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U.S. slaps toughest sanctions yet on Russia, targets Putin allies

President Barack Obama imposed the toughest U.S. sanctions yet on Russia, striking at the heart of Vladimir Putin’s powerbase by targeting companies closest to him over what Washington says is Moscow’s failure to curb violence in Ukraine. By imposing penalties on Russia’s largest oil producer Rosneft, its second largest gas producer Novatek and its third largest bank Gazprombank, Washington targeted Putin’s allies, many of whom have become wealthy during his tenure. The sanctions, which in effect close medium- and long-term dollar funding, were also put on Vnesheconombank, VEB, a state-owned bank that acts as payment agent for the government, and eight arms firms, including the producer of the Kalashnikov assault rifle. The sanctions did not freeze those four companies’ assets, or stop U.S. firms from doing business with them and several were quick to say it was business as usual. But Russia’s rouble-traded stock market and […]

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OPEC Update also Moscow Confirms Russian Oil Production in Decline

OPEC has just published their latest Monthly Oil Market Report with the June production numbers. All data is in thousand barrels per day and is Crude Only. OPEC 12 All revisions in the May data were minor. The June OPEC Crude Only production was down 80,000 bp/d from May. The big story in June was the invasion or Iraq. It has has only minor effect on production. Iraqi production was down 169,000 bp/d in June. Saudi Arabia OPEC’s largest produce and the World’s largest exporter, Saudi Arabia, increased Crude production by 48,000 bp/d in June. There has been very little change in Saudi production in the last nine months. All other OPEC producers had very little change from May to June. Charts of all 12 OPEC nations can be found on the   OPEC Charts   page. The big story this month comes from Russia. JODI Russia The JODI […]

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Iran reviews gas relationship with Russia

Iran’s deputy minister for gas affairs said Wednesday he was expecting Russia to start investing in the Iranian natural gas industry. Deputy Minister for Gas Affairs Hamid-Reza Araqi said Russian companies may be interested in building natural gas pipelines in Iran. Both sides, he said , "are determined to boost their cooperation" in the gas industry. Iranian and Russian officials met in April to discuss upgrading Iran’s power plants and electrical transmission lines. The U.S. State Department has said direct energy cooperation between Iran and Russia "would be of concern." Iran is under pressure for its controversial nuclear program, while the U.S. government and its allies have expressed frustration with Russia’s stance on geopolitical issues in Syria and Ukraine. Both sides already work together in the nuclear sector, with Russia supplying fuel for Iran’s Bushehr nuclear facility. Iran last year said it would to bring more foreign investors into […]

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Russia in secret plot against fracking, Nato chief says

The Daily Telegraph has one of those stories which makes me wonder who really believes this sort of stuff and why anyone would anyone ever bother saying it – Russia in secret plot against fracking, Nato chief says . Russia is secretly working with environmental groups campaigning against fracking in an attempt to maintain Europe’s dependence on energy imports from Moscow, the secretary-general of Nato has said Speaking at the Chatham House foreign affairs think-tank in London, Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Russia was mounting a sophisticated disinformation campaign aimed at undermining attempts to exploit alternative energy sources such as shale gas. … Greenpeace dismissed Mr Rasmussen’s comments as "preposterous". A spokesman said: "Greenpeace had thirty of its people locked up in Russian prisons last year, threatened with fifteen years in jail. "The idea we’re puppets of Putin is so preposterous that you have […]

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Russian oil production expected to drop

An anticipated drop in oil production by 2016 is expected to hurt the Russian economy, the Russian said Monday. The ministry said Monday it expects a $4.5 billion decline in oil export revenue because of an anticipated 6.3 percent drop in oil production from 2014 figures. The ministry said the federal budget next year will receive about $2.2 billion less than expected because of a contraction in exports. A report on the Russian economy from the World Bank in March said real gross domestic product growth in 2013 was 1.3 percent, compared with 3.4 percent in 2012. There’s a "confidence crisis" emerging within the Russian economy, the bank warned. "In the past, the lack of comprehensive structural reforms was masked by a growth model based on large investment projects, continued increases in public wages, and transfers — all fueled by sizable oil revenues," it said. Russian energy exports last […]

