27 May 2004 12:48
Aton Capital Presents New Investment Opportunities in the Caspian Oil Sector
LONDON, May 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Aton Capital Group, one of the leading Russian investment banks, today hosts a
conference in London to introduce Caspian oil companies to institutional investors.
With oil prices heading towards historical highs, the Caspian region is poised to play an important role in meeting
energy demand. Caspian oil and gas reserves represent almost 5% of the world's total, and are largely
underdeveloped. At current production rates, the estimated oil reserves of Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan would last close to
100 years.
According to research published by Aton Capital Group this month, total regional production is forecast to double by
2010 from 1.5 million barrels per day to 3 million barrels per day. The five largest Caspian projects account for 32% of
the total new reserves the global oil industry plans to put on stream in coming years to replace the declining output at
legacy fields.
As Steven Dashevsky, Head of Research at Aton Capital, points out "Caspian oil producers, on average, boast
extremely low operating and F&D costs making them some of the lowest cost producers in the world on a full cycle
basis. Relative to their Russian peers, Caspian oil companies have better exploration and production economics.
"The transportation challenge is being overcome with the successful completion of several new pipeline
initiatives, which we believe could prove to be a critical catalyst for a valuation re-rating of Caspian oil assets.
"Although most of the global oil majors have some exposure in the region, today's conference is about
introducing pure Caspian oil "plays" to international emerging market investors. From an investment
perspective, we think Caspian producers represent a sound alternative to increasingly fully valued and fully taxed
Russian oil companies."
For a copy of the research report "Caspian Oils - Who wants to be a millionaire", please visit
http://research.aton.ru/ or contact Julia Souslova, tel: +7 095 777 8877, or email pr@aton.ru. Notes for Editors Aton
Capital Group
Aton Capital Group is one of the largest financial companies in the Russian market, providing a full range of
investment, broking, asset management, corporate finance and consulting services. Established in 1991, Aton Capital is
among Russia's leading brokers by trading volume on the country's top exchanges - the RTS and MICEX. Aton has
won a number of awards and professional recognition, including: - "Best Equity House in Russia" in the 2003
Euromoney"Awards for Excellence" survey - "Best Secondary Equity House in Russia 2004" by Global
Finance - Top Ten EMEA Sales Teams in 2004 by Institutional Investor - The authoritative Thomson Extel Pan European
Survey for 2003 selected Aton as one of Russia's top five brokers.
Preliminary results for 2003 place Aton's equity capital at $150mn, group assets at $330mn and trading volume
for the year at $25bn. The company serves nearly 5,000 clients, including 300 institutional clients. Aton is represented
in New York by Aton Securities Inc., which is licensed by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) for US
operations, as well as in Europe by Nam Holdings, a member of the London Stock Exchange and Frankfurt Stock
Exchange.
The Conference
The conference 'New Investment Ideas - The Best of The Caspian' is being held at One George Street, London
SW1. Companies presenting at the conference are: Petrokazakhstan Inc (oil & gas production) BMB Munai Inc (oil
exploration & production) EMPS Corporation (oil field services) Aurado Energy Inc (oil exploration & production)
Dragon Oil Plc (oil exploration & production) Burren Energy Plc (oil exploration & production) JSC Kazakhtelecom
(telecoms) JSC Chimpharm (pharmaceuticals) Aton Capital Group
CONTACT: For further information, please contact: Vladislav Vershinin, Aton Capital Group, Moscow, Tel:
+7-095-777-8877 or Email: vershinin@aton.ru or Website: http://www.aton.ru/; Alex Buck, Ansdell Associates, London, Tel:
+44-793-274-0452 or Email: abuck@ansdellconsult.com
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