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FSUOGM
NEWS IN BRIEF
FSUOGM
Fitch says any prolonged CPC
pipeline disruptions may hit
KazMunayGas’ metrics
Fitch Ratings said on August 10 that any prolonged disruptions to KazMunayGas’s main hydrocarbon export route, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) pipeline and terminals at Russia’s Novorossiysk port, would adversely affect the firm’s credit metrics, though not necessarily the company’s rating.
“The impact will depend on the duration of disruptions. KMG’s current solid financial profile on the back of high oil and gas prices and strong liquidity will cushion its credit metrics,” Fitch said.
“Approximately 60% of oil and gas condensate production attributable to KMG and its JVs is exported, while the balance supplies the domestic market. All volumes from megaprojects, Tengiz, Kashagan and Karachaganak, accounting for around 55%
of KMG’s exported volumes in 2021, flow through the CPC pipeline and a further
37% of exports from KMG’s operating assets flow through the Atyrau-Samara pipeline. Volumes from export routes are eventually shipped from CPC and Transneft terminals in Novorossiysk,” the ratings agency added.
Oil shipments through CPC’s terminal at Novorossiysk port were reduced in March- April due to storm damage claimed by Russia. However, the oil flow was reportedly not affected by claimed mine clearing operations around Novorossiysk port in June or by a Russian court ruling on environmental claims in July. .
Kazakhstan’s Kashagan oil
field resumes production
and’s PGNiG announces
650mn cubic metre gas find
Kazakhstan’s giant offshore Kashagan oil field has started ramping up production following a shutdown, the NCOC operating consortium said on August 3.
Output was halted due to a gas leak on August 3. The field was shut following signs of a gas leak, which led to the closure of the Bolashak oil and gas treatment unit. The leak may have resulted from the corrosion of pipelines or equipment, Argus media reported.
“We are announcing a gradual resumption of production on the night of August 9-10,” NCOC said.
Moldova says it won’t be able to make next payment to Gazprom
Moldovagaz will not be able to make the upfront payment for the gas delivered by Gazprom in August at the end of this month, the head of the Moldovan gas transport
and distribution company, Vadim Ceban, announced.
Failure to make the up-front payment may result in disruption of gas supplies in the first days of September. But the government seems more relaxed this time, compared to similar developments last winter, meaning that it may prefer to test the reliability of Russian gas supplies during the summer-autumn months than later during the cold winter months.
At the price of over $1,400 charged by Gazprom in August, Moldova may decide to begin imports from Romania. The price Moldova pays for natural gas has increased after the country signed a new supply deal with Gazprom in late 2021.
Under the contract with the Russian gas company, the Moldovan company makes an up-front payment to Gazprom by the end
of the month for the month’s consumption, amounting to half of the previous month’s bill. The rest of the money is paid by the 20th of the following month.
Earlier in August, Gazprom-controlled Moldovagaz asked for financial facilities from both Gazprom and the government of Moldova, after the market regulator ANRE approved new end-user natural gas prices on August 4. It asked Gazprom to accept a rescheduling of the payments and asked the government for some support.
ANRE refused to accept the end-user prices suggested by Moldovagaz and decided on softer price hikes as of August 1.
The new prices do not cover the import price and the transport price and this will result in the unpaid bills rising by MDL3.9bln (nearly €200mn) until the end of this
year, “complicating the functioning of the company,” Moldovagaz said.
No answer was provided by Gazprom and the government confirmed that no support will be provided.
Moldova has come close to being
left without gas in previous months as Moldovagaz scrambled to make payments to Gazprom on time.
In January, Gazprom said it would cut off gas supplies to Moldova unless Moldovagaz made the $63.1mn upfront payment due for the month by the end of January 20. That warning came after Gazprom cut its gas supplies to Moldova by one third in October
and later gave the country a 48-hour deadline for the monthly payment in November.
In April, Chisinau also started looking
for alternative suppliers as it was unclear whether Gazprom would continue providing gas from May 1, the deadline for the Moldovan authorities to failed to conduct an independent audit of historical debt. However, gas did continue to flow..
Armenian tax authorities report
large illegal fuel imports from
Iran
Armenia’s State Revenue Committee (SRC) has uncovered significant illegal import
of diesel from Iran concealed from tax authorities through a pre-designed scheme.
According to the SRC, some Iranian truck drivers, stockpiling several times more diesel fuel in tanks, sold the extra volumes to petrol stations without appropriate documents in the southern Syunik province bordering Iran. SRC reported the illegal trade on August
10, conveniently after public scrutiny over Russian checkpoints appearing on the roads of Syunik. Citing increased narcotic trafficking and other illicit cross-border activities, Russian border guards controlling Armenia’s border with Iran have set up checkpoints on the country’s southern Syunik Province roads.
“The petrol stations resold the diesel fuel without proper paperwork to large fuel supplying companies,” said SRC.
According to them, some of the large fuel supplying companies had resold the fuel in Armenia but showed in their books that it was sold to companies in Nagorno Karabakh.
Uzbekistan’s aviation fuel
imports from Turkey down
almost seven-fold in May
Uzbekistan’s aviation fuel imports from Turkey in May fell almost seven-fold year on year from 727 tonnes to 106.2 tonnes, 2022, Trend reported on August 9, citing Turkey’s Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK).
Turkey exported over 2,860 tonnes of aviation fuel to Uzbekistan from January through May, marking a decline of around 1.8 times year on year, the media outlet added.
On a month on month basis, Uzbekistan’s imports of Turkish aviation fuel in May grew by 42.5%.
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Week 32 11•August•2022