Tag Archives: gas

Tajikistan says it’s unhappy with progress on oil and gas field

DUSHANBE, JAN. 12 2016, (The Conway Bulletin) — The Tajik government said it was dissatisfied with the progress of the Bokhtar Operating Company, a joint venture between Tethys Petroleum, Total and CNPC which is exploring the country’s most promising oil field.

Murod Jumazoda, head of the government’s Geology Department, said the consortium was developing the site too slowly and that this could result in the government seizing 25% of the licensed area.

“They [the companies forming the joint venture] will have to return 25% of the oil and gas exploration area to the government this year,” Mr Jumazoda said at a press conference.

According to Tajik law, the government has the right to take back up to 25% of a licensed oil and gas area that has failed to produce within seven years of the license being granted. But Tethys, which is listed on the London stock exchange, disagreed with the government’s interpretation of the law.

“The first relinquishment is not due until 2020,” a PR agency speaking on behalf of Tethys told The Conway Bulletin.

This may become controversial as it was in 2008 that the Tajik government awarded Tethys an exploration licence to explore a 36,000 square km area around 100km south of Dushanbe for oil and gas.

But, and this is probably what Tethys’ PR agency was alluding to, the present composition of the Bokhtar Operating Company, owned by Tethys Petroleum, CNPC and Total, was finalised in 2013.

According to Tethys’ calculations, the field holds around 27.5b barrels of oil equivalent of recoverable resources. For Tajikistan, which is resource poor, this is a tantalising prospect.

Tethys is the lead operator of the Bokhtar Operating Company.

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(News report from Issue No. 263, published on Jan. 15 2016)

Czech company boosts deliveries to Uzbekistan

JAN. 13 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Czech engineering company Armatury Group delivered valves worth €3m ($3.3m) to Eriell, a service company operating in Uzbekistan’s oil fields, according to the group’s press release. Eriell, a Russian drilling company, is a supplier to another Russian company, Lukoil, which operates several oil and gas projects in Uzbekistan. The valves will be installed at a compressor station in the South Kemachi oil and gas condensate field, near Uzbekistan’s border with Turkmenistan.

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(News report from Issue No. 263, published on Jan. 15 2016)

Georgia and Russia still talk gas

JAN. 12 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Gazprom and the Georgian government are still in talks over supplying more gas to Georgia, media reported quoting energy minister Kakha Kaladze. Georgia wants to increase gas supplies from Russia, a sensitive issue as the two countries had been enemies until recently. Georgia has risked irritating its neighbour and main gas supplier Azerbaijan by holding negotiations to buy more gas from Russia and Iran.

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(News report from Issue No. 263, published on Jan. 15 2016)

China gas payments fall for Turkmenistan

DEC. 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – China pays considerably less for the gas it bought from Turkmenistan between Jan. and Nov. 2015, compared to the same period in 2014, Chinese media reporting quoting official stats. China increased supplies from Turkmenistan by 13.8% during this period but still only paid $22.3b, 15% less than the total bill during the same period in 2014. Turkmenistan is largely reliant on China for its revenues although it is developing a gas route to India.

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(News report from Issue No. 262, published on Jan. 8 2016)

GAIL wants 5% of Turkmen pipeline project TAPI

DEC. 27 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Indian gas distributor GAIL said it wants to buy a 5% stake in the TAPI pipeline project, two weeks after construction started on the 1,700km pipeline that will run from Turkmenistan to India. TAPI will pump 33b cubic metres of Turkmen gas to India per year, via Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is expected to come online in 2019. Turkmenistan’s state-owned Turkmengaz is the operator of the project.

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(News report from Issue No. 262, published on Jan. 8 2016)

Russia cuts Turkmenistan gas imports in 2016

JAN. 4 2016, TBILISI (The Conway Bulletin) — Amid low energy prices and economic strains, Russia’s state- owned Gazprom is reshaping its gas relations with countries in the South Caucasus and Central Asia.

It is effectively buying gas from Central Asia to sell on to Europe, China and, partly, to the South Caucasus.

Gazprom confirmed it will stop gas imports from Turkmenistan and, at the same time increase purchases from neighbouring Uzbekistan to 3.1b cubic metres.

“The basis for this decision is the changed situation on the international gas market, as well as certain economic and financial issues arising from the Gazprom’s exports,” it said in a statement.

Gazprom didn’t release price details with either Turkmenistan or Uzbekistan but its statement did confirm shifting alliances in Central Asia. Previously, Russia had imported heavily from Turkmenistan. This flow, though, has fallen as relations between the two countries grew increasingly strained. Turkmenistan wants to supply Europe with gas, via Azerbaijan and Turkey, putting it in direct competition with Russia.

