RusEnergy

NOVO-OGARYOVO, April 23 (RIA Novosti) - Russia and Turkmenistan may expand cooperation in the gas sphere, the Russian president said Monday. Vladimir Putin said during his first meeting with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov that Russia "had launched a new leg of the gas pipeline system along the Caspian Sea and was currently pumping more than 5 million cubic meters of gas through it daily." He said the two countries could expand activities in this sphere. Turkmenistan possesses the world's fifth-largest reserves of natural gas and substantial oil resources. On September 5, 2006, after Turkmenistan threatened to cut off supplies, Russia agreed to raise the price it pays for Turkmen natural gas from $65 to $100 per 1,000 cubic meters. Two-thirds of Turkmen gas goes through Russian energy giant Gazprom. A Kremlin source said ahead of Berdymukhammedov's visit: "LUKoil, Zarubezhneft, Itera, Stroytransgaz, Soyuzneftegaz have plans to implement promising projects in Turkmenistan." A number of Russia's large companies, such as Power Machines, Vyborg Ship Building Plant, Zvezda-Energetika, tractor plants in Cheboksary and Chelyabinsk, Volgaburmash, Kamaz and AFK Sistema are active in the Turkmen market. The two countries' trade in 2006 amounted to $307.5 million, against $300.7 million in 2005. Russian exports accounted for $228.6 million and imports stood at $78.9 million, as compared to $223.5 million and $77.2 million, respectively. In the first two months of 2007 bilateral trade reached $45.7 million. At a Thursday meeting with co-owners of AFK Sistema in Ashgabat, Berdymukhammedov invited the Russian leading consumer services firm, which owns a number of oil producing and refining assets in Bashkortostan, to develop oil and gas deposits at offshore sites on the Caspian Sea. Russia is the second foreign destination after Saudi Arabia and the first CIS country on the new Turkmen leader's itinerary. Berdymukhammedov assumed power February 11, 2007 in the first contested election in Turkmen history, following the 21-year rule of Saparmurat Niyazov, the country's first president. Since the inauguration of the new Turkmen leader several Russian delegations have visited Turkmenistan. An agreement was reached to diversify bilateral relations between Russia and Turkmenistan during Russian Primer Mikhail Fradkov's visit to the country. In early April, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held negotiations with the Turkmen leader and his counterpart in Ashgabat, during which Berdymukhammedov confirmed his adherence to energy cooperation and partnership diversification with Russia.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Mysterious U.S. Company Buys Yukos' Energy Assets

17.04.2007 - MosNews - Mysterious company Monte-Valle, founded by unnamed U.S. citizen has won the fourth auction for sale of property of bankrupt Yukos Oil Company. The auction held on Tuesday, April 17, sold stakes in Russian energy companies previously owned by Yukos. Monte-Valle offered 3.563 billion rubles (about $138 million) for the lot. Yukos, once Russia’s largest private oil company, was declared bankrupt on Aug. 1, 2006, following three years of litigation with tax authorities over the company’s tax arrears. The state has already sold Yukos’ gas assets to consortium of Italian energy companies Eni and Enel and a 9.4 percent stake in state-controlled Rosneft Oil Company to Rosneft itself. The third auction, including Yukos’s research and development assets, was called off due to a lack of bids. The fourth round of Yukos auction saw four firms bidding for energy assets in Tambov and Belgorod regions in Central Russia. Initial price of the lot was 2.64 billion rubles (about $102.2 million), with the bid increment of 26.39 million rubles (about $1.02 million). Monte Valle and another company, called Financial Agency, were the main bidders at the auction. Neft-Aktiv, a structure of Rosneft, offered five bid increments while Versar offered none. Several hours after the auction Prime-Tass news agency reported that Monte-Valle LLC was registered in August 2003. Its general director is Steven Patrick Lynch, while the sole founder is an unnamed U.S. citizen.