Page 16 - FSUOGM Week 24

FSUOGM PROJECTS & COMPANIES FSUOGM

INK wins new oil block

in Krasnoyarsk

RUSSIA EASTERN Siberian oil firm Irkutsk Oil (INK) Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp (JOG-
has reported winning an auction for rights to a MEC), and the pair committed to joint explora-
1,540-square km oil and gas plot in the Krasno- tion of five blocks.
yarsk region. To date, INK has focused largely on oil devel-
According to the company, the West-Chado- opment, producing around 170,000 barrels per
betsky block holds 13.2mn tonnes (96.8mn day (bpd) last year. In contrast, it has largely been
barrels) of oil and 29.5bn cubic metres in unable to monetise its gas resources because of
DL+D1+D2 reserves, but there are no confirmed infrastructure constraints and limited demand
deposits. A subsoil licence will be issued to INK in the regions where it works.
within two months. However, INK is working to expand its gas
INK’s operations are mainly in the Irkutsk processing capacity and launch a petrochem-
region, where it produces oil from a number ical complex in 2023 to make use of impuri-
of Soviet-era fields. But in recent years it has ties found in its gas. In October last year it also
expanded its presence in the neighbouring Yaku- signed a memorandum with Gazprom to work
tia and Krasnoyarsk areas. together in the exploration, production, trans-
The company entered Krasnoyarsk in 2017 portation, processing and sale of hydrocarbons
when it registered a subsidiary called INK-Kras- at two fields in Krasnoyarsk, Sobinskoye and
noyarsk. It then sold a 49% stake in the venture to Paiginskoye. ™

Russian pipemakers could be

supported by Gazprom’s order

RUSSIA RUSSIAN natural gas giant Gazprom has placed half of 2019 the company, along with other steel
a tender to acquire 1.28mn tonnes of large-di- majors, was hit by lower prices, but also faced
Gazprom recently ameter pipes (LDP) for RUB98bn ($1.43bn) to competitive challenges domestically. But in
placed an order for be used in the construction of loopings for the 4Q19 TMK beat expectations on its top line and
$1.43n of pipes for pipeline to China, Power of Siberia, as well as got a $1bn cash boost from finally closing the
various projects. the Bovanenkovo-Ukhta and Ukhta-Torzhok sale of its US subsidiary IPSCO Tubulars.
pipelines. In April shares of TMK rallied on its buyback
Gazprom is aiming for deliveries of the pipe- and delisting from the London Stock Exchange.
lines for 2021-22 and will close the tender on Still, the “company’s capitalisation continues to
June 16. face pressure due to various market factors and
“The LDP industry is quite volatile and low liquidity of the company’s equity securities,”
depends on large infrastructure projects, pre- TMK said in a statement, explaining its decision
dominantly Gazprom’s and Transneft’s major to delist in London. ™
trunk pipeline construction,” VTB Capital
(VTBC) commented on June 9, estimating that
the tender might account for almost a third of
total LDP consumption in Russia in 2020-21.
The bank thus sees the order as positive for
pipe producers, given the weak demand in other
pipe segments due negative developments from
the OPEC+ agreement and the coronavirus
(COVID-19) pandemic.
This includes the market leader TMK (sub-
ject to it winning the tender), as it might increase
LPD capacity utilisation and partially offset
lower shipments of other pipes, VTBC believes.
As reported by bne IntelliNews, in the second

P16 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 24 17•June•2020