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Rosneft, Statoil start Barents Sea work

Russian oil company Rosneft said Monday it started an exploration program in the Barents Sea with Norwegian energy company Statoil. "The start of this exploration operation marks an important milestone in developing the cooperation between Rosneft and Statoil," the Russian company said in a statement. "The companies plan to implement their experience of exploration and development of hydrocarbon fields in regions with harsh climate." Rosneft said its subsidiary RN Nordic Oil is working alongside Statoil at the Pingvin license area of the Barents Sea. Statoil last week received approval from the government to move the Transocean rig, Spitsbergen, to the area. Rosneft said both sides would review the drilling results from the region through the end of the year. Statoil was the target of a campaign from Greenpeace , which said exploration in the arctic waters of the Barents Sea puts the region’s ecology at risk. The Norwegian government […]

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Russian import ban fuels food price rises

Shopper in St Petersburg supermarket Shopper in St Petersburg: For years the city has imported many basic products from the West Continue reading the main story Related Stories Food prices are rising in parts of Russia and experts say the state embargo on imports of Western food appears to be making things worse. Since the ban was imposed on 7 August imported pork used in processed meat in Moscow has gone up by 6%, Russian business daily Kommersant reports. In St Petersburg food prices have risen 10%. That inflation occurred even before the impact of sanctions. Russia’s ban on many Western foods is retaliation for sanctions over Ukraine. The St Petersburg government’s economic policy chief, Anatoly Kotov, said the pork price had risen by 23.5% and chicken by 25.8%. On Monday, Russia’s Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said he did not expect the ban on food imports to lead to […]

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Brazil considers LNG options with Rosneft

Brazilian energy company HRT said Friday it was working with Russian energy company Rosneft on a work plan for the monetization of liquefied natural gas. Startup HRT in July signed memorandum of understanding with the Brazilian subsidiary of Rosneft and Brazilian state-owned energy company Petróleo Brasileiro, known also as Petrobras, for the monetization of gas in the Solimoes basin in the Amazonian jungle. HRT in its latest earnings report said the parties are working on ways to make LNG envisioned under the agreement a reality. "In the coming months, HRT, Rosneft and Petrobras will submit a work plan for the gas monetization project that will establish the steps and responsibilities, prioritizing the options in the scope of natural gas converted to LNG and the electric power generation, both of which are critical inputs for the development of the region and the country," HRT said in its report. The Brazilian […]

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EU considers gas talks with Russia, Ukraine

European Commission President said future trilateral talks with Kiev and Moscow would focus on energy and national security issues. Barroso said he spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the overall context of the situation in Ukraine . Ukraine and Russia have historic differences over natural gas. Russian energy company Gazprom in 2006 and 2009 cut gas supplies through Ukraine, jeopardizing downstream supplies to Europe , in response to contractual woes. That problem was exacerbated when in late 2013 Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, started tilting toward the European Union through an association agreement. "It was agreed to hold consultations between the presidents of Russia, Ukraine and the European Commission on the issues related with the implementation of the association agreement as well as on the supply of gas, in parallel with the efforts to stabilize the political and security situation," Barroso’s office said in a […]

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More Russian Oil Flows East as Relations With West Sour

As Moscow’s relations sour with the West, Russia’s energy sector is pivoting to Asia, with oil exports to the region jumping to record highs and analysts predicting a boost for some Asian energy companies. Russia has sent more than 30% of its oil exports—more than 1.2 million barrels a day, the most ever—to Asia this year, trade and analyst data showed. Around a fifth of Russia’s oil exports went to Asia Pacific in 2012, according to the International Energy Agency. Meanwhile, Russian oil exports to Europe via its largest pipeline network have fallen from a peak of 3.72 million barrels a day in May 2012, to less than 3 million barrels a day in July. Most of the oil heading to Asia is shipped to China, and comes as Russia seeks to boost ties to the energy-hungry region amid heightened tensions with Europe. While the crude oil is priced […]

