Page 12 - FSUOGM Week 40 2021

FSUOGM POLICY FSUOGM

OPEC+ maintains production policy

GLOBAL THE OPEC+ group announced this week that to varying extents in recent months, though Iraq
it will stick with its planned addition of 400,000 and the UAE in particular have regularly been
The group refrained barrels per day (bpd) of oil up to the end of guilty of overproduction in recent years.
from increasing supply November, causing price increases amid buoy- The statement noted that “compensation
beyond the agreed ant demand as economies recover from the coro- plans should be submitted in accordance with
amount, despite higher navirus (COVID-19) pandemic. the statement of the 15th OPEC and non-OPEC
prices. In a press release to accompany the Ministerial Meeting”.
announcement, OPEC said that the group Meanwhile, there is scepticism that several
“reaffirmed the decision of the 10th OPEC member states will not even be able manage
and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting on 12 their part in the 400,000 bpd uptick. One source
April, 2020 and further endorsed in subse- involved in the meeting told S&P Global Platts:
quent meetings including the 19th OPEC and “To be honest, the group is not bringing back
non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting on the 18 July, 400,000 bpd a month. Many producers can’t
2021.” meet their targets.”
It added that during the October 4 meeting, However, another source was quoted by Reu-
OPEC had “reiterated the critical importance ters as saying that despite the calls for a higher
of adhering to full conformity and to the com- production increase, OPEC+ did not want to
pensation mechanism, taking advantage of the make any significant moves, noting: “we are
extension of the compensation period until the scared of the fourth wave of corona”.
end of December 2021.” With Brent crude rising to more than $81 per
This marks the latest effort to bring into line barrel on the news, prices have now surged by
producers that have failed to comply with output 50% to a three-year high.
quotas. Russia, Iraq, the UAE, Bahrain, Gabon The next meeting is scheduled to take place
and South Sudan have all exceeded their quotas on November 4. ™

PROJECTS & COMPANIES

Prosecutors push for delay in Gyetvay case

RUSSIA US prosecutors are pushing for a delay in a tax provided evidence, but they are still awaiting
fraud case involving the deputy chairman of information from the UK and Switzerland, and
Prospecutors want Russian gas producer Novatek, Mark Gyetvay, securing that could take “several months if not
more time to gather arguing that they need more time to gather longer.”
evidence. evidence. Prosecutors had pressed for Gyetvay to be
Florida businessman Gyetvay was arrested denied bail, arguing that he posed a flight risk
in the US on September 24 on charges of hiding given that he holds passports from the US, Rus-
$93mn in offshore accounts and failing to pay tax sia and Italy. At a hearing on September 30, a
on $40mn of income. He was given bail and was judge relaxed the bail terms, stating that Gyetvay
released with GPS monitoring and house arrest, no longer needed to be held under house arrest,
while also having to surrender his passports. but must remain under GPS monitoring and a
According to Bloomberg, prosecutors have curfew at night.
filed a request to push back the November 1 trial After the charges were first announced, Gvet-
date by at least six months. Despite this, they vay took to Twitter to deny the allegations.
also said they had an “exceedingly strong” case “I was indicated for baseless tax charges that I
already. already settled through a voluntary programme,
Under the Speedy Trial Act, US defendants and pleaded not guilty,” he said. “I will vigorously
have a right to a trial within 70 days of their fight these charges and will continue to discuss
indictment. Although judges often do push back gas topics as normal.”
trials in complex tax cases, this is only if both Gyetvay was formerly CFO of Novatek, and
sides agree. Gyetvay, who has pleaded not guilty, played an instrumental role in arranging financ-
opposes this request. ing for the company’s first LNG export project,
“We are going to do everything we can do to the $27bn Yamal LNG development. He stepped
ensure Mr Gyetvay’s constitutional rights to have down from that role in 2014, after international
a trial occur within 70 days of the indictment,” sanctions were imposed on Novatek and other
the businessman’s attorney, Kevin Downing, told Russian oil and gas companies in retaliation for
Bloomberg. Moscow’s annexation of Crimea. But since then
Prosecutors argued that trials are often he has continued to represent Novatek in front of
delayed when other countries have not acted on the international business community, and hosts
requests for evidence. Russia and Cyprus have the company's quarterly earnings call. ™

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 40 06•October•2021