Dragon Oil and Petronas to Yield Their Shares in Turkmen Projects to Russia's Zarubezhneft and Itera
Published:
19 October 2003 y., Sunday
Western companies have been contemplating whether to accept or reject Ashkhabat's offers to develop the hydrocarbon reserves on the Turkmen shelf of the Caspian Sea. Turkmenistan has insisted that its 32 blocks totaling over 70 thousand square kilometers contain 16.5 billion tons of oil equivalent. Investors are daunted not only by the insufficient extent of the blocks' exploration but also by the absence of export prospects. Dragon Oil and Petronas are showing investors one way out of this blind alley with their plan to concede their project shares to the Russian company Zarubezhneft and international gas trader Itera in exchange for access to export trunks.
Russian Zarubezhneft and Itera are planning to set up a joint venture to participate in at least two oil-and-gas projects on the Turkmen shelf of the Caspian Sea. A source close to Zarubezhneft executives told RusEnergy.com that these are projects to develop the Cheleken Block and the neighboring Block-1. A little earlier, Zarubezhneft CEO Nikolai Tokarev affirmed it in an interview to the Oil & Capital magazine (№ 11 - 2001). Official representatives of the operators, however, refuse to confirm the existence of the deal with Russian companies.
An agreement on the Russian joint venture unifying the projects will be signed in the coming months, a source in Zarubezhneft reports. The joint venture will allegedly acquire an unspecified part of the present participants' shares. Currently, these projects are already being implemented in accordance with the production sharing agreement (PSA) between Turkmenistan and foreign companies. Dragon Oil is the Cheleken operator with its controlling stock owned by the United Arab Emirates (through the Emirates National Oil Company). Malaysia's Petronas is the operator of the Block-1 development project.
The intention of the Zarubezhneft-Itera alliance to join the projects has received an enthusiastic response from both foreign companies and Turkmen authorities. After meeting with the heads of the Russian companies Turkmenistan's president Saparmurat Niyazov declared his support of their plans.
Šaltinis:
RusEnergy.com
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
On 22 of June this year, the board of the newly established company of AB Bank SNORAS - UAB “SNORO Media Investicijos” - made a decision to invest in the shares of UAB “Lietuvos rytas” and to acquire 34 per cent of the authorised capital of the company.
more »
The Banker's Exchange is joining forces with Chicago-based Intergam Logistics as part of a global expansion initiative into the ATM support market.
more »
Lisbon treaty and financial supervision dominate debate at EU summit.
more »
In the most sweeping financial reform proposal since the Great Depression, President Barack Obama unveiled plans to overhaul the U.S. financial regulatory system, saying the events that led to the U.S. financial crisis make the proposed changes necessary.
more »
Due to the rising concerns on a possible disruption of Russian gas supplies to Europe coming through Ukraine, the Commission has chaired a meeting of the Gas Coordination Group to assure a stronger EU coordination and to secure energy supplies to European citizens.
more »
Mexico signs an agreement with Google to help revive tourism at its historical sites, after the swine flu epidemic.
more »
The recession could hit working women harder than men, an EU study warns, underscoring persistent disparities between the sexes in the European labour market.
more »
The first 4 months of 2009 saw 25 percent more FBI background checks on prospective firearm buyers compared to the same period last year in US.
more »
AS “Latvijas Krājbanka”, managed by AB Bank SNORAS, was presented with the annual prize of Deutsche Bank AG, one of the largest European banks, for the excellent quality of the outgoing payments.
more »
Danske Bankas has made another increase in the interest rate for fixed-term deposits in litas for both private and corporate clients.
more »