Lafarge: Cementing Its Reach In Emerging Markets
December 10th, 2007
As noted in The International Herald Tribune, Lafarge – the world’s biggest cement maker – agreed to buy Egypt’s Orascom Cement for $12.8 billion in a deal that would raise its earnings and exposure to high-growth emerging markets, particularly in Africa. The deal will see Nassef Sawiris, a shareholder in Orascom Construction Industries, take an […]
Read more »China: A Bull in Iran’s Oil “Shop”
December 10th, 2007
As reported in The Financial Times, Iran signed a $2bn oil contract with Sinopec of China, sending a signal to western companies that they might miss out on potentially lucrative contracts with one of the world’s biggest energy exporters if they continued to heed US-led sanctions against Tehran. As the article notes: “…The contract to […]
Read more »SOCAR, So Good: Azeri-Kazakh Energy Cooperation
December 9th, 2007
As noted by Energy Daily, the Azeri government is actively reaching out to Kazakhstan and Russia as the Caspian’s ongoing hydrocarbon development produces a financial windfall for all. SOCAR, The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan, is beginning to export its services to Kazakhstan’s oil and gas sector by conducting onshore surveys, while Baku is also […]
Read more »Turk(ish)menistan…
December 9th, 2007
As reported by New Eurasia, Turkish President Abdullah Gül – during a three-day official visit to Turkmenistan – proposed the reinstatement of the project of a gas pipeline running from Turkmenistan to Turkey via Iran, with annual capacity of 16 billion cubic metres of gas. However, as the article notes, Gül’s visit was about more […]
Read more »Gazprom’s New Field and Enduring Supply Problems
December 9th, 2007
Via Stratfor (subscription required), an very insightful analysis of Gazprom’s new Yuzhno-Russkoye oil and natural gas field, due to come on line Dec. 18. However, as the report points out, even this 805 billion cubic meter field will not stem the overall decline in Gazprom’s natural gas production, highlighting the seriousness of the supply crunch […]
Read more »Quick Flip? Oil-Rich Nations Use More Energy, Reducing Exports
December 9th, 2007
Via The New York Times, a very interesting article on how the economies of many big oil-exporting countries are growing so fast that their internal need for energy is reducing the amount they can sell abroad, adding new strains to the global oil market. This growth, if it continues, would see several of the world’s […]
Read more »Focusing primarily on The New Seven Sisters - the largely state owned petroleum companies from the emerging world that have become key players in the oil & gas industry as identified by Carola Hoyos, Chief Energy Correspondent for The Financial Times - but spanning other nascent opportunities around the globe that may hold potential in the years ahead, Wildcats & Black Sheep is a place for the adventurous to contemplate & evaluate the emerging markets of tomorrow.