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NRG: A slow and painful recovery
The market may be showing early signs of a recovery, but for many oil and gas companies, the worst is still to come
TEHRAN BLOG: Trump frets as Iranian fuel tanker steams to Venezuela
Maduro said to be paying Tehran in bars of gold for gasoline to relieve acute shortages. US president—needing a foreign policy victory such as the dislodging of the strongman ahead of his re-election bid—is reportedly considering his options.
ZapSib cushions the blow of the coronavirus crisis to Sibur’s 1Q20 results
Leading Russian petrochemical company Sibur's revenues were down 7.8% year on year due to falling prices in ruble terms caused by the current economic crisis, but the newly completed ZapSib facility has cushioned the blow.
INTERVIEW: Bakhtiyor Fazilov, major shareholder in Uzbek drilling company ERIELL Group and Enter Engineering
ERIELL also one of three major independent drilling companies in Russia. Well construction and overhaul services provided to top oil and gas companies. Enter Engineering has important role in Uzbekistan’s COVID-19 response.
Poland signs contract with Italy’s Saipem to lay Baltic Pipe
The €2.1bn Baltic Pipe will carry gas from the Norwegian Sea via Denmark to Poland, starting in 2022. Poland needs the pipeline to reduce its dependence on Russian gas imports.
Mongolia scraps $3bn IPO for shares in flagship coal mine
Decision made amid pandemic disruption to financial markets and with one eye on vote-shifting distrust of foreign investors ahead of elections.
Turkey’s electricity producers assess April collapse in demand at 20%
Producers association expects power spot price to dive 40% in pandemic-hit April and 15% in 2020. Even operational profitability tough to sustain. Opposition says government policy encourages building of plants country does not need.
Azerbaijan ‘forced to tell BP to cut oil production sharply’
Extent of OPEC+ output restrictions drawn up to tackle price crisis leaves Baku with little choice but to include energy major in reductions.
MOSCOW BLOG: Russia caught out by oil plunge
Did Russian President Vladimir Putin just screw up in a spectacular fashion? Russia pulled out of the OPEC+ production cut deal on March 6, setting off a downward spiralling of prices that ran out of control
UPDATED: Oil prices fall to less than zero for the first time in history
Oil prices fell to less than zero for the first time in history as producers ran out of places to store crude on April 20.
Assets of Azerbaijan’s wealth fund fall $2bn in defence of manat from pandemic, oil price upheaval
Baku has spent the past few years recovering from the previous collapse of hydrocarbon prices and building its financial firepower to fend off any repeat.
Russian utilities in a time of corona, first non-payments appear
Russian utilities are coming under pressure as customers are expected to start reneging on their bills and demand for power falls off heavily, as most of the country will be on a strict lockdown for all of April.
ALACO DISPATCHES: Europe struggling to salvage Iran nuclear deal
American sanctions leave Europe unable to offer Iran the economic support it demands for compliance.
Saudi public debt and sukuk in a time of COVID-19 and low oil prices
Saudi Arabia plans to expand its sukuk borrowing programme to cover the budget deficit caused by low oil prices
Iran and Turkey assure Azerbaijan they have not provided Nagorno-Karabakh or Armenians with COVID-19 relief
OPEC+ cuts deep into global supply, but not deep enough
Coronavirus, oil prices push Kazakhstan toward recession
Economy forecast to shrink by 0.9%.
Russia, Saudi Arabia agree to slash oil production, Trump claims
Donald Trump said on April 2 that Russia and Saudi Arabia would be cutting their output, instead of continuing with a supply war that could result in hundreds of oil companies going out of business. The Kremlin denied his claim.
OUTLOOK 2020/2021 Iran
Economically besieged Islamic Republic’s year looks set to hinge on whether tormentor-in-chief is re-elected.
Largest Turkish refiner Tupras ‘has cut runs at Izmir refinery by 50% due to pandemic impact on fuel demand’
Fitch cuts oil price outlook for 2020 from 62.5/bbl to $41/bbl on global recession fears
Fitch Ratings has cut its short and medium-term oil and natural gas price assumptions in expectation of very large market oversupply in 2020.
Russian pipemaker ChelPipe getting ready for IPO
With the predominance of oil and gas in Russia’s economy the pipe-making business is a big one. ChelPipe is the market leader and is now considering an IPO.
ContourGlobal abandons €1.3bn coal-fired power station project in Kosovo
Kosovo’s new Prime Minister Albin Kurti had pledged to stop the 500MW power plant that would have been Kosovo’s largest ever energy investment.
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