SEPT. 11 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — UN investigators have flown to Armenia to help local teams look into the causes of a fire that engulfed part of the Nairit chemical plant in August, Armenian media reported. The fire was one of the biggest at an Armenian industrial site in recent years and burnt for two days. The UN, under its OCHA unit, is particularly concerned about chemical leaks and spills.
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— This story was first published in issue 343 of The Conway Bulletin on Sept. 15
APRIL 4 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — State-owned Uzbekneftegaz plans a $400m expansion of its Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex in the south of the country, media reported by quoting officials from the plant. The plant is one of the biggest employers in the region and its expansion mirrors President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s call to boost industry and create more jobs. Media reports said that the expansion plan aims to boost output to 200,000 tonnes of polyethylene, a plastic, up from 75,000 tonnes currently.
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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)
MARCH 3 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil and gas company Socar failed in its high-pro- file bid to buy up the chain of petrol stations in Turkey owned by Austria’s OMV.
Instead, OMV said it had sold the group of 1,785 petrol stations, called Petrol Ofisi, to Vitol Investment Partnership, a subsidiary of commodities company Vitol for $1.45b. Petrol Ofisi is the biggest petrol retailer in Turkey with a 23% market share.
The failure to secure a petrol station group will be a disappointment to Socar, Last month, in an interview with a Turkish newspaper, the general director of Socar Turkey Energy, Zaur Gahramanov, said that if its bid to buy the OMV petrol stations in Turkey failed, it would pursue alternative options.
Socar owns the Star oil refinery in Turkey and has said that it wants to expand its downstream operations.
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(News report from Issue No. 319, published on March 3 2017)
JAN. 23 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — In an interview with the Turkish newspaper Sabah, Socar Turkey Energy director general Zaur Gahramanov said the company was committed to opening a chain of petrol stations throughout Turkey.
Socar is bidding to buy the 1,785 petrol stations belonging to Austria’s OMV in Turkey. Even if Socar’s bid fails it will look to buy up petrol stations in Turkey. Socar owns the Star Refinery in Izmir. The $6b refinery is due to start production in April 2018 and is Socar’s biggest overseas investment.
“The acquisition of OMV Petrol Ofisi is the most suitable option for Socar, but we have alternatives,” he said. “We can launch talks on the acquisition of another company or create a new network in Turkey.”
Socar owns a network of petrol stations in Georgia and has been looking to expand. The collapse in oil and gas prices since 2014 has forced Azerbaijan to change its focus to downstream products and services.
OMV bought the petrol stations between 2006 and 2010 for $2.5b. Aramco, Petromium-C consortium and Vitol are also bidding to buy the petrol station network.
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(News report from Issue No. 314, published on Jan. 27 2017)
NOV. 30 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — A court in Armenia declared the Nairit chemical plant bankrupt after it failed to pay back its $2.5m electricity bill to Electricity Networks of Armenia, the national distributor. Nairit halted operations in 2010, as its rubber and latex plant became unprofitable. A recent audit said that a $300m investment would be necessary to resume operations and the World Bank recommended the plant be declared bankrupt. British- registered Rhinoville Properties has owned 90% of the plant since 2006. The Armenian government owns 10%.
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(News report from Issue No. 307, published on Dec. 2 2016)
NOV. 10 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — SOCAR Turkey Enerji, the Turkish subsidiary of Azerbaijan’s state owned energy company, said it wants to build a new chemical industrial park in Turkey. SOCAR Turkey Enerji and SOCAR Turkey Petrokimiya already own a controlling stake in Petkim, a petrochemical complex in Izmir, western Turkey.
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(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)
MAY 22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Ustyurt Gas Chemical Complex in Uzbekistan, bigger than any other petrochemical complex in Europe and Asia, officially started operating, marking a coming-of-age for the Uzbek-Korean joint venture that has built and will operate the plant.
The plant cost around $4b and took five years to build. Ustyurt will process around 4.5b cubic metres of gas per year. Uz-Kor Gas Chemical, a joint venture between state-owned
Uzbekneftegaz and South Korea’s largest petrochemical company Lotte Chemical, said that it has already received gas for processing.
At a ceremony to celebrate the event, Lotte Chemical, a subsidiary of South Korea’s Lotte Group, said this was a first step in their campaign to expand westwards.
“The completion of the complex will significantly help Lotte Chemical expand its business territories to Russia and North Africa as well Europe and Central Asia,” Lotte said in a statement.
Uzbek and South Korean PMs Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Hwang Kyoahn also attended the ceremony.
Uzbekistan is among the top 15 gas producing countries and considers the Ustyurt gas complex to be vital to its economic plans. It is also planning parallel investments to increase gas production at its ageing fields in Karakalpakstan, west Uzbekistan, where the Ustyurt complex is located.
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(News report from Issue No. 282, published on May 27 2016)
MAY 27 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — It’s not yet clear whether SOCAR is now more downbeat or down-to-earth. The Azerbaijani state oil company has closed representative offices in three countries this week and is selling a stake in a petrochemical complex in Turkey. Cost-cutting, it seems, is high on the agenda as sustained low oil prices have hit revenues and hindered production growth.
But this week SOCAR has shown its bullish side as well. As we report in the Business News BP and SOCAR signed an agreement to jointly develop an offshore oil field. SOCAR also committed to building a new refinery in Georgia, a hub for Azerbaijani oil destined for customers in the West.
On the markets there is no sign that global oil prices, which nudged above $50/barrel for the first time this year on May 26, will shoot up again anytime soon.
SOCAR’s conservative approach to lavish spending on shiny offices around the world and its bullish plans for exploration and refining show that the company believes that the worst times are over, or nearly over, and it’s now time to look forward.
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(News report from Issue No. 282, published on May 27 2016)
MAY 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — SOCAR, Azerbaijan’s state oil company, said one of its Turkish subsid- iaries wants to sell its 5.32% stake in the Turkish oil and chemical complex Petkim for 70.9m lira ($33m) according to Bloomberg. In March, Socar Turkey Enerji reduced its ownership in Petkim from 8.07% to 5.32%. SOCAR Turkey Petrokimya still owns a 51% stake in Petkim.
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(News report from Issue No. 282, published on May 27 2016)
APRIL 19 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian oil and gas company Lukoil said it had started construction work at the $3.3b Kandym Gas Processing Complex in south-west Uzbekistan, which will include gas wells, pipelines, compressor stations, storage facilities and a 80MW gas fired power plant. Lukoil will use gas from six fields it is developing with state-owned Uzbekneftegaz to fuel the new plant. Hyundai Engineering will supply the equipment for the plant
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(News report from Issue No. 277, published on April 22 2016)