News: Monday, July 12, 2010 
Article of the Day
Tengizchevroil Flap appears to be Contract Dispute
By Chris Baldwin
The question of whether Tengizchevroil pumped $1.4 billion too much oil over a period of years appears to hinge on a contract dispute.
The Ministry of Oil and Gas and prosecutors say the joint venture, which is 50-percent-owned by Chevron Corp., pumped oil from below agreed-upon depths.
Not so, says Tengizchevroil.
The consortium “is in full compliance with its contractual agreements with the Republic of Kazakhstan," spokeswoman sLinsi Crain said in an email Friday.
Tengizchevroil “holds and retains the right to produce without a maximum depth limit,” she said. “This right is explicitly documented and reserved in our contract.”
The consortium “is producing exclusively within the contractually documented area,” she added.
The Agency for Fighting Corruption and Economic Crime said Thursday that the national prosecutor’s office given material on Tengizchevroil’s "illegal production of oil" worth $1.4 billion.
Partners besides Chevron in Tengizchevroil include Exxon Mobil, with a 25 percent stake; government-owned KazMunaiGas, 20 percent; and Russia's Lukoil, 5 percent.
Kazakhstan, Central Asia's largest economy and oil producer, has attracted more than $100 billion in foreign investment since gaining independence two decades ago. Much of it has been in the oil and gas and mining sectors.
In recent years, Western energy firms have come under increasing pressure from the state as government firms seek to raise their influence in the sector.
State acquisitions have often followed campaigns in which the government has accused companies of environmental or tax violations, or of breaking the terms of their contracts.
Oil and Gas Minister Sauat Mynbayev said on June 21 that he suspected Tengizchevroil had produced "significant volumes" of crude above the levels specified by its license agreement.
In March, the financial police accused the Karachaganak gas project of illegally earning $708 million in 2008 by producing more oil and gas than originally agreed upon.
KazMunaiGas subsequently approached the consortium which owns the project, led by BG and Eni, with a proposal to acquire 10 percent in the project, Reuters reports.
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Kazakhstan General
Informal CIS Summit opens
By Yernur Akanbay
An informal Commonwealth of Independent States summit opened today in the Ukrainian resort of Yalta with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich calling for members to
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German leader to be in Astana on Sunday
German Chancellor Angela Merkel will make a swing east next week, visiting Russia and China before wrapping up her five-day trip in Kazakhstan, according to her
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Nomad action film festival starts today
By Gulnara Zhandagulova
Kazakhstan-born Hollywood producer Yerken Yalgashev has organized a festival of Kazakhstani action films in Almaty and Astana that starts today.
The Nomad Festival, which is
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OSCE ministers to meet in Almaty
By Kurmat Samarkhan
Ministers of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe will hold an informal meeting in Almaty on Friday and Saturday, kazinform.kz reports.
A key
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Masimov visits Ablai Khan museum
By Kanat Kulshmanov
Prime Minister Karim Masimov visited the Petropavlovsk museum of one of Kazakhstan’s greatest heroes, the 18th-Century warrior king Ablai Khan, on a recent trip
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Oil and Gas Sector
Kazakhstan ranks Low in Petroleum Ease-of-Business Survey
By John Clinkard
Kazakhstan is one of the 10 most difficult political jurisdictions in the world to do petroleum exploration, according to the fourth annual Global Petroleum
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Kashagan Player Inpex to issue 1.22 Million New Shares
By Shigeru Sato
Japan’s Inpex Corp., which plans to spend 4 trillion yen on Kazakhstan’s Kashagan oil field and two other huge projects in the next seven
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Italy’s Saipem wins Kashagan pipeline contract
Italy’s oil-services company Saipem has won a contract for a 40-kilometer pipeline that will be part of the giant Kashagan development in the Caspian Sea off
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Finance and Investment
Kazakhstan coming back to international bond market
By Francesca Young
Kazakhstan’s journey of debt market redemption appears to be near completion.
Three years after the country’s banking crisis burned foreign investors, Kazakhstan plans to return
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Moody's retains Negative Outlook on Banks
Moody’s said it’s retaining its negative outlook on Kazakhstan's banking system.
Two reasons, the ratings agency said in a press release, are that the banks have too
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Kazkommertsbank issuing Bonds
Kazkommertsbank, the nation’s largest financial institution, is issuing 35 billion tenge’s worth of six-year unsecured bonds at 9 percent interest.
Standard & Poor's assigned the bond issue
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Metals and Minerals
Ferrous Chief quits to focus on Kazakhstan Potash
By Jesse Riseborough
The British chairman of 3-year-old iron giant Ferrous Resources will leave the company he helped create for a potash and vanadium venture in
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Trade and Consumer Goods
U.S. predicts 13-million-ton Kazakhstan harvest
The U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts that Kazakhstan’s grain harvest will be lower than the 14.5 million tons that Kazakhstani officials forecast recently, according to agrimoney.com.
The
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Caspian nations may ban sturgeon catches
By Richard Orange
Lovers of fine food face a shortage of Beluga caviar that may last more than a decade.
