USRCC Business Newsletter, Issue 48, January 2016

Jan .

2016

ISSUE
No. 48

USRCC Business Newsletter

USRCC NEWS

6th Annual Ambassador Series

The USRCC invites you ta attend luncheon with

His Excellency, Sergey I. Kislyak, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United States

Sergey Ivanovich Kislyak was appointed Ambassador to the United States on September 16, 2008, having previously served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. A career diplomat, Kislyak joined the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation/USSR in 1977. During his distinguished career, Kislyak headed the Foreign Ministry's Security and Disarmament Department (1995-1998), and served simultaneously as the Ambassador to Belgium and as Russia's permanent representative to NATO. Ambassador Kislyak first served in the United States as second secretary at the Russian Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York (1981-85) and, later, as first secretary and counselor Russian Embassy in Washington (1985-89).

February 11, 2016
Downtown Houston, TX
11:00 am VIP Reception/12:00 pm Luncheon

Register here

Sponsors

Gold

Silver

Partners

For sponsorship opportunities please contact:

The U.S.-Russia Chamber of Commerce
2900 Wilcrest Drive, Suite 133, Houston, TX 77042
Phone: 713.429.4680 Email: [email protected]

USRCC 2016 Membership

Renew your 2016 membership or join for the first time today!

For more information click here

The USRCC Business Networking Happy Hour was very successful!

On January 21, the USRCC hosted a Business Networking Reception. The event was held at Arcodoro restaurant.

The event was attended by more than 115 people from different industries and backgrounds.

Thank you for attending this event and supporting the USRCC!

Pictures are available here

USRCC Trade Mission to Russia

June 2016

With a population of more than 143 million people and rapidly growing infrastructure, Russia presents U.S. companies with promising opportunity. The U.S.-Russia Chamber of Commerce (USRCC) invites you to participate in a Trade mission to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum and Moscow. Participants will have an opportunity to meet Russian government officials and some of the most influential leaders in U.S.-Russia trade and investment relations. The USRCC will coordinate private meetings, an exclusive CEO Roundtable and introductions, in addition to attending the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPEIF).

Participating companies will gain market insights, make industry contacts, solidify business strategies, find business partners, and advance specific projects with the goal of increasing U.S. trade and investment to Russia.

For more details about the Trade Mission please click here or contact us

directly at [email protected]

NAPE SUMMIT 2016

February 9th-12th, 2016

George R. Brown Convention Center. Houston, TX

Visit the USRCC booth # 4564

Please click here for more information about the NAPE SUMMIT 2016

Member News

Russia Continues Negotiations on Gas Supplies to

China Via Western Route

Sputnik, January 16, 2016: Russia's Gazprom continues negotiations on gas supplies to China via the western route.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia's energy giant Gazprom continues negotiations on gas supplies to China via the Power of Siberia-2 pipeline, also known as the western route, and casts no doubts on the project, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told RIA Novosti.

"The negotiations continue. Undoubtedly, we believe that despite China's economic slowdown, its demand for gas will still be on the rise... So we have no doubts that this project will also be in demand, this is a promising project," Novak said. Read more...

LUKOIL: Summarizes 2015 Achievements and 2016 Targets

Rogtecmagazine.com, January 14, 2016: The LUKOIL Board of Directors held a meeting in Moscow today to summarize the Company's preliminary performance results in 2015 and set priorities for 2016 and the near-term outlook.

The 2015 hydrocarbon production growth was attained through the implementation of large-scale projects in the Northern Caspian Sea, West Siberia, the Komi Republic, as well as abroad - in Iraq.

"In 2015 we ensured steady corporate development, commissioned our facilities on schedule - some of the most innovative in our industry, fulfilled all our obligations before the society and the state, maintained integrity in our working teams, indexed our employee's wages, and paid dividends to our shareholders. Read more...

Gazprom announces financial information for nine months ended 30 September 2015

Oilvoice.com, January 15, 2015: Today PJSC Gazprom issued its unaudited consolidated interim condensed financial information prepared in accordance with International Accounting Standard 34 Interim Financial Reporting (IAS 34) for the nine months ended September 30, 2015.

The table below presents the unaudited consolidated interim condensed statement of comprehensive income prepared in accordance with IFRS for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 and for the nine months ended September 30, 2014. All amounts are presented in millions of the Russian Rubles. Read more...

The Week in Review

Russia, overview

Usnews.com, January 20, 2016: The scale of Russia is difficult to imagine. It is the world's largest country by land mass - nearly twice as big as Canada , the world's second-largest nation - and covers all of northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe. It shares land borders with more than a dozen countries, and shares sea borders with Japan and the United States .

Russia as a nation dates back more than a millennium and authoritarian rule has marked much of its history. It was the largest and leading republic of the Soviet Union, which formed in 1922. Following the Soviet collapse in 1991, Russia became an independent republic. Russians directly elect their president, and the federal government includes legislative and judicial branches, as well as a presidency possessing extensive authority. Read more...

Rosneft subsidiary starts production at Zapadno-Epasskoye field

Oilvoice.com, January 20, 2016: RN-Uvatneftegaz, a Rosneft subsidiary, started commercial oil production at Zapadno-Epasskoye field, a new field of the Uvat project.

The field is located 250 km away from the village of Uvat within the Ust-Tegussky license area. Its recoverable oil reserves amount to over 17 mln mt. Currently the field's well stock accounts to seven wells. Hydraulic fracturing implemented at two wells enabled boosting its joint oil production rate to 470 cubic meters per day.

Facilities of Zapadno-Epasskoye field are part of the Eastern Development Center (EDC) infrastructure, which allows getting substantial synergy effect. EDC also includes the Urnenskoye, the Ust-Tegusskoye, the Yuzhno-Gavrikovskoye, and the Malyk fields. Read more...

Petrogrand provides business update

Oilvoice.com, January 21, 2016: Following the Extraordinary Shareholders' Meetings in Petrogrand AB and Shelton Petroleum AB (currently Petrosibir AB) on 9 November 2015, the business combination of the two entities was completed in late December 2015. Shortly after the EGM, the Disciplinary Committee of Nasdaq Stockholm decided to delist both companies' shares as of early February 2016 (Petrogrand's last day of listing on Nasdaq First North Stockholm is 4 February 2016).
Following the transaction, Petrogrand only owns certain cash, exploration licenses in Russia and shares of Zhoda Petroleum received as dividends from Shelton Petroleum (Petrosibir), while all oil production assets in Russia belong to Petrosibir. On 18 January 2016 the Board of Directors of Petrogrand published a notice for a new EGM, scheduled on 15 February 2016, where it is expected that (i) a new Board of Directors is appointed, (ii) the share capital is lowered and (iii) the Company's business objective is widened (amendment of Articles of Association). Read more...

Exillon Energy provides December 2015 production figures

Oilvoice.com, January 18, 2016: Exillon Energy plc (EXI.LN), a London Premium listed oil producer with assets in two oil-rich regions of Russia, Timan-Pechora and West Siberia, is pleased to announce unaudited production data for the month of December 2015.

Average daily production was 15,298 bbl/day during the period.

Average daily production for Exillon TP was 3,262 bbl/day, and for Exillon WS it was 12,036 bbl/day during the period.

Peak daily production was 15,770 bbl/day during the period. Read more...

NOVATEK UPS 2015 LIQUIDS OUTPUT BY 51% ON YEAR TO NEAR 183,000 B/D

Platts.com, January 13, 2016: Russian producer Novatek said Wednesday it increased 2015 liquids output by 51% year on year, and sees positive dynamics for 2016 after having reached full production at its first major crude field, Yarudeyskoye.
The production growth beat the company's mid-year forecast of a 40% boost to its liquids production in 2015, and came despite concerns at the start of the year that low global oil prices and Western sanctions would hamper Russian producers' operations and lead to declining output rates. Novatek produced 9.094 million mt, or 182,627 b/d, of liquids including crude and gas condensate last year, more than a third -- or 2.559 million mt -- coming in the fourth quarter, the company said. Read more...

