Russia's Expansion into the Turkish Oil Sector

[Nottingham]

Russia's Expansion into the Turkish Oil Sector
08/26/2003 11:36
Even with considerable debt, Tatneft plans to to acquire Turkish oil assets
Last week, Director General of the Tatneft oil company Shafagat Takhautdinov announced the intention of the company and its shareholders to purchase 67 per cent of Turkey's Turpas (four oil refineries with the capacity of 27 million tons of oil per year and a petrochemical complex). However, many people don't treat seriously the statement of the Tatneft top-manager. The company is one of the largest oil suppliers for the Turkish group (about 3 million tons of oil per year).

The financial situation of Tatneft is rather difficult: the debt of the company is about $800 million. But the problem seems to be not really alarming for the Tatneft owners. Since beginning of the year top-managers of Tatneft have already declared that they would build a new oil refinery in Russia's Leningrad Region (in immediate proximity to the new port of Primorsk), would also buy 43 per cent of an oil refinery in the Ukrainian city of Kremenchug; the company said they were going to considerably expand the network of its filling stations.

Oil market participants reacted to the news about the purchase of Turpas with good humor. "For many years Tatneft still cannot complete the construction of the Nizhnekamsky oil refinery. Can it be a serious talk about a purchase for $1.5 billion?" a representative from another Russian oil company commented upon the information about Tatneft's intentions. It is highly likely that Tatneft itself needs a stronger partner rather than it can take care of new assets in Turkey.

And the Tatarstan oil company will get this partner. Speaking about the prospective Turkish expansion, the Tatneft director general specified that Tatneft would purchase Turpas having formed an alliance with one of Russian oil companies. Meanwhile, TNK and LUKOIL also evince great interest in Turkish oil assets. It is highly likely that it will be LUKOIL that may form an alliance with Tatneft for purchase of the Turkish oil company.

http://english.pravda.ru/main/18/89/355/10760_turkey.html


I wonder if this is a way for the Big Oil companies to get there
hands on more of the oil but under the Russian name. Or maybe Russia is going independant!!:bounce: