NOV. 1 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tethys Petroleum, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, sold half of its Kazakh assets to China’s SinoHan Oil for $75m. China has been rapidly buying up energy assets in Kazakhstan. SinoHan Oil is a fully-owned subsidiary of HanHong. Tethys has operations across Central Asia and in Georgia..
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(News report from Issue No. 159, published on Nov. 6 2013)
OCT. 24 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — It’s been another turbulent week for the consortium of partners developing the Kashagan oil field in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea.
This is the field that finally produced its first oil in September after a 13-year, $50b construction phase. It is Kazakhstan’s most high profile industrial project and also carries the nation’s hopes of securing a place as one of the world’s top oil exporters.
The pressure is on, then.
It hasn’t been a smooth route towards commercial oil production at Kashagan, though.
First a gas leak temporarily halted oil production in September. This was fixed but another gas leak halted production a few days later. After initially brushing off this gas leak and saying that it wouldn’t derail the production timetable, officials at the North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC), that’s the name of the company running the site, have changed their mind.
Kashagan will now close for a few weeks until the leak is repaired, media quoted an NCOC statement as saying, meaning that a commercial production target of 75,000 barrels of oil a day will not be hit this month.
A few days later media also reported that AgipKCO’s managing director, Umberto Carrara, had decided to retire after seven years in the job. AgipKCO was the company formed to build Kashagan. NCOC said Mr Carrara’s departure was unconnected to the delays at Kashagan.
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(News report from Issue No. 158, published on Oct. 30 2013)
OCT. 24 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The consortium developing the giant Kashagan oil field in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea halted production to fix a gas leak. The shutdown will delay by a few weeks the commercial start of oil production that had been scheduled for this month.
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(News report from Issue No. 158, published on Oct. 30 2013)
OCT. 18 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The size of Azerbaijan’s non-oil sector has grown by 10.4% since last year, the country’s statistics department said quoting figures comparing the first nine months of this year with the same period in 2012. Expanding the non-oil sector is considered key to sustaining Azerbaijan’s economic expansion.
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(News report from Issue No. 157, published on Oct. 23 2013)
OCT. 11 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — A gas leak halted output at the Kashagan oil field in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea for the second time in the past few weeks, media reported. Production facilities at Kashagan cost $50b and took 13 years to build. The oil field started production in September and is key to Kazakhstan’s export aspirations.
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(News report from Issue No. 156, published on Oct. 16 2013)
OCT. 8 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tax revenues from Azerbaijan’s non-oil sector increased by 11.3% in the first nine months of 2013, Azerbaijani minister for economic development Shahin Mustafayev said according to media reports. International economists have said it is vital Azerbaijan develops its non-oil sector.
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(News report from Issue No. 155, published on Oct. 9 2013)
OCT. 4 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — A consortium of energy companies led by the state-owned Uzbekneftegaz will invest around $200m exploring south and east Uzbekistan for oil, media reported. The reports said that China’s CNPC, the Czech Republic’s ERIELL Corporation and Tethys Petroleum, registered in Guernsey, will also be involved in the project.
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(News report from Issue No. 155, published on Oct. 9 2013)
OCT. 8 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Kashagan oil field in the Caspian Sea, vital to Kazakhstan’s long term energy plan, has resumed production after a gas leak halted operations for a week, media quoted energy minister Sauat Mynbayev as saying. He said Kashagan was now producing 61,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd). Commercial output is considered 75,000bpd.
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(News report from Issue No. 155, published on Oct. 9 2013)
OCT. 8 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Shymkent refinery, one of three in Kazakhstan, has closed for a month for planned upgrade work, PetroKazakhstan, the plant owner, said. Kazakhstan has been experiencing increasing pressure on petrol supplies throughout the country this year. The government plans to build a new refinery.
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(News report from Issue No. 155, published on Oct. 9 2013)
SEPT. 25 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Indian officials have been negotiating with their Kazakh counterparts to buy into various energy projects since missing out on a stake in the Kashagan Caspian Sea oil field earlier this year, media reported. India thought it had secured an 8.3% share of Kashagan for $5b only for Kazakhstan to hand the stake to China.
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(News report from Issue No. 154, published on Oct. 2 2013)