DSME: SCF Yamal launched

Lngworldnews.com, January 18, 2016: The first Arc7 ice-class LNG carrier, SCF Yamal, was launched last week at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) shipyard in South Korea.

The 172,600-cbm vessel, which was ordered by Russia's Sovcomflot to serve the Novatek-operated Yamal LNG project, will be the world's first LNG carrier that can navigate through ice, according to DSME.

The vessel is one of fifteen ice-class LNG newbuildings contracted to serve the giant Yamal LNG project in the Russian Arctic.

Sovcomflot, MOL, Teekay and Dynagas have one, three, six and five vessels respectively, and all vessels are scheduled for delivery over the next four years. Read more...

Total transfers 20% interest and operatorship of Kharyaga to Zarubezhneft

Dubai to invest $2bn in Russian ports

Rt.com, January 21, 2016: The Dubai-based marine operator DP World and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) have agreed to a joint venture to develop Russian sea ports, transportation and logistics terminals. The deal was announced on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

DP World, one of the world's largest seaport operators, will invest $2 billion to upgrade port infrastructure throughout Russia. Under the agreement DP World will hold 80 percent in the new company while RDIF will hold the remainder.

"Russia has always been an attractive market with great prospects for long-term development. A joint venture would allow DP World and RDIF to utilize their expertise in working together for the economic good of the country," said DP World chairman Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem.

DP World has invested in more than 65 marine terminals on six continents. Read more...

NASA's newest cargo spacecraft began life as a Soviet space plane

Arstechnica.com, January 18, 2016: Last week when NASA awarded Sierra Nevada a contract to develop its Dream Chaser vehicle for cargo delivery to the International Space Station, it validated a design that dates back half a century. This particular winged vehicle concept marked the Soviet Union's first attempt to develop a space plane and now, in an ironic twist of history, the Soviet design may help the United States to commercialize space.

The Dream Chaser traces its heritage to the BOR series "Беспилотный орбитальный ракетоплан," or uncrewed orbital rocket plane of lifting bodies, which themselves were derived from a 1965 space plane concept, the Soviet MiG-105. The BOR-1 was first tested in 1969, launching to an altitude of 100 km as the Soviets sought to study various heat shields for a winged vehicle. Read more...

NASA International Space Station On-Orbit Status 13 January 2016

Spaceref.com, January 14, 2016: The crew is involved in a number of different experiments today, including more fluid shift studies, the SPRINT experiment, and experiment Matroyshka-R.

Tim Kopra was taking part in the SPRINT experiment today, which evaluates the use of high intensity, low volume exercise to minimize loss of muscle, bone and cardiovascular function.

Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko is working with Matroyshka, which measures radiation dosages aboard the International Space Station.

Tim Kopra, Time Peake, and Yuri Melenchenko will be reviewing medical training and CPR procedures today. Read more...

Russians Name New Human Spacecraft

Parabollcars.com, January 19, 2016: MOSCOW (RSC Energia PR) - Today, January 15, 2016, the jury, chaired by Director General, SC "Roskosmos" Igor Komarov announced the results of the contest for the best name for the new manned transport spacecraft Russia.

The winner was Andrew Smokotin from Kemerovo, first suggested the name "Federation". The jury is the "Federation" as the best of the three "finalists" competition ("Gagarin", "Federation", "vector") and will be the official name of the new ship. The names "Gagarin" and "vector" can be used in the future for other projects the space industry of Russia.

"Federation" is great for a series of new spacecraft our country. After all, Russian - Federation, consisting of 85 subjects, and each of them will be able to call his name is one of the spaceships.