C.A.T. oil AG agrees strategic partnership with Russian oil producer Gazprom-Neft
- Intensification of business relationships with Gazprom Group - Implementation of long term oilfield services program - Gazprom plans consolidation of all its oil reserves into Gazprom-Neft
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September 26, 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, today announced a further strategic partnership with a subsidiary of Russias Gazprom Group. The company signed a contract with Gazprom-Neft, formerly named Sibneft, in which Gazprom acquired a majority shareholding in October 2005. With 4.5 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, Gazprom-Neft is one of the worlds 20 largest oil producers and has around 60 licenses for exploration and oil production in the Russian regions of West Siberia, Omsk, Tomsk and Chukotka. Gazprom-Neft currently has an annual output of approximately 256 million barrels of oil. Over the mid term, Gazprom is planning to concentrate all the Groups oil reserves and corresponding production units under the Gazprom-Neft brand.
C.A.T.oil and Gazprom-Neft are to work closely with one another in a long term program aimed at optimizing the companys oil production. Gazprom-Neft pursues a strategy of systematic resource management and intends to realize its goals by increasingly deploying state of the art well enhancement processes and technologies. Against this background, the company plans to boost the efficiency of its drilling activities as well as its oil production and thereby improve its well productivity.
To this end, C.A.T.oil is to provide Gazprom-Neft with proven as well as new and innovative processes and technologies - especially hydraulic fracturing, inclined drilling, side tracking and coiled tubing - to optimize its production facilities.
"The strategic partnership with Gazprom-Neft underscores our strong market position in Russia; once again, it confirms that our outstanding service quality makes us a highly sought after partner for the regions leading oil and gas producers. Naturally, we are very pleased that this agreement allows us to intensify our collaboration with the Gazprom Group, following on from the conclusion of an agreement with Gazprom subsidiary OOO Burgaz in July," said Manfred Kastner, Chief Executive Officer of C.A.T. oil AG.
CATKoneft and CATOBNEFT, the two operative subsidiaries of C.A.T. oil AG, will be responsible for implementing Gazprom-Nefts assignments in Russia.
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. C.A.T.oil has been listed in the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since May 4, 2006, and has been a member of the SDax since September 18, 2006.
end of announcement euro adhoc 26.09.2006 15:30:00
Further inquiry note:
Press contact:
A&B Financial Dynamics
Dr. Lutz Golsch Claudia Werth
Tel.: +49 (0)69 92037-110 Tel.: +49 (0)69 92037-114
Email: l.golsch@abfd.de Email: c.werth@abfd.de
Branche: Oil & Gas - Upstream activities
ISIN: AT0000A00Y78
WKN: A0IKWU
Börsen: Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse / official dealing