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Russia, Iran nuclear contract imminent

Russian plans to sign a contract with Iran to help expand the Bushehr nuclear power facility by the end of the year, Russia’s nuclear regulator said Monday. Sergei Kirienko , chief executive at Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corp., said talks with Iranian officials are close to completion. "We hope that by the end of this year we will move on to the final signing and additions to the intergovernmental agreement, and then the according contract," he said Monday. Russia supplies Iran with fuel needed to power its Bushehr nuclear reactor . In March, a spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said the agreement calls for the pair of 1,000-megawatt reactors to be built near the first unit of the Bushehr nuclear power plant . Russia is under pressure from a U.S. government frustrated with the Kremlin’s reaction to Ukraine’s move toward the European Union, […]

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EU ministers: Sanctions if Russia won't cooperate

Several European foreign ministers on Monday threatened further sanctions if Russia fails to cooperate with Ukraine’s proposed peace plan and doesn’t stop the flow of arms and militants across its border into eastern Ukraine. Russia is "conducting a propaganda war with full speed ahead and no signs of them closing the border," said Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt. Armed militants and even tanks continue to cross the border into eastern Ukraine, he asserted. "If the Russians say they don’t know how to close borders, I don’t think that’s a particularly credible statement," Bildt added. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the European Union will be able to agree further sanctions against Russia at a summit of the bloc’s 28 leaders Friday, if necessary. "Those measures are ready to take," he said. "We look to Russia to take actual action to stop the flow of arms over […]

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EU ministers: Sanctions if Russia won’t cooperate

Several European foreign ministers on Monday threatened further sanctions if Russia fails to cooperate with Ukraine’s proposed peace plan and doesn’t stop the flow of arms and militants across its border into eastern Ukraine. Russia is "conducting a propaganda war with full speed ahead and no signs of them closing the border," said Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt. Armed militants and even tanks continue to cross the border into eastern Ukraine, he asserted. "If the Russians say they don’t know how to close borders, I don’t think that’s a particularly credible statement," Bildt added. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the European Union will be able to agree further sanctions against Russia at a summit of the bloc’s 28 leaders Friday, if necessary. "Those measures are ready to take," he said. "We look to Russia to take actual action to stop the flow of arms over […]

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No political games with energy, Moscow says

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said using energy for geopolitical gain leads to market instability and a poor investment climate. Novak told delegates gathered in Moscow for the World Petroleum Congress the Kremlin isn’t trying to dominate global energy markets for political gain. "We are focused on fundamental market mechanisms," he said in his Thursday address . "Using energy as a tool to achieve geopolitical goals leads to increased instability and worsening of the investment climate in the energy sector, with end users paying for this." Russian energy company Gazprom this week said it would sell future natural gas supplies to Ukraine only with advance payment . Europe gets about a quarter of its gas from Russia, though most of those supplies run through Ukraine’s pipeline system. Europe has looked for alternate gas supplies to break the Russian grip on the region’s energy sector. European Energy […]

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Putin orders forces in the Urals on combat alert

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday ordered military forces in central Russia on combat alert as well as a drill of airborne troops, a day after Ukraine ordered a cease-fire with pro-Russian rebels. NATO said earlier this week that Russia has resumed a military build-up on the border with Ukraine where pro-Russian separatists have been fighting government forces for weeks in a conflict that has left about 300 people dead and displaced over 34,000. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko ordered his forces to cease fire Friday and halt military operations for a week, the first step in a peace plan he hopes will end the fighting that has killed hundreds. The Kremlin dismissed the plan, saying it sounded like an ultimatum and lacked any firm offer to open talks with insurgents. The combat alert in the central military district, which encompasses the Volga region and the Ural […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple