Azerbaijan, Ukraine work to resume Azerbaijani oil supplies
The issue of resuming Azerbaijani oil supplies to Ukraine is being considered, Ukrainian Minister of Energy and Coal Industry Eduard Stavitsky told the media in Baku.
"We discussed the issue of resuming Azerbaijani oil supplies to Ukraine and the issue of upgrading the Ukrainian refineries with our colleagues," Stavitsky said.
He said there is a plan in this direction. The specialists of the two parties (SOCAR from Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry from Ukraine) will consider all the details of this issue within the next 10-15 days.
Stavitsky said that one small action remains before resuming supplies. He also expressed confidence that resuming Azerbaijani oil supplies to Ukraine will be mutually beneficial.
The minister said the volume of oil supplies will not be less than the previous one, stressing that more than 1.5 million tons of Azerbaijani oil were delivered to the Ukraine in 2011.
Stavitsky said that Ukraine has also discussed the issues of LNG and LPG supplies with the Azerbaijani side.
SOCAR places $ 1 billion worth Eurobond issue
SOCAR has placed Eurobonds in the amount of $1 billion for 10 years on the CEEMEA market (Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa), according to the statement posted on its website.
"This is the second international transaction conducted by SOCAR to strengthen its investment base," the statement said.
In early March, Fitch Ratings has assigned SOCAR's proposed USD denominated senior unsecured notes an expected foreign currency senior unsecured rating of 'BBB-(EXP)'.
The final rating is contingent upon the receipt of final documentation conforming materially to information already received and details regarding the notes amount, coupon rate and maturity. The proceeds from the notes issuance are expected to be used to fund the company's capex and other general corporate purposes.
Moody's Investors Service has assigned a provisional (P)Ba1 rating to corporate bonds to be issued by the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR). The outlook on the rating is stable.
SOCAR placed its debut Eurobond issue worth $500 million in February 2012.
"The mandate for the issue of securities of the company this year was granted at the end of February, and their two-day presentation was held in London on March 4-5," according to the statement.
Initial yield of ten-year bonds (rating at Ba1/BB + / BBB-) was determined within 4.90 percent under the guidance of Deutsche Bank.
"This initial level has been lowered to 4.80 percent, and the final level totals 4.75 percent," the statement said.
Total volume of orders exceeded the volume of Eurobonds by three times. Applications were submitted by 245 investors for a total of $3 billion.
From a geographical point of view, the classification is as follows: 41 percent of Eurobonds issue was purchased by investors from Europe, 32 per cent - from the United Kingdom, 25 percent - from the U.S., two percent - by other investors. By type: 87 percent of Eurobonds were purchased by asset management companies, five percent - by banks and retail investors, four percent - by hedge funds, three percent - by insurance and pension funds, and one per cent - by others.
New contract on Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli to increase volume of SOCAR's reserves
The developers of the "Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli" project have received a preliminary contract for deep-lying gas development, SOCAR head Rovnag Abdullayev said.
He added that it was a risk service agreement. The first Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli contract was a production sharing agreement (PSA).
More contracts will only increase production volume. International organizations evaluate oil and gas companies in terms of their reserves. Finalizing new types of contracts will allow SOCAR to increase its activity, Abdullayev said.
The deep-lying gas reserves in Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli are estimated at 300 billion cubic meters.
Israeli Elenilto oil and gas exploration plan for Georgia
The Minister of Energy Kakha Kaladze has met with representatives of the Israeli company Elenilto.
The company has a licence for the exploration and extraction of oil and gas resources in the 11th licence block (territory of Sagarejo and Gardabani districts), the Ministry of Energy of Georgia said.
Representatives of the company updated the minister with an action plan to be implemented during the next four years.
According to the memorandum between the parties, the company acquired a licence for 25 years and has pledged to invest $ 41 million into the works.
The company received the licence as a result of a tender held on June 5, 2012, but the agreement was only issued in February this year.
Iran-Pakistan Peace Pipeline construction plan officially inaugurated
Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline's construction plan was officially started on Monday, IRNA reported.
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari officially inaugurated the project at Iran-Pakistan Zero-Point border.
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari have stated that completion of Iran-Pakistan pipeline will ensure the pace in the two countries, as well as the region.
Ahmadinejad and Zardari held a brief meeting at Chabahar airport, the Fars News Agency reported.
Iran plans to extend its 7th cross-country pipeline from Southwestern port city of Assaluyeh to the southeastern city of Iranshahr, and from there to the Pakistan border.
By extending the pipeline Iran can also supply gas to its eastern provinces.
An Iranian contractor will lay some 780 kilometers of pipeline in the Pakistan soil in 22 months, he said.
Iran and Pakistan have devised a plan to finance the gas pipeline on Pakistan's side without the need for Islamabad to transfer funds to Tehran.
Iran's president inaugurates Shazand petrochemical plant unit
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inaugurated the last unit of the Shazand
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inaugurated the last unit of the Shazand petrochemical plant aimed at producing eight million litres of gasoline per day, Fars news agency reported.
The refining capacity at Shazand plant has been raised from 170,000 bpd to 250, 000 bpd. The daily gasoline production capacity rose to 12 million litres.
The Iranian government says the produced gasoline in the newly commissioned unit is based on Euro-4 and Euro-5 standards.
In October 2012, ISNA quoted the National Iranian Oil Production and Distribution Company's managing director Alireza Zeighami that Iran currently produces 25 million litres of premium gasoline per day, meeting Euro-4 and Euro-5 standards.
Kazakh KazTransOil announces oil transportation plan for 2013
Director General of the KazTransOil oil transporting company of Kazakhstan Kairgeldy Kabyldin announced its oil transportation plan for 2013.
According to him, this year KazTransOil is going to transport about 11 million tons of oil via the Chinese pipeline to China and over 15 million tons through the Atyrau-Samara system to Russia.
It is also planned to increase the amount of oil transportation through the Caspian Sea from three to five million tons in 2013 according to Kabyldin.
Turkmenistan holds oil and gas road show in Dubai
The Turkmen Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, the country's Chamber of Commerce and the British Summit Event Ltd company are holding oil and gas road show-2013 in Dubai (UAE), the organizers said.
"This international conference will be of great importance for production of hydrocarbon resources of Turkmenistan, intensifying exploratory operations, increasing volume of oil and gas processing, development of oil and gas and chemical industry," Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymuhammadov said in his message to the event participants, the country's media outlets reported.
Turkmenistan reconstructs gas export pipeline
A phased reconstruction of the Central Asia - Center-3 gas pipeline is being undertaken in the west of Turkmenistan, the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources said.
In particular, since the beginning of the year, Turkmennebitgazgurlushik state entity has reconstructed over 160 kilometers of the gas pipeline on the Korpeje-Belek route. Works are currently ongoing in Belek-Garabogaz.
The export gas pipeline's offshoot goes to Russia from the Belek station. Belek is the final destination for the East-West internal pipeline as well, originating at the Shatlyk compressor station in the east, where strategic reserves of natural gas are located.
Nearly one thousand kilometers long, the East-West gas pipeline will allow the combining of all local gas networks into a single ring and the creation of a secure and stable system of Turkmen energy output to international markets.
Eight compressor stations will be constructed within the project. Geological and topographical works have been completed along the route and construction works have been accelerated.
Commissioning of the pipeline is scheduled for 2015. Its ability to reverse gas flow will allow the supplying of gas in both eastern and western directions.