Category: Russia

EU Commissioner for Energy, Gunther Oettinger, of Germany, at a news briefing in June. European Pressphoto Agency BRUSSELS—The European Union should target energy sanctions against Moscow on the technology needed to unlock arctic resources, but it shouldn’t restrict oil or gas imports from Russia, the bloc’s energy chief said on Wednesday. "I’ve always said that energy deliveries, such as oil, gas, coal and uranium, from Russia into European markets…shouldn’t be put on a sanctions list," Günther Oettinger told a news conference. "But the Russians see a great potential for offshore oil and gas in the Arctic, which they could unlock with technology, software and hardware…which its own industry can’t produce." EU authorities are drawing up fresh options for sanctions that the 28- nation bloc could impose on Russia if the situation in Ukraine continues to deteriorate. On Tuesday, EU foreign ministers said they could adopt trade restrictions on defense, […]

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The confrontation between Russia and the West took a turn for the worse with the downing of a Malaysian airliner on July 17, and that could spell trouble for several major oil companies operating in Russia. Just one day earlier, U.S. President Barack Obama slapped sanctions on Russia over its ongoing role in the destabilization of Ukraine. The sanctions prohibited American banks from issuing loans with a maturity of over 90 days to four key Russian companies – Rosneft, Novatek, Gazprombank, and VEB. “Because Russia has failed to meet the basic standards of international conduct, we are acting today to open Russia’s financial services and energy sectors to sanctions,” U.S. Treasury Official David S. Cohen said in a press release describing the agency’s actions . The sanctions tightened the economic noose on the Russian economy by targeting companies in Russia’s energy sector. Up until now, western sanctions largely targeted […]

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Russian oil producer Rosneft will be among the key participants in an international investment conference in the Far East, state media said Friday. Russian President Vladimir Putin and special envoy to the Far East Yuri Trutnev said last month they expected the region would attract as much as $65 billion in new investments. Russian interests have pivoted to the East, where Asian market improvements translates to greater demand from the energy products supporting the Russian economy. The region’s government said it’s hosting an investment conference to strengthen ties to Asian economic powers like China. Delegates from Rosneft, the largest oil producer in Russia, are in attendance, state news agency RIA Novosti reported . Island nations in the Asia-Pacific like Japan import nearly all of their oil and natural gas. Rosneft President Igor Sechin said last year the Far East is "one of the key regions" for new business operations. […]

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Russian oil producer Rosneft will be among the key participants in an international investment conference in the Far East, state media said Friday. Russian President Vladimir Putin and special envoy to the Far East Yuri Trutnev said last month they expected the region would attract as much as $65 billion in new investments. Russian interests have pivoted to the East, where Asian market improvements translates to greater demand from the energy products supporting the Russian economy. The region’s government said it’s hosting an investment conference to strengthen ties to Asian economic powers like China. Delegates from Rosneft, the largest oil producer in Russia, are in attendance, state news agency RIA Novosti reported . Island nations in the Asia-Pacific like Japan import nearly all of their oil and natural gas. Rosneft President Igor Sechin said last year the Far East is "one of the key regions" for new business operations. […]

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In response to continued unrest in Ukraine, US President Barack Obama has announced new sanctions against Russia that include—for the first time—operations of Russian state-owned energy firms. “On top of the sanctions we have already imposed, we are designating selected sectors of the Russian economy as eligible for sanctions,” he told reporters at the White House on July 16. “We are freezing the assets of several Russian defense companies. And we are blocking new financing of some of Russia’s most important banks and energy companies. “These sanctions are significant, but they are also targeted—designed to have the maximum impact on Russia while limiting any spillover effects on American companies or those of our allies,” Obama said. Targeted firms include oil producer Rosneft ; Gazprombank , which is affiliated with its leading state-owned natural gas firm; Novatek , the country’s biggest independent gas producer; and Vnesheconomicbank (VEB), which promotes […]

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The downing of a commercial Boeing 777 in the Ukrainian war zone on Thursday inflamed an already volatile international crisis and may bolster President Obama ’s efforts to isolate Russia if evidence points to complicity by Moscow’s separatist allies. Mr. Obama was careful not to offer any judgments in his only public comments on the crash. But Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. said bluntly that the aircraft with 298 people on board was “blown out of the sky,” and the White House late Thursday issued a statement linking the crash to a crisis “fueled by Russian support for the separatists.” If investigators are able to confirm suspicions that the Malaysia Airlines jet was brought down by a surface-to-air missile fired by pro-Russian rebels who mistook it for a military aircraft, American officials expressed hope that the tragedy will underscore their case that Moscow has been violating […]

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The most aggressive U.S. sanctions yet on Russia are intended to inflict pain on President Vladimir Putin ’s inner circle for supporting Ukrainian separatists, while giving the Russian leader room to reverse course before the standoff escalates into economic warfare. The pressure on Putin could increase dramatically if it becomes clear that, as some U.S. officials now think, Russia-backed separatists were responsible for shooting down a Malaysia Airlines (MAS) jet yesterday, killing all 298 people on board. New penalties, enacted before the airliner was downed, target Russian banks, energy and military firms run by Putin loyalists, but they spare gas giant OAO Gazprom, reflecting a strategy to shield Europe from a wintertime natural gas cutoff and to escalate gradually, rather than risking blowback on the U.S. and European economies. The Obama administration’s latest action makes “very clear that we are prepared in a calibrated and thoughtful way to increase […]

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A fresh round of U.S. sanctions once again ripped into Russia’s markets, with stocks, bonds and the ruble taking a hit. The new restrictions, which target Russian state-controlled oil giant OAO Rosneft and other top firms, follow weeks of U.S. threats that Russia would face repercussions unless it helped defuse the crisis in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russia separatists have been fighting the Ukrainian government for months. Moscow’s MICEX index slid 2.4%, with investors interpreting the measures as more likely to hold back the Russian economy than previous sanctions. By the end of the day, the index capitalization shrank by $4.4 billion. Rosneft shares fell 4.5%, while gas company Novatek–also a target of the new sanctions–shed 5.5%. The yield on Rosneft’s benchmark bond due 2022 jumped to 6.1% from 5.3% the previous day, according to Tradeweb. The increase reflects a rise in the interest […]

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