"Lel Bruce Peto" Oil sector 90's chronology informing..1997

"Lel Bruce Peto" Oil sector 90's chronology informing..
Oil & Gas Chronology :  The 1990’s


1997


February 5 

Japan's Ministry of Finance announces plans to cut import tariffs on crude 
oil and most petroleum products from April 1, 1997, in a phased process 
that will reduce the country's crude oil import tariff rate to zero in 
April 2002. (DJ)

February 24 

Qatar inaugurates the world's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) 
exporting facility and formally launches Qatar Liquefied Gas Co., which 
will have total output capacity of 6 million tons per year of LNG. The 
facilities are part of a new $7.2 billion industrial zone which also 
includes a sea port with a capacity to handle 25-30 million tons of LNG 
annually. Qatar plans to build more gas liquefaction plants in the area to 
exploit its natural gas reserves of around 237 trillion cubic feet. (DJ)

April 1 

A Shell spokesman confirms the company will declare force majeure at its 
Nigerian Bonny terminal due to local protests which disrupted 210,000 
barrels per day of the company's oil production. Although the protests 
have ended and production is returning to normal, the backlog is 
temporarily delaying loadings by 3 days. (DJ)

May 16 

A final agreement creating the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) is signed 
by project participants: Russia (24 percent), Kazakstan (19 percent), 
Chevron Corp. (15 percent), AO Lukoil/Arco Corp. (12.5 percent), Mobil 
Corp. (7.5 percent), AO Rosneft/Shell Corp. (7.5 percent), Oman (7 
percent), Agip SpA (2 percent), British Gas PLC (2 percent), Oryx Corp. 
(1.75 percent), and Kazakstan Pipeline Ventures, a joint venture of 
Kazakstan's state oil company and Amoco Corp. (1.75 percent). The Russian 
government plans to transfer its stake to two Russian oil companies, AO 
Lukoil and AO Rosneft. CPC plans to begin building a 932-mile pipeline to 
transport crude oil from the Caspian region to Russia's Black Sea coast in 
1998 and begin shipping around 558,000 barrels per day of oil in 1999 
(planned peak capacity is 1.4 million barrels per day). (DJ)

May 20 

President Clinton signs an executive order barring new U.S. investment in 
Burma (also known as Myanmar), effective May 21 and renewable annually. 
U.S. companies have invested about $250 million in Burma, primarily in the 
oil and gas sector. The biggest U.S. investor is Unocal, which is building 
(with France's Total) a $1.2 billion pipeline from Burma's Yadana natural 
gas field to an electric power plant in Thailand. (DJ)

June 4 

In a unanimous vote, the United Nations Security Council renews for 
another 180-day period its "oil­for­food" initiative with Iraq. Under the 
resolution, Iraq may sell $2 billion worth of oil to buy food, medicine 
and other necessities to alleviate civilian suffering under the sanctions 
imposed when it invaded Kuwait in 1990. (WP)

July 22 

The first shipments of oil produced from Kazakstan's Tengiz field arrive 
at terminals on the Black Sea in Novorossiysk (Russia) and Batumi 
(Georgia) for subsequent export through the Bosphoros Strait. Volumes 
total between 100,000 and 150,000 barrels per day. (DJ)

July 23 

The U.S. State Department rules that Turkey's August 1996 agreement to 
purchase $23 billion worth of natural gas from Iran over a 20-year period 
does not violate the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act. In a May 1997 
memorandum of understanding with Iran and Turkmenistan, Turkey modified 
the original arrangement so that the natural gas will be purchased from 
Turkmenistan rather than Iran. (DJ)

August 4 

In Colombia, Occidental Petroleum, a California-based international oil 
company, and Ecopetrol, Colombia's national oil company, declare force 
majeure on all oil exports from the Cano Limon field. The declaration 
comes after a series of attacks dating back to July 30 knocked out a major 
oil pipeline transporting oil from the field to the Caribbean port of 
Covenas. The pipeline has been attacked 45 times this year which is equal 
to the total number of attacks for 1996. Responsibility for the attacks 
has not been determined, but leftist guerrillas from the National 
Liberation Army are usually blamed for such attacks. The force majeure 
declaration does not apply to the oil contained in the 2 million barrel 
storage facility at Covenas. (DJ)

