Page 13 - FSUOGM Week 50 2019

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FSUOGM
JKX Oil & Gas initiates
enforcing of $12mn award
against Ukraine
JKX Oil & Gas is filing for the enforcement
of an $11.8mn award by an international court as compensation from the Ukrainian government for the company’s losses, the firm said in a statement on December 16.
Kazakhstan plans to produce 89mn- 90.5mn tonnes of oil in 2019. Around 60% of Kazakhstan’s oil production comes from the huge Tengiz, Karachaganak and Kashagan oil fields.
The February 2017, ruling was upheld by the Kyiv Appellate Court in July, and the state’s appeal against the latest judgment has failed, the company reported. In the same update, JKX reported on the successful completion
of the workover of its Well-18 in Russia. The current output of the well is 1,316 boepd, and “production has been slowly increasing,” the company said.
Alexander Paraschiy at Kyiv-based brokerage Concorde Capital believes that an attempt to enforce compensation from the Ukrainian government looks encouraging, but so far it’s too early to comment on the timing of such compensation.
“In any case, this confirms our bullish
view on JKX stock,” he added in a note on December 16. “Meanwhile, the news on the Russian well does not look encouraging as
the commissioned well is so far producing less than the other three Russian wells did
in January-June (including Well-20, which
is next to undergo workover, based on JKX’s plan). That suggests the commissioning of Well-18, with the start of workover at Well-20, would lead to reduced JKX output in Russia.”
bne IntelliNews, December 16 2019
CENTRAL ASIA & SOUTH CAUCASUS
Ex-manager of Germany’s MAN company goes on trial for bribing Turkmen state-run oil firm
An ex-manager of Germany’s MAN company, whose name has not been disclosed, went on trial on December 9 in Munich on charges of bribing top officials at Turkmen state-run oil company Turkmennebit, RFE/RL reported,
citing German media reports. The 69-year-old former German manager’s trial continued on December 11.
The man is suspected of transferring
€8.4mn in 2002-2007 to bank accounts controlled by Saparmammet Veliyev, the head of Turkmennebit at the time, in exchange for multimillion-dollar contracts. Turkmenistan’s late authoritarian leader Saparmurat Niyazov, who ruled the country until his death in 2006, issued a decree in 1999 ordering Turkmennebit to allow MAN to construct a compressor station in the oil fields near the Turkmen-Iranian border for approximately $126mn. In exchange, individuals in charge of decision-making in the Turkmen government requested bribes worth at least 5% of the contract value of the project, according to the prosecution.
The defendant claimed at the trial that the gas-rich ex-Soviet nation’s corruption was the norm and that he did not want to see the deal jeopardised, the report said. He added that when he took over MAN’s subsidiary, MAN GHH Gas & Oil, in 2000, the decisions on the deal had already been made.
The man was initially charged with “bribery of foreign officials in complicity” in 2011 and was scheduled to face trial in late 2016 before hearings were postponed due to his poor health.
The defendant’s new lawyer has called on the court to stop the proceedings due to the statute of limitations, the report said.
Veliyev was fired in 2005 prior to receiving a 24-year prison sentence on corruption charges. The ex-official died in prison in October 2017.
bne IntelliNews, December 12 2019
Output update at Seydi bitumen unit
A new bitumen production unit at the Seydi oil refinery in Turkmenistan is ramping up to full capacity, the Turkmen government said on December 12.
The unit has produced 30,300 tonnes of bitumen since the start of the year, according to the government. Its full capacity is 37,2000 tonnes per year. Bitumen is primarily used
in road construction. Westport Trading was hired to build the plant.
December 12 2019
BP to start drilling at SWAP area in H1 2020
BP plans to begin exploratory drilling at the Shallow Water Absheron Peninsula (SWAP) area off Azerbaijan in the first half of 2020, a company official said on December 14.
BP and SOCAR signed a production sharing agreement (PSA) for the SWAP area in 2014, and after collecting seismic data, the pair in 2016 decided to drill two wells. The Satti self-elevating drilling rig will complete the boreholes.
December 14 2019
Kyrgyzstan makes new gas discovery
Kyrgyzstan’s state oil company Kyrgyzneftegaz has made the country’s first gas discovery in 50 years, the company reported on December 16.
Gas production from the field in the Nooken district of the Jalal-Abad province has already begun and continues at a rate of 7,000 cubic metres per day, according to the firm. The discovery was made by a well drilled to a depth of 2,040 metres.
Russia’s Gazprom struck a preliminary deal earlier this year to buy Kyrgyzneftegaz, but the transaction is not yet complete.
December 16 2019
Week 50 18•December•2019
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