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Putin’s Pipeline Bypassing Ukraine Is at Risk Amid Conflict

Vladimir Putin ’s dream of a new pipeline to deliver Russian natural gas to the European Union without passing through Ukraine is fading amid escalating tit-for-tat economic sanctions. The $46 billion South Stream project, spearheaded by OAO Gazprom, is on hold and will probably remain in limbo for years as Russia continues to foment armed conflict in eastern Ukraine and the EU retaliates with bans, Eurasia Group said. That means the war-torn country will remain a key transit point for about half of Gazprom’s shipments to Europe, according to the New York-based risk research group. The EU previously had mixed positions on South Stream. With Russian troops massing near the Ukraine border, the bloc now has little choice but to stand united in opposition. “There’s no way Europe is going to put South Stream negotiations back on the table now, given the larger geopolitical context of the Ukraine crisis,” […]

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Global and Russian Energy Outlook to 2040

Like BP, OPEC, the EIA and the IEA Russia also publishes an annual energy outlook. It is called the   Global and Russian Energy Outlook to 2040 . It is published by The Energy Research Institute of The Russian Academy of Sciences and The Analytical Center for The Government of The Russian Federation. I have no idea who these guys are but their titles sound impressive and they seem to be Russian think tanks funded by the Russian Government. But that is just an assumption of mine. It is a very large 175 page PDF file that appears to be very scholarly and well researched. However they appear to be very optimistic in their prediction of the future oil supply out to 2040.  In one scenario they are not optimistic at all for coal production however. The report has three scenarios, the Baseline Scenario where business as usual continues until […]

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Schlumberger expects loss from Russian sanctions

Oil services company Schlumberger said it expects to take a financial hit as a result of Western sanctions targeting the Russian energy sector. The United States, European and Canadian governments are among those targeting the Russian energy sector with sanctions in response to Moscow’s policies in eastern Ukraine and Crimea. Schlumberger said it was monitoring the events to make sure its activities are in line with applicable regulations regarding Russia’s energy sector. The company said the financial impacts should be limited to about 3 cents of earnings per share. "The sanctions are placing some restrictions on the engagement of certain people and equipment in our Russian operations which in the short term will have an impact on operational efficiency and costs in Russia," Schlumberger said in a statement Tuesday. British energy company BP said in July sanctions on the Russian energy sector, particularly oil company Rosneft, could impact business […]

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Germany Puts Curbing Russia Ahead of Commerce

BERLIN — Over recent months, something significant has happened in Europe: In the crisis over Ukraine, Germany has assumed leadership not just in its familiar fashion of trying to coax Russia away from belligerence and bluster, but in standing firm and imposing sanctions on Moscow even if they hurt German business. Perhaps even more remarkable is that Germans, long anxious to preserve commercial, energy and cultural ties with their vast eastern neighbor, have gone along. Seventy percent of 1,003 adults polled last week by Infratest dimap for the public broadcaster ARD approved of stricter sanctions; just 15 percent viewed Russia as a reliable partner in a poll with a three-percentage-point margin of sampling error. In marked contrast to France’s leadership, Chancellor Angela Merkel and her government — a united “grand coalition” of center-right and center-left — have kept German businesses apprised of any shift in thinking and made it […]

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Russia vulnerable as oil prices hit nine-month low on IEA 'glut' warnings

A worker of Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation checks oil flow of well PK-2 during its inauguration at Ingoli village, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of Ahmadabad, India Oil prices have fallen to a nine-month low as surging supply from Opec and the US floods the market and fresh demand wilts, leading to an “oil glut” in the Atlantic region despite the twin crises in Iraq and Russia. The International Energy Agency (IEA) cut its forecast for the rise in global consumption to just 1m barrels a day (b/d) this year due to near recession conditions in Europe and as pervasive weakness in the world economy disappoints. This comes as supply rises by a further 300,000 b/d beyond what was already planned. The warning sent Brent crude prices tumbling to $104 a barrel, the lowest this year. The sudden shift in the balance of the market has allowed the […]

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