Oil & gas news

US AIR CRASH AFFECTING OIL PRICES

Crude prices on international markets slid 7 to 8% from $22.8 to $21.5 following the crash of the US passenger liner A-300 in New York on November 12. In addition, key stock indexes also keep declining, as Dow Jones index decreased 4% and Nasdaq index 5%.

The sharpest slide has hit the airlines, as the shares of American Airlines, the owner of the crashed aircraft, have devalued 28%, while for other companies the figure is fluctuating between 9% and 15%.

PUMA ENERGY ASKS FOR TIME

US Puma Energy has asked German Grunvald Co. for another month of time to get prepared for negotiations for an Azeri onshore field, Ramani. A SOCAR source said Saturday that under the mutual agreement, the US company intended to buy into the half of Grunvald Co's share in a consortium to operate the field as far back as August this year and was to submit its bid in November. However, Puma Energy failed to prepare the necessary documents and had to ask for more time.

The Ramani field is run by "Azgerneft" joint venture, comprising Grunvald Co. and SOCAR having a 50% stake each.

OFFSHORE OIL, GAS PRODUCTION UNITS FULFILL 10-MONTH PLAN

All of the 6 offshore oil and gas production units fulfilled the oil production plan by 0.4% in January-October this year, as they produced 6,195,400 tons of oil, a SOCAR source said Saturday.

"28 May" oil and gas production unit extracted 4,952,700 tons of oil, "Neft Dashlari" - 672,000 tons, "Narimanovneft" - 244,710 tons, "Absheronneft" - 129,760 tons, "Gum adasi" - 134,650 tons, and "Bulladaniz" - over 61,000 tons.

According to the source, Russian LUKoil has been operating Hovsan and Zykh fields, previously run by "Gum adasi", since November 1, 2001. The fields were flowing at 250 tons a day.

SOCAR EXPORTS 2,753,369 TONS OF CRUDE

SOCAR's foreign economic relations department exported 2,753,369 tons of oil and oil products in January-October 2001. A SOCAR source said Wednesday that the company exported over 2 million tons of crude, 384,000 tons of diesel fuel, 139,400 tons of automobile gasoline, 172,900 tons of aviation kerosene, 11.6 million tons of kerosene, 15,200 tons of coke, and 2,600 tons of technical butane.

ONSHORE OIL, GAS PRODUCTION UNITS EXTRACT 712,092 TONS OF OIL

Onshore oil and gas production units produced 712,092 tons of oil in January-October of 2001, over-fulfilling the plan by 2.7%. A SOCAR source told AssA-Irada Tuesday that "Balakhanineft" production unit extracted 187, 526 tons, "Bibiheybatneft" - 105,036 tons, "Surakhanineft" - 96,431, "Binagadineft" - 94,084, the Amirov production unit - 81,304, the Taghiyev unit - 59,180, and "Siyazanneft" - 44690 tons. Behind the plan was only "Siyazanneft".

659,950 tons of the produced 712,092 tons of oil were assumed by the state.

31 WELLS COMMISSIONED IN OCTOBER

31 wells, 4 offshore and 27 onshore, were commissioned in October this year, a SOCAR source told AssA-Irada Wednesday.

6 of the wells are new, while 25 were earlier suspended. 2 new wells were bored offshore and 4 onshore, including one commissioned by joint ventures.

In 10 months of 2001, SOCAR put 433 wells to work, including 61 new ones.

GAS PROCESSING DOWN

In October 2001, the Garadagh gas processing plant processed 226.5 million cubic meters of gas, or 4.1% above projections, SOCAR said Wednesday. The processing yielded 1440 tons of technical butane and 1629 tons of gas-oil.

In 10 months of 2001, 2,142 billion cubic meters of natural gas, or 0.5% over the plan, but 35.5 million cubic meters below last year, were processed at the plant.

The plant also processed 11699 tons of technical butane and 15834 tons of gas-oil, fulfilling the plan 94.7% and 89.9% respectively.

AZERNEFTYAG EXPORTS $16.6 MLN WORTH OF OIL, OIL PRODUCTS IN OCTOBER

The commercial department of Azerneftyag production unit exported 149,000 tons of oil products totaling $16.6 million in October this year. A SOCAR source told AssA-Irada Friday that Azerneftyag exported $167.7 million worth of 1,104,600 tons of oil products in 10 months of 2001, including 584,400 tons of diesel fuel, 377,500 tons of heating oil, 76,000 tons of aviation kerosene, 10,300 tons of lubricating oil, 5,556 tons of bitumen, and other products.

SOCAR exported 3.84 million tons of oil and oil products in 10 months of 2001, marking a bumper sale.

JVs PRODUCE 613,280 TONS OF OIL

In January-October 2001, oil producing joint ventures produced 613,280 tons of crude, as Salyan Oil extracted 234,887 tons, Shirvan Oil 187,600 tons, Garasu 115,418 tons, Anshad Petrol 36,680 tons, and Azgerneft 38,695 tons.

According to a SOCAR source, Salyan Oil showed the highest mark, increasing daily oil output to from 679 tons to 833 tons and producing 35% of the total production volume of joint ventures.

Salyan Oil is currently poised to drill its third well on the Garabaghli field. In case the drilling proves fertile, daily production could reach 1,000 tons a day.

2.68 BN CUBIC METERS OF GAS PURCHASED FROM RUSSIA

SOCAR imported 2.68 billion cubic meters of gas from Russian Itera and Transnafta in 10 months of 2001, a source from the company said Saturday. Russian is currently supplying Azerbaijan with 13.2 million cubic meters of gas a day, while the supplies are expected to rise to 16-17 million daily in winter. SOCAR pays $16-18 million a month for Russian gas, which predominantly flows to heating power stations.

Azerbaijan extracted 3,276 billion cubic meters of gas in January-October this year. Thus, 5,956 cubic meters, including imports, were supplied to consumers