JAN. 22 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development approved a $200m loan to Russian energy company Lukoil for the development of the Shah Deniz gas field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea. Lukoil holds a 10% stake in Shah Deniz. The shareholders in Shah Deniz want to extend the lifespan of the field.
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(News report from Issue No. 169, published on Jan. 29 2014)
JAN. 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s government ratified a deal to sell its 20% stake in Armenian gas supplier ArmRusGazprom. The deal gives Russian gas monopoly Gazprom 100% ownership of ArmRusGazprom and, therefore, control over Armenia’s gas supply. Last year, Armenia surprised the EU by deciding to join the Russia-led Customs Union.
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(News report from Issue No. 168, published on Jan. 22 2014)
JAN. 16 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan cut gas supplies to Russia, potentially inflaming relations between the two neighbours. SOCAR, Azerbaijan’s state-owned energy company, said it had suspended gas flowing along a pipeline to Russia because of construction work. Importantly it didn’t give an expected re-start date.
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(News report from Issue No. 168, published on Jan. 22 2014)
JAN. 15 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The consortium developing the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) invited applications to take part in a tender to build compressor, pressure and metering stations. Azerbaijan’s state energy company SOCAR and Turkey’s Botas and TPAO are developing TANAP which will pump gas from the Caspian Sea to the Turkish-Greek border.
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(News report from Issue No. 168, published on Jan. 22 2014)
JAN. 16 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — As part of its stated strategy to boost energy production, Kazakhstan intends to auction the right to explore eight or nine oil and gas fields this year, media reported quoting energy minister Uzakbay Karabalin. In 2013, Kazakhstan auctioned off three exploration blocks after a moratorium lasting a few years.
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(News report from Issue No. 168, published on Jan. 22 2014)
DEC. 22 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijani state energy company SOCAR has completed its purchase of a 66% stake in Greek gas distributor DESFA, media reported quoting Greek officials. According to reports, SOCAR agreed to pay 400m euros for the stake. Azerbaijan is building a major pipeline to send gas to Europe via Turkey, the Balkans and Greece.
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(News report from Issue No. 166, published on Jan. 8 2014)
DEC. 16 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — A consortium of foreign energy companies led by BP officially signed a deal to develop the second phase of the Shah Deniz gas field in the Caspian Sea with the Azerbaijani government. The deal will trigger the start of a $45b project that should, from 2019, deliver 20% of the EU’s gas.
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(News report from Issue No. 165, published on Dec. 18 2013)
DEC. 15 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — In a surprise announcement, Statoil, the Norwegian state-owned energy company, said it was selling a 10% block of its 25.5% stake in the Shah Deniz gas project in the Caspian Sea.
Statoil and France’s Total have also pulled out of the consortium building the TANAP pipeline that will pump gas to Europe from the Caspian Sea to Europe after Turkey said it wanted to increase its stake in the project.
Neither moves are hardly a ringing endorsements of Azerbaijan or Caspian Sea energy.
Statoil will sell its 10% stake in the Shah-Deniz project for a total of $1.45b. Analysts said that the price was a good one for Statoil. BP will buy a 2.3% stake and SOCAR, Azerbaijan’s energy company, will buy a 6.7% stake.
Shah Deniz-2 will cost $45b and provide up to 20% of the EU’s gas needs from 2018. It was finalised on Dec. 17 in Baku. It will also turn Azerbaijan into a major global gas supplier and reduce its dependency on Russia as a conduit for its gas. More pipelines, including TANAP, are being built directly from the Caspian Sea to Europe.
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(News report from Issue No. 165, published on Dec. 18 2013)
DEC. 11 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan’s parliament agreed to sell the debt-ridden Kyrgyzgaz to Russian gas monopoly Gazprom for a symbolic $1. The deal increases the Kremlin’s leverage over Kyrgyzstan. Gazprom has pledged to spend about $610m modernising Kyrgyzgaz and has guaranteed gas supplies to Kyrgyzstan for a year.
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(News report from Issue No. 165, published on Dec. 18 2013)
DEC. 5 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The second phase development of the Shah Deniz gas field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea will cost $40b, the regional president for BP’s operations in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, Gordon Birrell said. BP is the operator for Shah Deniz, considered to be the main driver of Azerbaijan’s future prospects.
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(News report from Issue No. 164, published on Dec. 11 2013)