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Каспинфо сентябрь 2001 |
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Название: Нефть и газ в мире на англ. яз. Главные Пункты: * Транспортировка нефти с восточного побережья Каспия через Махачкалу до Новороссийска экономически выгодна, но, учитывая увеличение объемов доставки нефти, может привести к деградации экосистем Каспийского и Черного морей, утрате морских биоресурсов и рекреационного потенциала. * Трубопровод Баку-Тбилиси-Джейхан будет способствовать уменьшению количества танкерных перевозок по Босфору, заверил представителей экологических организаций исполнительный директор компании ВР. * Группа европейских и японских банков открыла кредитную линию в сумме 1,76 млрд. долларов для строительства подводной части газопровода <Голубой поток>. * Уникальность <Голубого потока> в том, что впервые трубы прокладываются на глубине 2150 м от поверхности воды на морское дно. Вода Черного моря на глубине свыше 300 м заражена сероводородом, при котором ржавеет любой металл. Единственная компания, обладающая технологией прокладки в таких условиях трубопроводов, - итальянский концерн ЭНИ. * Причиной взрыва 29 августа на трубопроводе Баку - Новороссийск в Дагестане была бомба, считают аналитики. Это говорит об изменении чеченскими боевиками тактики борьбы с Россией: они будут разрушать объекты нефтяной инфраструктуры республики. * и др. сообщения. (05.09.2001) Полный Текст Нефть и газ в мире на англ. яз. Нефть и газ в мире на англ. яз. *** FIVE NAIVE QUESTIONS ABOUT "THE BLUE STREAM" WHAT IS "THE BLUE STREAM "? "The Blue Stream" is a name of the gas pipeline, which will connect Russia and Turkey to supply Eastern Mediterranean with gas. The pipeline will reach the Turkish coast through the bottom of the Black sea, leaving aside the southern neighbors in the Caucasus. It will enter the Black Sea at the Russian village Beregovaia and will leave it at the Turkish city Samsun. The Russian surface part (370 km) of the pipeline from Stavropol through Krasnodar up to the village Beregovaia is being constructed by Russia, the underwater, Black Sea (380 km) part - by Russians and Italians. All works on the first pipe run of the underwater part of "the Blue Stream" shall be finished in 2001. Two parallel "tubes" will supply 16 billion m3 of gas a year solving problems of energy supply in Turkey for years. WHY IT IS CALLED A PROJECT OF THE CENTURY? Originality of the project is that tubes will be installed on the depth of 2150 meters from the water surface on the seabed with a steep slope up to 25 percents for the first time in the world. Moreover the water in the Black sea deeper than 300 meters contains hydrogen sulphite, were metals are rusting in a moment. The only one company in the world, which has know-how of building of pipelines on bottoms of seas and oceans, is the Italian oil and gas concern "ANI" - the strategic partner of Gazprom WHAT IS THE PRICE OF THIS MIRACLE? AND WHO WILL BE ITS OWNER: RUSSIA OR TURKEY? Building of the underwater part of "The Blue Stream" will cost $2,3 billion. The part of this sum will be allocated by the Italian banks under the warranties of the state, the part of the credit is provided by "ANI" itself. One more credit line is opened by the Japanese bank consortium headed by the Fudzi Bank. They have their own interest - the Japanese are suppliers of the special tubes for the gas pipeline. Long-term contracts on gas supply between Russia and Turkey have been signed; this money will be used for credit repayment. The credit scheme of "The Blue Stream" was recognized as the most brilliant financial procedure of the last year in the world. The Russian surface part belongs to Gazprom, the Turkish part - to the Turkish state company "Botas", the underwater part - to the Russian-Italian concern. HOW THE LARGE TONNAGE PIPELINE CAN BE BUILT FROM THE SEA SURFACE? The subsidiary of "ANI" the company "Sipem" knows the secret of deep-seated pipe installation. The Italian vessel "Sipem-7000" has high-powered cranes weighting 7000 tons each, which are transmitting 48,8 meters long segments of the pipeline welded on the coast to the installing tower weighting 4500 tons. They are being welded upright to the main pipeline, which follows the vessel like I-like huge tail and lies down on the seabed on the depth of about 3 kilometers. The huge sizes of the vessel - the length is almost 200 meters, the height - 135 meters allow operations even in the bad weather. Twelve engines make 9 knots (about 17 km/h.), and can hold a vessel in a stable position when sea is heavy. The stuff of the vessel consists of 800 persons. There are two unmanned mini submarines - robots