Page 13 - FSUOGM Week 46 2019

FSUOGM PROJECTS & COMPANIES FSUOGM
Canadian junior eyes Uzbek foray
UZBEKISTAN
Condor Petroleum already works in Kazakhstan.
CALGARY-BASED oil and gas junior Condor Petroleum is looking into move into Uzbekistan, having entered talks to acquire five producing gas fields in the Central Asian country.
Condor, which is already active in neigh- bouring Kazakhstan as well as Turkey, said on November 13 it had signed a deal with Uzbeki- stan’s energy ministry giving it 120 days to nego- tiate a production-sharing agreement (PSA) for the fields.
Under the PSA, Condor would also take con- trol of gas pipelines and treatment facilities and gain exploration rights to the area surrounding the fields. The contract will set out key fiscal and operating terms, such as royalty rates, cost recov- ery, profit splits, gas marketing and pricing, gov- ernance and steering committee structures and payments for acquiring immovable property.
‘We are excited about the potential invest- ment opportunity in Uzbekistan,” Condor CEO Don Streu said on November 12. “We firmly believe that our vast regional experience, appli- cation of new technologies and innovations can be successfully deployed in Uzbekistan to signif- icantly increase existing field production.”
Uzbekistan is one of the biggest gas produc- ers in the former Soviet Union, boasting an out- put of 56.6bn cubioc metres last year – some of which is sold in China and Russia.
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has sought to attract more foreign investment into the country’s oil and gas sector, to end the stagnation that took hold during the reign of his predecessor Islam Karimov, who died in 2016. His government has removed currency controls and other impediments to investment, whilst actively courting international oil com- panies (IOCs).
In September, the head of national oil com- pany (NOC) Uzbekneftegaz said Uzbekistan was on the verge of striking a raft of deals with IOCs, including three by the end of this year and five more in 2020. Among those vying for contracts are BP, France’s Total, Azerbaijan’s SOCAR and Russian companies Rosneft and Novatek, he said.
Condor produces gas in Turkey and oil in Kazakhstan. Its efforts in Kazakhstan have floun- dered, however, because of a long-standing dis- pute with the government over the renewal of its licence for the Kharkamys block. In September it agreed to sell production rights to two oilfields within the area – Shoba and Taskuduk – to an unidentified IOC, despite previously planning to continue their development itself.
Announcing the sale, it said it would “pursue larger value growth opportunities within the region.” ™
New Stream cedes last refinery to creditors
RUSSIA
The company already gave up two of its largest refineries earlier this year.
INDEBTED Russian refining group New Stream has had its last remaining oil refinery seized by creditors, Kommersant reported on November 14.
Control of the 32,000 barrel per day (bpd) Mariysky oil refinery near Kazan has been trans- ferred to the Credit Bank of Moscow (MKB), sources told the newspaper. It was one of three oil processing plants formerly owned by New Stream, controlled by now-jailed businessman Dmitry Mazurov. MKB has close ties with Rus- sian state oil giant Rosneft, one of its biggest clients.
New Stream was previously Russia’s leading independent oil refiner, in a segment domi- nated by larger integrated companies such as Rosneft, Gazprom Neft and Lukoil. It ran into difficulties following Russia’s economic cri- sis in 2014, struggling to service loans it had earlier taken out to fund new investments. Mazurov was arrested on charged of embez- zlement in July.
New Stream’s other two former plants – the 180,000 bpd Antipinsky and 120,000 bpd
Afipsky refineries – have already been passed on to new operators. The Afipsky refinery was bought by Safmar, owned by oligarch Mikhail Gutseriev, in April. Safmar has since secured a $1bn loan to modernise the facility.
The Antipinsky refinery was transferred in June to state-owned lender Sberbank, its largest creditor, which went on to sell a stake in the plant to Azerbaijan’s national oil company (NOC) SOCAR at the end of October.
The Mariysky refinery was built in 1998 and acquired by New Stream in 2013 from Russia’s VTB Bank, which had assumed control of the facility over debts. The plant halted operations several times in 2018 and 2019 because of New Stream’s financial stress. It has been idle since July 25, but according to Reuters, is set to resume processing in November, taking around 80,000 tonnes (19,550 bpd) of oil from Royal Dutch Shell during the month.
Mariysky processed 1.27mn tonnes (25,500 bpd) of oil last year and a further 670,000 tonnes (18,000 bpd) between January and July this year.™
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