Page 16 - FSUOGM Week 15 2021

FSUOGM NEWS IN BRIEF FSUOGM

tonnes is on its way,” the ambassador said. years. on State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan
According to Ambassador Andrei According to world statistics, on average Republic (SOCAR).
Ravkov, last year Belarus got around 3-4 out of 10 exploration wells become Moody's also affirmed SOCAR's Ba2
800,000 tonnes of oil from Azerbaijan. The productive commercial oil fields. In Belarus, corporate family rating (CFR), Ba2-PD
countries intend to continue developing this percentage is somewhat higher - about probability of default rating (PDR) and b1
cooperation in this field, he noted. 60%. baseline credit assessment (BCA). Moreover,
The company plans to produce a total of it affirmed the Ba2 rating of SOCAR's senior
1.73mn tonnes of oil in 2021. unsecured notes.
Belarus discovers eight Belorusneft was founded in 1966. The rating action on Azerbaijan which took place
“Today's rating action follows a sovereign
The Belarusian industrial group
new oil deposits over past company specializes in exploration, on 6 April 2021, during which Moody's
changed the outlook on Azerbaijan's rating
prospecting, and development of oil fields,
five years well drilling, extraction of oil and associated to positive from stable and affirmed the
petroleum gas. Belorusneft also offers
long-term issuer and senior unsecured debt
Eight new oil deposits have been discovered oil industry services in other countries.o ratings at Ba2,” Moody’s said.
in Belarus over the past five years, Deputy $24.3mn from $20.6mn a year earlier The rating action, it added, “is in line
Director General for Geology at the with the sovereign rating action and reflects
Belarusian industrial group Belorusneft SOCAR's strong credit linkages with the
Piotr Povzhik told a press conference on state, as well as its exposure to Azerbaijan's
April 8, BelTA has learned. CENTRAL ASIA & SOUTH operating and macroeconomic environment.
The company's strategic area is to The positive outlook on Azerbaijan's rating
increase oil production. “Thanks to the CAUCASUS reflects Moody's assessment that governance
active increase in exploration work over and in particular policy effectiveness is
the last five years, eight new oil deposits Uzbekistan GTL project 95% improving, albeit from a low base, which
have been discovered in the southeastern may raise the resilience of the government's
region. The increase in recoverable reserves complete credit profile.
made up 7.5mn tonnes. Since 2018, we “In particular, enhancements to the
have achieved 100% compensation of oil Enter Engineering, one of the largest EPC monetary and macro policy framework may
production by the increase in recoverable contractors in Uzbekistan, has announced promote stability in the external and banking
reserves. We plan to maintain this trend in that its gas-to-liquids (GTL) project in the sectors in the face of shocks, while continued
the future. We have already discovered three country is 95% complete. The $3.6bn project effective use of sizeable fiscal buffers would
new deposits in 2021,” said Piotr Povzhik. is considered an important component of the allow counter cyclical spending and limits
The new discovery in April is the country’s energy strategy. the deterioration in the government's fiscal
Guryanovskoye oil deposit located in The company said that some 10,000 and debt metrics.”
the central zone of the Pripyat Trough in tonnes of steel structures have been installed The affirmation of Azerbaijan's Ba2 rating
Rechitsa District, Gomel Oblast. Aleksandr at the plant over the past year, while 1.94mn balanced credit strengths from the country's
Grudinin, Deputy Director for Geological metres of cables were laid and welding and sizeable net creditor position that underpins
Exploration at the Belarusian Oil Research assembly work was completed on 450,000 fiscal strength and lowers government
and Design Institute BelNIPIneft, said DI of pipelines. Over 12,000 specialists and liquidity and external vulnerability risks, as
that the site features good light oil, which 800 pieces of equipment were involved at the well as relative domestic political stability
is easier to produce and there is no need peak of activity. that supports the implementation of oil
to use additional technologies for its "UzGTL" is one of the largest investment and gas projects, against credit challenges
extraction. projects not only in Uzbekistan, but also in including still limited prospects for economic
Geological services make very cautious the entire region. It aims at expanding the diversification, longstanding institutional
forecasts for the debit. “Fountain flow is country's capacity for deep processing of and governance weaknesses, and geopolitical
expected at the level of 20-30 tonnes per natural gas, radically reducing the import of tensions with neighbouring Armenia, the
day. It is quite an achievement for our hydrocarbon raw materials. ratings agency said.
region. In future with the application of the Petroleum products delivered by the Moody's expected “that the operating and
newest technologies we may expect the oil project are to substitute for $1bn worth of macroeconomic environment for SOCAR
production of up to 50 tonnes per day,” says imports annually. will gradually improve, supporting its credit
Deputy Head for Geology at Rechitsaneft profile”.
Sergei Shevelenko.
Within the next two years the company Moody's lifts outlook on
is going to drill 12 more prospecting and
exploratory wells aimed to discover new Azerbaijan’s SOCAR to
deposits. Recent discoveries confirm the
potential of the central structural zone positive
of the Pripyat Trough. In general, eight
deposits were discovered in this structural Moody's Investors Service on April 7
zone, five of which during the last three changed to positive from stable the outlook

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