for underwater works, and the special repair complex "AR-COS" for replacement of damaged segments of the pipeline on the seabed. WHAT WE WILL GAIN FROM THIS FREAK? Russia gets a stable flow of currency to its budget and an additional breakthrough to the European market of energy resources. Until now Russia had been supplying gas to Turkey through Ukraine, Moldova, Romania. It was more expensive. Moreover the part of the transit "blue" fuel used to be stolen, especially in Ukraine. "The Blue Stream " will provide Russia with a reliable outlet to the European market, leaving aside control of the American oil sisters. Turkey gets more grounds for strategic alliance with Russia, than for a small-scale competition with this country in the Caucasus. Information of the Independent Ecological Service on the Northern Caucasus Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN) 35 Electronic Bulletin: Caucasus Environmental News *** Japan's old EID/MIT trade insurance division has been spun off in a new semi-private entity called Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI). This is the group that is putting up the most resistance in Japan to environmental regs/assessments. One of the things that they are currently working on is the "Blue Stream" project - a multi billion pipeline project in the Caspin (see article below). 13Jun2001 RUSSIA: BANKS CONFIRM MEETING OF PRELIMINARY CONDITIONS FOR BLUE STREAM CREDITS. Banks that are organizing credit lines for the Blue Stream project have confirmed that all preliminary conditions to receive credits and open full-scale financing for the project, the Gazprom press service said. According to the press service, the total amount of the first stage of the credits amounts to over $300 million. The financing scheme for the project includes credits under guarantees from European agencies headed by SACE (Italy) and Japanese export crediting agencies. Long-term credits amounting to $1.1335 billion, guaranteed by SACE, will be used to finance the turn-key construction of a gas pipeline along the bed of the Black Sea, and also the purchase of pipes and equipment in Italy to build the onshore section of the pipeline. Credits with guarantees from Japanese agencies (JBIC, MITI/NEXI) amounting to $626.5 million are to be used to buy pipes for the underwater section of the pipeline from a Japanese consortium and also to finance general contract work for the construction of the onshore section. Organizer banks for the European part of the credit include IntesaBci S.p.A (formerly Banca Commerciale Italiana), Medoicredito Centrale S.p.A, Westdeutsche Landesbank and Girozentrale AG. The lead organizer of the Japanese credits is Fuji Bank Ltd. The borrower on credits for the construction of the marine segment of the pipeline is Blue Stream Pipeline Co., a joint venture between Gazprom and ENI/SNAM and the borrower for the onshore section is Gazprom. Gazprom and Gazexport are acting as guarantors for the credit, using revenue from exports of Russian gas to Italy as collateral. The Blue Stream pipeline stretches about 760 kilometers and is being built based on an intergovernmental agreement on supplies of Russian gas, signed by Russia and Turkey in December 1997. Annual supplies will amount to 16 billion cubic meters. The total cost of the Blue Stream project amounts to about $3.3 billion. A credit line was opened in December 2000 in the amount of $886 million as SNAM obligations to finance the marine section of the pipeline. In addition, in February 2001 a syndicate of European banks granted Gazprom an untied credit of EUR 250 million to build the onshore section. (c) Copyright 2001 Interfax Information Services, B.V. The leading provider of political, business and financial information from Europe and Asia with special emphasis on emerging markets. London: +44-171-581-5550; Moscow: +7-095-251-4684; http://www.interfax-news.com. Source: INTERFAX NEWS AGENCY BANKING & FINANCE 13/06/2001 *** THE CASPIAN OIL The project of the new international transport consortium is being considered The participants of the expanded meeting of the Ministry of Transport of Russia, the State Council and the Government of the Republic Dagestan hold in Makhachkala decided to join efforts for implementation of the project on creation of the new International Transport Consortium for transportation of oil from the eastern coast of the Caspian sea through the Makhachkala port to the Black Sea port of Novorossisk. As the calculations of experts show, the high performance of the project can awake the interest of Russian and foreign partners from Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan engaged in transportation