C.A.T. oil AG agrees strategic partnership with Gazprom subsidiary OOO BURGAZ
- Implementation of a long-term program for gasfield services - Objective: To optimize natural gas production - Move gives major boost to C.A.T.oils position in the growing market for gas fracs
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July 28, 2006 - Austria-based C.A.T. oil AG (O2C, ISIN: AT0000A00Y78), one of the leading providers of oil- and gasfield services in Russia and Kazakhstan, has entered a strategic partnership with OOO Burgaz (OOO Drilling Company of OAO Gazprom), a subsidiary of the Gazprom Group. Burgaz, the principal provider of Field services to the Gazprom Group, is responsible for centralized management of such services in Russia and the former Soviet republics. The strategic cooperation between C.A.T.oil and Burgaz will involve the implementation of a long-term program under which C.A.T.oil will provide a wide range of services for optimizing natural gas production. C.A.T.oil will draw on its full portfolio of services, ranging from its core business of hydraulic fracturing to supplementary services such as workover and squeeze cementing as well as introduce new processes for Gazprom such as side tracking, coiled tubing- and nitrogen treatments. The two companies have been working together in the Novi Urengoi region in Western Siberia since 2005. Gazprom operates major production facilities in this area. Last year, C.A.T.oil performed successful fracturing jobs on one of these natural gas deposits for the first time with the goal of increasing their output. Due to the positive results, the two companies are now moving to intensify their cooperation. Manfred Kastner, CEO of C.A.T. oil AG, said: "We are delighted by Burgazs confidence in C.A.T oils performance. By entering into this strategic partnership, we are underpinning our excellent position in what is still a young growth market. Last year, we succeeded in transferring our longstanding experience in oilfield services to gas fields. In line with the strategy outlined during our IPO, we are now moving to expand our business with gas producers. We believe this area has considerable potential for growth in the coming years and intend to leverage it through this cooperation in particular." Burgaz is active in all regions in which Gazprom produces natural gas. The company has recently started to implement a new E&P program in the Gazprom fields in Eastern Siberia and Far East. www.catoilag.com
About C.A.T. oil AG: Austria-based C.A.T. oil AG (O2C, ISIN: AT0000A00Y78) is one of the leading providers of oil- and gasfield services in Russia and Kazakhstan. C.A.T.oils core business is hydraulic fracturing, a process which helps to open up oil- and gas-bearing rock formations in order to increase or even enable oil and gas production. The C.A.T.oil crews use state-of-the-art methods and technologies to generate high pressure in the oil or gas reservoirs concerned. This pressure causes cracks to appear in the rock through which oil or gas can be produced in larger quantities from the production well, and hence efficiently boosts extraction, particularly in the case of deposits that are difficult to develop or low-output wells. In addition, hydraulic fracturing can be used to revitalize wells that have previously been idle. The company has its headquarters in Baden near Vienna and employed 2,230 people at the end of 2005, most of whom are based in Russia and Kazakhstan. Customers include leading oil and gas producers such as Gazprom, KazMunaiGaz, LUKOIL, Rosneft, and TNK-BP.
www.catoilag.com
end of announcement euro adhoc 28.07.2006 11:30:00
Further inquiry note:
Press contact:
A&B Financial Dynamics
Dr. Lutz Golsch Claudia Werth
phone.: +49 (0)69 92037-110 phone.: +49 (0)69 92037-114
e-mail: l.golsch@abfd.de e-mail: c.werth@abfd.de
Branche: Oil & Gas - Upstream activities
ISIN: AT0000A00Y78
WKN: A0IKWU
Börsen: Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse / official dealing