Russia 081231 Basic Political Developments
Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)
Download 153.97 Kb.
|
- Navigate this page:
- Russian domestic oil price hits 5-year low
- Oil price collapse wreaks havoc on forecasts and budgeting
- Imperial shareholders ‘back ONGC bid’
- Wednesday, 31 December, 2008, 03:06 GMT | last updated: Wednesday, 31 December, 2008, 03:06 GMT
Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)Russia lowering export duty on oil to $119.1 a tonne from Jan 1 http://www.oilandgaseurasia.com/news/p/0/news/3650# Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on December 25 signed a decree lowering export duty on oil to $119.1 per tonne from January 1, 2009. The export duty on light oil products will be $92.6 a tonne, and that on dark products - $49.9 a tonne. The duties have been $192.1 on crude, $141.8 on light products and $76.4 on dark products since December 1. The January 1 duty is based on an average price of $43.966 per barrel of Russian crude in the period November 15-December 14. Export duty on crude peaked at $495.9 a tonne in August-September this year. Plummeting oil prices since then have forced the government to base the export duty on average crude prices for one month instead of two months. - Interfax
Tue Dec 30, 2008 4:53pm GMT MOSCOW, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Russia's domestic oil price for January delivery eased further this week falling to $8,46-$12,22 per barrel for the first time since early 2003, traders said. The domestic market is flooded with crude oil and refinery products since export netbacks are below production costs and taxes for a third month in a row <0#CRUDE-RU>, pushing oil firms to cut extraction and exports. Russian oil producers in Western Siberia have sold crude at 1,800-2,600 roubles ($61.58-$88.95) per tonne at local metering points URL-WSB. They initially hoped they would sell the oil at no less than 3,000 roubles per tonne, but excessive domestic supply and cuts in processing planned by some refineries in January softened the sellers' position. Komi producers, the second most active seller after Siberia, sold crude at 1,800-2,300 roubles at local metering point URL-KMO, down from 2,800-2,900 per tonne for December delivery. "We have cut oil extraction as much as possible and pumped some oil to Transneft inventories. But we can't shut the wells and have to sell crude at current price levels," one Komi producer said. Ufa refineries bought crude at 2,300-3,000 per tonne at the refinery gate URL-UFA down by an average of 27 percent versus December. The Moscow refinery, which typically buys crude from small producers in Siberia and the Komi republic has bought crude for January delivery at 2,500-3,000 roubles per tonne at the refinery gate, versus 3,450-3,550 in December URL-MSW. The deals were closed at higher prices early last week versus the end of domestic trading session as dated Brent plunged. Small companies, which account for about 5 percent of Russia's total oil production, have been worst affected because of a lack of long-term funding, retail outlets and refining capacity. (Reporting by Lyudmila Zaramenskikh, writing by Gleb Gorodyankin) December 31, 2008, 10:37
After rising steadily over the past five years, 2008 saw oil start the year by powering through the $100 dollar per barrel mark. It continued to climb through the first half, reaching $147 dollars per barrel in the second week of July, amidst claims of speculation and ‘peak oil’ driving prices, and Gazprom CEO Aleksey Miller, speaking in June, tipping even higher prices to come. “We believe speculation is influencing the oil price, but isn’t a determining factor. We are facing a large jump in hydrocarbon prices and they are approaching a new high level. We expect the price to reach $250 per barrel in the foreseeable future.” That "foreseeable future" didn’t arrive with crude prices crashing in the second half of the year - to $35 in late December - as oil exporters were forced to manage a dramatically changed outlook. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, flagging an increasingly close relationship with OPEC, said the move was needed to protect Russia. “We must protect ourselves. This is our income base in both oil and gas. These protective measures may be associated with decreasing oil production, as well as with the participation as well as with the participation of certain suppliers in certain organizations, and with participation with new organizations if we manage to come to an agreement.” To stem the slide, OPEC has unveiled 3 production cuts since September, with Russian announcing it will join in. OPEC President, Chakhib Khelil, said he is expecting the cuts to put a floor under prices in the short term, and then enable a moderate rebound. “The OPEC decision was made at the right time, and we think also that as soon as the cuts will be effective in January then the market will stabilize around $45 to $55.” Oil managed to edge higher on Middle East tensions in late December. In the longer term prices are hesitantly forecast to rise, although a deepening global economic crisis will continue to play havoc with short term demand. This leaves Russia - about to face its first budget deficit in a decade - and other producers, preparing for the worst, while trying to finance the capital expenditure needed for the longer term.
