Page 11 - FSUOGM Week 29 2021

FSUOGM INVESTMENT FSUOGM

Tatneft snaps up oilfield
Acquiring the oilfield
services operator it
relies on could help
Tatneft maintain
service provider
healthier margins.

RUSSIA RUSSIAN oil producer Tatneft has acquired ministry’s major overhaul of oil taxation last year.
TNG AlGIS, an oilfield services company that Acquiring the oilfield services operator it relies
works primarily at its oilfields in Tatarstan, for on could help the company maintain healthier
RUB1.1bn ($15mn), it said on July 19. margins.
Tatneft bought the company, based in Tatneft is also looking at an expansion down-
Almetyevsk in Tatarstan, from its parent TNG stream. It already controls the giant TANECO
Group. Through the deal it will gain production refining and petrochemicals complex, due to be
sites, equipment, vehicles, a client base and a expanded from 200,000 to 260,000 barrels per
portfolio of existing contracts, the company said. day (bpd) of oil throughput. Tatneft could decide
“The acquisition of TNG-AlGIS will improve to add the privately owned TAIF-NK refinery in
the operations efficiency at the company’s fields Nizhnekamsk to TANECO’s asset base, News-
being commissioned, production management Base reported earlier this month. TAIF-NK was
and development planning processes,” Tatneft saddled with $1.3bn of net debt at the start of the
said in a statement. year, though, and could weigh down on Tatneft’s
TNG confirmed it had accepted Tatneft’s earnings margins.
offer for the subsidiary in its own statement. The In June, Tatneft also announced it would
services that the company provides include geo- acquire 100% of the Ekopet polyethylene tereph-
physical and seismic research, well testing and thalate plant in Kaliningrad – the largest facility
the creation of geological models. of its kind both in Russia and Europe. But that
Tatneft has been hit hard by the recent loss plant too is loss-making.
of tax breaks for its heavy oil-containing fields, TNG does not disclose its annual earnings or
which were cancelled as part of the finance those of TNG-AlGIS. ™

Russian regulators set conditions for

Sibur-TAIF petchems merger

RUSSIA RUSSIAN regulators have given their condi- of petrochemical supply.
tional consent to a merger between Russian pet- TAIF owns the Nizhnekamskneftekhim oil
The merger will create rochemical groups Sibur and TAIF, bringing the refining and petrochemicals complex in Tatar-
one of the world's top- tie-up one step closer to completion. stan, among other assets, and is counting on
five producers. The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) the deal to finance growth plans. It is looking to
concluded that combining the two businesses invest more than RUB1.5bn ($20bn) in expan-
would strengthen Russia’s position as an sion over the next decade.
exporter of non-natural resources, while also The larger Sibur company is already the big-
satisfying its domestic supply for such prod- gest petrochemicals producer in Eastern Europe,
ucts. But the regulator also set conditions. The and last year launched its flagship ZapSibNeft-
combined entity, which will be named Sibur, eKhim polymers hub in Western Siberia. TAIF
must ensure enough supplies of products such shareholders will receive a 15% interest in Sibur
as LPG to the domestic market, and draft up a under the tie-up, in exchange for Sibur gain-
strategy to outline its sales plans by the end of ing a majority interest in TAIF. Sibur has said it
the year. It will also be unable to decline supply expects to take full ownership of TAIF within a
contracts with Russian buyers without good few years.
economic or technical reasons. Sibur has had on-again, off-again plans to
The merger, first announced in late April, stage an initial public offering (IPO) for several
will create one of the world’s top five producers, years. Russian billionaire Leonid Mikhelson, the
responsible for 70% of oil and gas chemical prod- main shareholder of Sibur, said in June that the
ucts in Russia, and 100% of certain products. listing might take place after the merger with
This equates to over 7.2mn tonnes per year (tpy) TAIF is completed. ™

Week 29 21•July•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P11