of oil and oil products from these countries. The consortium will be consisted of: the Makhachkala port and terminal, the railway (pipeline) component from Makhachkala to Novorossisk and the Novorossisk port with relevant oil discharge facilities and services in the port. The situation with the growth of oil extracting works in the Caspian Sea basin is developing. The transport infrastructure is developing too, and it is very important for Russia to be side by side with other countries and to use effectively its rich resources. The comments of the Independent Ecological Service on the Northern Caucasus: One more new project on transportation of the Caspian oil emerged. The implementation of this project will cause additional growth of the volumes of transportation of oil by the Caspian and Black sea, which are closed, and environmentally extremely vulnerable water reservoirs. Consequences - the further degradation of ecosystems of these seas, enormous economical losses because of destruction of marine bio-resources and recreational potential. Aleksei Magomedov, "Tthe Independent Ecological Service on the Northern Caucasus " Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN) 35 Electronic Bulletin: Caucasus Environmental News *** 41. Azerbaijan/Turkey: On June 21, the proposed Baku-Ceyhan Pipeline received strongest public backing to date when the chief executive of the BP Group said that the pipeline would be built and in operation by the end of 2004. BP claims that the $3 billion pipeline is "environmentally sound" and brought several environmental organizations on a cruise along the Bosporus to explain the company's plans to make the pipeline environmentally benign. Environmental groups have expressed concern over crowded oil tanker traffic along the river, which is expected to get even heavier later this year, when more tankers are expected to come down from the Black Sea. The pipeline is expected to relieve some of the tanker traffic along with Bosporus. (Source: NYT 21 June 01) Financing is to come from EBRD and IFC, which are to lend $300m each. MIGA and OPIC agreed to cover$300m in loans. Overall, a total of $1.4bn of loans are to be made and covered by export credit agencies. As of July 6 2001, members of the project are: operator BP (25.72%); SOCAR (30%); Unocal (7.74%); Statoil (6.45%); TPAO (5.08%); ITOCHU (2.96%); Delta Hess (2.05%). The remaining 20% is to be taken up by new participants. 42. Russia-Turkey: Blue Stream Gas Pipeline According to the Wall Street Journal (31 May 01), "German based Westdeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale said that a group of European and Japanese banks completed financing for the underwater section of the Blue Stream natural-gas pipeline from Russia to Turkey. Russia's Gazprom said "-that the banks had opened a $1.76 billion line of credit for the $3.3 billion pipeline under the Black Sea, adding that a first tranche would amount to $300 million." Manana Kochladze *** Russian Oil May Be Under Attack 6 September 2001 Summary A bomb ripped open the Baku-Novorossiysk oil export pipeline Aug. 29 in the Russian town of Achisu. If the explosion indicates the Chechen rebels have begun targeting petroleum infrastructure, Russia will have huge problems prosecuting the war. More than half of the Russian budget originates with petroleum exports, and there are plenty of targets within arm's reach of Chechnya. Analysis A blast ripped open the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline in the southern Russian republic of Dagestan at 2:25 a.m. Aug. 29. The blast was certainly a bomb; it left a crater 5 feet deep and 20 feet wide, according to RIA Novosti news agency. The use of such a large explosive indicates the bomber was not attempting simply to tap the pipeline to steal crude but to actually destroy the line itself. Although there are many suspects, agents of breakaway Chechnya top the list. In fact, Russian authorities have already opened a criminal investigation with the Chechens and their allies in mind, United Press International reported. If the pipeline blast indicates a change in Chechen tactics, Moscow has a major financial problem on its hands. The implications of a new Chechen strategy could be far-reaching. The Chechen capital of Grozny once housed the fourth-largest refinery network in the former Soviet Union; the Chechens know exactly where to hit oil infrastructure to maximize damage. That infrastructure is directly responsible for the petroleum revenues that fund more than half of the Russian budget. Budget shortfalls historically have had a disproportionate impact on spending for badly needed social programs. stratfor.com |