9%), and oils and lubricants - 85,700 tonnes (up 81.8%).

LUKOIL PUBLISHES CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL REPORTS
LUKOIL, assisted by KPMG, has published its consolidated financial
reports on business and financial results of 525 subsidiaries and
affiliates for the first six months of 2000 according to US GAAP
standards. According to the reports, net profits increased to $1.5
billion ($2 per ordinary share), and revenues grew by 116% to reach
$6.2 billion. The liquidity, the financial sustainability, and the
solvency of LUKOIL have also improved considerably. The total oil
production has increased by 2% to reach 38.5 million tons. Gas
production has increased by 6% (2.5 billion cubic meters). Russian and
foreign LUKOIL refineries have processed 14.4 million tons of oil. The
capital financing and investments of the group came to $1,107 million
in the first six months of 2000, against $615 million for the similar
period last year. Intensive geological exploration resulted in
discovery of four new fields and five hydrocarbon accumulations.


******
OIL EXCHANGE BETWEEN KAZAKHSTAN AND IRAN
Almaty (Interfax).Operations to exchange crude oil under a SWAP
project between Kazakhstan and Iran will restart in a month, Iranian
Deputy Foreign Minister Saed Kharazy said. According to the Kazakh
Foreign Ministry, under this project Iran has the possibility of
receiving about 1 million tonnes of oil through ports on the Caspian,
to refine at Tebriz Oil Refinery and at the same time supply a similar
amount of crude to Kazakh partners in the Persian gulf. In addition,
in the next two years Iran plans to increase the amount of oil
received to 5.5 million tonnes. Kharazy also stressed that the issue
of renewing the oil exchange between Kazakhstan and Iran "always had a
technical character only." He said that Iran invested about $450
million in this project, including $250 million in building pipeline
systems from Northern Iran to the Persian Gulf and $200 million on
re-equipping Iranian oil refineries to process Kazakh oil. Kazakhstan
and Iran have already participated in an exchange project. However,
after exchanging 200,000 tonnes of oil the sides stopped the
project.

ELF TRADING BUYS SEVENTH CONSIGNMENT OF AZERBAIJANI OIL.
Baku(Interfax). TotalFinaElf subsidiary Elf Trading has bought a
seventh consignment of profitable oil produced under the
Azeri-Chi-rag-Guneshli project in Azerbaijan.
A tanker loaded with 1 million barrels (135,000 tonnes) of oil is due
to set off from the Georgian port of Supsa on December 10-11, the
State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (SOCA;. told Interfax.
This will be the last consignment of profitable oil this year.
Azerbaijan has obtained more than 800,000 tonnes of oil at the
offshore site this year. The First consignment was dispatched on
December 22,1999, also to TotalFinaElf. The proceeds from the sale of
the oil enter temporary accounts of the Azerbaijan Oil Fund, which now
hold about $250 million.