Major events in Caspian countries' oil and gas industry for last week (March 5-10)

SOCAR directs some funds from Eurobonds to pay external debt Most of the funds received by State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) from the placement of Eurobonds in the amount of $500 million were directed to pay the assets in Switzerland, purchased from Exxon Mobil, a senior representative of SOCAR. "Some $200 million of proceeds from the placement of Eurobonds was sent to acquire the assets in Switzerland," the representative of SOCAR said. Part of the funds from the placement of Eurobonds in the amount of $133 million, is intended for the purchase of ten percent of the state share of the Petkim petrochemical holding. The rest of the proceeds from the Eurobond in the amount of $166 million focused on external debt of the company, a senior representative of SOCAR said. Particularly, the $133 million were used to repay the loan borrowed from BNP Paribas and $33 million to cover the loan of Yapi Kredit Bank. The loan portfolio of SOCAR amounted to $1.5 billion as of Jan. 1, 2012. Upper limit on SOCAR debt increases The limit for external debt of State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) has increased to $2 billion. "We can adhere to $2 billion on the basis of the covenant in the loan agreement with BNP Paribas within six months," a senior representative of SOCAR said. The agreement with BNP Paribas S.A. on a $750 million loan was signed in 2006 without government guarantees or other collateral, thus creating conditions for SOCAR to further raise funds from global capital markets at reasonable rates. Earlier restrictions on the attraction of credit resources for the SOCAR Group were $1.5 billion. S & P gives favorable assessment to SOCAR's creditworthiness SOCAR is a strategic national asset. It plays a critical role in the national economy as it is a major exporter, taxpayer and employer, the report of the international rating agency Standard & Poor's "State impact on the creditworthiness of "Gazprom", "KazMunayGas" and SOCAR" said. SOCAR is a strategic national asset. It plays a critical role in the national economy as it is a major exporter, taxpayer and employer, the report of the international rating agency Standard & Poor's "State impact on the creditworthiness of "Gazprom", "KazMunayGas" and SOCAR" said on Tuesday. The characteristics of SOCAR's own creditworthiness is supported by the company's leading role in Azerbaijan's oil and gas sector and the availability of shares in all oil producing, refining and petrochemical enterprises of the country. "We assess the indices of creditworthiness and SOCAR's debt as relatively favorable now," the report said. According to Standard & Poor's, the characteristics of SOCAR's own creditworthiness will greatly depend on the implementation of its ambitious program of making investments in the modernization of Azerbaijan's oil refining and petrochemical industries, the construction of new pipelines and expanding its presence abroad. Turkmenistan approves regulation on oil industry ministry Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has approved Regulations on the Turkmen Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, the official Turkmen source said. The document was adopted to successfully meet the challenges set before the country's oil and gas industry in the national programme of Turkmenistan's socio-economic development for 2011-2030, to further improve the institution. The Ministry deals with the centralised management of field development and rational use of mineral resources. It also ensures the implementation of a unified state policy in this area. Gazprom to assess gas content of Uzbekistan's Kumoy area Gazprom International, operating division of the foreign projects of JSC Gazprom has started testing a second exploration well drilled in the prospective area of Kumoy on the Ustyurt plateau in Uzbekistan, the company's statement said. Six productive horizons were discovered at the Kumoy-2 well with a depth of 4,170 meters, which are to be tested. The company plans to assess its prospects before the end of this year. "Following these works which are expected to be completed before the end of the year, the first assessment of the prospects for gas content will be made. According to preliminary data, the productive facilities consist of high-methane gas with an extremely low content of hydrogen sulphide and carbon dioxide," the statement said. The Kumoy area is located within the Shakhpahti investment block, 25 kilometres from the Gelle gas field discovered in 2009 and located 235 kilometres from the main Central Asia - Centre gas pipeline. Expected resources in the field are about six billion cubic meters of gas and over 40,000 tons of gas condensate.