Page 16 - FSUOGM Week 16

FSUOGM
NEWS IN BRIEF
FSUOGM
RUSSIA
Urals oil price falls by $5 per bbl to new 21-year low
The price of Russia’s Urals oil with delivery to Northwestern Europe and to Southern Europe fell by more than U.S. $5 per barrel to $11.59 per barrel and to $12.09 per barrel, respectively, setting new lows since March 1999, research agency Argus said in a statement on April 22.
“The price of Urals fell noticeably on Tuesday following the benchmark. The blend’s price in Northwestern Europe in absolute figures fell by $5.92 per barrel to $11.59 per barrel at CIF Rotterdam. The price was even lower on April 1, when it stood at $10.54 at CIF Rotterdam, which was the lowest figure since March 1999,” the statement read.
The discount to the Brent oil price remained the same at $1.75 per barrel.
“In the Mediterranean, the cost of 80,000-tonne batches of Urals fell by $5.17 to $12.09 per barrel on Tuesday. It was
the lowest figure after March 1999 when the price fell to $11.74 per barrel at CIF Augusta. At the same time, the discount to such cargoes in the Mediterranean fell by $0.75 per barrel (to the Brent price)...to $1.25 at CIF Augusta due to contraction in supply of the May batches of the blend,” the agency said..
Gazprom Neft distributes
medical PPE in fight against
COVID-19
Gazprom Neft has begun delivering
free supplies of medical PPE (personal protective equipment) throughout Russia’s regions as part of its corporate “Antivirus” programme to combat COVID-19.
The “Gazprom Neft for Medics” initiative will facilitate the delivery of more than 1.3 million masks and respirators, specialist isolation screens, goggles, hazmat suits and gloves to medical institutions.
The first batches of equipment for medical
professionals have already been delivered to healthcare agencies in seven regions of Russia: the Omsk, Orenburg and Tomsk Oblasts, St. Petersburg, Yaroslavl, and the Khanty-Mansi and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrugs. These regions are home to Gazprom Neft’s major industrial facilities.
Gazprom Neft will continue to provide free deliveries of medical PPE over the coming months, as well as supporting emergency services and volunteer organisations by providing free fuel throughout the company’s filling-station network, which has already been supplying fuel to medical transport services at no cost in several regions of Russia.
Rosneft-BP cooperation “effective”: Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the cooperation between Russian energy giant Rosneft and international oil major BP was “effective”, according to a statement from the Kremlin.
BP holds a 19.75% stake in Rosneft, and the pair are also partnered together at several upstream projects in Eastern and Western Siberia. Congratulating BP on the 30th anniversary of its presence in Russia, Putin also said that he was “sure” that the company would hold on to its “solid” positions in the Russian market.
Novatek’s Arctic LNG 2 project ahead of Schedule
Novatek continues to push ahead with its largest Arctic liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. Satellite images reveal the beginnings of a sprawling industrial complex on the Gydan peninsula.
Russia’s largest private natural gas producer, Novatek, reports that it is “slightly ahead of schedule” for opening Arctic LNG
2 by the end of 2022. The facility will consist of three production lines, or trains, and is designed to produce 19.8 million tons of LNG annually. The Arctic LNG 2 plant will utilize
natural gas from the nearby Utrennoye field. The project is located across the Ob Bay from the existing Yamal LNG plant which opened in 2017.
CENTRAL ASIA & SOUTH CAUCASUS
SOCAR’s STAR Refinery produces at full capacity despite fall in demand amid pandemic
The STAR Refinery, a subsidiary of Azerbaijan’s SOCAR, is continuing to produce at full capacity, an official from the company said, despite a sharp decline in product demand in light of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Mammadov said in an interview published by Turkish daily Dünya on
April 17 that as the Azerbaijani state oil company they would, of course, suffer some coronavirus-related impact, despite Azerbaijan’s reducing its risk by increasing the share of natural gas in its budget. STAR Refinery does not produce oil in Turkey but rather buys crude oil and processes it in the country. The business chief noted that a reduction in the costs of raw materials had been beneficial to activities.
Mammadov further explained that although demand for jet fuel had reduced almost immediately after the coronavirus caused flights to be halted, along with
travel restrictions worldwide, thanks to its operational flexibility, STAR Refinery was able to switch almost all of this capacity to diesel fuel, normally having an annual jet fuel production capacity of 1.6 million tons.
He noted that until the aviation sector returned back to normal, the company would continue in this way of production.
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Week 16 23•April•2020