Lukoil to develop the project in Uzbekistan

(Lukoil) -- Lukoil intends to raise USD 500 mln to finance on a limited resource basis the development of Khausak-Shady-Kandym project in Uzbekistan. The lenders consortium is expected to include international financial organizations, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and commercial banks. The commercial part of the facility structure is expected to include risk insurance to be provided by ADB and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).

The banks are now seeking internal approval for the transaction. However, the transaction is still subject to the government approval from the Republic of Uzbekistan. It is expected that financing will be closed in Q3 2011.

The loan proceeds will be used to finance the investment program of the Kandym field development and production enhancement at the Khauzak-Shady field.

MRC

(SIBUR) -- Rhodia and SIBUR have signed a letter of intent to create a joint venture in specialty surfactants. This strategic alliance would be focused on creating a leader in the CIS market where specialty surfactants are used particularly in home & personal care, and oil & gas industries, with the surfactants sector growing at more than 6% per year.

Rhodia, as a worldwide leader in specialty surfactants, will provide its expertise in surfactant technologies, its knowledge of formulations and market applications and its customer network, including global key accounts with a strong presence in this region.

SIBUR, the leading petrochemical company in Russia, will contribute its raw materials, production and logistics capabilities. With its longstanding experience of the Russian petrochemicals market, SIBUR will also support the development of the surfactants business in oil and gas markets in Russia and the CIS.

It is expected that the new 50:50 joint venture will site a local production in Russia at Dzerzhinsk, near SIBUR's petrochemicals operations, 400km east of Moscow, and is expected to be operational in 2013.

MRC

(ICIS) -- US polyvinyl chloride (PVC) export prices could start to fall as global demand has weakened, snapping a three-month uptrend triggered by the Japanese earthquake and tsunami in March, sources said on Friday. ⌠[Export demand] has slowed some, but not considerably, one PVC producer said. US PVC export prices were at USD 1.180-1.250/tonne (EUR 814-863/tonne) FOB USG, as assessed by ICIS.

This week, US PVC export prices were widening further apart, as producers targeted prices in the USD 1.200s/tonne FOB USG, while buyers were aiming for prices into the low USD 1.100s/tonne FOB USG.

MRC

(Reuters) - Japan's JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp, an oil refining unit of JX Holdings , said on Friday it plans to shut its Kawasaki naphtha cracker, with ethylene production capacity of 404 KTa, on June 18 for repair work. The company said the shutdown was to fix a problem and that the cracker would be restarted on June 22.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Crude oil prices should just hover at USD 75-80/bbl (EUR 51-54/bbl) given current market fundamentals and cost environment, said the top executive of Malaysia's state-owned oil and gas firm Petronas on Monday. At midday, light sweet crude for July delivery was trading at USD 100.11/bbl, while Brent crude was quoted at USD 115.46/bbl.

Although high crude prices generally benefit oil companies, they also mean hefty production costs, Petronas president and CEO Shamsul Azhar Abbas told delegates at the opening ceremony of the 16th Asia Oil and Gas Conference (AOGC) in Kuala Lumpur.

While higher oil prices amid a recovery in demand have boosted capital expenditure in the industry, oil companies' production costs may hit new highs this year, he said.

Rising costs will test the industry's abilities to make its capital expenditure budgets ⌠go to their intended length, the Petronas chief said.

Meanwhile, Shamsul said that Asia must not be overlooked in upstream investments, citing that geology-based assessments have suggested that the region's mean undiscovered oil resources are in the order of about 50bn barrels.

MRC