Wire servicesMore than 90% of Imperial Energy investors accepted a 1.3 billion ($1.88 billion) takeover bid from India’s Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), meeting a key condition for the deal to proceed, sources close to the matter said yesterday. Imperial investors, bankers and analysts believed ONGC would back out of the deal -- which was agreed when crude traded at around $130 a barrel, compared with less than $40 now - if its condition of 90% acceptance was not met. Shareholders in the Russia-focused oil explorer had until 1300 GMT yesterday to accept ONGC's offer. "They have exceeded the 90% threshold comfortably," one source said. State-backed ONGC tried unsuccessfully to delay the bid, and Indian media said the Delhi government wanted ONGC to renegotiate the deal price to reflect the drop in oil prices. The takeover is part of ONGC's drive to secure energy resources to power India's economy, which has been booming in recent years. Imperial shares closed up 17% at 1,205 pence as investors grew more optimistic the deal would proceed, but still ended short of ONGC's offer of 12.50 per share. RBC Capital Markets predicted last week that if the deal were to collapse, the shares would fall to between 2.70 and 5, based on the recent share performance of other exploration companies operating in the former Soviet Union. One Imperial investor said ONGC could yet seek to wriggle out of the deal, possibly by invoking a "material adverse change" (MAC) clause. "I really hope that this is a done deal now, but given what we've seen so far I not sure this is over yet," the investor said. A MAC clause allows an acquirer to pull out of a deal should a material change damage the target's business. ONGC could claim the oil price drop constituted a material adverse change. MAC clauses are common in takeover documentation but are rarely invoked. ONGC must make a statement on the level of acceptances by 0800 GMT Wednesday, the sources close to the matter said. ONGC Videsh, the ONGC unit that is making the bid, declined comment, as did Imperial, Reuters reported. Wednesday, 31 December, 2008, 03:06 GMT | last updated: Wednesday, 31 December, 2008, 03:06 GMTImperial Energy Investors Back ONGC Bid by By Staff Reporter Xinhua Financial News 12/30/2008 URL: http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=71171 More than 90 percent of Imperial Energy investors accepted a 1.3 billion pounds ($1.88 billion) takeover bid from Indian oil company ONGC, meeting a key condition for the deal to proceed, sources close to the matter said on Tuesday. Imperial investors, bankers and analysts believed ONGC would back out of the deal -- which was agreed when crude traded at around $130 a barrel, compared with less than $40 now -- if its condition of 90 percent acceptance was not met. Shareholders in the Russia-focussed oil explorer had until 1300 GMT Tuesday to accept ONGC's offer. "They have exceeded the 90 percent threshold comfortably," one source said. State-backed ONGC tried unsuccessfully to delay the bid, and Indian media said the Delhi government wanted ONGC to renegotiate the deal price to reflect the drop in oil prices. The takeover is part of ONGC's drive to secure energy resources to power India's economy, which has been booming in recent years. Imperial shares closed up 17 percent at 1,205 pence as investors grew more optimistic the deal would proceed, but still ended short of ONGC's offer of 1,250 pence per share. RBC Capital Markets predicted last week that if the deal were to collapse, the shares would fall to between 270 and 500 pence, based on the recent share performance of other exploration companies operating in the former Soviet Union. One Imperial investor said ONGC could yet seek to wriggle out of the deal, possibly by invoking a "material adverse change" (MAC) clause. "I really hope that this is a done deal now, but given what we've seen so far I not sure this is over yet," the investor said. A MAC clause allows an acquirer to pull out of a deal should a material change damage the target's business. ONGC could claim the oil price drop constituted a material adverse change. MAC clauses are common in takeover documentation but are rarely invoked. The best-known recent case in the UK was the 2001 attempt by advertising group WPP to back out of a deal to acquire media buyer Tempus, citing a likely negative impact on Tempus' business from the Sept. 11 attacks in New York. The takeover regulator denied WPP's attempt and the takeover proceeded. ONGC must make a statement on the level of acceptances by 0800 GMT Wednesday, the sources close to the matter said. ONGC Videsh, the ONGC unit that is making the bid, declined comment, as did Imperial.
Russia's largest and fastest growing oil firm, Rosneft, said on Tuesday its output growth will be insignificant in 2009, after a healthy rise in 2008, due to the impact of the financial crisis. Russian oil production is heading for its first decline in a decade this year after impressive increases in previous years. Analysts say the decline could extend to 2-3 percent next year compared with an expected 1 percent fall this year. Rosneft was one of few companies in Russia, the world's second largest oil exporter, to record significant output growth this year, pushing production up by 8 percent to 110 million tonnes or 2.2 million barrels per day. "Of course the global financial crisis and the subsequent crisis of the global economy could not have no impact on our country and Rosneft itself..." Rosneft's President Sergei Bogdanchikov said in a statement. "We obviously have to review our plans for the coming year taking into consideration the situation on financial and commodities markets," he said. "However, we are absolutely confident that the company will maintain a positive development trend including increasing oil production next year, even if the rise is expected to be insignificant," he added. Rosneft had plans to increase production by 11 percent this year but revised the growth outlook down in September after delaying the launch of a major field. With debt of over $19 billion as of the end of the third quarter, Rosneft is Russia's most indebted oil firm. Last week, the government put it on the list of strategic enterprises that can count on state help. Directory: gifiles -> attach attach -> British Forces – Akrioti, Greece Griffin Fighter Squadron (84 Squadron raf) MoD announced possible Typhoon and Tornado arrivals to the base France attach -> Russia 110204 Basic Political Developments attach -> Unclassified//for official use only attach -> Adaptability Sustainment attach -> Pop-up 1 ("C" Chechnya) Header Text: Emir of the Caucasus Emirate Doku Umarov Image attach -> Russia and Islam are not Separate attach -> Chapter 13: The Northern Caucasus attach -> Russia 100209 Basic Political Developments attach -> The evolution attach -> The devolution Download 153.97 Kb. Share with your friends:
|