Last year, Turkmenistan effectively signalled that Russia had stopped paying for its gas.

But Gazprom needs to buy Central Asian gas to honour its deals with China and Europe, as well as making new deals in the South Caucasus.

Gazprom already supplies Armenia with gas and is negotiating export deals with Georgia and Azerbaijan who both need to meet domestic power consumption.

Rovnag Abdullayev, president of Azerbaijan’s state-owned energy company SOCAR, met with Alexei Miller, Gazprom’s CEO, in December to discuss 2016 volumes.

“The possibility of increasing [Russian gas] supplies taking into account the prospects for growth in natural gas consumption in the country was considered,” SOCAR said in a statement.

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(News report from Issue No. 262, published on Jan. 8 2016)

Editorial: Turkmenistan’s pipeline

JAN. 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan completed its $2.5b East-West Pipeline, a project with a stated objective of making gas available for export.

The pipeline can transport around 30b cubic metres of gas to the Turkmen Caspian shore and it could then potentially be linked to a Trans- Caspian Pipeline which connects to another pipeline system to Europe.

But, and this is the catch, there is no plan to build a pipeline across the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan from Turkmenistan. It’s a big catch and must be causing policymakers in Turkmenistan to lose sleep.

There is neither an agreement nor funding ready for a trans-Caspian link and bringing gas to the western part of Turkmenistan doesn’t necessarily mean it will continue to Europe.

The Turkmen government hailed the East-West Pipeline as a step towards Europe, but it could be Turkmenistan’s White Elephant. The East- West Pipeline was planned and commissioned during the height of the hype of building a trans-Caspian pipeline. With low oil and gas prices, the world is a very different place today.

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(Editorial from Issue No. 262, published on Jan. 8 2016)

Turkmenistan launches new east-west gas pipeline

DEC. 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan launched a new pipeline that will connect its gas fields in the east to the port of Turkmenbashi on the Caspian shore, a move that many consider a step towards exporting gas to Europe.

The 733km, 30b cubic metres pipeline, simply called East-West, will become the main cross-country artery for Turkmen gas, joining several other elements in the country’s existing gas infrastructure.

Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov hailed the project as a significant achievement.

“The new pipeline will give impetus to the industrialisation of the country as well as increase the potential for Turkmenistan’s gas exports to Russia, Iran and Europe,” he said at the opening ceremony.

China buys the majority of Turkmen gas production, roughly 70b cubic metres, but Turkmenistan has also started work on the TAPI pipeline that should run to India.

The biggest prize, though, is selling gas to Europe. Mr Berdymukhamedov has held talks with European officials but no deal has been struck yet. To pump gas to Europe, Turkmenistan needs to build additional pipelines.

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(News report from Issue No. 262, published on Jan. 8 2016)

Georgia talks to Iran about gas

JAN. 4 2016, TBILISI (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia started negotiations with Iran to buy gas and electricity, apparently strengthening its intention to diversify away from Azerbaijan as the main source for gas imports.

Energy minister Kakha Kaladze told local press negotiations could start soon.

“We will start start talking over gas as well as electricity. Iran is rich in resources and we should benefit from its resources as much as possible,” Mr Kaladze had said earlier in December.

Iran confirmed the negotiations and said it would be able to deliver between 8 and 15b cubic metres of gas to the Armenian border, from where it would be shipped north to Georgia.

Officials at Azerbaijan’s state energy company SOCAR put a brave face on news of Georgia’s negotiations, but the talks would have irritated them. When Georgia opened talks with Russia to increase gas supplies last year, Azerbaijan released a testy diplomatic note reminding Tbilisi of its contractual obligations.

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(News report from Issue No. 262, published on Jan. 8 2016)

Stock market: Nostrum Oil & Gas, Roxi Petroleum

JAN. 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The winter break has not been too kind to stock prices of oil and gas companies focusing on the South Caucasus and Central Asia. The continued fall in oil prices, now at around $33/barrel, has not stopped yet, which keeps investors worried.

After a rough third week of December, when they lost between 4-6%, Nostrum Oil & Gas and Roxi Petroleum shares picked up again, only to fall back to mid-December levels.

Nostrum’s 15% spike on Dec. 23 was reabsorbed in the first week of January. Roxi shares grew 60% in two days from Dec. 28, but it is now trading back at 8.25p. Tethys Petroleum suf- fered most, as its shares lost 28% .

The two Georgian companies listed in London, Bank of Georgia and Georgia Healthcare Group were hit too. Bank of Georgia lost 8.2% in the past three weeks, closing at £17.87. Georgia Healthcare Group lost 4%, closing at £1.56.

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(News report from Issue No. 262, published on Jan. 8 2016)