Chronicle

BP increased its estimate of oil reserves in Russia by 23%

The British oil company BP Plc, in its annual report on the global energy market, significantly increased its estimate of oil reserves in Russia by 23%. According to the company, proven oil reserves in Russia at the end of 2002 amounted to 60 billion barrels compared to 48.6 billion a year earlier. The estimates contained in BP's annual report are considered among the most authoritative in the world. As INTERFAX-AFI notes, citing The Wall Street Journal, Russian companies themselves estimate reserves at more than 100 billion barrels, but this figure has long been the subject of debate. "Oil, which was unprofitable in 1995, is profitable today thanks to cost reductions, management and technology," said BP chief economist Peter Davis. Oil production in Russia increased last year by 9.1% to 7.7 million barrels per day. According to this indicator, it is second in the world only to Saudi Arabia with 8.9 million barrels.

Algeria is a persistent violator of OPEC discipline In Algeria, oil production in June exceeded the official quota by 1.5 times, experts say. At the end of June, oil production in ten OPEC countries (excluding Iraq), according to experts from the US Department of Energy, amounted to about 25.780 million barrels per day, which is 380 thousand barrels higher than the officially established quota. At the same time, according to the results of June, American experts recognized Algeria as the most “malicious violator” of discipline in OPEC. It was in Algeria that the largest excess of the officially established oil production quota was registered. Thus, in June, oil production in Algeria reached 1.230 million barrels per day, which exceeded its official quota by 52%. By comparison, Saudi Arabia exceeded the quota by 4.2%. Oil production in excess of the established quota, but not so significant, was also noted in June in such OPEC countries as Iran, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar and the UAE. At the same time, Indonesia and Venezuela produced less oil than the official quota. RBC

US steelmakers ask to extend import protection Leading American steel producers have sent a request to the International Trade Commission to extend restrictive measures against suppliers of plates from Russia, Ukraine, China, and South Africa for another five years. The companies, Interfax-AFI reports, propose to maintain restrictions on the volume of supplies of these products and on the minimum prices for their sale on the market. The commission must make a decision on this issue within three months. Meanwhile, some experts doubt the effectiveness of these measures. “If 35 years of trade protectionism have not made American steel companies competitive, will these five years make a difference,” said David Phelps, president of the steel importing group American Institute for International Steel. In 1997, the United States introduced restrictive measures on the supply of plates, accusing companies from Russia, China and other countries of selling products at prices that were half the cost of production. Current measures provide that manufacturers from Russia, Ukraine, China, and South Africa can supply to the market no more than 1.5% of the total consumption of these products in the United States. As a result, American manufacturers were able to increase their market share to 89%, and the volume of this market decreased from 3 to 2 billion dollars. American companies believe that restrictions on the import of steel sheets must be maintained, since the United States, under pressure from the WTO, may abandon general protective tariffs introduced on imported steel products in March 2002.

Japanese cars received the highest quality ratings Leading European car brands, based on the results of three years of testing, turned out to be less reliable than Japanese and some American ones, according to a study by JD Power & Associates, the data of which is cited by the Wall Street Journal. In 2003, JD Power re-studyed 2000-model vehicles. It was estimated how many problems of various types occurred in 100 cars of a particular model over the past three years. The average quality level in the study was 273. Problems, in particular, are considered to be excessive force when pressing the brake, wind noise when driving at speed and the need for unscheduled replacement of spare parts. Now, the WSJ writes, as automakers wage a price-cutting war, low reliability ratings in such surveys can have serious financial consequences. According to the study, Japanese Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Subaru, European Porsche and BMW, as well as cars from the American General Motors were among the highest quality cars. Their score was above average. The first place has been occupied by Lexus, produced by Toyota Motor, for nine years in a row. There were 163 problems per 100 cars of this brand. For comparison, 318 problems were found in Mercedes and Audi cars; they took 26th and 37th places in the ranking. In 1990, when JD Power began conducting the study, Mercedes cars ranked first. The last place in the current ranking is taken by South Korean Kia: 100 cars of this brand had 509 problems over three years. INTERFAX

Pechiney refused Alcan's offer The board of directors of the French aluminum company Aluminum Pechiney rejected the offer of Alcan Group (an international corporation, one of the leaders in the aluminum and packaging market) to purchase a controlling stake in Pechiney. Pechiney's board of directors emphasized the fact that Alcan's proposal is highly uncertain and must also undergo approval by the European Commission. Let us note that several years ago these companies already tried to merge, but the antimonopoly authorities did not give their consent to this. Pechiney also notes that Alcan's proposal is contrary to the interests of the French company and the interests of its employees, business partners, and shareholders. The main argument in favor of this is that the transaction price proposed by Alcan, according to Pechiney's managers, is inadequate and does not reflect the real value of the company. Let us recall that Alcan offered to buy Pechiney for $3.88 billion. AK&M

Taiwan prefers Czech Budwar to American Czech brewing company Budwar has won the right to use the Budejovicky Budwar trademark in the Taiwanese market. The corresponding decision, as reported by RBC, was made by the Supreme Court of Taiwan. The American brewing corporation Anheuser-Busch previously protested Budwar's right to dispose of the Budejovicky Budwar brand in the Taiwanese market. According to the arguments of American brewers, the right to this brand should belong to them. Since 1906, when Budwar began exporting its products to the United States, there have been more than 40 lawsuits between it and American competitors Anheuser-Busch over the right to use the Budejovicky Budwar brand. Anheuser-Busch insists that this type of beer began to be produced in the United States in 1876 by immigrants from Germany. Representatives of the Czech company, in turn, state that the brand was registered in 1895 in the Czech Republic and belongs only to the Budwar company.