Kazakhstan has asked other Eurasian countries for
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Minister to seek Larger Hay Subsidy
Minister of Agriculture Akylbek Kurishbayev said he will ask the government for more money to subsidize the growing of hay for livestock.
His statement came in response
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Communications and Transportation
Why Kazakhstanis’ car prices will jump
By Alena Chechel and Aleksei Nepomnyashchiy
Kazakhstanis who want to buy an imported car need to do so soon.
On January 1, the duties for those living in
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‘Special cargo’ is armored personnel carriers
A new law that allows shipments through Kazakhstan of “special cargo” for U.S. forces in Afghanistan deals with armored personnel carriers.
The government said the law that
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A cost is put on Shubarkul-Arkalyk rail line
By Kanat Kulshmanov
The cost of a 248-kilometer rail line to transport coal from Shubarkul to Arkalyk would be about 100 billion tenge, the head of the
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Regional Business News
A Rocky Few Weeks for U.S.-Russian Relations
By Ruth Collins
It's been a rocky road for U.S.-Russian relations the past few weeks, according to the Guardian.
The light-hearted images of Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry
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Spy swap mystery: Cyprus bail jumper who vanished
By Christoper Torchia
The United States and Russia swapped 14 spies with precision, but one piece of the puzzle remains: The alleged spy who disappeared after posting
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Russia’s Biggest Bank to borrow from West
Alfa Bank, Russia's largest private financial institution, plans to borrow $1 billion from Western banks soon.
President Petr Aven said the bank has developed good relations with
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Russia’s VTB Bank wants 20% of TransCreditBank
Moscow-based VTB, Russia’s second-largest lender, is in talks to buy 20 percent of OAO TransCreditBank, the lending arm of OAO Russian Railways.
VTB, which is 86 percent
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Is Lukashenko in The Kremlin's Crosshairs?
Commentary by Brian Whitemore
On July 4, Russia’s Gazprom-owned television station NTV broadcast an unflattering documentary about the Belarusian leader and one-time Moscow ally.
Titled "The Godfather,"
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Once-banned Moscow Mayor Visits Ukraine
Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov, one of Russia’s most powerful politicians, attended the birthday party of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich near Kiev on Friday, making his first
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Tajikstan wants Mountains on Heritage List
Tajikistan has asked that the Pamir Mountains in Tajik National Park be placed on the World Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
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Prices and Statistics
Volume and Share Index by Visor Capital
Date: July 12, 2010; Source: Visor Capital
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Market Movers by Visor Capital
Date: July 12, 2010; Source: Visor Capital
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Oil and Gas Prices
Date: July 12, 2010; Source: Bloomberg.com
| Petroleum
($/bbl) |
|
Price* |
Change |
%Change |
Time |
| Nymex Crude Future |
75.65
|
-.44
|
-.58
|
02:43 |
| Dated Brent Spot |
74.10 |
-.46 |
-.61 |
02:53 |
| WTI Cushing Spot |
76.09 |
.65 |
.86
|
07/09 |
| Petroleum
(cent/gal) |
|
Price* |
Change |
%Change |
Time |
| Nymex Heating Oil Future |
201.85
|
-.72
|
-.36 |
02:26
|
| Nymex RBOB Gasoline Future |
205.85
|
-1.15 |
-.56 |
02:25 |
| Natural gas
($/MMBtu) |
|
Price* |
Change |
%Change |
Time |
| Nymex Henry Hub Future |
4.40 |
.00 |
.07 |
02:41 |
| Henry Hub Spot |
4.35 |
-.27 |
-5.84 |
07/09 |
| New York City Gate Spot |
4.80 |
-.25
|
-4.95 |
07/09
|
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Commodities
Date: July 12, 2010; Source: Bloomberg.com
| Commodity |
Price |
Change |
%Change |
Time |
| COPPER FUTURE (USd/lb.) |
302.750 |
-2.600 |
-0.85 |
02:59 |
| GOLD 100 OZ FUTR (USD/t oz.) |
1208.900 |
-0.900
|
-0.07 |
02:59 |
| SILVER FUTURE (USD/t oz.) |
18.070 |
-0.003
|
-0.02
|
02:58 |
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Metal Prices
Date: July 12, 2010; Source: Kitco.com
| Silver |
18.06 |
-0.09 |
| Platinum |
1520.00 |
-10.00
|
| Palladium |
454.00 |
-3.00
|
| Rhodium |
2,410.00 |
0.00
|
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Exchange rates
Date: July 12, 2010; Source: the National Bank of Kazakhstan
| 1 USD |
KZT 147.52 |
1 CHF |
KZT 139.78 |
1 CNY |
KZT 21.78 |
1 TRY |
KZT 95.09 |
10 JPY |
KZT 1.67 |
| 1 EUR |
KZT 186.97 |
1 AUD |
KZT 128.87 |
1 KGS |
KZT 3.22 |
1 UZS |
KZT 0.09 |
|
|
| 1 GBP |
KZT 224.04 |
1 CAD |
KZT 141.17 |
1 RUB |
KZT 4.79 |
100 KRW |
KZT 12.33 |
|
|
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