August 8 

The United Nations approves a sale-price formula for Iraqi crude oil sales 
under the oil-for-food plan. The approval cleared the way for Iraq to 
resume limited oil exports immediately through the Turkish port of Ceyhan 
on the Mediterranean Sea and Iraq's Gulf port of Mina al-Bakr. The United 
Nations will also begin reviewing contracts for Iraqi crude oil purchases. 
Iraq has until September 5 to raise the $1.07 billion allowed under the 
existing 90 day oil-for-food plan window. Iraqi officials state they will 
boost exports to 2 million barrels per day to meet the sales target. 
However, industry experts say that Iraq's export capacity is untested 
beyond 1.4 million barrel per day. (DJ)

September 12 

The United Nations Security Council passes a resolution that allows Iraq 
to reach the $2.14 billion oil sales limit under its oil-for-food program 
by December 5. The current 6-month oil sales window, running from June 8 
to December 5, will be split into a 120-day segment and a 60-day segment 
instead of two 90-day segments. During each segment Iraq can sell $1.07 
billion worth of oil. The resolution should enable Iraq to make up for 
lost revenues during a delay in the start of oil sales during the first 
two months of the current six month sale period. (DJ)

October 29 

Iraq's Revolution Command Council, the country's main decision making 
body, announces that it will no longer allow U.S. citizens and U.S. 
aircraft to serve with the United Nations (U.N.) arms inspection teams. 
The council's statement gives U.S. citizens working with the inspection 
teams one week to leave Iraq. Iraq has also asked the U.N. to stop flights 
by American reconnaissance aircraft monitoring its compliance with U.N. 
resolutions requiring the elimination of weapons of mass destruction. In 
response to this statement, the U.N. Security Council unanimously approves 
a statement condemning Iraq's threats to expel the Americans. (DJ)

November 20 

Iraq's Revolution Command Council formally endorses an agreement, arranged 
by Russia, that enables United Nation's (U.N.) weapons inspection teams to 
resume operations in Iraq. The deal ends a three-week standoff between the 
U.N. and Iraq that began in late October 1997 after Iraq announced it 
would no longer allow U.S. citizens to serve on U.N. weapons' inspection 
teams. (DJ)

November 29 

For the first time in four years, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting 
Countries (OPEC) agrees to an increase in its production ceiling. OPEC has 
raised the ceiling to 27.5 million barrels per day for the first half of 
1998, effective January 1, 1998. The new ceiling represents a 10 percent 
increase over the current ceiling. The new quotas are as follows: Saudi 
Arabia 8.76 million barrels per day (bbl/d), Iran 3.942 million bbl/d, 
Iraq 1.314 million bbl/d, Venezuela 2.583 million bbl/d, Nigeria 2.042 
million bbl/d, Indonesia 1.456 million bbl/d, Kuwait 2.19 million bbl/d, 
Libya 1.522 million bbl/d, United Arab Emirates 2.366 million bbl/d, 
Algeria 0.909 million bbl/d, and Qatar 0.414 million bbl/d. (NYT)

December 4 

Iraq's United Nations (U.N.) Ambassador Nizar Hamdoon warns that Iraq will 
not allow oil to flow during a third six-month phase of the U.N.'s oil-for-
food sale until the U.N. approves an aid distribution plan. Despite the 
warning, the U.N. Security Council approves a third six-month phase 
following the end of the second six-month phase. Like the first two 
phases, the third phase allows Iraq to sell up to $1.07 billion of oil in 
each of two 90-day periods. However, the sales level may be increased by 
the Security Council in January 1998 after U.N. Secretary-General Kofi 
Annan reports on Iraq's needs. The next day Iraq stops pumping oil into 
the Iraqi-Turkish pipeline at the end of the second six-month phase of the 
United Nations (U.N.) oil-for-food program. (WP, NYT)

December 11 

Delegates from 150 industrial nations attending a United Nations climate 
conference in Kyoto, Japan reach agreement on a protocol to control heat-
trapping greenhouse gases. The protocol, if ratified, would commit nations 
to roll back emissions of six greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, 
nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulphur 
hexafluoride) below 1990 levels. Under the protocol, the United States 
would be required to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 7 percent 
below 1990 levels, while Europe and Japan would make cuts of 8 percent and 
9 percent, respectively. Developing countries are exempt from the 
emissions ceilings for the time being. (DJ)

Received on Saturday, 15 February 2003 18:19:12 UTC