MAY 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The head of SOCAR, Azerbaijan’s state energy company, Rovnag Abdullayev, announced that the company would buy from Russia’s Gazprom 5b cubic metres annually. SOCAR needs the gas to hit growing demand and also to inject into oil wells to expand production. Relations between Russia and Azerbaijan have been improving.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 280, published on May 13 2016)
MAY 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it is considering a series of loans worth a total of $1.5b to fund the second phase of Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz offshore gas project, local media reported.
In March, the ADB had said it was considering lending $450m to Shah Deniz, which will be the main supplier for the so-called Southern Gas Corridor network of pipelines designed to pump gas from the Caspian Sea to Europe.
“The proposed investment plan will support the Azerbaijani government’s efforts to finance Shah Deniz- 2 project,” the bank said in a statement. “The investment plan is expected to be approved on August 22 by ADB’s board of directors.”
A consortium led by BP and SOCAR, Azerbaijan’s state-owned energy company, which will be the beneficiary of ADB’s loans.
The ADB said it will reach a final decision on the amount of the loans after a site visit in June.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 280, published on May 13 2016)
MAY 10 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – In a statement to the UN, Kazakhstan announced plans to generate 50% of its electricity from alternative energy sources by 2050. This is an ambitious target. In 2014, renewable sources accounted for just 0.5% of production. The Kazakh government often lays out grandiose plans for its economic development. Green energy is the dominant theme of EXPO 2017, a major exhibition scheduled for next year in Astana.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 280, published on May 13 2016)
MAY 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – A consortium led by Italian oil and gas service company Saipem won a $1.5b contract to transport and install a deepwater subsea production system for the second phase development of the Shah Deniz offshore gas field in Azerbaijan.
Shah Deniz, operated by BP, is central to Azerbaijan’s gas production. Once its second phase comes online, it will be the cornerstone of the so-called Southern Gas Corridor, a network of pipelines that will feed gas to Europe from the Caspian Sea.
Saipem’s management said the company will receive a fee of $1.3b from the overall deal.
“This award further strengthens Saipem’s key role in the construction of the Southern Gas Corridor where the company has a total of four contracts, in the upstream segment and in gas transportation infrastructure both onshore and offshore,” Stefano Cao, Saipem CEO, said in a statement.
Saipem, 30% owned by Eni, owns stakes in the other two companies in the consortium that won the contract – BOS Shelf and Star Gulf.
SOCAR, the Azerbaijani state energy company, owns 96% of BOS Shelf. Star Gulf owns the remaining 4%. Saipem owns 100% of Star Gulf.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)
MAY 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it expects the TAPI pipeline project to be completed by 2021. TAPI will pump Turkmen gas to India through Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Turkmen government insists the pipeline would be ready by 2019. For Turkmenistan TAPI has become a race against time. It wants to diversify its client base. The ADB, which is an adviser on the project, has offered a potential $600m loan.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)
APRIL 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan-based Olisol will inject 9.8m Canadian dollars ($7.6m) into Tethys Petroleum, a Guernsey based oil and gas company, triggering a new share issue. The long-negotiated agreement will bring Olisol’s ownership in Tethys to 42%. Shareholders will vote on the deal at the annual meeting at the end of May. Tethys operates in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Georgia.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)
APRIL 30 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – State-owned KMG EP and China’s CEFC energy company finalised their earlier agreement to form a joint venture that will take over the business of KMG International, formerly Rompetrol. In December, CEFC bought a 51% stake in KMG International for $680m, KMG EP revealed this week.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)
APRIL 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov invited Qatar’s business community to invest in the construction of the Turkmenistan- Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline. The first investment agreement was signed by the consortium shareholders in April 2015. The project is considered pivotal in connecting South and Central Asia as well as for securing the long-term future of Afghanistan.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)
APRIL 27 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Gazprom Armenia, the Russian owned gas distributor, said it will apply to the country’s regulator to lower consumer prices by 6%. The discount will be limited to households that consume 10,000 cubic metres of gas a year, the company said. Earlier this month, Gazprom said it would give the Armenian government a 9% discount on the gas it supplies.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 278, published on April 29 2016)
APRIL 28 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Aberdeen-based oil and gas services company Wood Group said it had won a $500m contract to provide engineering, procurement and construction management services to eight BP offshore oil and gas facilities in Azerbaijan. The contract will last for five years, with the option to renew it for another four. Wood Group will service the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli and the Shah Deniz Stage 1 projects, the largest oil and gas projects in the country.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 278, published on April 29 2016)